Day 13 - The jetty and other diversions

August 13 - Something you saved

Every scrap of paper that has ever come into my hands or been given me.  I'm a terrible packrat.
I also saved my sister's life on the jetty.  I'm also the who kinda put it in danger by choosing to run to the jetty instead of up the shore but I did my best to keep everyone safe.  The image of her frightened, screaming face, the gum falling out of her mouth as the waves crash around our feet is indelibly imprinted on my mind.

So, the story with the jetty.  My family and several others from the congregation took a camping trip to Southbeach, Oregon.  One of the days we were on the beach we wandered in the direction of the jetty and Jake and I, being young teens/preteens at the time blazed the train, with Deanna, my younger sister, somewhere in between us and the group of grownups and older kids.  Deanna had mostly caught up with us when we saw a giant wave coming that was going to flood where we were.  I could hear Dad yelling for us to run and my brain went into overdrive.  Running up the beach, away from the waves was one option but I didn't feel we could run fast enough to escape it because the beach looked almost completely flat.  The other option was climbing the jetty and I chose that option, you could get higher, faster.  So Jake scrambled up first, Deanna in the  middle and me at the bottom.  Jake tried pulling Deanna higher, I tired pushing her higher, and she played limpet, gluing herself to the rock she was on.  And we made it just in time.  The huge wave lapped at the bottom of my shoes, nearly covering the rock I had gotten up to.  When the wave had mostly receded Jake decided to play hero and jump from the rock.  Evidently he hadn't seen the large trench that was now filled with water.  He got dunked, my dad grabbed him by the front of his shirt and Jake flew to the shore.  Go Dad!  Dad then waded over to us and carried either one or both of us to the rest of the group.  I remember Deanna being carried.

Day 13 - The Matanuska Valley and Other Diversions

 "Libraries and the Internet can be like crack houses for the research addicted."
Amen!  I can't count the number of hours I've spent wandering the internet or a random book after going in search of one specific piece of information.  I can't research worth squat but I can wander and find the most random and fascinating facts.