Losers Will Be Eaten

This just in...The Headlight Herald reports the Garibaldi Annual Championship Crab Races are scheduled for March 10 and 11th.  The races start at noon and "are scheduled to end around 5 p.m., but organizers warn they could end early if they run out of racing crabs."

How they could run out of racing crabs with the event venue just feet from the bay?  How they can tell if they are "racing" crabs anyway?  The only advice I have for those crabs is, scamper like hell down that slippery track because the losers are first in the pot.

When I Grow Up...

My dream career as a child was to be a marine biologist.  I could imagine poking through tide pools all day long and getting paid for it.  What could be better?  Then I discovered I might have to go out into the ocean, on a boat, when the seas weren't calm, and I would most likely throw up.  Check that off the list....next.

My dream career then became a Pan Am stewardess (Hey, it was the sixties. They had great uniforms and that cool bag).   Not too much later I decided that flying around in turbulence, serving cocktails to frisky businessmen, wasn't the way to go either.  Next...

Seamstress for the band moved to the top of my list (The song "Tiny Dancer" must have been popular).  While working at the fabric shop about the same time, I had the opportunity to do some sewing for the local drag queen community.  Their bodies were not designed for the Vogue patterns they loved, so I altered the patterns and made fabulous gowns. Sewing is a hard way to earn a living, I gave up the dream.  Next...

Architect, because I fancied myself sitting behind a drafting table in a hip loft space and telling people at dinner parties about my profession.  Then my research suggested it was more about pleasing fussy clients who need closets the size of most apartments and knowing how much weight a wall could bear.  Next...

Waitress in a small town diner serving coffee and flap jacks to the locals.  Note: this career fantasy also requires me to be beautiful in a pink uniform, have a heart of gold, and a name badge that reads "LaVerne."  I call this a fantasy because I imagine when I take off my apron at the end of a shift, I am through thinking about work for the day with not a care in the world. What a luxury.

My business (love it as I do) stays with me in the evenings and as I toss and turn at night.  So I refuse to give up this fantasy and perhaps, one particularly bad day, I will walk away from it all.  You'll know where to find me, serving coffee to the local fishermen at The Cow Belle Cafe.  Just ask for LaVerne.

Where Did You See Beauty Today?

During even the dreariest of winters, occasionally the sun comes out for sunset.  Perhaps to remind us that it is still circling the Earth and to give us hope that spring will come once again.

It also reminds me to relish the beauty of each season.  These trees next to the bay are intricate and exquisite without their leaves and often overlooked as we race along Highway 101.

Yet Another Reason to "Set Sail"

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. 

So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. 

Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

It's Time To Set Sail

A ship in port is safe,
but that is not what ships are for.
 

Sail out to sea and do new things.

                                                                                                                       -Admiral Grace Hopper

Town Cow Finds a Home

As you may remember, we have been following this painted cow all over the county.  From the high school, to the wayside, to a radio station, to the parking lot of the local hardware store.  On a drive-by of the hardware store earlier this winter, we noticed the cow was missing and have been concerned.

Rumor has it, the unwanted bovine has at last found a permanent home outside the Mohler Grange in Mohler, Oregon. We plan to check for ourselves come spring. Meanwhile, rest easy as one more Tillamook County mystery as been solved.

Silver Lining

The squall passes and winter's silvery light dances along the shore.