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Monday, January 24, 2011

The Days of Summer.

In summer, when the sky is clear and breezes cool the air,  tourists gawk around our town and ride horses everywhere, especially on the beaches.I have not seen tourists or anybody ride horses on the beach at any other time.

My grandchild and friends who visit  in the summer enjoy riding miles and miles on the shore.  It feels as though they are in a movie, John Wayne at the head of the posse, as they make their ways through canyons and caves and river beds looking for outlaws, the Billy-the-Kid types who'd surely are waiting behind those outcrops. 

Yes, temperatures in the low 70's; sun  shining; sand  warming our toes; horses and riders enjoying the outdoors.

If you only visit in summer, you have just missed the most important lesson in life: things are never just what they appear!

These shores take a beating in the winter months. Hurricane-force winds beat the shore with such violence and force that nobody, not a single animal will survive out there. Pelicans and sea-gulls and other shore bird are scattered in town, finding themselves in somebody's wood pile.  Winter is bitter cold and violent. Many roofs are destroyed by flying debris.

It rains over 80 inches a year.
It rains for seven months.
Most people must take vitamin D supplements.
When we dream, we dream of sunshine and bare legs.

Very few people live here.

54 comments:

Brian Miller said...

oh i think i will wait until summer to visit...as i dream of sun shine and bare legs as well...and would love to go riding on the beach...

Tom said...

Oh, you Oregonians, I know your game ... you live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, but tell people how rough it is in order to keep out the Californians and the (even more horrible!) New Yorkers.

Well, just so you know, right now in New York it's -3 degrees with about a foot and a half of dirty snow on the ground. But you're welcome to visit anytime!!

Rosaria Williams said...

Brian, summer is best.

Sightings, yes! We just don't want you to cone and complain. Come and embrace and become one with the wind. Yes, I can visit N.Y. anytime; but when would you recommend?

Anonymous said...

Yes, beautiful country. Winter in such country has its own beauty. I've lived in harsh winters, Connecticut winters for one. My father was born and raised in LeGrande, Oregon. I've read the stories he wrote. Cold, cold winters. He was born in 1907. They pumped to get water, etc. etc. You know the story; you wrote that wonderful memoir.

Thanks for telling me my blog looks professional. I'm aiming for this now. I'm really basically a shy person, and I kind of don't want to have to "promote" myself. But I think it's easier to do it this way, through blogging, than face to face! I have the excuse of my daughter not to do book signings. So she's a blessing (she's been a blessing in many ways).

I'm so glad you're my friend. I appreciate your friendship. And I do hope you survive the harsh winter. Yes, things ARE never what they appear to be, a truth that can be used in powerful ways in fiction.
Ann Best, Author

Suz said...

Not for wimps your town
80 inchs of rain did you say?
I love rain..in spurts...and the afterwards....the smell of the wet earth..the rainbows...the birds preening....did I say the smell of wet earth?
Does wet sand have a smell?
Maybe someday I'll visit

Unknown said...

It was gorgeous when I was there in September of 2009. Maybe we will be back one day--but not in winter....oh, it was 15 degrees below zero Farhenheit this morning at 8:30 a.m. here in Maine.

the walking man said...

I well remember the rain of the last primal rain forest in North America. from Oregon to BC I knew my rain gear better than my sleeping gear. does seem odd though that winter is the time of typhoon weather when three thousand miles away hurricane season is June to October.

Thing I remember best about OR along highway 1 was was sleeping easy on the beach.

Anonymous said...

Coming from a person who has been a native of Phx,AZ going on 29 years, I would probably consider your summer to be more like my winter. Although,I did live in Vancouver,WA for about 6 months. I absolutely hated the rain,dark clouds,the cold,driving in the rain, and boy was I ever depressed.
I guess if you've been exposed to that type of weather for the majority of your life it doesn't bother you b/c it's home. For me...my home is AZ (unless of course my husband gets orders somewhere else)so you can have OR to yourselves and enjoy the piece and quite. :)


Seeing that picture does remind me so much of how I miss riding. My husband got diagnosed roughly 4 years ago with Chromes disease and was told from his doctor that he wouldn't recommend him to ride anymore. Thank you for sharing.

