Incredible January Day on Oregon Beach

When I was first considering moving to Oregon back in 1984. I got the tourist brochures from the state of Oregon.......... pre Google and search engines. I looked at the pictures of the Oregon coast and thought what a HUGE marketing mistake! The people in the pictures all had long pants on and jackets. Doh! That is the Oregon coast in summer. It is chilly and often there is a wind of 10 to 20 miles an hour blowing off the cold ocean water............ brrrrrrrr.

So I watch the weather on the Oregon coast and on rare days there is a reverse flow of air - from the land blowing out over the ocean. The best is a BLUE WHOLE. You might get a little freaked as you drive over to the coast and see that it is really, windy but when you hit the beach it is calm and sunny and WARM. On Jan. 19, 2009 it was 75 to 80 F with no wind. Aahhhhhh so lovely.

I got a new Canon camera package Costco that Darion encourage me to get. My new hobby is to go on Photo Safari. It could be nature or a town or a section of a city. The whole goal is to go as an observer and capture images. Kind of Zen Photography state of mind - there is no goal, no time limit, just be relaxed in the moment and see what presents itself. It is so much fun and amazing what you capture.

This is a shot of the rising sun through the forest south of our house. It had a really cool rainbow glow.

We had been having days of freezing fog. The fog froze on the flowers of this bush next to the sidewalk - lovely frosty accent.

This is Canon EOS package from Costco. Insane deal with image stablized lenses. Such brilliant true to life color. This is a fishing veshile in Winchester Bay harbor.

Haaaaaaaaa This is my omag to Edgar Allen Poe. The crow sat there posed for me. Stark and forbidding!

Mr and Mrs Canadian goose hoofing it over to the bay. Kind of cute with the sign behind them.


Such beautiful waves that day. It is like the wind skips over the beach but hits the tops of the waves giving them these great rooster tails.

I shot a whole series of these. They are my Prize photos of the day. Globes of Jelly Fish that caught the sun in the most amazing way. Love the way they glow.

Like some alien space ship that crash landed on the beach. This one


And who can resist a shot of the light house. The color in these lenses are really cool.

It is hard being on safari because your left hemisphere wants to get all task oriented. And doubts creep in ....... did I get that shot??? Should I shoot more angles. Well I try to flush that kind of thinking as it robs the fun, creative side out of photography.

So I recommend a Photo Safari - cheap and keep it low stress. Take a picnic lunch and drinks or treat yourself to some fun place along the way. Enjoy LIFE.

Walk around the lake

It has been a dream of mine every since we bought this property in 1985 to have a walking path around the lake. It is such a beautiful setting and offers many different views and some dramatic changes in plants - from forest to river savana to jungle grass to lake bank........ etc. Well I did try over the year with shear muscle behind a chain saw, weed whip and on an ATV but not much luck. If it finally took a tractor and even an excavator to clear the twisted piles of fallen trees lashed together with massive blackberry vines.

The new trail is like a rustic park but very smooth and clear of brush and debris. It does take some maintenance every year but is well worth the effort to keep it open. We live in a north western coastal rain forest. We get about 60 inches of rain a year. So I have to literally fight back the jungle. Fortunately, it is only a few times a year in the early spring when I have to mow and weedwhip. I look forward to the dry season and grass dying. hahaha

With tractor I can rake and maintain a nice 5 foot wide walking trail. It is like a peaceful meditation. The trail is smooth so your eyes can take in the beauty of the forest, the lake, the wild life and nature. I have created a labyrinth of trails with foot bridges around the property.

I have built 3 different foot bridges spanning water flow areas on the lake trail. Thank heaven for pressure treated wood and screws and bolts. They last for years and years.

The wildlife really love the new trails. They can walk freely and easily around the lake. Last winter I smelled the strong unrine smell of a cougar. Ten or 15 feet farther Janai spotted the foreleg of a deer. In the fall, we occassionaly see foot prints of bear and elk. Many wild things use the lake. It is a major migratory stop in the spring and fall. We have a nice batch of Northern Pond turtle along with other amazing creatures - fox, mink, nutria, bald eagle, heron, hawks. vultures, dragonflies, etc. The lake does have fish - non-natives mainly. I do not fish because they are ravaged by the wild life. This time of the year the lake is really low. In the winter it raises up about 3 to 4 feet and covers about 7 acres.

So after 23 years, it has finally come together.

I will just stream the pics. They are in order and I took an occasional side view of the lake from the trail. Elk Creek is on one side of the lake and runs like a river in the winter.

Enjoy...........................






this is a new land bridge so I can get down when the ground dries up to harvest firewood and keep the trails clear.


























I would guess that it is around 3/4 of a mile around the lake. We are so lucky that it sets on our property alone so we do not go down and listen to LOUD obnoxious music blaring or find beer or soda cans floating in the water. It is a very protected place for the wildlife. They just have to watch out for each other - hahahaaaaaaaaa.