Day 2 of my beach getaway. Random thoughts.
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Sometimes just being away is enough. I could almost have checked into a motel across town from my house and gotten the same benefit of “away-ness.” Of course dramatic surf, art galleries, and amazing restaurants are a plus, but not really necessary.
The perspective is what matters.
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Being warm is good, too. My house is very cold and hard to heat. Being chilly all the time makes me feel as pathetic as Oliver Twist.
This, too, shall be remedied in time, but right now, it’s fantastic to remedy it simply by turning a thermostat. The wood stove here is just atmospheric gravy.
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Just waiting, in a comment on yesterday’s blog eloquently expresses my exact feelings about the ocean and being near it.
It seems strange to “recreate” next to such a powerful, unpredictable killer beast.
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I brought most of my own food for this getaway, but promised myself one Big Indulgence meal each day. Today it was breakfast. To wit: a Dungeness crab omelet topped with Havarti dill cheese and half an avocado, served with a bowl of fresh fruit on the side. I’m not actually that huge a fan of either Dungeness crab or avocados, but it sounded exotic enough to be interesting. And it was. Very tasty, with enough crabmeat in there to feed several sailors.
I promised you some photos, and the omlet was so pretty I whipped out my camera to take a picture of it. But — groan — “lens error.” Funny how carrying a camera around in a pocket full of lint and dog hair will do that. So no personal pix from this trip. Not one. 🙁
But since I promised, I’ve posted a ‘Net-found photo below. Um, not of an omlet.
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This town is noted for its art galleries: I gallery hop and admire, but don’t touch. Between the galleries are shops full of high-class beach kitch, fancy novelties, and inexpensive imports. Some of those are nice enough to be tempting. (And get this, there are two shops devoted solely to dog-related merchandise.) I’m resisting. So far.
I’m Christmas shopping for two friends. One is easy to buy for; the only problem in shopping for her is finding too many things I know she’d love. The other friend is the hardest person in the world to buy for. She is so self-effacing, so self-sacrificing, so eager to place her interests beneath everybody else’s that finding anything just for her is impossible. Last Christmas I gave her a gift certificate for a massage; I have a sneaking suspicion she never used it, maybe even gave it away despite my stern admonitions.
I want to ply her with small luxuries. She patiently resists being plied.
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A seagull just landed on the deck railing outside my window and is staring in at me as if he expects a handout. Sorry, bird. Ain’t happening. He looks pretty well fed without my help.
Even if I were inclined to share goodies with him, it’s apparently verboten. The one thing I don’t like about this town and the whole yuppie culture it exemplifies is how much is controlled or forbidden. No feeding the seagulls is just a sample.
Before being “allowed” to stay anywhere in town, every guest over the age of two has be be registered, in advance, on a police form. Ugh. The instructions on what I’m supposed to do with whatever trash I generate during my stay are so complicated (complete with penalties for not putting the exact right thing in the exact right recepticle) that I’ll probably just pack my trash back home rather than risk committing a grave and costly offense against local propriety.
Today was trash day and I swear I counted at least four different hauling/recycling vehicles rumbling up this tiny street. I wanted to run out and apologize for not having anything for them.
Meanwhile, Mr. or Ms Gull is still staring and I think I’ll have a late lunch now just to drive the poor old bird crazy.
So I’ll leave you with that promised photo. Now everybody who knows the Oregon coast knows exactly where I am:
Are you joking about the police form trash regulations? I’m from Florida and have traveled extensively outside of the US an east coast. however I have never been on the west coast. Everytime I think of making the trip I think of the old saying: “California the land of fruits, nuts, and a few flakes “. I was hoping Oregon would be different since your hotel sounds wonderful. But now I’m thinking the Kali flakes must have invaded.
Well, I was pretty sure you weren’t in Garibaldi.
Registering on a police form? I can’t roll my eyes back far enough for that.
Dick, Oregon has been leftward leaning for a long time, going back at least to the days of Tom McCall. However, there was, for a long time, and maybe still is, a definite anti-California sentiment there. Oregon was, quite early, IIRC, on the environmentatlism bandwagon. Which is a bit odd, considering the timber economy. Though the existence of that economy, including paper mills, is probably what attracted the environmentalists. The paper mills were pretty nasty, I admit.