V/R,
Heather

Linda Myers said...

We're spending a week on the Washington coast next month. I'm looking forward to watching the water. It's raining where I live anyway, so it probably won't be any worse there.

Sally Wessely said...

From what you say, I can see why. It must be brutal to live there year round. You seem to make it interesting though.

janis said...

I love this photograph! This is the one dream I wish, that I have not yet gotten to live... riding on the beach. All my summers in Texas, we never took the horses to the beach.
80 inches? 7 months? ewe. I think I will wait till summer too!
Funny thing I was just thinking about our Indy weather this morning walking the dogs & feeling the very cool air. How I love the changing seasons, yet I am never satisfied with what is at hand. I think I need to travel more to fully appreciate where I live :)
ps Congrats on winning at my Blog! I am pretty sure what I will be making you... a surprise♥ be sure you send me your address.

ILoveMyDogandMy Music said...

I can glean from reading the comments that you are in Oregon. I'm sure at some earlier time in your blogs you have mentioned that, but I'm a new reader and haven't made it to the back issues yet. I have an aunt and two nephews in Oregon. I've never made it past Montana as far as going west. Must get there one day.

yaya said...

Every area of this wonderful country has it's good and bad, but I'm always amazed at it's beauty. One year we visited Alaska and I loved it! The same year we went to NYC for the first time and I love it too! From sea to shining sea. Right now it's "gray" season in Ohio..bitter cold, snow coming down and gray skies. But it makes you appreciate the few days of blue sky and sunshine, just as you'll appreciate that beautiful summer weather. The harsh weather makes us tougher! Have a great week!

Forrest Seale said...

80 inches? I'll quit complaining about Redmond! It rains a little here but I miss the torrents that came down in New Mexico. The thunderestorms were awesome but lasted of only tem minutes or so and then the sun would shine some more. We'll get used to the weather here, and grow to love it. Just takes time.

potsoc said...

THis morning, up here, the sun was bright and it was a cool -26C, -41 factoring in the windchill index. What are you complaining about?

Rosaria Williams said...

Yeah, I can't complain considering what some of you folks are experiencing this winter.

The Boat House said...

My favorite time on the Oregon coast is winter, waves crashing, sea foam floating in the air, you can have a beach all to yourself, I guess I'm becoming a grump as I get older, maybe I want to find the best agates for myself. I do love people, and their stories, just not crowding the roads and beaches.

Hope your day is sunny, ours is rainy and gray today.

Nancy of the Boathouse

Meeling said...

Wow...lots of rain!!!
Sounds like summer is the time to visit!
Love Oregon in the fall...we've visited in early Oct and we loved it!!

On the other hand...those of us in So Cal can't wait to say goodbye to summer when we have endless 100+ temps.

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

Well, I'll take your part of the country in the summer any time! It beats profound heat and hurricanes! But winter here is, well, delicious. But we sure don't have the dramatic scenery that you do.

Leigh Powell Hines said...

That photograph is goregous. I had the pleasure of visiting Oregon in 2001. Cannon Beach for a few night. I also was in Hood River, and Portland. Beautiful area. One of my best trips.

Donna said...

It looks gorgeous to me Rosaria!!! May I come and be your visitor just for a few days to get out of this SNOW!??? I'll sleep in the back yard...don't take up much room, will ask for just one shower and no meals, please, please, please??
(just kidding, I really love my home..)

Lydia said...

Hello from Silverton, Oregon! I saw your blog title in Blogs of Note and it appealed to me since I just turned 60 this month. Then, upon arriving, I saw the photo here and thought, That sure looks like the Oregon coast, and your profile confirms it. So we have some synchronicity going on.....with a major exception being that I have not been awarded BON!

Miss Sadie said...

While it is cool (or cooler — much cooler, even) up here, you have a delightful place in Port Orford.

I hope you keep enjoying it, bitter winters, wet summers, and all.

Arkansas Patti said...

