No matter what coast I’m on, I’m fond of beachcombing. In my book, bigger is not always better so imagine my delight when I discovered these wee sand dollars on the Neskowin Beach. Aren’t they just amazing!
Finding joy in the little things, a bit of a life lesson, yes?
For the last part of my trip, Lisa and I headed out to the central Oregon coast. We exchanged the hot, dry sunshine of Portland for the cool, cloudy (and foggy) beaches of Neskowin and Lincoln City.
It was wonderful to revisit the place I lived back in 2018. I was fortunate to spend a lovely evening catching up with my old LC friends (sadly, I was having too much of a good time and completely neglected to take any photos).
As much as I enjoyed visiting the coast, it made me wonder how on earth I managed to survive living there- I was cold the entire time! The high was in the low 60s, a good 30 degrees cooler than what I’m currently accustomed to! 🥶
No matter the weather, it’s a beautiful place that will always have a special place in my heart.
It was a wonderful, sunny first day in Portland. Lisa and I spent the morning wandering nearby forested trails, stopping to smell the flowers and sample the various fruits we encountered along the way (not pictured: blackberries, blueberries, and figs).
We capped off the warm summer day with an outdoor concert by the Avett Brothers out at Edgefield. The historic property, built in 1911 as the county poor farm, went through several iterations before it was purchased by the McMenamin brothers in 1990. They restored many of the buildings, turning the old dormitory into an artsy hotel, while adding restaurants, pubs, a wine bar, movie theater, and even a golf course to the 74-acre property.
We had almost 14 hours of daylight and I think we made the most of them. Something this street art we encountered along the way reinforced.
Flew up to the Portland area yesterday to visit friends. I was greeted with gorgeous sunny weather (warm but blissfully cooler than the temperatures back home).
I’m splitting my time between the Portland area and the coast. It’s going to be a quick trip, just 5 days, but I’ll savor the time!
Nine years ago, I was introduced to the large-scale MindCrowd research project through the University of Arizona (my alma mater). There are a total of ten universities partnering on this effort to understand and ameliorate dementing diseases in the human brain.
One of MindCrowd’s goals is to better understand the average human brain (to enable researchers to pinpoint deleterious changes earlier). To achieve this they are looking for a million participants, as of now they are just over halfway.
You can contribute to this effort, well, effortlessly. All you need to do is answer some demographic questions and play a couple simple games on their website. One of the games tests your memory (see above), while another measures your response time (see below).
So, please, head on over to https://mindcrowd.org and give it a go! The brain you help could be your own…
Since I woke up earlier than normal, I switched my beach walk for a bayside one so that I could catch the sunrise. What a fantastic way to start the day!
Well, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that one of the cuttings I planted a few months ago has finally sprouted. The downside? I’m not sure what it is.
I typically keep notes on what I’ve planted but I’ve had such rotten luck with ginger and turmeric in the past that I’d rather given up on them. They are both in Zingiberaceae, the ginger family, and to be honest, I’ll be happy with whichever one it is.
Time will tell…
I volunteered this morning shoveling shells and hauling concrete balls as part of a shoreline restoration project. After having previously volunteered in the creation of oyster reef balls with Tampa Bay Watch, I was eager to get involved in the actual placement of them.
It was a big undertaking, thank goodness there were over 60 of us! The first stage was to haul and place 100 oyster reef balls just offshore, in the intertidal zone. The 200 pound concrete balls will help diffuse wave action while providing a hard substrate where oyster spat can attach.
While restoring oyster beds are important for improving water quality, these projects also create EFH (essential fish habitat). For the second stage we filled 1,000 mesh bags with shells. These 35 pound bags were then placed upshore of the reef balls to further protect the shoreline.
Needless to say, it was quite a workout! Though it was hot and humid at least we had some cloud cover that made the morning tolerable. I look forward to checking back on the project (when it’s cooler out) to see the improvements.
I had the good fortune to go out with friends to Passage Key this afternoon. The water was incredibly clear and calm, which was not only enjoyable but made it easy for us to keep an eye out for sharks.
It should come as no surprise that Florida leads the country in shark bites, of the 15 thus far this year 5 of them have occurred here (which does not include the rumored attacks from this long weekend). As the below graphic jokingly shows, there are definitely sharks in the salt water around here (24 species have been documented in the Gulf of Mexico).
Thankfully, our time in the water was blissfully uninterrupted. What a great way to spend a hot summer day!
While taking out the trash the other evening, something odd caught my eye. At first I thought it was a small bird tucked in the milo (grain sorghum) growing under my bird feeder, but upon closer inspection I saw that it was young rat.
I know they’re a reviled species but this little one was kind of adorable as it feasted on the seeds. It’s the first one I’ve seen in my yard, since I have a pretty good team of rodent control specialists (aka tom cats) in my neighborhood.
No matter the species, it makes me happy that wildlife enjoys my yard!
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