Vacating

So, here we are in a nice cabin south of Newport, Oregon. It’s Monday. We were lucky enough to get a free week that we had to use by the end of the year and this was the only dog-friendly one open til into late January. So we came down here.

We’re lucky enough to have a peek-a-boo view of the ocean from our back deck! The ocean is always moving, waves always coming ashore. At this spot we are not in a bay so the waves hit full force. Today, the ocean is disturbed by something we cannot see or sense and the breakers start tumbling over way out, build another rank closer in and break, build another rank and break still closer, build again and break, and then build yet again only to spend themselves on the shore. The water is noisy. We can always hear the roar of the waves. Even the noise of the day traffic on highway 101 cannot cover up the ocean. At night, it’s lovely to listen to and lulls us to sleep quite nicely.

There isn’t much traffic even on 101 at night. That road is exceedingly dark and people love to speed on it at all times, but especially after dark. I don’t know, maybe the Sasquatch will get you if you don’t hustle on your way. Around here, if they don’t think you’ve been going fast enough, they will honk at you as they pass. And some will salute you in the time honored fashion using only 1 finger. As I don’t see well at night with oncoming lights, Ray does our night driving. HE doesn’t see too well even during the day at this point in time (eye troubles) and so we get passed and honked at a lot.

We have not done much. We’ve had the blessing of lovely clear weather with daytime temps in the mid-50s and low cool breezes, so we have sat out on the deck and read and listened to the satellite radio. I made a barricade of unused deck chairs so that Norman cannot get down the stairs to chase other dogs and he likes to go out there and “patrol” for the squirrels and chipmunks he can smell are there. We go for walks which Norman always finds exciting.

Unexpectedly, many restaurants have shuttered their doors for the winter. In Seaside, they close the month of January, but here they close early. Luckily, we had stopped in Seaside at McKeown’s for lunch and had tasty leftovers for our first night here. It’s a long trip down here by way of Seaside and neither one of us wanted to get back in that car.

Saturday, we decided to find a Chinese restaurant as we know there are 2 or 3 of them, but the ones we found were all closed tight. So we ended up at the Arctic Circle, which once upon a time was a car-hop place, but there’s a newspaper clipping on the wall inside the place that says, “Last Car Hop Now History”, so I think mayhap the poor girl up and croaked. They had decent burger on fresh buns and really good fries. It reminded me a bit of Herfy’s in the menu, they had a little bit of everything.

Sunday after a bit of cabin cleaning and sitting around, we decided to find the Mo’s, an Oregon seafood destination. Alas, we could not and were pretty hungry, so we decided to try to find a Thai place. Lo and behold! There’s Thai Elephant, painted a bright yellow-orange, right on the main highway, and you can’t miss it. They are open! Hurrah! Ray had Ginger Beef and I had Shrimp Pad Thai. Yummy in the extreme.

Today, we got up late and read a bit and then decided to have lunch of Elephant leftovers. Ray’s reading again, Normie is napping, having completed his patrol (several times) and I’m writing blog entry. The satellite radio is tuned to the “Escape” channel, appropriately enough. Today the rest of our schedule is filled with resting up and some evening tv. We may go out for supper or we may stay in. We may play a game. Life is good when your biggest questions of the day are “who is going to cook my dinner today?” and “where are they?”

Tomorrow is a busy day, being Laundry Day. Several decisions will have to be made that day, hot, warm or cold? Permanent Press or Normal? Fold, or hang up? Whites, darks, lights?

I was hoping that we’d both get rested and rejuvenated this week and that I’d finish getting better. Well, Ray is slowly getting rested and rejuvenated and I’m not. I’m struggling with the cough and congestion. Several times a night I wake up in the midst of a hack attack, even though I take a Ny-Quil. Even had to use my inhalers several times. Ah well. I don’t suppose I’ll get a lung transplant any time soon, since I’m not even on the list, so I had better learn to live with it or figure out how to beat it down.

I have done a bit of work on the genealogy. I brought an inch or so of papers with me and I’m processing them when I feel that ambitious.

We have watched 2 Netfli, (Netfli, plural of Netflix) “Love On A Diet”, which is a very quirky Japanese movie with bad fat suits on thin people that I’m not sure were “real” actors, and “Alien Invasion” which is a very quirky 1990s American movie that hearkens back to the B movies of the 50s in every way it can and employs every Sci-Fi monster movie cliché that you ever heard of. And it’s so earnest and sincere, we weren’t sure we were supposed to laugh when we found it funny. Unless you are really wanting something weird, I would not recommend either of them. I think Ray slept thru most of “Love”…..

