Floral Scented Breezes

It wasn't exactly hot today, but there was no doubt that winter has passed. Even at eight in the evening, the smell of flowers was heavy in the air, and there was enough warmth and light to finish up some yard work. Maybe one of these days I'll share about my attempt to mow the lawn with the ancient push mower...I call it an attempt, because eventually the neighbors decided I wasn't just celebrating Earth Day, and offered the use of their motorized mower...Anyhow, I'm more interested in sharing our little beach venture today.

In case I haven't pointed it out before, we like going to the beach. Today, we took advantage of the lovely weather, and set out in search of a beach free from people. Shockingly, we actually found one. Moolack Beach was just the place. Thanks to a horrendously steep and treacherous approach, as well as a wild wind that did its best to make sure my eyes were being attacked by my own hair or sand, no one else really wanted to hang out on this pristine strip of sand.



It is amazing the bits of wonder there are to discover around the beach. I love having a chance to focus on the details.



If I ever visited this beach before, I missed out on the most fascinating part. There is an entire foreign landscape, made up of hairy rock formations surrounded by tide pools. These weren't the type of pools where you find animal life, but we could definitely imagine some tiny community living in this other worldly place.



Well, it's getting late, and my brain is shutting down, so I'll end before I really start to ramble. Just wanted to share some of these photos while they're still ultra fresh. I have some other beach photos form earlier in the month that I'll have to post before long as well, but for now, I'm off.

Lincoln City

Friday marked the end of something. I've had a lot of jobs. I've worked with a lot of people. There is always a melancholy feeling that bubbles up in me when things change. I'm still going to be working at the same place. I'll still be seeing the same people on most days, but Friday was the last day working behind the scenes in our lovely little stock room. I'll miss the boxes of fresh new clothes (okay, so sometimes they smell funny and are made of really strange fabrics, but you get the picture) all my responsibility to prepare for the public.

This week I'm spending time in another town learning how to fulfill my new lower management role. There is a lot to learn. I have to smile and greet people more, have that real public face. It's not that I haven't had that sort of meet and greet position before, but it's a change from being able to just hide out in the back. A growing experience, and lots of valuable training for the future, but exhausting as well. Especially since I have to drive 35 miles each way to get this training. I'll be glad when the week is over.

Obviously none of this is about the title of the post, but it's all connected. With the job change it's likely that weekends won't really be an option anymore. Sure, I'll still get a couple days off during the week, but it won't be as it was. I now have the joy of working evenings and weekends. It's the sort of thing that really messes with my head. When I work in the evening I don't feel like I have any time off at all. I'm just sitting around waiting for work to start. Not my favorite situation, but nothing really new either. All my overseas jobs have required this sort of schedule as well. It's just that there I was living some place cool...

Anyhow, we wanted to take advantage of the last weekend free, so we headed off to McMinnville. Our February trips to the Oregon Coast still hadn't left our minds, and we wanted to reclaim those memories. We'd been hoping to get over to the beach during the summer, but it just didn't happen, so we made do with an early October trip. In truth, the Oregon Coast in the summer isn't really much warmer than it was this past weekend, so it wasn't such a bad deal. It's not like it's ever really warm enough to just jump into the ocean without totally freezing.

Thankfully, this time around, the weather wasn't all that bad. It wasn't exactly hot, but it wasn't raining, or windy, or cold. Lincoln City is a town that has always been a part of my life. When I was a kid my grandparents had a beach house there and my siblings and I used to spend a week or so there with them every summer. We always went to the same beach where we would be warned never to turn our backs on the ocean, and were seldom allowed to step into the water beyond our ankles.

This time we found a beach I'd never been on before. We walked along the sandy shore and enjoyed some of the spectacular views that keep people coming back to the Oregon Coast despite the less than desirable weather patterns.





We made our way all the way down to a little pier where people were catching crabs. We walked around the pier for a while, watching as the crabs that were too small were tossed back into the waves.



