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

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Leaving home backwards

This morning the Coast Guard cutter Steadfast left its dock at 17th Street by the Maritime Museum, headed for the ocean. I'm not sure why it does the following, since the river is so wide here, but it backs up from the dock for a about a block (to just outside my office), turns in the water pretty much in place, then heads downriver toward the ocean. I don't know why it doesn't just travel in an arc, but maybe someone can tell me. I've seen other boats do this, too, such as the Sea Bird (National Geographic/Lindblad Expeditions' tour boat), a crane barge, and others. I wonder if it has something to do with the current here, but it's hard to believe that would matter.

I thought the fog and low clouds made a pretty scene this morning. It looks like snow, but there is none. We may have snow this year, but it will be rare. We've had more than usual the past couple of years. Other years we have none.

Old sign

The sign is from circa 1930, but the business is no longer there.

Mill Pond in the rain

As you walk along the River Walk next to the trolley tracks, you pass Mill Pond. Most of us know it as an upscale housing development. The houses are new, and new construction continues. Before my time, this round pond was actually part of the old mill, and was surrounded by buildings related to milling wood. There's a very short waterway (only the width of the River Walk and the tracks) that connects the pond with the Columbia River. Each house is unique, and some are actually quite strange in their floor plans, but I'm glad that the codes required a look that makes them compatible with the old Victorians of Astoria. Birds love the pond, and you can always see various species swimming here or roosting on a few pieces of wood sticking out of the water. The hills behind the buildings are a little higher than you see here. On this rainy day, they're obscured by clouds. Mill Pond is the round body of water near the river's edge in this aerial photo.

Colors on the River Walk

I took this photo yesterday morning next to the Maritime Museum; the colors were a welcome sight on a gray day. The brown building behind the white car is the old train station. It's owned by the Maritime Museum, which may be using it for storage (or not), but it's currently inaccessible to the public. One of these days I'll get photos of the outside.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What can they be thinking? It wasn't even Thanksgiving yet when this reindeer scene was installed (don't get me wrong, I like reindeer). Maybe next year, they'll get the decorations up on the 4th of July - or just leave them up all year.

This traffic island at 15th Street welcomes people coming into town from the east (coming towards us) on Highway 30 and lets them know they're entering a National Register Historic District. There's an artistic welcome sign behind the reindeer and facing the other direction, which I'll save for another post. We're seeing it now from the downtown side. The island is the dividing point for Commercial Street (going our direction on the right) and Marine Drive (coming towards us from Portland and pionts east) on the left.

Whatever you're doing, whether celebrating Thanksgiving or not, celebrating some other holiday, or having a normal Thursday around the world, I hope your day is happy. Don't mind my snippy comment too much, OK? I just wish they'd wait till after Thanksgiving to start in with the Christmas mood. Isn't timeliness kind of special? I remember I anticipated my mom beginning to take the Christmas decorations down from the high shelf in the bedroom and transform the house into a magical wonderland. It was a special time, and maybe more-so because it was of short duration. Here in Astoria, there is a manger scene at the other end of town already and rainproof candy canes along Commercial Street. Call me Scrooge. I like turkeys in their season, and I like the winter holidays in their own time.

Ranald MacDonald: Astoria is full of surprises

Near where I took yesterday's photo at Fort Astoria stands a monument to a colorful and internationally-historic character. He has the unlikely name (from today's perspective) of Ranald MacDonald. Don't immediately start thinking of cheap hamburgers and supersized fries. If you click on this image, you'll see that the plaque is in Japanese. The English-language "verso" is below, with a less picturesque backdrop. Amusingly, the backdrop of this image gives an optical illusion, as one blockhouse replica of Fort Astoria is made of real wood, and the other is painted on the back of the Fort George building. The big wooden sign tells the history of Fort Astoria.

Ranald was not only a colorful character, but an important one. You can click on the image to read the plaque. There are also descriptions of his life on this web page and in Wikipedia. On the lower right of the Wikipedia page, you'll see a portrait monument to Ranald in Nagasaki.

As I took the photo, I wondered if fellow City Daily Photo blogger, Nori, would be the only viewer of this post who could read the plaque in both languages.

Pointed hats in the rain

I parked at the corner of 15th Street and Exchange Avenue, headed for a warm cafe, a cup of coffee and a pastry. It was cold and drizzling, and as I was right next to the small park which is the site of Fort Astoria, I sauntered over for a look and a photo. This is always a pleasing place to visit. There's no fence, no ticket taker, no concession stand, just this lovely mural by local artists Roger McKay and Sally Lackaff, and a cleverly-integrated model of one of the old blockhouses. There are also a couple of very interesting plaques, which I'll get to another time. It's a small corner park, and it's peaceful.

As I enjoyed the mural in the rain, I felt somehow close to the Indians on the beach with their water-shedding pointed headgear. It was the first time I'd understood viscerally the utilitarian advantages of this tribe's uniquely-designed hats. I think the mural is just lovely, not only showing us how a scene on the Columbia's banks may have looked, and how the locals dressed, but I also love the added details of the crow, the dog, the ship and the small canoe. The tree is real, and so is the green grass in the foreground. So also is the green dripping color in the painted sky that speaks of our climate.

The mural is painted on the back of the Fort George Building, which I haven't discussed yet, but will sometime. The Blue Scorcher is one of the businesses inside the building. I've shown Fort Astoria in one other post.

Dots 'N Doodles: Astoria needed this!

Wedged in between two very left-brain establishments is one very right-brain shop. Can you tell which one I'm talking about? It's no longer a brand new business, but it is one of Astoria's newcomers, and it's very popular among the local artists. Astoria is visibly an artistic community with quite a large number of galleries for a town so small.

When I arrived in 2001, there were plenty of artists in Astoria, but no art supply store. I had to drive miles and miles to buy any supplies that could not be found at the stationery store. People told me that for some reason the art supply stores would come and go, never quite able to sustain themselves.

But Dots 'N Doodles seems to be doing very well. The proprietors breezed into town one day with supplies and ideas galore - and obviously a few cans of yellow and red paint. The operation took off. They sell both hard-to-find and easy-to-find supplies, hold interesting classes, and have become a destination for creative people up and down the coast.

I will admit that, despite everything, I have not been inside. I know it's going to be an interesting day for my bank account once I break that barrier. I'll wait until I start painting again. Maybe in 2010? I hope so. At the moment, it's work, work, work for another month or so. 'Tis the season, and the economic climate, too.