Global Warming, my a..!

Boy, here it is a few days away from April and we've been getting hammered with winter like storms. It can be bright sunshine and blue skies one minute and then things start to get dark, clouds move in and it'll either start raining, snowing or hailing. It's been getting down into the 30's at night and a cold wind blows in the daytime. A week ago we thought Spring was here, and so did the plants and trees which all are sprouting new buds. I guess that's what we get for trying to rush Mother Nature.

Happy Day Before Easter

JC, Taz and I went for a nice beach walk yesterday. As usual, Ona beach had changed dramatically. The sand had returned in most places, covering the bed rock and ancient tree roots that the winter storms had exposed on our last visit.

Taz was happy to get out, he was high-stepping all the way through the park, over the Beaver Creek bridge and onto the beach. There were some agate hunters and a few other dog walkers, but not many people for a Saturday morning.

We came across the old redwood stump that has been slowly working its way north with the winter high tides and the south winds. I first came across it 20 years ago about 8 miles south on Tillicum beach where we used to live. It already had countless slabs sawed off of it for coffee tables, and who knows what. Rick and I borrowed a chain saw and cut a gun stock sized slab from it for a gun that I never built. I finally traded it to someone for something, but for the life of me I can't remember who it was or what I traded for. As it works its way up the beach it gets smaller, slab by slab, but it still is impressive. It was high centered on a lava rock outcropping and looked for all the world like a wrecked sailing ship.

There was a weathered sandstone rock face that looked like it had Egyptian hieroglyphics on it, (at least to my imagination,) and we picked up some small agates here and there. There was a good surf and the waves were banging the rocks pretty hard, but we had a hard time getting a picture of it. The four mile walk pooped all three of us out and Taz slept on my coat all the way back to Waldport.

Time keeps on flying, flying...

We celebrated another Saint Patrick's Day pigging out on Carol's delicious corned beef and cabbage, along with some wine and beer. Afterwards, when J.C. And Kelly were leaving, J.C. Said, “That was great Carol, much better than we had last year at the Salty Dawg!” Carol and I both agreed.

Later, while I was thinking about it, I realized that last year we had spent St. Patties Day the same way as this year; at our house. It was two years ago that we had gone to the Dawg for dinner. It made me realize how fast time flies when you're getting old. An entire year had tried to slip from our memories! It seems as though it's only been a few months ago since J.C. Moved here from Las Vegas, towing his little Honda behind a huge U-haul truck, but it's actually been over four years now.

I can remember being a kid in High School, sitting in my last class of the day, watching the wall clock that hung next to the picture of George Washington above the teacher's desk. I swear, a week goes by faster now than it took that damn clock to tick off the last five minutes of the school day.

It seems that I no longer have time to do much, even though I'm not working, don't have any kids to tend to, or any responsibilities to speak of. It's just that time goes by so much faster now! In fact it whizzes by in such a blur that I have a hell of a time remembering what day of the week it is. The other day while I was writing out a check, I had to ask the clerk what the date was, and she replied, “The 16^th.”
“Umm,” I stuttered, “What month?” ...I had the year aced, though.

Carol came up with the analogy of a spool of thread; When you first start pulling the thread, the spool turns slowly. The more you pull off, the faster the spool turns and when you get close to the end it's really cranking. Maybe that's the way time works.

I'm published!

Several months ago I submitted a story to Paddling.net, a kayaking web site that I visit almost every day to read the articles and find out what's new in the sport. I'd forgotten about it until this morning when they emailed me that they'd published my article! They even had their artist draw a picture of me...kind of a younger version of me... with more hair... and without my stash and goatee... Otherwise, a good likeness.

Here's the description of the article and a link to the story:

MisAdventures - Self-Launch!

Never under estimate the advantage of having a boating buddy. This month's MisAdventures story describes the ordeal of trying to do things alone, and the benefit of a caring paddling partner - even if they are three times larger than you. Enjoy a extra-sized laugh in this funny reader submitted article.