Alas, I’m not joking about having to register on a police form. Whether the management company turns the form over to the cops or just keeps it for reference, I don’t know. Not joking about the trash regulations, either. They were so complicated I finally just quit reading them.
jed is right. Oregon isn’t California, but it’s … well, Oregon. Very blue state. Very environmentalist. Has been for a long, long time.
Still, if you want to see the most beautiful beaches on the Pacific Coast, this is where to find them.
Good grief, remind self to never go to the Oregon coast.
I just thought about it, though, and nobody ever even asked for government ID. Or any ID for that matter. I could have registered as Ablamasnort Xlsnoff and they wouldn’t necessarily know.
BTW, that gull (who, in my idleness, I resarched and discovered to be a western gull) is still sitting on the deck rail, staring. Did Alfred Hitchcock know something I should know?
It’s not a gull, it’s a drone. Just kidding. I’d love to see that part of the country. Someday.
I hope you have a grand time and enjoy yourself despite the greenies.
“It’s not a gull, it’s a drone.”
LOL! Sent by the local greenies to make sure I’m properly separating trash from recyclables. If I don’t — ZAP!
Thanks for the good wishes. I am enjoying myself. Very much. I don’t think I’ll stay an extra day, but I’ll explore a little more of the coast tomorrow and have plans to have my Big Indulgence meal at a Mexican place — an all-organic, fair-trade, etc. Mexican place, of course. What other kind is there hereabouts?
Heh.
I completely understand the desire to escape. Back when I had both a little bit of time and a little bit of money (and before I was married) I could sometimes manage it.
And I understand the appeal of the gorgeous little place you’ve described, especially the woodstove.
But the Lawn Order you describe is why my go-to bolt-hole, for several years, was a cheap motel across the street from my favourite bar. I’d hole up like Hunter S. Thompson to eat, drink, write and socialise- in whatever measure I liked- for a weekend. When I’d had many too many, I could duck back across the road and snooze for awhile. When I woke up again and was hungry or thirsty, back to the pub I went. Nobody asked any stupid questions, nobody wanted me to sign on the lines, and nobody gave a shit what I carried. The owners were old friends of mine, and we’d compare toys out back on breaks.
That pub’s gone now, a victim of local bureaucracy and the gradual appearance of a lousy Crowd. Damn but I miss that place.
I woulda fed the gull just to be an outlaw. But on the blog I would have written just what you wrote. 😉
I had a house that was infested by Cold Demons. Or something. The only forms of heat were electric baseboard heaters (which I had had before and worked well in the other house) and a wood stove (ditto) and my house was always frigid. I seriously got the wood stove hot enough to begin to glow a time or two and the heat radiated about 3 feet from the stove…. and vanished. I ended up living in my bedroom, where the baseboard heat worked slightly better) and only coming out for bathroom trips and to find food (which I took back to the bedroom to eat). Not my favorite house. Considering all the other horrible things that happened to me there, it wouldn’t have been anyway.
Vacations are good things 😎
BTW, I finally remembered after months of forgetting to link thru for amazon purchases to do so. Hope it helps 😎
Oh, c’mon, nature girl! You can enjoy the OR coast without dealing with all that crap. There are, for example, campgrounds. Some places, you can camp on the beach — just be sure you know where the high-tide mark is. And there is lots of cool stuff. Wineries, if that’s your thing, or the cheese factory in Tillamook. When I was a kid, the Newport Aquarium was THE THING to go to. I hope it’s still there. And of course, the coastline itself.
Last time I was there (a long time ago), I gathered some driftwood at Ecola Park. Turns out, that’s illegal. The Park Ranger didn’t do anything but tell me to put it down. I was almost to my car. I offered to go back to the beach and return it. No? Well OK.
My other beach story involves a business to trip Pt. Mugu, in California. Flew into Ventura in the AM, picked up my car, and drove South looking for someplace to park so I could hit the beach. I carried my camera gear everywhere back then. Finally, near Carpenteria, I found a good spot, and set off hiking down the beach. Mostly, I was looking at the ocean, and the flora and fauna. After about a half-mile, I found myself at the clothing-optional area. I initially felt rather conspicuous, with a camera bag, tripod, and a Pentax. But, I didn’t bother anyone, so nobody bothered me.
