GREEN GRASS & HIGH TIDES; Long Beach-WA

September 14th: We enjoy our grassy space at Ocean Bay Mobile & RV Park (it's peaceful), and the Park hosts are very nice people, and friendly too … but we miss being parked next door to David on his beach lot :-(

We are still having drainage issues in the spare bathroom, so we need to be connected to this RV Park's drain system until that gets sorted out.

I was feeling pretty punky this morning, so I got up early so I wouldn't wake Holland with my tossing and turning: he doesn't sleep well, and was up until about 3 AM before he fell into bed.

I worked a while on another little preemie sleep sacque while listening to the continual rainfall, and drinking a couple cups of coffee I hoped would ease my sore throat.

Drizzle this morning, before Holland woke up …

Worked a bit on this boy's preemie sacque button band.

When Holland got up around 10 … I crept back to bed; leaving my crafting stuff all over the table. I couldn't have tidied up if I wanted to - I was that tired. The PNW rainy season puts me into a semi-hibernation mode. My stuffy head, sore throat, and sour stomach added to the drowsiness.

I had short bursts of wakefulness & tepid energy. I sleep off and on most of the day.

We had planned to go to the Garlic Festival - then on to Ilwaco to the Saturday Market, but that fell by the wayside because I was just too ditzy to do much of anything but sleep. Holland didn't mind - he's more of a homebody, than I am.

 

Holland had made a tuna salad while I was drifting in and out of Dreamland … and I wasn't sure my stomach would keep it down: but after I forced the first bite past my nose and down my throat, the following bites weren't so hard; and my stomach did not rebel. Punky or not, I need to keep my body nourished.

Today, last year, I was eating my first tuna steak … and canning fresh tuna to carry with us on our Road Gypsy adventures: SO delish! Though I have lived in the PNW since 1966, I'd never been treated to this PNW delicacy - Holland has, so he was excited when we canned 24 pints of tuna with David. We still have about 10 pints left, so we'll skip canning this year; but it will be a definite {thing} going forward. I'm hooked on the tasty treat, now.

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September 15th: This morning I woke up feeling much better: the headache was gone, and my stomach was calmer. 

I also liked the way Holland sleepily reached out with his long arm, and pulled me into his side, for a sleepy morning cuddle before I woke all the way up, and got up.

Holland followed a short while later - he wanted to check out the Garlic Festival (and hopefully grab some fresh garlic), and I was game … so, off we went. I had planned on doing this activity before Holland was part of my life, but doing it with him makes it more fun :-)

I'm back in the Land of the Living, today.

The Garlic Festival is a small affair … and pretty much like the Farmer's Market a few days ago: a lot of food stuffs, jewelry, and beach combing "art".

Festival Mascots …

We had to look hard to find any fresh garlic: we came home with 2 heads of garlic, and a handful of very small tomatoes because both were 'organically' ridiculously high priced … and a small box of spendy white fudge. I don't regret wasting the time, but I won't be going again.

The Outlaws - 'Green Grass and High Tides' song:  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhiyKZsAW44)

On our way home, we turned down Bay Avenue in Ocean Park, to enjoy the Pacific Ocean at the Ocean Park Approach: Holland needs his daily water fix - and I'm finding that I look forward to enjoying it with him.

I don't think I've ever enjoyed spending time watching ocean waves, as I have - and do - enjoy a day at the beach with Holland. I love watching his senses come alive when he watches the waves :-)

I liked the kites … we had missed the Long Beach Kite Festival, due to Independence's repairs, so I was glad to see some of what had been shown. These pretty things are wildly expensive.

Fun beach approach; Ocean Park-WA

The 'sea chickens' were plentiful again, this afternoon; flocks of 'Heermann's Gulls'.

A black one! I wonder what it's labeled as … it's a 'first winter Heermann's Gull'.

Heermann's Gull - plummage & vocalization:  (https://ebird.org/species/heegul#:~:text=Almost%20exclusively%20coastal%3B%20usually%20seen,and%20British%20Columbia%20in%20winter.)

Large, loud, waves rolling in ;-)

A closer picture of the colorful kites.

A dinosaur, & an Orca is what drew my eye.

I don't know what the racoon-tailed black kite is supposed to represent …

Maybe some sort of fantasy stingray?

A h.u.g.e. Blue Whale had joined the kite dance on the breeze! The fells had it tethered to his truck's back bumper.

I am loving this stage & chapter of my New Life that my new husband is engaging me in ;-)

We spotted 5 Brown Pelicans - but I couldn't capture them in frame.

Brown Pelicans – Feeding Behaviors and Identification: 

(https://www.onthewingphotography.com/wings/2011/02/19/brown-pelicans/)

I finally {got} one ;-)

When I first saw today's brown pelicans, I thought they were eagles because from a distance the large brown bodies with white heads appeared to resemble eagles - but Holland said they were brown pelicans; and that excited me, more: I love the way pelicans in flight look like prehistoric pterosaurs (I admit to being a dino freak ;-)).

The first time I saw brown pelicans was in 2020, when I was enjoying one of my solo lobo Sunday out-of-house Daytrips. I was deliberately pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and forcing myself to deal with memories without breaking down in tears … and to create new memories by doing things Bob and I never did; it was important in my healing process of widowhood:

SUNDAY~FUNDAY #18 – Fort Columbia: 

https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2020/08/sundayfunday-18-fort-columbia.html

Since 2020, I've enjoyed several pelican sightings: brown, and white - we saw white pelicans on our way to Warrenton-OR, the other day, but there was no place to pull over and take pictures.

The weather started turning - so, we turned towards home under the dancing kites adding color to the darkening sky.

We stopped at Okie's Grocery Store on the way home and bought some fresh produce … and some interesting black grapes; I said to Holland that the way they hung down reminded me of little trumpet-shaped flowers ;-)

Royal Queen Purple Iochroma flower cluster.

When we got home, Holland put the kitchen cart I bought a few days ago, together, for me.

And we enjoyed some of the black grapes, too. They were sweet and tasty - not tart, like the little round old-fashioned black grapes I am used to, that used to grow up the porch pillars of my cousin Terri's Skamokawa house: I like those the best … but these long, tubular grapes, are enjoyable, too :-)

Holland put my kitchen cart together after we got back home …

A tidy place to add extra space in the small kitchen ;-)

A new kind of grape - neither of us have ever seen, or tried them; but they look interesting.

They have a little 'navel'; LOL

The largest one was 2-in long.

Black seedless grapes contain significant amounts of vitamins A, C, and K. Flavonoids within the grape’s skin, such as resveratrol, also provide antioxidant qualities which can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Today was a great day from start to finish.

Thank You, Yeshua: I am truly blessed.