Here I am painting, what a handsome fellow, huh?
**
I’m up to five miles walking on the beach. I tell you what, as Hank Hill might say, walking on loose sand is hard. No, the sand’s not hard, walking on it is. If I mentioned the Swiss Army boots, I’m gonna mention them again. They were competitive with Columbia and while the Swiss Army brand has become kind of cliché, these boots made beach walking easy, easier even than being barefoot. Waterproof almost to the ankle, they keep sand out too and that’s saying something.
So much beach time has given me pause to reflect. I’ve been comparing Lincoln City and environs with other places I’ve lived, for I notice pieces of the past all around me. While not a spectacular set of vistas, or an incredible urban or rural oasis of arts and culture, or all of the above, there are certain charms to appreciate. For example:
*** San Francisco’s culture aside, its location is stunning and what makes it distinctive from other such cities that rise from blue waters (as in Greece, South America, and Australia) is the icing on the cake, as it were, the fog. Here in Lincoln City the same type of marine thermal fog envelops parts of the coast where hills turn into ocean cliffs. The fog is the same color, temperature, and texture of San Francisco’s fog, there’s just not as much of it here.
*** What makes the California coast so spectacular is the way the mountains touch the sea. Majestic views dominate Big Sur, which rise from golden hills folding into the ocean in the south and then giving way to the redwood-dotted jagged edges along the coast from Monterey northward. Here in Lincoln City we have gently rolling fir-covered hills that mostly drift into the sea, but occasionally punctuated by a cliff line ever few miles or so. It’s not magnificent as our sister state to the south boasts, but it’s a decent simulation and has beauty that is similar but distinct in its own right, too.
*** The Gulf Coast is really disappointing once a beach bum becomes accustomed to tropical islands or wild forest shorelines, mostly because of the heat, bugs, and pollution. Sorry guys, but those are some serious drawbacks. Those beaches are extremely flat, that’s true, but that means miles and miles and miles of uninterrupted beaches, most of them long enough, wide enough, and sturdy enough for mild four-wheel drive vehicles; you can drive for miles, then walk and swim for miles, then drive back. Lincoln City has a taste of that in its beaches, too, although “heat” here means 80 degrees once a year and our bugs don’t all suck the blood or bite the flesh out of you. Our beaches stretch for miles and while you can’t take your wheels for long drives along the surf, we’ve several automobile-friendly beach access and parking locales. But be warned: Light four-wheel drive (your Subaru, Jeep, or Explorer won’t cut it) is not for Lincoln City sand, do not venture from the assigned parking area.
*** Nothing compares with tropical water, though. While Lincoln City has clear green sea foam and the occasional sapphire and aquamarine blues in it it’s not tropical. But it’s clean and visibility rivals most Pacific coast shores (except for Monterey and that damn water cleaning canyon; Monterey has easily 30 feet visibility along the shoreline, better away from the city proper). It’s also warmer than Santa Cruz, if you think 60 degrees is warmer than 55 degrees.
**
Politics, return or not? I don’t know. I’m fairly angry about politics, and I know some of that anger comes from my personal life. But perhaps anger is something to run from in this case. Maybe it can motivate positive action.
I dunno. Part of me thinks an honest angry liberal who is willing to speak out is what is needed far more than the present crop of weak-willed, consensus or nothing folks who seem to dominate local party politics. What a surprise that’s my opinion, huh?
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