You should see that town on the busy summer weekends. The police literally control traffic into the town starting right at Hwy 101. You can also get a good laugh at their emergency preparedness. The tsunami evacuation routes and assembly areas, or what I like to call the “kumbaya” signs. They have even set up a storage container at the assembly area so that local residents can have a barrel of supplies just in case the worst happens. Who is going to be checking IDs to be sure that you are claiming the correct barrel. Glad I moved out of that state to the north side of the big river. Mo’s is good for clam chowder. Pig N’ Pancake is good for breakfast. Dooggers is a little obsessive about adding shrimp to any of your entrees. Enjoy the winter storms.
Since that bird was so patiently persistent, I’m guessing that at least one or two scofflaws have previously stayed there. It doesn’t take much to convince a seagull that there’s always food attached to humans. Glad the getaway is producing the desired rest and relaxation.
The image of Claire Wolfe actually filling out a police form… 🙁
But glad you enjoyed yourself anyway. 🙂
Not long ago, helping my wife look for a place to invest in real estate, I went into wikipedia looking for Oregon beach towns with a high percentage of kids and a low percentage of retirees (we prefer being around kids, even teenagers 😉 ). The town you happened to pick was one of the highest in retirees. Rich yuppie retirees, just the recipe for fascism. The best for kids was places like Astoria and Tillamook, neither of which is actually on the beach (although the latter is good if you like cows). Seaside had a pretty high percentage of kids, but if there is a big tsunami the whole town will be wiped out.
Most readers may not get the tsunami references. We are not talking tsunamis from a quake in Japan (although a recent one wrecked a few boats in Depoe Bay). The Cascadia subduction zone, the same one that created the Cascade Mountains, is just offshore on the Oregon Coast. It has historically had massive quakes, and is overdue for the next big one. Any associated tsunami would truly be a wrecker. In a way it’s like living next to the Yellowstone Caldera (we have a place there as well as on the Oregon Coast, heh).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zone
As to seagulls, they are pests; they crap all over everything. People string wires on their roofs just to dissuade groups of them from taking up residence there. They’d keep their distance from humans normally, but it is a federal crime to kill one or maybe even to chase them. Making it illegal to feed them is a good reason to do it anyway, but I’d abide by a polite request not to feed them.
I wouldn’t be too hard on Oregonians politically. It’s still the only state, I believe, that has outlawed civil forfeiture, and also regulatory takings (both via initiative), although the legislature basically overturned the latter. Oregon has also historically been one of the most anti-war states.
BTW if you google “tsunami” with the name of the Oregon town you are visiting, you can usually find a map where they figure the tsunami zones are. Of course there is also earthquake damage to think about! Here is Lincoln City’s:
http://www.co.lincoln.or.us/planning/transportation/Appendices/Appendix%20A/LincolnCityEvac.pdf
Paul — Interesting info all around.
And yes, thanks for the info on the Cascadia subduction zone. Living in the zone, I forget that the whole world doesn’t know that this is, in fact, the most dangerous megathrust quake zone in the world right now — being the only portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire than hasn’t broken in hundreds of years. We are indeed overdue for a 9.0 quake. And when that hits — when, not if — the locally generated tsunami could be 60-100 feet high. Entire coastal communities, including the whole 28-mile Long Beach Peninsula (big beachy resort area) in WA state, will be … unthinkable.
Although my little vacation rental is high up on a hill, it’s still within the evacuation zone for a local tsunami (though not for one coming in from a distance).
In fact, the latest research on the Cascadia subduction zone hints that, while the impact on inland cities like Seattle and Portland may be somewhat less than people fear, though still catastrophic, the coastal tsunamis could be worse.
Until the 1970s, scientific “common wisdom” was that the Pacific NW was more or less quake-safe — that we could have 7-pointers, but nothing major. More recent research (really fascinating scientific detective story) paints a dramatic and terrifying picture.
