Antidotes for Emotional and Physical Exhaustion

Right now, I need more of three things: hope, sleep, and money.

In the last 14 days, I've essentially completed three chapters of the book. Trying to keep up this pace, however, feels like it will kill me.

Deluge

Yesterday, the Oregon Coast unleashed a deluge of biblical proportions. In brief moments when the weather cleared, I caught quick glimpses of natural wonders: Elk grazing on the headlands, the water spouts of a whale, sea lions bobbing in the surf, the startling beauty of Humbug Mountain, and the endless horizon over the Pacific Ocean. Each encounter felt rarefied because they were so fleeting. There's a park in Brookings, about six miles north of the California-Oregon border called Azalea Park, with supposedly more than 1,000 azalea bushes. Except for about three bushes, and some lillies, everything was on the verge, full of promise. Three weeks, and it'll be amazing.

What I Learned Last Night

If you b.y.o. bedsheet, which we did to avoid the whole dog hair/lint roller scenario, you must tuck it in somehow, or else, during the course of an hour of sleeping, it will ensnare you in an evil net of 100% cotton, so that when the alarm goes off at midnight, because you reset the blinking clock when you came into the room but didn't check the alarm setting, you will not almost fall out of bed, taking two miniature wieners with you.

Puppy Dogs and Corn Dogs

Back to the Oregon Coast, hopefully Newport all the way down to the California border this week. Brought Cooper and Isis with me this time. We'll see how that goes. We have a very fat dachshund staying in the room next to us. Twice as wide as Cooper, same length.

Yes, I ate one. Yes, I put ketchup and mustard on it. Yes, I shared a couple of bites with the hound dogs. Of course it gave me heartburn.

Dismal Nitch

Passed by Dismal Nitch on the way back home from Astoria yesterday. Sounds like a place Jack Sparrow would be stranded in. So, I've noticed that piracy is popular on the coast these days. I wonder why, Captain Depp. I'm going to put my intention out loud to the universe right now, that every week working on the books will be as productive and successful as this one, and that I will find a way to fit in more hikes, walks, and outdoor exercise during the process.

Can We Talk About the Weather?

In the past two days, I've been rained on, snowed on, sprinkled on, hailed on, spritzed on, and blown around, and in between, the sun has come out to shine briefly a couple of times. Wild "shoulder season" weather. I've also had the gastronomic adventures of thinking I was ordering chicken and artichoke salad, only to find out it was chickpea and artichoke salad to the opposite spectrum of ordering a green salad, and receiving iceberg lettuce with a 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on top. The photos today have to be the funny ones.

Drift Creek Falls

Pics O' the Day

I really, really wanted to hike the Drift Creek Falls Trail, in the Hebo Ranger District, near Lincoln City, Oregon today. I tried twice. The first time, the rain came down so hard, I couldn't see the twisty, curvy road. Then, it looked like it was clearing, so into the forest and up the mountain I drove again, until I encountered an inch of non-melting, standing hail on the road. As my puny Prius tires began slip, sliding away, I thought better of it, turned around, and hightailed it back down to the beach. Going down, in ice, is much harder than up.

Later, at Proposal Rock Inn, I eavesdropped on the conversation of the front desk clerk when she excused herself to answer the phone. She was waiting for a call from South Africa, you see, from her grandson, wishing her Happy Birthday, on her 91st! Yes, she was adorable.

I didn't bring the dogs with me this trip. I wanted to get out the first week on my own and see how it goes. They'd so dig this. I need to bring them next week.