Pismo Beach Part 3: The Salt and Foam

Good morning! For today’s Monday vlog, we have something a little different. Today’s Video is more of a short film / spoken word / inspirational video as opposed to a normal update on the rest of our trip.

This spoken-word piece began to take shape in my head on the tail end of our time in Pismo, we normal spend Thursday at the beach and it’s usually the day we stay the longest and try to soak in as much as we can to get us through the year until we can return. I was out in the waves for the last time before we had to clean up and put the girls down for a nap when I started to think about what Pismo Beach means to us.

Pismo is more than just a vacation spot. It’s the place in the world that feels the most like home. When you’ve moved around as much as we have (never spending more than 10 years in the same city) going to the same place every year provides a sense of consistency that is often lacking elsewhere.

We’ve visited the same sand, the surf shop, the same hotel for over 20 years. At that time, we’ve seen minor changes, upgrades, new amenities, and restaurants, but the heart of the city hasn’t changed.

This beach has been a place of celebration, for my parents 30th wedding anniversary, a place of refuge in troubled times, a place to escape the heat of Phoenix and wear sweatshirts in July. It means so much to our family, and I am so excited that Olivia and Meghan enjoyed it and that we get to pass it on to them.

I hope you enjoy it!

Here is the text of the spoken word:

The Salt and Foam 

I have lived in many places 
Hung my hat in different spaces 
From the grassy foothills of the bay  
To the concrete jungles of LA 
Survived the dry and dusty phoenix winds 
And returned to bethel once again 
Amidst the constant random change 
Still one pillar always remained 
 
I have lived in many places 
Hung my hat in different places 
But one place truly feels like home 
On the central coast, in the salt and foam 
 
Year after year we return 
Like a flock of migratory birds 
Weary and burdened  
To rest and recuperate 
 
We long for the sand between our toes 
The smell of salt within our nose 
This great pacific calls to me to the sea 
Beckons, come get lost, find rebirth in me 
 
I enter the waves, to float and drift 
Peace lives here amongst the mist 
The salt and foam wash over me 
Cleansing my soul in the depths of the sea 
 
In our concrete jungles and red brick houses 
We hide away, cocooned in artifice. 
As our connection with the beauty that surrounds us begins to atrophy 
I will remember, and I will return to the sea 
  
I have lived in many places 
Laid my head in different spaces 
But I will return again to my home 
On the central coast, in the salt and foam. 
 
In our concrete jungles and red brick houses 
We hide away, cocooned in artifice. 
As our connection with the beauty that surrounds 
us begins to atrophy I will remember, 
and I will return to the sea 
 
Just as my parents taught me,  
I will teach my own children this legacy 
Gods heart is an ocean, 
The rhythms of waves it’s beat 
 
This place reminds us of that 
A constant reminder of the steadfast grace mercy 
and faithfulness of our creator 
 
This is why we return, to remember 
Remember that our roots run deep  
From the east coast to the west coast 
Our roots wind to the sea 
 
I have lived in many places 
Laid my head in different spaces 
But I will return again to my home 
On the central coast, in the salt and foam.