An Earnest Attempt at Art

THIS IS ONE of the treasures I found this past weekend as I dug my way through our guest room/art studio. It must become one or the other and the weather is warm enough - and now there is enough shelf space - for the "other half" of the garage (the half with no car) to hold my art doings.
Summer guests are now (almost) welcome to descend. Only the bed needs to be put together. And it would be nice if the room were painted. And the corners dusted. But one thing at a time.
I found these leaves last fall up on our property and arranged them ala Andy Goldsworthy. Someday I may do this with the banana slugs that congregate on the pathways on the property. I'll take some kitchen tongs to herd them.
So many different things have been going on in life. Ups and downs, ins and outs, sidestep and skedaddle. Last month I danced outdoors under the light of the full moon at a party, over the Fourth of July the Mister and I went to the Oregon Coast to stay with friends for the night, and today the coolness finally eased and we got a taste of real warmth - real summer - in the air.
There were sprinklers going with golden sunset light shining through, barefoot kids in the park, the thrumming sound of motorcycles and the warm summer air like some sort of heavenly dry water flowing around your arms and face.
I'm leaving you on the precipice of the Pacific Ocean, where Lewis and Clark might have walked to if they could still make one foot push out in front of the other after they stopped at Seaside. Down below is Manzanita and then Nehalem Bay, which was our destination - femminismo
p.s. It's 75 degrees outside right now at 9:30 p.m. Yesterday it was probably 53!

Gifts and Blessings of Mother Nature.

WE SAFELY made the trip to and from Nehalem on the Oregon Coast and visited with our wonderful friends who are so generous to share their lovely home.
The house faces south toward Nehalem Bay which feeds into the Pacific. North are forested mountains in mist and, then suddenly, sunshine. The weather changes quickly. Elk and deer gather around this area since it was their natural home long before the houses were built and the people came.
We had a scrumptious dinner -- t-bone steaks, asparagus, grilled fresh pineapple (beyond description, I'm sorry) -- and then gathered "necessaries" to make the trip to the beach for the fireworks show.
Walking up the sandy path we came around a turn and over a rise and right beside us was this pair of beauties grazing quietly. They calmly looked at us and didn't even flinch as I took a couple of pictures. (You can see misty mountains in the background toward the town of Manzanita.) Then we just moved on to the next rise to leave them alone with their late meal.
The moon was rising slowly in the east and progressed as the evening went on. We found a great spot above the beach in the clean, soft white sand on the dunes. The beach grass bent and swayed in the slight breeze, but otherwise the weather was absolutely perfect. We couldn't believe our luck to get such a lovely evening.
Down below us were families and friends gathered with everything they needed to make dinner and then watch the show. There were driftwood fires up and down the beach and fireworks going off all over the place. (We joked that these people might have s'mores and we were going to try and infiltrate their camp to score some. The Mister took the initiative and began to crawl down the dunes but unfortunately the rest of us were too content where we were. We encouraged him to go ahead, however.)
The sun slowly set and finally 10 p.m. came and the big fireworks began. We were behind one dune that sort of obscured our view and the fog had begun to move in. It was everyone's first time watching fireworks here so we weren't sure where to be for the best view. What we did see was well worth the trip and the moon was -- as usual -- the best show of all. It eventually took on this unusual shape -- or maybe I just moved the camera a little too fast. There wasn't much light to shot by as you can tell by the blurry grasses on the beach.
We got home late. Not too late for ice cream and grilled pineapple, of course. Then to bed for a good night's sleep and up again for breakfast and a walk to the bay before we had to leave.
The bay shore is packed with driftwood and someone had built a lean-to covered with some tree branches. Very ingenious! There was a picnic table underneath it.
Next time we get by maybe we'll see the actual elk and not just their patty-pie "leftovers."
The drive home by a less-traveled road was gorgeous -- lots of trees, ferns and scenery. Then we got to the Sunset Highway and everything slowed to a crawl. We could identify all the flowers alongside the roads and discovered quite a bit at this slower pace and, of course, made it home safely. Great trip to see great friends - femminismo