Can't wait to leave; can't wait to return...

For the last ten years, we have dreaded the long wet and cool months when storms from the West battered this coastline and kept us indoors for days. Usually, after a storm, the sun will shine and dry up all the rain. It is quite remarkable how with so much rain, the terrain is usually passable and dry after a storm.

After a week indoor, we're all eager to get out and go somewhere. People go clamming, fishing, kayaking, skying, snowboarding, windsurfing, golfing. We, Hubby and I, have never developed many outdoor skills. We attempted to fish the first year or two after we moved here.

Our fresh water lake, however, suffered a few major storms that destroyed the dunes holding the ocean back, and it became brackish, salty, losing a great deal of fish and other sea life. It has recovered somewhat in recent years and it has been stocked with new life from the hatcheries, and people are boating and fishing regularly. My children all caught fish here; and it tasted marvelous!

Hubby and I tend to enjoy the outdoor life vicariously as well. In the picture above, I filmed the couple doing some clamming while we ate clams in Charleston, clams that had grown in the same bay just a few hours earlier. While dining, we kept appreciating the couple's attempt to get enough clams to satisfy their hunger and not break any rules set up to protect the bay.

How often do we leave our Paradise? At least once a week.
At times, for days at a time, down to Southern California to soak up continuous sunshine, to enjoy our children and grandchild, and to stop in and around our old hangouts, Jerry's Famous Deli for a ruben sandwich, California Pizza Kitchen for their pizzas, Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas for their brunch buffet. We can reminisce at each stop and catch up with old friends while we do that.

How long do we stay away? As little as possible.
We miss our greenery; we miss the wild rivers and forested walks. Most of all, we miss the marvelous beach vistas that only Oregon has. Here, we feel at peace, away from the maddening crowds, the traffic, the parking fees, the missed off-ramps, the hours spent on freeways to get anywhere.

Summer days on the Cape

Long walks in the meadows, on the rivers, by the shore.
Parade watching on the Fourth.
Al fresco dining on the deck.

Days are cool compared to other places. Summer temperatures may rise into the 70's and cool down into the 50's. Great weather for walks, berry picking, fishing, crabbing, and visiting outdoors with friends.  Families gather under the stars and count the many constellations they can identify. Lights are off in town, so, after ten or so, the sky is the only light around.

Dogs are everywhere, riding shot-gun, walking alongside, swimming, lounging, constant companions everywhere. Lake Garrison is the optimal place for Butters (my son Brian's dog) to chase balls until he tires. Better yet, until his human tires.

Rides may take more time than usual, because of tourists, because of flaggers, because of vistas that take your breadth away at every corner.
This summer, on the first weekend in August Cape Blanco will host its first Country Music Festival, sponsored by Bi-Mart. Fifteen thousand people are expected to descend on the coast for this occasion. All the local towns within twenty-thirty miles from the Cape are booked solid. This even will showcase the beauty and the tranquil setting of the Cape. With cool temperatures, hanging out at an outdoor event should be grand!

On an early morning hike

Beaches, forests, waterfalls. rugged coastline all in one day.

Life moves slowly here.

Fall, winter, spring are long wet months on the Cape.
So, we cook, we take walks when we can.
We gather with friends and share books, wine, memories of trips...
We make beautiful things in all media.

And we grow seeds of change. Here, "cime di rape", a bitter green that will stand up to my garlic and peperoncino pasta sauce.

Pacific Storms

Water, water, everywhere...
Last night winds were clocked at Cape Blanco at 74miles per hour, a respectable storm for this time of the year. Lake Garrison is filling up, and occasional big wave surges spill ocean water right over that berm in the picture.

We usually get a dozen or more such storms during winter months.
This year, we have had maybe two.

Today, and for the next few days, all river valleys around us are under a flood watch. People who live by the Coquille, Sixes, Elk, Smith, Coos, Chetco...are advised to be alert and avoid low areas.
Roads through canyons that traverse the state of Oregon from the middle of the state to the coast are under watch as well as extra rain may cause road closures due to runoffs or road/bridge collapses.

In 2007 a Pacific storm in early December blew the roof off the high school,shut down the highway for a few days, as debris and broken limbs littered Highway 101 for miles and caused heavy damages on a few bridges south of here. Our neighbors had no electricity for a few days, and everyone tried to stay warm by lighting up their fireplaces. A few lucky souls keep generators ready just for these circumstances.

We took a drive earlier in the week toward Coos Bay by way of Seven Devils Road. The road was named for the difficulty of the terrain, and for the usual encounters of "Devils", misfits and bootleggers vying for the same profits. Liquor running was the way of commerce for many folks, as back roads were not easily penetrated by lawmen. After this storm, I'm sure the road has been closed.

Rubbing Shoulders with Giants

The current exhibit at Coos Art Museum features The Hawthorne Family, as in Chris, Julie, Damian...
We live among so much talent, so much beauty and imagination.
Sometimes, we need to be reminded of all this. 

Lewis and Clark, you missed this One

Calla lillies, about three months ahead of schedule this year! The weather has been unusually warm and dry, as all long time residents agree. By now, like Lewis and Clark on their first foray to the West, we'd be stuck in place, anticipating a clearing period to resume activities like walks on the beach, in the forests, by the rivers and lakes all abundant around here.

