River, ships, pilings, Astoria: winter

Astoria: Cold and beautiful morning

This morning was about as cold as it usually gets here in Astoria. The colors and clarity on the river showed the scene in all its glory. The photo was taken looking approximately east, and the bit of land sticking out into the river in the background on the right is Tongue Point. I took the photo from a block or so east of the Maritime Museum.

We usually have a few days each year when we have ice on the ground. Here is a puddle with the top frozen between the River Walk and the river bank.

Looking back west toward the Astoria-Megler bridge through trees that show damage from our big storm in December.

[Your visit to my blog helps us generate traffic to support the Tapir Preservation Fund and its online gift shop. Thank you! ~ Sheryl]

Astoria Coffee House

A pleasant place to get out of the rain on a day like today.

This time it was a skinny one

Here's one of the more troublesome logs we've had. It's odd, because it's not very big around, but it got lodged under the building's pilings and it wasn't working its way out, or when it appeared to be coming out, it went right back under. And it would float back in when I tried to pull it out. It was stubborn! You can't see how long it is, but went all the way under the building. I'm writing this after the fact, but I think it came out the other side. It's surprising how big a thump it can create, banging over and over again in the current when it's caught and won't release. I feel sure this is one we had to cut up.

Flotsam

I love living on the river. I suppose someday I may not be living on the river, but elsewhere, and I'm sure I'll look back at everything connected with this time as somewhat magical and romantic. I even like watching what the currents bring in. In some seasons, it's not unusual to have logs and grass wash into our bay. By "bay," I mean the tiny bay created by the fact that our building doesn't protrude as far into the water as the ones on each side. The pilots' building has screening under it to keep out the logs and the bigger junk. At the moment, ours does not. Sometimes the logs get in there and thump for awhile in any waves caused by wind or passing ships and boats. Usually they wash out on their own, but sometimes they have to be cut up or hauled out. It's hard to tell the scale here, but these are logs, not little sticks.