We also discovered some interesting sea life. It's always fascinating to me to see the things that live in the deep, washed up on the beach. They tell tales of worlds below that we can't even fathom. We really enjoyed our little finds and they glimpse they gave us.

Catching up at last

So now that I've officially gotten married here in Blogsville, I'll finally finish catching up on my past photo postings and be ready to enter into the normal day to day excitement of life in Moscow. Ha ha ha. No, really, that was a VERY funny comment. You see, life in Moscow (Idaho that is) doesn't exactly have a lot of chills and thrills to report. It'll just be more about how exciting it is when someone has explosive, eh hem, issues in the bathroom that I get blessed to help clean up. Here I thought I'd given up on life as a maid after three miserable attempts in the past, but it seems there's always a chance that I'll be called back to the front lines or hygiene duty. But that's definitely enough of that.
After the wedding Mark's parents stayed with us for another week. While this sort of cancelled out the idea of a traditional honeymoon, it really did make the most sense. The week before the wedding was so hectic that about all I did was drive them to shopping malls while I got more work done. So after a night to ourselves we came back and were able to say goodbye to my family and spend some quality time with his.
We bandied about lots of ideas where we could take them, but in the end decided on a trip down the Pacific Coast. Funny that my parents and my sister Julie and her husband both had spent their honeymoons on this same stretch of highway.
I've always loved the Pacific Ocean, and it was great to be able to share it with my new family. We drove all the way from Lincoln City, Or to Crescent City, CA. We were actually there just a week before the Japan earthquake, which sent harbor destroying tsunami waves into the little town.
Everyone enjoyed time spent at the beach. One afternoon we were walking on a beach just south of town and we discovered dozens of complete sand dollars. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of them, but we collected over 30. We also spent a day visiting the Redwoods. Mark's dad is a big nature enthusiast, and really loved these massive trees. He was so cute using the new video camera we got for them, and trying to get quiet shots of the towering giants.


Our drive back up coastal HWY 101 took place on a day of insane weather. We had blue skies, rain, and, believe it or not, snow! I'd never seen snow falling on the ocean. It was fascinating, but made the drive a bit stressful as I was trying to be really good for my in-laws.
We made a stop at the Sea Lion Caves, just as my parents also did on their honeymoon trip back in 1962. After almost 50 years, I don't think the place had changed much. This was apparently a good time of year to visit, because during the winter they spend most of their time inside. There were over 200 stinky barking sea lions in the cave. It was definitely a memorable experience.


It was here that we watched the storm clouds sweep in, dropping a flurry of snowflakes right into the ocean. Just craziness.
After a lovely trip, we returned the Jindrich's to the airport and sent them back to Czech land. I'm so thankful that they were able to come here and experience this place. It helps everything seem more possible, somehow.
Mark and I did end up with a few days of honeymoon, again at the Oregon Coast. Thanks to my parents we got to stay in some really nice timeshare places right near the beach. Then we had a little while in McMinnville before heading back to Idaho to try out married life.
And here we are, pretty much caught up to the present. I just wanted to add one more thing here before I end my catch up posts. I finally had the chance to finish up a wedding blanket for my friend Laura and her husband Dan. Managed to get this one done before their two year anniversary, so that was good. It actually took me about three weeks to complete I think. I found the directions here and just had to adapt it a bit to my own desires. There was no explanation for how to attach the sunflowers together individually, so I just had to figure that bit out for myself, but I think it worked out pretty well in the end. When she opened the package, Laura was able to recognize that it was designed after her wedding. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.


Maybe some day I'll do a post of all my wedding/baby blanket projects. I've been trying to archive my pictures recently, and have found quite a few of my projects there. Could be interesting.
For now, however, it's time to relax a bit after a long day of work. Tomorrow we're off to Spokane, and hopefully we'll head out to Montana for the weekend, so I'm sure I'll be able to post fresh photos soon.