There is a place where Lewis and Clark's group landed on the Columbia which they named Foulweather just because the weather, cold, wet, windy and mostly miserable, trapped them for months before the expedition could resume their task of mapping the West.

We arrived to live here eleven years ago, at the beginning of February. That year, for three weeks or so, we marveled at our good fortune, walking the coast trail, sitting on our south facing deck with a glass of wine celebrating our good fortune and tanning away as though we still lived in Southern California, soaking up the sun, the fresh air, the gentle breezes for days on end.

A week later, we had to hustle quickly one early evening when the weather changed and our furniture was flying around and hitting windows and doors in a matter of seconds.

That night,  with winds in the sixty and eighty miles an hour, rain from all angles, branches of trees hitting the roof, a driveway washing off with alacrity, we thought for sure, this was going to be our last day on earth.

Those who have lived here for a while will tell you: don't get used to comfort. This area can be treacherous in winter months. This year, Treacherous Weather seems to have forgotten Cape Blanco for now.

What do people do?

More than half of all the inhabitants in Curry County (our county, comprising of towns like Brookings, Gold Beach, Port Orford, Langlois, and smaller communities like Agnes and Nausika Beach and Laurel Grove) are of retirement age. They bring a great deal of stability to the county, with their own money, their own needs for services.  The rest are old time families who have ranched on this coast for as long as Oregon became Oregon. They came west with few friends or family and they established homesteads and services to support ranching and farming.  The Army/Cavalry founded its first fort at Fort Orford, and established provisions and defense for miners, loggers and fishermen who settled here and found easy work in these industries.

Nowadays, artists outnumber fishermen, ranchers, and lumbermen. Mining for gravel and landscaping materials still goes on by the rivers; lumber is still harvested in the groves right off the highway, but these industries are no longer what they used to be.

In our little town of just over a thousand inhabitants, thirty percent just summer people, artists enjoy a peaceful and beautiful landscape to produce and create. Six, locally owned galleries displaying local art dot the main road. In the hills, by the lake, and throughout this land writers. musicians, sculptors, painters, ceramicist, potters, dramatists, fine woodworkers, actors, cinematographers, directors, scrimshaw and mixed media artists give this town a true creative personality.

My husband and I collect local art and appreciate the richness of offerings available to us.
In the picture above, we have a bust by Julie Hawthorne, "Birdland", and a painting by Elaine Roemen, "The Elk River." 

A town that buzzes with artistic personalities leaves a mark on all residents; but it really helps our schools. Local artists like Lani Johnson have organized demonstrations and workshops that expose students to many art forms and many artists. Their enthusiasm and generous spirit can truly transform the new generation.
    

The Pacific yawns on the other side of this berm
and the cape anticipates
the power and majesty of an approaching winter storm.

This December has been mild compared to others; hardly any storms; hardly any major change. Yet, I can hear rumblings all night long, a sort of heartbeat of the world pounding at each end of the globe, reminding us we are flotsam and jetsam, day in and day out, beings moved by tides and winds and celestial occurrences.

Port Orford set up a Christmas tree made up of crab pots. December is crab season; more than half of all income from fishing comes from crabbing. Crab pots are being retrieved every night and every day. At times, the big lights on the working boats shine up toward the shore, across this berm, and we, my husband and I sit up in bed and watch the scene all night long.

I have a greater appreciation for the fish brought to our tables by such hard working people.

On this cape

We live on the Oregon Coast, around Cape Blanco, the westernmost spot in the continental United States.

The Oregonian. the state's newspaper, had an article yesterday about the children who attend the local schools here in Port Orford and Langlois. It talked about the poverty level of our school children being the worst in the state.

These are the stats; but stats only tell the obvious.

The not so obvious fact is that people here are resilient; they hunt, they fish, they grow food, they do odd jobs like cutting down trees, chopping them up for fire wood and picking mushrooms after each rain.

In schools, students don't talk about fashion and celebrities, but about their 4H project last summer that got their hog recognized and sold to the highest bidder  The high school ag. program-yes-indeed-agriculture is still alive here-will be raising pigs this year, in addition to maintaining a green house for the elementary school garden, maintaining cranberry bogs, and providing gardening assistance to our seniors. The woodshop class just sold out all their wood projects, to locals and friends of locals. Adirondach chairs, pizza paddles and cutting board were sold out in no time, with orders coming in from as far south as Arizona. (Yes, the community is full of retirees with connections to other states.)

The digital media class just produced and sold a Farm-to-School Calendar highlighting local food sources, including seafood coop and farm coops with reminders of what to do in the garden each month.

For the last few weeks we have seen three different holiday bazaars with an array of products from hand made jewelry, jams and jelly, knits, mushroom-died silks, paintings and potted palms. I was able to pick up stuff for my grandchildren, stock up my pantry, and admire the craftmanship of so many people.

Most important at these events was the catching up with friends and neighbors, finding out who has company and who is convalescing. We exchanged news and tidbits; and we wished everyone a safe and dry winter. Some of us will be lucky enough to visit relatives in warmer climates for a while, while others will hunker-down and wait for spring.