I’ve been fascinated by seismology since I was a kid. Fascinated and scared s*tless.
Another BTW (sorry to monopolize the conversation). I just remembered an article I wrote about dancing with Oregon coastal town bureaucrats. You might find it interesting, Claire; it even has dog references. 🙂
http://ncc-1776.org/tle2013/tle728-20130707-06.html
Jed, you describe how most of California is even though you call it Oregon. LOL. And since you also mention Cali, then you’ll get that comment even more. But I was lost at the whole form-list-registering part of it (anywhere). I think I’ll stick to looking at pictures of how pretty it is up there, heh.
I’m always amazed at what should be public land is loaded with “do not signs” and too much of the USA seem to have a ton of areas like that. Unfortunately I can’t blame the gov for that, it’s usually busybody people who decide they will dictate the masses actions based on their own preferences.
“She is so self-effacing, so self-sacrificing, so eager to place her interests beneath everybody else’s that finding anything just for her is impossible.”
First things first, let’s do some business. Is this woman single? We could balance each other out since I might be her polar opposite… I’ll take those massages no questions asked.
As for beach living in liberal shitholes, my Dad owned a beach house in California for years. I really do love it. it was restorative to my soul (of course there are those who claim I don’t have one, but never mind). The community itself was largely made up of farmers from the valley (retire, sell you property to a developer and you’re instant a multimillionaire). not exactly idiot yuppies to say the least. But oh my, there’s the California Coastal Commision. A more totalitarian bunch the world has never seen.
A little OT, but a perfect fit… One idea that’s been percolating in my evil mind is that we need to introduce wolves into major West Coast Cities like Seattle, Portland, SF and LA. However, all up and down the West Coast would be excellent. The Fascists that inhabit these areas are the people who are largely responsible for introduction of Wolves into Yellowstone Basin, which is responsible for the total destruction of the Moose and Elk population, not to mention putting quite a few ranchers out of business even though the Feds promised they would not allow that to happen. One thing all these liberal shitholes have in common is they’ve lost nature’s balance. Reintroducing wolves would curtail the homeless problem (although, every liberal knows that Wolves don’t bother humans, so it would be a wonderful experiment) not to mention help out with the stray pet problem. My mind runs wild with the expectation of a freshly educated (if reduced) Liberal population on the West Coast. OK, sorry, I’m in a mood. You enjoy your trip and nothing like a great breakfast.
Tell ENthePeasant I already have three boys to care for and yes one is a husband. Claire your gifts are always appreciated. I ate all the of the wonderful sauces and butters you made. I am still planning on that message, just having trouble reconciling their schedule with mine. I will just have to plan on a long lunch soon. That certificate is sitting in view on my desk calling me daily. You are so kind to think of me, but you know my favorite gifts are always the home made ones, well and chocolate. It’s my kryptonite, what can I say.
I knew it! How sad for me… if good for you.
Sorry EN. Because believe me, furrydoc is not only a terrific human being, a brainiac, a fantastic mother, and an awesome vet, she’s a gorgeous woman. (My inadequate portrait of her is here: http://serenityhillgems.com/images/Gina-medium.jpg)
And LOL, furrydoc! While I was at the beach, I spotted many, many charming and funny chocolate-related items (oddly enough, the best of them were also in a dog-supply store; how’s that for poetic?). But you are so low-key about your chocoholism that I didn’t even know. Oh well …
I did find something for you at last. Not chocolate-related.
Go use that massage certificate before the paper crumbles to dust. That’s an order.
Nice Portrait!
OMG! I hope someone doesn’t steal my identity now that you have outed me. Although, I don’t think it would do them any good with the IRS. No refunds coming this way. You are always too kind to me thanks for the sweet compliments.
Wow, Claire. That’s a very, very nice painting.
Re: the 3D printing. Directly from the mouth of a ATF field agent: “in five years we [the agency] will be irrelevant.”
Now great minds need to get cracking on how to develop quality ammo at the local level.
I really can’t picture having to fill out a police form just to visit a place. Wow.
On a slightly different note, hanging blankets on the walls might help with keeping the house warm. Those wool tapestries that used to be popular weren’t just for show!