08-15-09

I was woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of running water outside my window. I wanted to just sleep it off, but had to get up and make sure my bus wasn‘t leaking and broken somehow. When I opened the door the noise got louder, but it was too dark to see. I grabbed a flashlight and found that the neighbor’s trailer’s drain hose was streaming water through a hole. Not an emergency. Especially since it’s not my plumbing. There was a fresh mound in the middle of my little yard. “What’s that?” I thought. “Dirt? Cow pie? How could a cow even fit back here?” Confused, I went back to bed.
In the morning I found out that it’s a gopher hole. My maple saplings were right by the hole and most of the leaves had been eaten off. I moved it up on the table in hopes that it would be safe there.
I rode my bike north on the 101 out of Port Orford. There was a very strong head-wind blowing off of the ocean and it was mostly up hill. 4.5 miles from home is the left turn and “Cape Blanco 3 Miles“ sign. There’s a light house and it’s the western most part of the Oregon coast. I was overdue for lunch, so I decided to ride back the next day and explore Cape Blanco. The ride home was fun and fast. It took 29 minutes going out and only 15 coming back.
I mowed the park. It’s been a drought. Everything is dry and dusty. The earth here is beach sand. The mower throws it in the air and the wind throws it farther. Pine cones, rocks, sticks, dust and heat, Satan’s Death Mower.
Wow what a shower! I cleaned up nice and decided to go out. I wanted to check out the Crazy Norwegian seafood place. It was just a couple of blocks away, so I walked. It was homey and welcoming, “sit wherever“. Fish tacos were the special, but I had to try the half fish half shrimp and chips. I drank a porter, or two while I eve’s dropped and waited for my food. One guy was the dad of one of the waitresses. A family that was obviously traveling came in and took what felt like 12 minutes to sit down. The waitress made her dad switch tables with the family. The retired guy sitting near me offered them his extra chair. That man’s wife looked the pretty girl up and down who just walked through the door with her boyfriend. “Can I get another porter?” The food was excellent. It’s so wonderful to be close to fresh sea food. “Crack, crunch, crumble, crack!”, “What’s that?” My head slowly turned to the right as the pretty girl’s chair crumbled to the floor beneath her. Everything slowed down. The retired man rushed to catch her. He got to her just as she came to a full stop. “Are you okay”, he asked as he helped her up. “I’m fine” she said, embarrassed, but laughing it off. He was so concerned and asked if she was okay again. “Wow, what a great man”, I thought as I realized I hadn’t moved a muscle except to watch. Not even a flinch. “Why didn’t I try to save her?” I thought and questioned my manhood. “I never felt like she was in danger, yeah that‘s it“. She was young and fit and looked like she could handle the fall. “He’s sexist…yeah, the old guy thought the frail woman needed to be saved”. Not me, I knew she could take it. It was a poor attempt to rationalize my lack of heroism.