Coast life is a BREEZE...
...one big, constant breeze...

This would be a great place to fly a kite...there's always a breeze going on somewhere around here. It's those breezes that blow the clouds inland, which means that unlike Idaho, where the weather changes every ten minutes, it changes every 2 and a half minutes here on the Oregon Coast. One of the top stories on the small-town local news concerned the STOVE PELLET SHORTAGE here on the coast. It seems that everyone has been SO COLD DOWN HERE, and there are no stove pellets to be had anywhere around here. Mind you, it never gets below zero here...and even when the weather has been extreme, as it's been this winter, I've never seen a forecast low below 25 degrees...ABOVE zero. Here, then, is "me", on the other hand, having arrived a while back from North Idaho, where the HIGHS right now aren't reaching 25 degrees! I had to buy a new, thinner coat, because my winter jacket is TOO HOT down here. So I am bemusedly observing how things happen locally around here. I suppose if I live down here long enough, my blood will really get "thin", and then I'll freeze like everyone else here, but right now...I'm lovin' it, I really am.

It was foggy all day today. I suppose if I had gone a couple miles inland, I could've seen the sun. But there's something about the fog...placid...puts one in a reflective mood. Well, I've been busy doing all kinds of things this week, and it had been a WEEK since I've been to the coast...and I live practically ON the coast! So anyway, today I had a bowl of clam chowder in the little harbor town near here, then I went to the beach. The FOGGY beach. And the air outside was so damp that my coat got almost totally wet. but I didn't care. Not at all. No snow to walk thru. No ice to kill yourself on. I think I could get used to that. I walked the beach, looking for unbroken seashells, meandering all around the beach for an hour and a half. I saw people walking their dogs on the beach...seems all dogs just never get tired of playing "fetch"...I saw kids from the high school track team running up and down the beach...all of this going on, while visibility was one mile, tops. For all practical purposes, I had the whole beach to myself. The ocean washes up logs that I can sit on, to rest my achy feet and knees. Who's in a hurry, anyway?

The seas were choppy; really choppy today. Fishing boats were coming in from the ocean, and one of those vessels was having trouble navigating...it was moving very slowly, dipping down into the waves so deeply that you couldn't see it until it reached the top of the wave again...(Confession: I love the ocean, but I ain't going out on it. I get seasick on a FERRIS WHEEL!) It was then that a Coast Guard boat came out into the harbor, and led the stricken vessel into the harbor. The boat was still moving slowly, and the Coast Guard boat assumed the same slow speed, there at the ready in case the other boat's engine gave out. There is a Coast Guard observation tower which overlooks the inlet; it sits upon a rock cliff about 40 feet above the ocean. And, on bad days, that overlook is manned heavily, taking radio reports from ships and giving directions to ships who are having difficulty finding their way. What's cool about this Coast Guard tower's location, is that anyone can drive up there, and sit atop that cliff and look out over the ocean. I am not kidding when I say that I've moved to a really fascinating place.


While this ISN'T the beach I was on, it indeed was FOGGY, and looked very similar to this view.
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Obituary department: If you tune in to a typical network radio newscast at the top of the hour, if you hear a brief bit of music, that ALWAYS means that a musician died. Today, when the news came on, there it was, "California Dreamin'", and I thought, "uh oh, another one's gone". Another one indeed. DENNY DOHERTY, of the Mamas and the Papas, passed away at age 66, after a short illness. That's Denny's voice you hear, singing on "Monday, Monday". Which means that the group is now down to one "Mama", since Mama Cass, as well as group founder John Philips have already gone to Rock and Roll Heaven. Michelle, formerly John's wife, is the only survivor. I absolutely LOVED everything the Mama's and the Papa's did.
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Even weathercasters have a sense of humor: Tonight, during the local news, the sportscaster reported on a local athlete who stands to make 8 million dollars, 'cos he's a professional-quality athlete. At the end of that segment, the newscast was close to being over; the lady anchor turned to the weatherman and said, "we can't pay you 8 million, but can you give us a weather update?" and the weatherman said, "how about 8 BUCKS?", and I thot that was hilarous! Of course, if that weatherman had been in the ever-neurotic Spokane, Washington market, he probably would've gotten the axe. "LET'S BE POLITICALLY CORRECT, PEOPLE! And NO JOKES! It's in the EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK!!!" Bla bla blahhhhh....
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Take care, you all, and I'll do the same. Right now, I think I'll go listen to some Mamas and Papas records. Just dy-no-mite stuff. Monday, Monday...just can't trust that day...