Plaskett Creek, CA

Driving up a coastline is dangerous in the daytime. The ocean tugs at your eyes when you need most to be taming that twitchy road. After an hour of riding the asphalt wave I had to stop and let my head untwist and where I stopped is a campground near enough to hear the waves crashing on the rocks.

Most nights since I left Big Piney I look up at some point and find Orion, the Hunter. It’s the only constellation I know and I’ve known it since I was young. I’d lie on a raft in the backyard pool for so long that I’d dry out watching Orion creep across the sky, hunting the moon. It sounds silly, but his name sounds like mine so I’ve always felt a connection. I’m a hunter too, I guess, this trip is a hunting trip. My quarry doesn’t have a name yet, but I think I’ve stumbled onto its trail.