WHITER SHADE OF PALE

West Coast Trail – I often dream in the mist palette of Cape Cod, Santa Cruz, the Pacific Northwest... Sometimes dove-soft whimsy, other times stark black-and-white nightmares. In a recurring one, I blunder along a cliff, pursued, slow, lost.

So when I round a cove, where a stunted tree drools over a sea-stack, I am uneasy. The twisted shaped reminds me of a favorite Japanese watercolor from my parent's house. It also echoes some deep, deep fears I'd rather have checked at the gate...