Lighthouse @ MindSay

There are nine historic lighthouses along Oregon’s coast and slowly we have been visiting each one and exploring the surrounding coast. Yesterday we went to Yaquina head and Yaquina Bay, near Newport ( where the aquarium is located) and had a splendid day. Low tide let us scramble all over the rocks and see sculpins, urchins, stars, anemones, lots of kelp, murres, puffins and tons of playful harbor seals. We brought lunch with us and stretched out on the warm basalt cobbles the wash up at the beach. It was a cloudless day, neither of us grumped at the other and it was great to get home before dark ( the sky is still light up here after 10) and play with the Abster before bed.

Some Oregon photos (Crater Lake and lighthouse at Bandon).  The elk are from around Arcata, in Northern California and the clearcutting photo (sad sad) is from around Freshwater outside Arcata.  We fed the treesitters and sent them up some toilet paper ;~) while they were trying to protect the redwoods.

Here's a few photos from an Oregon trip two summers ago, up the coast and into Portland.  More later.

My blog has become a bit of a self-help bonanza over the last few days, which is good, and I thank all of you for your comments. But, in an attempt to escape this for a bit, and sure to be to the liking of some of you, here are some pictures I took back in July during a trip to Maine that I hadn't had a chance to post yet. There will be more about the separation, but I'm having a pretty good day overall, and I just felt like getting a few of these out there instead of dwelling on her.

You have a passion?  a out of the ordinary interest? 

 

I just came from the blog of myclette  where she has posted pics of her ROCKS!  SHE rocks!  It's common to see pics of pets of just about every variety, as we travel through mindsayville, too.  I've always sort of envied people who had a hobby and have tried several, from coin collecting (my dad's passion) to stamps to old books. 

 

Lighthouses hold a special fascination to me.  I don't know if it's the romantic mystique attached to the lore of the lighthouse, or the proximity to water that attracts me, but ... there it is.  For years and years, I have had a mental imprint of a lighthouse at the base of a rugged cliff with rough surf splashing up against it.  At age 12, I painted it - I'm not master! but my dad hung it is his office over his desk! 

 

I went to college in Wenham Massachusetts ... right down the road from Rockport MA.  During my school years, I bought a roll of canvas (like everyone else in Rockport) and some acrylics and painted ... mostly absolute JUNK!  trust me!  But there was something about the "moods" of the surf that ministered to me, and the lighthouses stand sentry.  

 

I do not have tons of lighthouses all over my home.  I do have several paintings of lighthouses, a few pics of those I've had occasion to visit, and one on my front sidewalk that is actually a beacon in the night (a solar light - lol).  However, the big project on the horizon is to transform my home into a lighthouse.  Yup!  At present it is an A-frame with a high front porch ... 4 pillars that will one day soon be black and white striped.  I guess I'm waiting till my kids leave ... but I expect my son will continue with me until he marries!  lol  It's OK - he can help! 

 

So ... what is YOUR avocational passion? 

 

~ B