When You're Young At Heart

I could have also titled this post, Crazy which probably goes without saying.

Anyway, the bamboo is running rampant (literally) in the yard and needed a home where it wouldn't roam. We bought these "cattle watering units" in town to use as planters. I thought they looked like bathtubs and wanted to have some fun before they were filled. Because Bob is as equally crazy, he agreed.

Won't this photo make a nice Christmas card?

RIP Town Cow

I stumbled upon this rather disturbing scene on my way to the beach. It appeared to be a fresh grave set at the edge of the Wayside. After a momentary panic, I realized it was the remains of the town cow I posted about a few months ago. http://saltairstation.blogspot.com/2010/11/where-now-green-cow.html

What the heck happened to it? I remember there was talk of a petition to have it moved, but that was the last I had heard. I searched the area for clues, but found none. Since there are no "Missing: Have You Seen This Cow?" posters stapled to the telephone poles around town, I must believe he is in a better place.

Joyful Noise

My dad told me yesterday he was happy a young family moved into the house across the street because once again his neighborhood is filled with the sound of children at play.

I too love the sound of the kids on our street playing outside on a spring day. I also love all the other sounds they make like crying for a bottle, squealing as they run from the waves and shouting at each other as if being louder will win the argument…or will it?

Even on an airplane, the sounds they make don’t trouble me. They are just being kids. Kids who don’t know why they must stay buckled into a chair for hours. It must be very frustrating to be held captive and not to understand why. In fact, when I hear a child screaming five hours into a flight, I am thinking “You said it, buddy, I feel the exact same way.”

There are also days when I have to use all of my "adult power" not to:

Hop around, wildly flapping my arms when I find a dollar bill in my coat pocket
or
Scream because I can’t have any dessert
or
Make faces at people during a meeting to try to make them laugh
or
Throw myself on the floor because I don’t want to go to the grocery store
or
Tell the airport security agent to, “Make me!” when he asks me to take off my shoes.

How delightful to be able to express what you are feeling. It is truly joyful noise!

All Washed Up

These are Bob’s beach barbells. He built them with two floats and a piece of driftwood we found on Nedonna Beach. He then proceeded do his strong man act for me and I was, of course, required to swoon.

Besides finding the100 year old shipwreck , we really haven’t found too many treasures while beachcombing. The good news is we haven’t found too much garbage either, our beach is pretty clean. All that might change in the upcoming years as researchers in Hawaii have created a simulation showing exactly how the houses, tires, chemicals and trees washed to sea by the March 11 tsunami will float across the Pacific and eventually hit the US coast.

“PSU oceanographer, Curt Petersen, has studied ocean currents for years. He says debris from the Japanese tsunami is currently making its way across the Pacific Ocean. Debris is getting caught up in the system of ocean currents that will eventually circulate it over to our coast. Peterson believes the heavier debris will sink, but he predicts we will see the lighter stuff, including washed-up timber from all the devastated structures, in about a year.” Source: The Oregonian.

The devastation of the tsunami will be undeniable for those of us living on the Oregon Coast.

Two, Two, Two Days in One

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. " ~John Muir, 1913

Somehow it seems perfect when Earth Day and Good Friday coincide. Enjoy the day!

Ooooh That Smell, Can't You Smell That Smell?

There must be a fancy, Latin name for this plant, but I don't know what it is. It is often referred to as "Skunk Cabbage" probably because it stinks! Each spring they come up in the bogs around town, of which there are many. Huge leaves and bright yellow flowers that are pretty enough but what a smell. The frogs don't seem to mind as they cohabitate in these swampy areas singing beautifully on spring nights.

It was reported in the local paper that due to the cold weather, the black bears are a little late getting up from their long winter naps. It was also reported that this pungent plant is one of their favorite meals along the coast upon waking up. Good information to have so I don't get between a hungry black bear and it's first meal.

Perhaps skunk cabbage tastes better than it smells, another fact I will never learn!

More Splish, Splash

This guy never minds taking a dip in the water either, although he was hunting not washing last week!