Green

January 5, 2010

Even the decking turns green with this much rain. I took the photo from the end of Waterfront Park at the end of 14th Street.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

No Smoking

As Jacob once said, the wooden piers and walkways are probably a good place not to be smoking. The City thinks so, too. New signs have cropped up recently asking people not to do just that. So I was sauntering along with my camera, and thought this would be a good day to take a photo.

By the time I'd walked the short distance from the entrance of Waterfront Park (the pier at the end of 14th Street) to the end of the pier, I noticed a guy on a cell phone having an animated chat with someone and enjoying the last puffs on his cig. He tossed the butt into the water just as I noticed what was happening and was getting my camera into position. So I missed the shot.

Shapes of steel and wood

Bridge. Orange sky. Glowing lamp. Car windows. Inky black waterfront. What else is there to say?

Waterfront Park

For Watery Wednesday, I give you Waterfront Park, which is a great place to go any day in any weather. It's at the foot of 14th Street along the River Walk. It was about 70 paces from the River Walk to this point on the narrow pier. As I said in an earlier post, "Don't picture green grass." It's a wooden pier where the public can walk out over the water and watch the river. There's not much more of the park on the left. There's a bench and one more interpretive sign about the tug and tow boats you'll see on the Columbia River. The plaque you see in the photo shows the pilots at work. One of the photos is a spectacular shot of a pilot in mid-leap between the pilot boat and the ship's ladder.

Here are two views of the pier from the upriver side: Astoria, Oregon Daily Photo posts from July 24, 2009 (daytime), and a sunset photo from June 20, 2009. Above, you can see what that canopy at the end of the pier really looks like. Since the top is made of plexiglas, it provides interesting reflections or windows for photos in various light.

Today is supposed to be another of our rare (maybe 4 per year) hot days. Yesterday was about 89 degrees with humidity, and today should be in the 90s. Since most residences and businesses don't bother to air condition in this climate, there are a lot of uncomfortable people on these hot days, and you hear a lot of complaining, including from me. You find that many people live here because they either prefer cool weather or are physically intolerant of heat. I also noticed as soon as I moved here in the summer of 2001, that many businesses have little or no air flow through the building, as they are packed in along the main streets like sardines in a can - narrow buildings with attached neighbors on both sides and the back. They're usually quite charming unless it's been hot outside!

As I write this, I see low clouds and fog in the marine layer on the river. This is where our cooling trend comes from in summer, but will it come in today, or will it wait until tomorrow as predicted? If it's hot enough inland, it sometimes comes in a day early.

Music, popcorn, and weather to live for

Who could resist this bright yellow awning? It was stunningly, memorably, gorgeous, feel-happy weather here yesterday for the Astoria Sunday Market, most of which takes place behind me as I stand facing Humdinger Kettle Korn's tent. They're out for the market each Sunday. I chatted with Suzi (red shirt on the left) while her mom stirred the popping corn. I was on the wrong side for a photo as the popped corn was dumped into the big kettle on the right. They have an excellent and useful web site at http://www.humdingerkettlecorn.com/, complete with movie credits. It's actually fun to read, and for entrepreneurs, it's a great example of how a web site can enhance a business. This mother/daughter operation began on a farm and has grown to prominence in the area. They travel the Pacific Northwest, and show up each Sunday in Astoria. (Note, I had actually gone over to find a business that occupies this space during weekdays . . . you know who you are . . . we will talk soon!)

The weather was so perfect (not hot, not cold, and as you can see, the sun was out :) that cars and trucks were jamming Marine Drive (Highway 30) just behind me. Our two-lane one-way route between Portland and the coast. It was packed with people mostly moving through Astoria to points beyond, although there were plenty of reasons to visit Astoria this weekend, and many did. There were actually orange road construction signs and traffic controller so people could cross the street.

This weekend, there was a Lugnasa Festival put on by The Blue Scorcher and the Fort George Brewery (I think that's how it works), music events, art events and more. Once again, the band playing at Sunday Market (Floating Glass Balls; they have a wonderful logo and t-shirt - check it out!) provided quality music of the bluegrass-meets-the-Eagles variety. After the market, they played again at the Fort George Brewery. Sunday Market has been growing over the past few years and was packed yesterday. I someone in the band saying this was their only gig at Sunday Market this year, because so many groups want to play. This is certainly good for the people who enjoy coming out to the market, as the quality of the music just keeps getting better.

The River Walk, which runs just this side of the long red and white "14th St. Pilot Station" building had its share of traffic on foot, bikes, strollers, leashes, and skateboards. Just to the right of the pilot building is the narrow Waterfront Park dock, and on the back side of the building is the Columbia River and the place where the pilot boats dock. It's interesting, you can see them up close, and I'll post of photo one of these days. The red building is newly refurbished, and the part you can see in this photo (about half the building or less) is still available for lease. What a great location!

Take a look at more things yellow on Mellow Yellow Monday.

Down to the Waterline

It seems that it all comes back down to the water here in Astoria, Oregon - in this case, the wide Columbia River. This is typical July weather. We're starting to get some sun breaks today, but mornings have been heavily overcast, misty, and drizzly. With clouds like this, you can never be sure what the day will bring.

In the photo, you can see the top of the Astoria-Megler Bridge, as well as the long flat portion connecting to Washington. The row of windows with white frames in the distance is Doc's on 12th and Baked Alaska; the red building on the right belongs to the River Pilots, as does the light green building in the foreground on the left. The red bulding on the left contains the Wheelhouse Coffee House, a real estate office and property management company, and space still open for lease. Beyond the green pilings (exposed at low water), a dock only wide enough for foot traffic is a public waterfront "park" (don't picture green grass) leading to the canopy to the right of the red building, where you can watch the river, ships and the sky in all weather. They used to have a radio speaker inside the canopy where you could hear actual conversations of the river pilots. At some point it stopped working, and I hope they bring it back. You may have to click on the photo to enlarge it if you want to see all that I described.

. Happy SkyWatch Friday.