The one thing we miss from home, other than our people, is the channel guide on the tv. We didn’t know how spoiled we were by that on-screen tv guide! We don’t know what channel is what, we don’t know what’s on where or what it’s about. Talk about primitive! At least there are plenty of mysterious channels to choose from.

And that’s today’s dispatch from the Oregon Coast, where the sea mist is rolling in and making the hills and forest look slightly otherworldly. One almost expects to see elves slipping quietly between the trees. The air is redolent of sea and sea creatures. Ahhh. I’m glad I’m here.

Feeling Thankful

I hope everyone has had time on this busy day to actually think about thankfulness and what you are thankful for in your lives. Too soon we'll all be plunged into the whirlpool of the Holidays and we'll be most thankful for our nice beds at the end of frazzled days.

So it's good we have official Thanksgiving before that, to center us and remind us to take stock of all we have been blessed with.

I can honestly say I'm thankful for all my friends and correspondents, whether I have met you face to face or only by e-mail. (Hi Syl, Laurel and Ruthie! You make me smile.)

I'm thankful for my wonderful husband and sons. I'm grateful to the people my sons have in their lives who encourage and lift them. I love you!

I'm thankful for Ray's continued gainful employment, whereby I am allowed to stay home and hone my genealogy skills.

I'm thankful for everyone who reads this blog whether they ever leave a comment or not.

I'm thankful for the soldiers and sailors who protect our country and do dangerous and difficult work for us. I am thankful for the founders of our nation and for those who left England in tiny ships to brave settling the shores of terra incognita.

I'm grateful for Mr. Burgman and his sidecar and for Norman who loves to ride in it. I'm grateful that Ray has stuck by me and encouraged me to ride through broken legs and ptsd. And literally through thick and thin over the years.

I'm thankful that I live in this country and not some other. I've been to others and this is the best I have experienced. We don't, as Americans, do everything right and our type of democracy is perhaps not suited to other countries and cultures, but it's ours and I and thankful for it.

I'm thankful for Washington Family and for the increase in numbers we have had. Hello, Trillian Mira, Happy First Thanksgiving from your great-auntie Susie! I'm thankful for the family that's allowed us to share so much of their lives. You know who you are! I love you!

I'm thankful for a stout roof over our heads and walls that keep out the storms, for my beloved minivan and for this year's astounding tomato crop.

I'm grateful for my Church, it's the foundation of our lives and the cornerstone of my life.

May God bless you, your families, our military, our leaders and our President. And me too.

Catching Up

I'm sorry for the lag in blog posts. Sick yet again, I've not had energy or inclination for posting.

Found out Tuesday that I've got a lung infection, equivalent to pneumonia. It has been exceedingly painful when I cough.

But I'm taking antibiotics and this lovely hydrocodone cough syrup and already feel better than I did a couple of days ago. Who wouldn't with that cough syrup? Congestion is breaking up and it appears as though I will live after all.

As far as I am concerned, October and November ought to be do-overs for me. I hate being too sick to think.

And oh, yeah, Big Rainy is underway, a bit early this year.

Beautiful Autumn

Autumn around here brings the Little Rainy Season, just a taste of the Big Rainy to remind us to check the flashlight batteries and the candle supply, the alternative heating, the sump pump backup batteries, stock foods that are easy to prepare and don't require microwaves and ovens and crockpots.

But the Northwest is also beautiful this time of year, before all the rain and wind strip the deciduous trees of their leaves and the evergreens of their cast off needles and weak limbs. Here's a picture taken yesterday (by a friend of a friend) of some of the trees around Green Lake in Seattle. See how lucky we are to live in such a spectacular place?



On the downside, it's getting dark about 4:47 and the sun comes up late...in a few days it will be dark by 4:30 and Ray will go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. Just before Christmas we'll hit the longest night of the year. In the dark, wind, and rain we begin to understand why the ancient peoples thought the sun had weakened and the moon was taking over or that the land itself had died.

Little Rainy ramps up with a big storm rolling in tomorrow--winds and rain are on the way. It's not the first big storm and it surely isn't the last of the season either. But it won't be as bad as the Big Rainy and the Big Storms. Although we have had some enormous storms in November, I don't think this is it. Those come later in November when Big Rainy sets in.

In the meantime, Autumn is glorious!



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