Where The Heck Have I Been?
It's been so long since I posted, I was feeling GUILTY...

Actually, I've been here all the time. I haven't gone anywhere, unless I went somewhere in my dreams, although I hardly ever dream (that I know of) and when I DO remember my dreams, they're usually lacking both clarity and any sense of logic. Such is my life...purple haze...runnin' thru my brain...

They Say You Can See For Over Twenty Miles: I spent the afternoon at Bastendorff Beach, about 6 miles south of Coos Bay, and what was I doing, you ask? I really didn't go down to the beach; instead, I pulled into the parking lot of the campground above the beach. When parked up there, about 100 feet above the ocean, you can see waaay, waaay out...on a clear day, that is. Today, clouds moved in towards afternoon, but still, the view was great, as always. One of my favorite things to do is use my handy-dandy pair of cheap binoculars and try to see ships that are waay out there. Today, I spotted an irregularly-sized "hump" shaped craft which was probably 20 miles out when I first saw it. I watched it off and on until the clouds moved in...and it disappeared! Where did it go? It had to be something big, 'cos out there on the horizon, it could be seen with the naked eye...

Evidently that "hump" kept moving towards the coast, because when the clouds lifted 45 minutes later, it was still out there, but was a heck of a lot closer. And as it moved closer towards the entrance of the bay inlet, the "hump" image I'd originally seen began to clarify itself...a good-sized tugboat was towing a huge barge full of logs that came from, well, who knows...(ironic, since all the mills around here shut down long ago)...and when I say "large barge", I mean "large" since it was probably the length of a football field, and probably weighed TONS. Evidently it takes a lot of talent to bring that load across the 'bar' (the inlet which leads from the shoreline into the bay); having researched the history around here, I've found quite a lot of ships have wrecked on the bar over the years, due usually to ferocious winter storms.



The above photo is an approximation of what I saw today. (I'm too cheap to buy my own camera...) Here, a tugboat tows a huge (and empty) wood-chip barge, and the vessels here are approaching the "bar", leading to the bay. You can see the South "jetty" (rock wall); in between that and the North "jetty", is the entrance to the bay. The barge is filled with wood chips at a processing plant on the bay, and then is towed back out to sea and transported to wherever wood chips are shipped to. I've heard that Japan is actually a quite large wood-chip market...the wood chips are used to make all kinds of prefabricated things, probably. The log barge I saw today was about the size of the vessel being towed here. (You can tell I'm not all that acquainted with the industry, but I sure love the ocean, and it's so fascinating to live here after being landlocked in North Idaho for so many years.)

The New Carissa, a tanker that ran aground in a storm back in the 1990's, actually Split In Half when the Powers That Be tried to tow it back out to sea. The imposing rusted hull is stuck to this day on the beach north of the bar. The EPA or whoever wants to tow the hull off the bar this year...but a lot of the locals have said the hull's been on the beach so long that it's become part of the folklore, and that it should just be left where it is. Still, it's gonna get towed this spring sometime. Unless something goes wrong. (Again!) The removal of this hull, which isn't really hurting anything by being on the beach, will be just another case of Your Tax Dollars At Work. It oughta cost gazillions to remove.
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The First Cut Is The Deepest: I had my splinter-removal finger surgery on April 17th. Between then and last night, I hadn't had the courage to even LOOK at my finger, but I figured, "well, maybe I should let it get some air", plus, the original bandage was beginning to fall apart. Turns out I have a V-shaped incision that's close to two inches long on the "thumb" side of the finger. Yeah, it's kinda gross-looking and tender...but looking on the bright side, at least they operated on the correct digit (the nurse actually drew arrows on that finger with a pen) and when I woke up from the anesthetic, Nothing Had Been Amputated. So there went my chances for a lucrative malpractice suit, 'cos the doctors did everything RIGHT. Actually, for a smaller area, the medical community down here is quite good. I should know; I've seen more doctors in the last year here, than I've seen anywhere else at Any Point In My Life. Guess I must be getting old and falling apart. The stitches should be taken out at my April 30th appointment. Hopefully my finger won't fall off. Or I might just have to generate that malpractice suit after all.

Brain-Teaser: What famous singer-songwriter WROTE the song, "First Cut Is The Deepest"? You'll find out in the italicized portion at the end of this post. Assuming, of course, that this post actually HAS an end...
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Take Me Out To The Ball Game: (Wait, don't.) It's the same old story with the Seattle Mariners so far this year. Hitters who should be hitting aren't hitting (how's that for repetition), and when the starting pitching's good, the relievers fall apart, either that or the M's end up playing come-from-behind baseball due to a starter falling apart., and as all the baseball Gods know, when yer team is down early, they'll Lose more than they'll Win. And last night, when they WON, closer J.J. Putz couldn't find the strike zone, although he eventually did, but he gave up 2 runs in the 9th, and things got pretty scary. Today, Kid Felix was on the mound and he did GREAT through 7 innings. Trouble was, he couldn't find the plate in the 8th, and when he did, he got hit hard. And so the M's found yet another innovative way to lose. It's gonna be a long season.

For the second year in a row, M's sportscaster Rick Rizzs is NOT on the TV side of things at all. I wonder why. He's not the ugliest person that's ever walked the face of the earth. I've long complained about Rizzs, but I'd rather hear him than the new M's TV announcers. For some reason, broadcast veteran Dave Niehaus (super-cool guy) broadcasts the early part of the games on TV, then joins Mr. Rizzs on the radio side. Niehaus' way of calling a game is endlessly fascinating. I think he's a real treasure. Anyway, I find myself, more and more, watching the M's telecasts with the sound off, and listening to the radio instead. Plus, the post-game shows are funny...fans and analysts alike spend an hour griping and whining about all the M's woes. Guess I don't need to watch "Days Of Our Lives" when I can watch/hear the Mariners instead.
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It's a BOY! (Do I need to pass out cigars here?) Up front, Kids, Almost All Of Them, drive me absolutely NUTS. CRAZY. BONKERS. Or whatever other descriptive you wanna use. I honestly don't know how Parents can keep up with them, if they can at all. But I'm celebrating a New Arrival soon. And I've gotta drive up all the way to Portland to get him. I must be NUTS. CRAZY. BONKERS. Only, this little boy is a PARROT...a fairly-unknown breed called the PIONUS (say "pie-OH-nuss"), known for their subtle and stable ways. They're not great talkers, but they don't scream their heads off, either, so that's good. Which is why kids drive me, well, you know...because of all the constant hubbub and noise they generate. I honestly can't take it. I'm sure the neighborhood kids around here think I'm an old fuddy-duddy grouch. Harrumph. Anyway, back to the Parrot...he's been raised by a breeder in the midwest. I've got a big cage and a whole lot of bird-toys waiting for him, so he can be a goofy little parrot and play to his hearts' content. Below, you'll find a picture of him...how could you say 'no' to a face like this?

Meet "Ringo", the bronze-winged Pionus parrot. The bird-breeder lady says this is a good name for him, since in some circles, the name "Ringo" is synonymous with the term, "Big Beak".

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NOT THAT THIS HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING: I found a political cartoon on the web recently, so I thot I'd post it here...what, did you think I was gonna author a post that didn't somehow malign the present Prezzidential administration?

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And finally...you might remember that "First Cut Is The Deepest" was a fairly big hit for Rod Stewart, back in the late '70s...I think it's a really great song. But I was surprised, when I first got that record, that it was written by CAT STEVENS, who doesn't write many songs these days, since, as Yusef Islam, has been some sort of Zealot Monk for the last decade and a half.