–after Joni Mitchell’s Carey
The wind swept up from Rockaway
Last night I couldn’t sleep
Oh, you know it sure is hard to leave here, Mary
But it’s really not my home
My Honda Accord is filthy
I’ve got beach sand on my feet
And I miss my bustling city and my fancy old King Dome
Come on down to the Sea Shack Café
And I will buy you a bottle of wine
And we’ll piss and moan to nothing and
Smash our empty glasses down
Let’s have another round for these Beach Street renters
A round for these big dogs of mine
Let’s have another round for the golf club Mafia, who’d
Love me to leave this tourist town
Maybe I’ll go to Canada
Or maybe I’ll go to Bend
And get me a brand-new bookstore and put some shelves ‘round my room
But let’s not talk about fare-thee-wells now
Tomorrow I got a letter to send
To those who thought they’d keep me here
Beneath the Elkins Moon
The wind is in from Rockaway
Last night I couldn’t sleep
You know it sure is hard to leave here, but
Manzanita is really not my home
Maybe it’s been too long a time since I was
Rentin’ down in the Cove
Now they got me used to that crazed Seattle
And that need for a good long roam
Ellis is a longtime journalist who worked primarily as a political reporter at the Anchorage Times, UPI, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He retired several years ago and, after decades of vacationing on the Oregon coast, finally settled in Manzanita with his wife Lynn and Piper, their ocean-loving Australian Shepherd.
