Looking For His Shadow...or Food

Spring has finally arrived at the Oregon Coast and the squirrels who make their home in the Rockaway Wayside boulders have reappeared.  It was a cold, wet winter and they seemed pleased to be finally  basking in the sun.  We counted a total of eight rascals that warm afternoon.

While happy to pose for pictures, they required a treat for doing so, as if to say, "OK, people, let's remember the rules now.  All this cute will cost you!"

Breakfast at the Roadkill Cafe

The morning's menu features assorted rodents, birds and the blue-plate special is skunk.

Traveling through the Oregon Coast Range at daybreak, our car rounded a curve and frightened crows dining near the yellow painted lines.  They left their flattened meal and quickly scattered.  Some took to the trees, while others hopped to the edge of the road anxious to get back to breakfast.  At first, we thought it was a random event and soon it became apparent that around EVERY corner was another set of patrons picking at the breakfast.  This went on for miles and miles.

We dubbed Highway 6 the Roadkill Cafe and can't remember it ever being so busy, but then it was a Sunday morning. Brunch,  perhaps? Or a particularly festive, woodland animal party complete with plenty of reckless behavior on Saturday night?


 

Go Ask Alice

Design and wording: Cija Black   
Photo: Nancy Zavada

Rainbows

This spider spoke in rainbows.  As the light caught the web blowing gently in the wind, prisms of color appeared from yellow, to green, all the way to purple.  Each puff of wind shifted the spectrum which danced before my eyes.

Today's Recipe

 

Ingredients for a perfect day:

• Take 1 partly cloudy afternoon
• Heat to 60 degrees
• Set outside in colorful Adirondack chairs
• Layer with a soft lap blanket
• Add 1 intriguing book and a crossword puzzle
• Stir with several hours of the rare ingredient "nothing urgent to get accomplished"
• Bake until toasty warm with a crackling fire
• Finish with a splash of salt air

 

 

 

Problem SOLVEd

This little guy playing on the beach at Rockaway would like to say thank you to SOLVE and the 3,700 volunteers who combed Oregon's beaches for trash on March 31st.

During the annual spring beach cleanup an estimated 58,883 pounds of trash were removed from Oregon's coastline, 9,580 pounds from the beaches of Tillamook County alone.  Along with the usual suspects--styrofoam takeout containers and plastic bags--some unique items were hauled away:

• Five gallons of spent shotgun shells
• Baby food bottles (reportedly found all along the beach leading people to speculate a cargo ship lost its load)
• Half a canoe
• Box of paperback books
• Two port-a-potties

No "tsunami trash" was found.

I would like to add my thanks to all of you who make our community a better place to live and breathe!

Source: Headlight Herald, 4/4/12

As If By Magic, Spring Arrives

Winter's moss drips from the trees over the Wilson River.  Spring buds are ready to explode as the days grow longer.  The Oregon Coast Range wakes up from a long winter's nap. 

Eye of the Needle

A sunny afternoon catches this fishing boat peeking through the hole in Twin Rocks.

S'more Peeps, Please!

You may have a flock of these fluffy puffs of sugar showing up in your home this time of year.  You may also enjoy s'mores during your summer beach campfires.  Why not combine the two?  Because as sweet as their little faces are, they are even sweeter smashed in a s'more. 

Yes, that glittery sugar coating caramelizes when stuck on a stick and held over an open flame. Once toasted, nestle the gooey peep between chocolate and a graham cracker for a crisp sugary layer that is decadent.  You will never go back to marshmallows!

The peeps currently gracing your Easter baskets can be used all summer long.  They don't expire, mold, decompose or otherwise change, which is good news (or bad news if you are health conscious).  So bag them up on Easter Monday and throw them in with the summer gear.

Full disclosure:  My son invented this recipe, not because he was designing a tempting taste treat, but rather because he wanted to "watch them burn."  He brought his Easter peeps to torture one summer after keeping them hidden and the rest is culinary history.  

Look for our bonfire in Rockaway this summer.  We'll be the ones roasting pink peeps.

I Remember You

The tulips turn their colorful blooms to face the sun.  Each of us do the same hoping this brief sunshine is a sign of longer love affair.  A love affair with the sun who we miss so much.