I was thinking exactly what Sightings said:)) We are on to you and I don't blame you. Keep that beautiful place to your selves.
I keep telling people that Arkansas is pretty but the tornadoes are wicked. Another version of the same game.

What About The Girl? said...

I felt like a frozen zombie this morning. Too cold, too harsh.
Looking forward to better days.
Like riding on the beach!

ds said...

It was a whopping 4 degrees here this morning, there's still about a foot of snow on the ground and more predicted later this week....Still I'd rather have that than gale-force winds.
Riding on the beach is another matter...

முத்துலெட்சுமி/muthuletchumi said...

things are never just what they appear!/
you explained it very well with the nature's thing ..to me rosaria.. thanks..

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Stacy's Shabby Shoppe said...

I don't know how I stumbled across your blog, but I did somehow and settled in to read a few of your posts. Your pictures looked slightly familiar to me so I looked at your labels and clicked on a post that said "Bandon Dunes". I can't tell you how much I love Bandon-By-The-Sea! My husband and I camped there in the state campground near the ocean this summer. We met my brother and his wife there (they came down from Canada) and we spent a fantastic two weeks in and around Bandon. What a great place...even though it was a bit colder than we thought it would be and this was in August! Lucky you for living in such a wonderful place! We enjoyed it thoroughly! ~Stacy~ (*_*)

Shadow said...

that is one beautiful beach that!

rjerdee said...

You have the fortitude of few, Rosaria!!!

Eleonora Baldwin said...

That's why you have to come visit us in the Old World. Today is crisp and windy... but the sun shines wonderfully. And there would be food and wine to be had on the terrace...

Hugs

Midlife Roadtripper said...

I'd have to take the Vitamin D and have a sunlamp. As much as I enjoy a rainy day, too many of them and I begin to sink further under my covers and don't come out.

Robin said...

so beautiful

Poetry of the Day said...

that picture is so tranquil

ellen abbott said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ellen abbott said...

I hate typos!

As beautiful as Oregon and Washington are, I could never live there. Not enough sun.

Merrell Michael said...

Wow...I would have to be dragged kicking and screaming to that beach. Low 70s is not warm enough for me at all, and the rest of the year sounds like...terrible.

The Cat Photographer said...

Wow, what an inspiring picture! Loved this posting & love your blog!!

Journeyin' Lady... said...

You live in a wonderful part of the country! Beautiful photograph.

My Grama's Soul said...

I had a home in the San Juan Islands for l5 years.....we did not receive as much rain as you guys...but we had our share in June and sometime July.

Xo

Jo

Anonymous said...

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please please read!

Marguerite said...

Omg, 80 inches of rain! That's a lot of rain! So what do you do on all of those rainy days? I get cabin fever after one day of rain. lol We usually have a rainy winter and sometimes summer, but Spring and Fall are beautiful with lots of sunshine and mild temperatures. We don't have those ocean views, though.

Saz said...

well done you blog of note...AMAZINGG!!!


saz x

Hope said...

what a beautiful photo!
you know your place sounds appealing in the rainy months for...very few people live there

thank you
wonderful post

The Spiritual Hobo said...

BELLYBUTTONS & GRAVESTONES

You leave behind the only world that you have ever known
and blindly enter into another totally different one when you are born.
You will repeat this remarkable process again when you die!

