Snakes

These snakes are not venomous, but one always has to be careful with them.

Quiet and cold

I had to buy some plastic bags from an industrial supply store out by the port docks on the west end of town yesterday, so I took few minutes to wander around. It looks pleasant, because the sun was out, but I doubt the temperature was above 32 degrees. (Our cold streak is not over yet.) The tug in front is the Manfred Nystrom. Behind it is the Lady Washington. The bit of blue on the right side of the photo is the Oregon Responder, called an "oil skimmer," which is part of a network of ships used to clean up oil spills and is home-ported here at the docks in Astoria.

Just an illusion

A hot tub would feel good right now. The temperature today never got above freezing; it reached 32 degrees and stopped, although the sun teased us all day. This cold is unusual for Astoria. Alas, the steam baths, established in 1928 in Uniontown, are not an option for warmth, as they closed some time ago and I've seen no sign of recovery. The sign looks fairly new and the reflection is nice. The facade above the window is torn away, but someone has painted the old brick wall a garish and unnatural red (not visible in this photo, but follow the link). They've been closed since I moved to Astoria, but I'll be patient. I'm waiting for them to open! Especially today. I posted about the baths once already, in September.

. Ruby Tuesday

The Lady Washington

It's always a thrill to see the Lady Washington glide by, as she did again on Friday. You can read plenty about this venerable and beautiful ship via the link to her name.

For more pictures featuring the color yellow, check out Mellow Yellow Monday. Happy Monday!

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.

What country is this?

In what country does this facade appear to be? Certainly not the Pacific Northwest of the United States. What do you think? But yes, it's one of Astoria's landmarks.

I've always liked this historic building in downtown Astoria, Oregon. I took the photo from 11th Street between the River Walk and Marine Drive. There are some interesting and picturesque businesses here, and many unexpected shots one could capture of the building. I've tried a few times, but I wasn't happy with the angles or exposures. It will be worth continuing to try! We'll see what I come up with. The light was nice today. You can see some blue sky, too.

New pilings for the pilot dock

It appears that the rest of the old wooden pilings at the end of 12th Street where the pilot boat docks are being replaced by metal ones. Work is done using a couple of small skiffs and a crane barge. Yesterday I saw these boats along with the towboat going up and down the river. Today I saw where they were working. I also learned something. If you look back at the barge in yesterday's post (3rd photo down), you can see two tall poles with red at the top. I didn't realize until I saw the barge at work today that the poles are dropped into the mud to stabilize the barge while the huge crane does its work. I hadn't seen this arrangement before; the smaller crane barge I watched this summer didn't seem to have them. It seems like a nifty way not to tip over.

We had another mostly-clear day today, but I have to tell you, it was cold. There's a good reason this guy is wearing a jacket.

Working boats on the Columbia River

After a week or so of almost continual rain, we had blue skies yesterday. The weather also turned cold and the wind whipped up whitecaps on the Columbia River. Several times, this interesting combination of boats came past my office. Tomorrow I'll tell you where it's working along the waterfront, but here you can see the crane barge carrying metal pilings, attended by two silvery skiffs. On this pass, it was going downriver, to the left.

I zoomed in on the skiffs because I wanted to see what they were doing. I'm still not sure, but I imagine they could have been helping to push or maneuver the barge. They seemed to be butted up behind it.

A couple of hours later, the barge passed again, going upriver This time I got the towboat in the picture (left) and the two skiffs are alongside. You can see the two tall poles (the function of which you'll see tomorrow), and other poles lying on the deck sticking out over the rear of the barge.

Here's the towboat, pushing, and one of the skiffs.

Here the skiff is going ahead of the barge. I missed the larger wave that leapt up as the skiff cut through the water, but you can see the river was not completely calm. The railing in the foreground of these photos is from the catwalk leading from our building's deck to the radio tower.

Toward Washington

On Thanksgiving Day, Lee and I took a drive across the Columbia River to Washington to have dinner at the historic and very lovely Shelburne Inn. It's "near" Long Beach on the peninsula, but I think the actual town is Seaview. Seaview is so small I didn't realize it was its own town until very recently. The reason the Shelburne was our destination was not for the history, although the Victorian ambiance is a big plus, but because they serve some of the best food you'll find anywhere around. The traditional turkey dinner was exceptional, and so was the drink served up by David Campeche, the proprietor. Let's just say we sat around for awhile enjoying the day until we felt comfortable driving home again.

Back to this photo: We've just passed under the towers of the Astoria-Megler Bridge, and are making our way down the slope to the flat part. The tide was extremely low, and the dark area in the bright water is a sand (or mud) bar. Barely visible in this photo are pilings in the mud, left over from net-drying sheds that were used in the days of horse seining. To the left and out of this photo is a whole forest of pilings used for the same purpose.

Theme Day: Waiting

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Waiting

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