Beware!

Yikes! Luckily, he is not as scary as he looks.

We have made it a tradition to be at the beach for Halloween. There are so many trick-or-treaters and scores of houses are vacant this time of year. It is very sad that so many of the older residents turn off their lights and bolt their doors instead of welcoming the little ones for good old-fashioned fun. All witches, pirates, princesses and sponge bobs welcome at our place--the more the merrier.

Note to self: Never grow old in spirit!

Happy Halloween!

False Advertising

I'm sorry, but my Paradise doesn't have a laundromat to wash my own clothes!

Giants in the Neighborhood

Yesterday we found a treasure just six blocks due south from home--an old growth cedar wetlands perserve. Seriously, who knew? In all my time here I have never, ever heard anyone even mention it. Yet there it was at the end of a residential gravel road, not marked, no parking lot, nothing that would lead you to believe it was there.

Dropping bread crumbs as we ventured into the forest along a trail that was incredibly "boggy" in places. Navigating huge dips in the trail that were actually the divets left by enormous trees that had fallen. We stopped to look up at the wall of roots which were 15-20 feet wide. Amazing sights followed one after another along the trail--giant trees, a bald eagle's nest (we even heard it's call), a sweet salamander, and stunning fungi.

At the end of the trail was a magnificent Western Red Cedar with a 49 foot circumference. Its sheer size gave the impression it was more of a community than a single tree. Being in its presence was very spiritual as we sat quietly pondering its majesty and the magic of being surrounded by an ancient forest. Eventually and reluctantly we followed the trail to return home.

Happily, we know we will return again and again. Next time I will bring the camera in an attempt to capture our experience and share it with you.

Blowin' in the Wind

There was a furious storm several weekends ago that had my weather station reporting 67 mph wind gusts. The strange part about it was how warm it was at 63 degrees F. So we had the windows open listening to the rain and the wind in the trees. It was as if the whole house was breathing in and out with each strong gust taking on a life of it's own. It was quite fun, but then I love a good storm.

The next few days after the storm were warm and lovely. While our beach combing didn't turn up any floats or bottles with messages, the remnants were exquisite shimmering in the sun!

"After the storm the world is left in a brief moment of purity, stripped of all its airy evils, the air is fresh and sweet to the smell." Nicholas Belt

Road Side Attraction

Driving through Tillamook yesterday evening we came across a state trooper with his flashing lights on. We couldn't figure out who he pulled over until we looked past him to the field usually reserved for dairy cows.

There in the field was an entire herd of elk grazing away apparently unaware they were in cow territory and on private land. The elk were quite beautiful and many had impressive racks of antlers. I am not sure how they got past the fence or their plan to get out again--they didn't seem concerned and neither did the cows.

The trooper seemed to be the most concerned about keeping the local citizens from "tagging" the elk as it is hunting season.

Football and Drunken Sailors

What do these two things have in common you might ask? Neah-Kah-Nie High School--home of the Pirates--hosted a Friday night football game last week. We couldn't resist joining in and watching the home team.

The evening was warm as the players took the field. The pep band struck up a tune to cheer them on and the rally girls furiously shook their pom poms and danced...it was a familiar melody. Suddenly we realized the words to the song were..."What'll we do with the drunken sailor....what'll we do with the drunken sailor...early in the morning." We laughed until we cried but nobody else in the stands seemed to think it odd these young women were motivating their team with the drunken sailor song.

I guess when you are a Fighting Pirate, disposing of a Drunken Sailor is part of the game and well worth cheering about!