Skeleton Woman: where she lives

July 10, 2006
Christina O'Reilly: Well there we are back again on a beach, my husband and I, looking for “gifts from the sea” for Skeleton Woman’s world. This time a different beach: Salmon Creek out Bodega way. We hit the beach an hour before sunset and with the light fog, pale silvery water, and an ineffable silence I felt we had found a spot where Skeleton Woman lives. We headed north. Me looking at the waves hearing their roar, my husband hot on the search. He found a gnarly water soaked stump tumbled in from the surf.We both thought of another peril that surfers watch for. The stump was magnificent: thick, gleaming. The kind a troll would live in. Walked further and saw three drift-wood huts on the sand. One was complete with a flag of corrugated cardboard and a streamer of seawood. So many gorgeous bone white logs. We found one I won’t tell you about, but after dragging it across the sand, up a steep slope, we reached the bottom of a set of stairs. I couldn’t do it. You guessed it. More strangers pitched in and helped us the rest of the way. Sunset at Bodega Beach is a miracle. Tens of people including us stop to watch the quiet sun drop below the sea. I could feel Skeleton Woman’s breath on the beach in the soft breezes, her feet on the soft sands and and I walked away with the wash of peace inside me.