To Everything, There is a Season...
...and it's amazing, what the ol' change o'season brings...

Summer's gone, winter's comin' on, down here on Oregon's south coast. And, the weather has definitely changed around here. I keep up on temperature readings around the Pacific Northwest, and even though it's a bit more chilly inland than here at night, I'll bet there's more RAIN out here this time of year. Yep, the rainy season's on the way; heck, it's here now. Yesterday, on the beach where I walk periodically, there was almost NO beach. There's the ocean, then the beach, then somewhat higher ground with bushes and small trees. It looked like "High Tide" had just happened; I could see the water was 'trying' to recede, but occasionally, a wave would just about cover the beach, leaving me only a few feet in which to walk. They say, "never turn your back on the ocean" with good reason. Down here, people have been swept out to sea by "sneaker" waves. I don't plan on having that happen to me anytime soon.

The photo below was stolen from http://www.webshots.com/. (I believe in being honest about who I pilfer from; call it 'honor among thieves'.) It was taken in March '06, and although the weather was a little bit better, it graphically shows how high the wintertime ocean swells coming into the bay can get. I have actually sat on that rock jetty you see in the foreground (obviously, when the weather was milder), but the fall & winter winds blow quite fiercely, and the waves kick mightily.



This is near the entrance to the bay close to where I live; would you believe that in winter, oceangoing vessels have to go out to sea AGAINST those waves. I've seen some Coast Guard training videos where rescue boats try to access the ocean; they're tossed around like corks, totally disappearing at the bottom of the wave, and you can't SEE the boat 'till it reaches the top of the next wave. No, no, not for me. I'll admire the ocean from good ol' terra firma, thank you.

Thing is, I like this time of year just as much as I do the summer, for different reasons. In the summer, the sky is blue, and the ocean reflects that blue in a richer, deeper hue. And on days like that, the trees aren't 'just' green; they are a rich, deep, almost Emerald green. The sea air is moist and the temperatures don't get much over 75. The light summer ocean breeze refreshes and invigorates. Mmmmm. On days like that, all is well with the world. It is possible to catch a "natural buzz" on such a day at the ocean; I know, because it's happened to me. But, come fall/winter, things are a mite different...(again, foto courtesy of 'Webshots'...)



...in contrast, the winter weather (as depicted above) becomes almost assaultive; the winds howl, and if you're standing on a rocky cliff above the ocean, the waves smack the land with so much force that you can feel the waves' impact all through your body. If that cliff you're standing on is 75 feet above the ocean, the top of the waves that strike that cliff might rise another 50 or 60 feet above you. I find that just tremendous. And I feel so small when the ocean is like that. It's therapeutic in that the sheer force of the ocean absolutely crushes my senses. Nothing like it. And it's amazing.
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I used to KEEP UP on stuff like this: I was out today shopping for household cleaning items. Yep, that's me, "Mr. Excitement". Twas time to fumigate the house; probably a wise thing to do after having gone thru a fairly nasty bout of flu. I bought all my stuff at a K-mart store, pushing a shopping cart around the place, getting lost, thankful for the ever-patient clerks who steered me towards the items I needed. After doing that, I went back to the music department (I always know where THAT is), and lo and behold, I saw this here Compact Disc on display, and I was flabbergasted...

I usually know well in advance when a major artist is coming out with new music. But not this time! JOHN FOGERTY...you know, the voice of Creedence Clearwater Revival, and he's got a new album out, called "Revival"...and I thot, "wow, brand-new John Fogerty music"...I'm listening to it as I type this, and he sounds just fine, and he rocks pretty doggone hard as well. Only, when I "googled" the album so I could find the above cover photo, I found that it was released back in JULY...several months ago! I tell ya, I'm out of it. In this case, I wasn't aware of the music, but the music found me. I guess that lends some "Creedence" to my existence?

Still, heh heh, I do know a little SOMETHING, even though I'll probably never get to hear that "something". After Creedence broke up, John Fogerty released an album of country-type music as "The Blue Ridge Rangers". Then, in 1975, he released a self-titled album ("John Fogerty"), which had the fairly noteworthy song, "Almost Saturday Night" on it. Right around that time, he was involved in all kinds of music-biz litigation, but still he soldiered on and recorded another album, set for a 1976 release date. However, the Prezzident of the Record Company advised Fogerty not to release it, saying "it wasn't all that good." From what I've read, Fogerty agreed, and even though the album was finished, it stayed unreleased. I don't know about you, but I don't think Fogerty could ever record any BAD music. Oh well. Anyway, that unreleased album is/was called "Hoodoo", and I found a picture of the album cover...



A long time ago, I was shopping in a record store, and I found a single that featured two Fogerty songs I'd never heard; "You Got The Magic"/"Evil Thing"; I've had that single for about 30 years now. Turns out those two songs were part of the "Hoodoo" album. And I do know those two songs sound pretty doggone good to me. I would absolutely LOVE to hear the "Hoodoo" album. It's moments like that us record collectors live for.
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And there I go again, running two separate topics totally into the ground within one single post. I don't think Readers' Digest would ever let me write for them...I have difficulty "condensing" things...