In the last and final act of separation from the only world that you have ever known, a cord is cut and the life support system that has sustained you since your beginning completely shuts down. Incredibly, an entirely new life support system takes over and you find a way to breathe by catching a new breath. All of this should be familiar territory to you but it's no wonder that you can't remember dieing. Your mind lost consciousness in order to survive the trauma, just like it does during a bad accident. Your throat was sliced, when the surgeon cut the umbilical cord that had sustained you, since your conception. Birth actually seems like death to the one who is about to be born because in childbearing; there are many that do not survive. For them, birth is death. Your Bellybutton is living proof that you had to survive death in order to get here... and there you were thinking, that your Bellybutton was nothing more than a dust collector.
MOTHER NATURE GAVE YOU A BELLY BUTTON ON YOUR BIRTHDAY. A Bellybutton is an odd gift indeed but it was given to you, on your very first birthday, so that you would never forget just how remarkable you are. You have already survived death once and you even have the scar to prove it! Your Bellybutton is a symbol of "your past life" and the mark of an extraordinary survivor. Coincidentally, the word "GRAVE" means; to mark, or engrave. Gravestones are "Marking Stones". Bellybuttons and Gravestones are marks that are left behind after a passing.
As strange as it may seem, human bodies are transportation devices. You came out of your mother's body when you were born, and you will come out of your own body when you die. A human body brought you into this world and a human body will release you from it. Dying and being born are the very same thing but it's the outcome of the act that determines how we choose to use the words.
Human beings are truly remarkable and that is why, we use two words instead of only one, to describe ourselves as a species. We use the term "Human Being" to describe ourselves because there are two separate parts to our nature. The "Human" part of your nature is your Visible Outer Person (VOP). The "Being" part of your nature is your Invisible Inner Person (IIP)... or otherwise known as, your inner person(ality). Your Outer Person(OP) is made of physical matter but your Inner Personality (IP) is not. A doctor cannot find your personality with a scalpel or a microscope and that's too bad... because your personality was essentially created from two other personalities (mother/father), therefore you were born with a "split personality". Your purpose in life is to develop the split-minded personality that you were born with into a "single-minded one, before you die..
Your personality is growing inside of you just like a baby in a womb. It's developing and changing during every minute of every day. In fact, you are not the same person today that you were yesterday, or for that matter... ten minutes ago. Personality growth ends when death begins. Death separates the non-physical part of your nature from the physical part. If your personality is strong enough to survive death... then once again, you will be born into another new life. Where else would newborns for the next life come from?
You faced death once before and found out that there was life beyond the womb and, if your personality is strong enough, when you die... YOU WILL ALSO FIND OUT; THAT THERE IS LIFE BEYOND THE TOMB.
COPYRIGHT: CONSULTING WITH THE SPIRITUAL HOBO / ED BULEY 1998

SciReg said...

Oh,great post .I really like it ^^!

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Woman in a Window said...

Rosaria, I love this. Why do we want to be immune to reality?

Last night I watched TV. I don't generally watch much TV, and so after a couple hours I was unhealthy. I think of one commercial in particular, advertising trips for a huge cruise ship on which there was everything. Why must we have perfection? Why must we have 70 degrees, sand and horses? Why don't we go to our wood piles and cry for the penguins and the sea gulls? What is wrong with us? We have become some anticeptic version of humans, kind of droids. We have failed ourselves, our humanity.

I know, I should lighten up. I should take a vacation. Hey, I know of this fabulous cruise...

xo
erin

Ramblings by Carol Nuckols said...

The only time I've ever visited the Oregon coast, it was in the winter. Wild wind and ocean --- I loved it.

Rosaria Williams said...

Ramblings--Thank you for adding this. As Woman in a Window says so eloquently, we learn from doing everything, seeing everything, experiencing what is peaceful and what is war-like.

We learn.
We are opened to the world that is not understoon: Bigger and more forceful than any human can concieve.

We ought to live like this all the time. Perhaps, this way, we stay humble, we grow stronger, we look at life as a challenge and as a priviledge.

Today is 55 degrees, sunny and calm. The outdoors beckons us to dig in the garden, to walk the beaches, to nose up to the new buds.

Thank you all for your visit.Thank you for sharing, for connecting across the universe, learning about our places, our hearts, and all the things that define us today.

xxx said...

I definetly would be the tourist... x

Raven said...

We've got you beat with 156" of rain up here in Ketchikan. :)

But I completely understand what your are saying. It is a differenct world in the winter when the tourists and the summer people head to Arizona, Mexico, and Hawaii. Then our beautifual rainforest becomes quiet...and you know every 10th person you see. And you share the endurance of the rain and snow and wind...as we share the secret magic of a storm washed beach that tourists never see. :)

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Siddhartha Joshi said...

Lovely picture...difficult imagine how life can be so tough in a place like this...