Moonwake: noun, when the moon’s reflection on the water seems to follow you as you walk.
Wispy Moon, Tucson, Arizona 2011
Archive for ‘Observations’
Afternoon in Newport
The middle of the month I headed down to Newport to check out the visiting tall ships. Both the Hawaiian Chieftain and the Lady Washington were in port for a short stay. As an admitted Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl fan I just had to tour the HMS Interceptor (Lady Washington’s screen name).
Biggest takeaway? Even though she is a full-scale replica of an actual brig with the same name (one that, incidentally, opened the black pearl trade with Asia), she’s small!
Other sights from the bay: the Never Again #9, sorting bins for Dungeness Crab, extra-long Sea Lion whiskers, rope flotsam, rocks at low tide, green waves.
Wordnesday
Since it still insists on acting like winter in some parts of the country…
Apricity: noun. The warmth of the sun in winter.
Beach, Lincoln City, Oregon 02-2018
Wordnesday
Frondesce: verb. The unfurling of leaves. As in, the fern was frondescing.
Furled fern frond, Lincoln City, Oregon 2018
End of an Era
Heart-wrenching day. Earlier, I said goodbye to my sweet, wise, and loving cat, Bailey. After 18 years together, his little body just gave out on him. He was such a character! Even though physically small, he ruled the household (keeping three successive cats in line). He behaved more like a dog; would fetch, play in water, alert me to dangers such as scorpions or snakes, loved to cuddle, and had an uncanny ability to sense my mood. Every night I was home he slept curled up by my right shoulder; kneading my hair, his purr a calming lullaby. I miss you, little dude…
Loved to be Outside
Teaching Wylie a Lesson
Showing Me a Snake
Navigating in the RV
Allowing Rookie to Cuddle
Bailey and Sylvester
Baby Bailey, 2000
Partial Sun Halo
Sunny, But Still…
The sun shone all day but it was only able to warm us up to 50 degrees which, coincidentally, is the average temperature of our section of the Pacific Ocean this time of year. A brisk 12mph wind meant that the air temperature felt more like 45 degrees, according to NOAA’s nifty Wind Chill Calculator. All that information so that you can fully appreciate the following scene:
Location, Location, Location
Two west-facing houses across the street from the ocean with two vastly different viewpoints…
Time for Reflection
Worth the Journey
A little over 1400 miles to drive crammed in my Prius with the stuff I didn’t feel comfortable shipping and two cats…my journey began. First off, allow me a small rant about I-5 – it stinks! In southern California the traffic is horrific. In the central section it narrows to two lanes each way with an astounding number of semi-trucks (and some genius set their speed limit at 55mph while the rest of us zip along at 70mph which works just fine until one semi decides to pass another and we all have to slam on our brakes). In northern CA, and almost all the way to Eugene, I-5 winds through mountains which I happened upon at night with fog, deer, rain, and falling rock. Just a jolly ol’ time!
On top of all that, the denizens of my vehicle were NOT happy campers. I was tense from navigating road hazards, Bailey was severely constipated from stress, while Wylie reverted to feral after my (apparently) ill-advised attempt to enclose her in the bathroom at the hotel the night before. I started that leg of our trip with blood dripping from both hands.
In those moments, doubt barrels in. Who the hell was I to think I could follow my dreams?! And yet, after all that I was able to spend this morning on the beach. What a way to start the day! Other positive items: my boxes arrived with very few broken items, Bailey is feeling better, and Wylie tolerated me for 5 minutes. Perhaps I am doing the right thing after all…
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