Ragged Point

Over the holiday weekend my friends and I took what we are now planning as our annual girls’ trip, this time along the Central Coast of California. Last year we went to Maui, and in the relatively short time between then and now we are each in such different places in our lives. Some of it so much better, some of it just slightly less painful, all of it celebrated in sun and surf and laughter.

I took this shot our first afternoon there at Ragged Point:

A photo posted by Heather B. Armstrong (@dooce) on

The beginning of the path down to the beach is marked with a sign that says, “YOU MIGHT DIE ATTEMPTING THIS.” And they were so not kidding. I slipped at one point and landed in a bush that covered my forearm in a pattern of flaming red splotches. My friend Stacia skid and missed face planting into a tree trunk by about an inch. But, as you can tell, the peril was well worth our effort.

I still can’t be in the sun much, so I stayed back in my jeans and jacket and scarf under some shade and snapped away as these three let go of all the things that bind us in our daily lives. I think they’d agree that this photo sums up the mood of the weekend, despite the tragedy of Saturday night and the conversation I had to have with an AT&T representative in San Luis Obispo the following morning:

Him: How can I helped you?

Me: DAMAGE CONTROL.

Him: Can you be more specific?

Me: I got water on my phone.

Him: Did you—

Me: My friends told me that I should not tell you or anyone for that matter the exact details of what happened.

Him: Let me guess…

Me: YES.

Him: You’d be surprised how many people every single day walk in here and say, “I dropped my phone in the toilet.”

Me: Don’t be alarmed, but I’m going to hug you now and cry on your shoulder. It’s okay because my hair smells good.

It’s wonderful to have friends who completely understand that you need to take the rental car for a few hours to go and fix your life.