June 30, Astoria: Brilliant . . .

It goes so fast. I looked out the window at just the right time . . . and then the ship came by.

June 19: Cruise ship "The World" glides past Astoria

Luckily, I heard from my neighbor that the ship was due within the half hour, gliding downriver from Portland. I hadn't seen it on the day it went up. Not only is The World huge (also, bright, shiny, and beautiful), but it's unlike most cruise ships in that these are not staterooms, but condos. The berths come in several sizes, and they are owned, not rented for the trip. Some people live here year-round, and others use it as a second home. The ship sails the world, and wouldn't it be nice to be onboard? I think so!

Dulcye Taylor's photos on Facebook give you some idea of how big this ship is compared to the normal big ships we see. You may have to be a Facebook member to get this link.

June 14, Astoria: Estate sale at the "oldest dwelling in Astoria"

Today Lee and I dropped by an estate sale. For me, the most interesting thing was the house itself, which is one of the most historic in town. Here are a few pictures of the outside, and here is the inside, both from my other blog, Astoria, Oregon, Daily Photo.

Working on N.C. Hudson's original letters again

Hi All,

I am back into the writing mode after giving a lot of thought to how to proceed with this project. I've started a new blog for a segment of N.C. Hudson's life story. The blog will be a work in progress about writing the book (a manageable section of the old material that came down in the family) and I will also be posting a lot of excerpts or complete letters. If you're interested in following, I'm also interested in getting some feedback as things come up. He signs his letters N.C. Hudson, or more familiarly, Hudson, but his full name was Nathaniel Carlos Hudson. He grew up in Vermont, taught school in Georgia, studied law in New York (Poughkeepsie), ran a law firm in Iowa, ran a business or businesses in Iowa and Missouri, and finally settled in Corona, California, for the last years of his life, where he was quite active in many endeavors. The book I have planned at this point will cover the law and romance years in Iowa.

Working title for the new blog is, "N.C. Hudson: Love on the Prairie."

Sheryl

June 6, Bend: Sunset at Anthony's

I took this sunset photo in beautiful Bend, Oregon, just outside of Anthony's fish restaurant the Deschutes River in the Old Mill District. Even in June, it was a bit cold for sitting outside tonight, although many were. I'd had a wild hare to get up and go, and I'd just finished the five-hour drive. I was pretty tired, mainly looking forward to a good dinner and a Margarita.

There was some kind of balloon event going on across the river, and hot-air balloons were being filled using gas fires. It looked pretty, and would have been inviting under other circumstances. I expect the balloons had been up during the day, and they were going to go flying again in the morning. It looks like Bend is right on the flight path between Portland and points south, which makes for something more to look at when the clouds are scarce.

1490 Marine Drive - from the catwalk

Fourteen ninety Marine Drive as seen from the catwalk by the radio tower. This is an unusual view for me, as the catwalk is supposed to be off limits, but I was trying to get a huge 20-foot log back out into the river. I mean HUGE. Here it is.

Spinal replacement on the Astoria Column - in through the head!

They brought a big crane in this morning, and now they've taken the top of the crown off the Astoria Column. The goal is to replace the spiral staircase that goes from the bottom up to the white landing platform that you can see here. First, they remove the top of the column, then they take out the old spiral staircase, then drop in the new one. It sounds like quite an operation. Something like spinal replacement through the top of the head! There are workers on the platform now, looking like black ants. If you click on the photo, you can see the ball or something like that at the end of the chain or rope just at the top of what's left of the top of the column. Built in 1926, the column stands 125 feet tall - so you can imagine what the crane must look like from close up! I'll post a picture when I get one.

A notice from the Chamber of Commerce said that the base of the column would not be completely cordoned off, and it would be possible to view the process. I appreciate that they know we want to see this! I'm not sure how far they let cars up the road at the moment. They said at least some of the parking would be unavailable, so maybe the're still letting cars up the road. At the very least, I should be able park a few blocks from start of the road that leads in and walk up near the crane after work. Sometimes I walk up from here, but it's sultry and enervating, and I think I'll drive part way. I took this with a long lens. It's really quite a long way up from the river.

There's a full view of the column here. Just scroll past the trees and such.

Is half a carp better than none?

A lot of things turn up along the river, and they're not all pretty, but they're usually interesting. I was looking over the deck and I saw this part of a fish, about 14 inches long. With the huge scales and the barbel, I thought it might be a carp, but I asked Lee what he thought and he wrote:

"Not much left of this carp. Carp is considered a trash fish by Americans but is a delicacy in the rest of the world. They were brought over by the Germans. . . . When I was in Nepal, at Lake Pokara, some fisherman were bringing the king a large one they had caught for him in his lake. It has lots of little bristles attached to its bones. My mom knew how to prepare carp by boiling it and adding a gelatin, some carrots and celery and making what she thought was a treat. I hated it but enjoyed
catching carp in the sloughs around Astoria. They are slow moving but large."

Perhaps a sea lion didn't consider it trash. I wonder how it didn't get finished? But the crabs will have a field day later on. The water was kind of an icky color at that point, reflecting the overcast sky. But it changes color all day long, and it's usually pretty nice. By the way, this is the first carp I've seen here in the river. But then, I'm not out on boats very much.