“Let’s go be beach boys,” I tell my obstinate but oh-so-charming puppy in a daily sales pitch to get him to cooperate instead of playing keep-away.

It usually works pretty soon — he loves, loves, loves the beach with all its opportunities to meet other dogs and sniff the infinite variety of stuff that washes in from the Pacific and out from our glorious Columbia.

Occasionally, I’ll even listen to the Beach Boys on my iPhone as we drift along the tide line. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is a cheery soundtrack for a walk, though recently I’ve been thinking more about “Good Vibrations.”

One of the best books of 2022 is “An Immense World” by Ed Yong, an exploration of the dazzling ways in which other creatures perceive the world with senses that often far outshine our own. Chapter 7 is “The Rippling Ground: Surface Vibrations” and it explains how, for many species, the perception of vibrations is virtually its own sense, independent of the more familiar sense of touch. It is one we are capable of experiencing ourselves, though the modern world too often insulates us from these powerful sensations.

I’ve been aware for some time, at least on a subliminal level, of how my experience of approaching the ocean on the diagonal trail from North Jetty to Benson Beach is certainly partly about the growing roar of the surf, but also a deep harmonic rumble that sets all that enormous sand spit atremble. On these winter days when the crashing waves can be particularly violent, this all-encompassing hum is exciting and even a little scary, like the deep growl of a lion.

It may be, too, that the enlivening, soul-stirring thrump of a powerful winter windstorm is why we feel especially alive this time of the year. It gets all our atoms dancing.

It is supposed to be a fairly quiet week, weather-wise, on this far west shore of America, but as usual we’ll hunt up a big offering of news, features, sports and photos in the Chinook Observer. I know you’ll like Patrick Webb’s profile of two Ilwaco High School wrestling champs who have come home as adults to be volunteer coaches in a sport that imparts great confidence and physical fitness. It’s the kind of sport story you don’t need to be a fan in order to appreciate.

Thanks as always for your support.