A Day at the Beach

It was windy and cold with constant rain alternating between sprinkles and torrents. Walking on Cannon Beach was not particularly comfortable, but watching the waves from the fireplace in our vacation rental house’s living room by was pretty great. If you go to the Oregon coast in November, you must expect early winter weather, and […]

February Dreams

A warm beach, clear, blue water, lapping waves, palm trees and cool drinks under an umbrella. Looking out at the crystal snow falling in the below-zero air, I shiver in spite of the roar of our furnace trying to keep out the cold. A February winter’s day in Colorado, not unlike the last few and […]

A Week at the Oregon Beach

The incessant roar of waves permeated everything, except for the occasional blast of October wind through the row of houses. Tendrils of sand blew unceasingly down the beach, past the imperturbable groups of seagulls who searched the sand for anything edible — or at least interesting. So too, the scattered human beachgoers braved the wind […]

Mud Slinging

With sea levels expected to rise 3 to 6 feet by the end of the century, coastal communities are moving fast to construct major shoreline projects to protect themselves. As the size of these projects expands, the primary building materials — dirt and mud — are getting scarce.                                                                                 ~ Lauren Sommer Mud puddles, muddy […]

More Walls?

 “Every global shore touches the same ocean, and the ocean is rising.” ~ Benjamin Strauss and Scott Kulp Flooding in London has been a problem since the city was first established in Roman times … The barrier protects central London against a storm surge … that can funnel the water up the Thames Estuary and cause […]

Changes Comin’

“As ocean temperatures rise, marine species are moving away from their warming and acidifying habitats to seek colder waters. There is, in effect, a mass migration of sea life towards the poles.” – Zoë Schlanger A couple of years ago while vacationing on the Oregon Coast, we were startled by the tsunami alarms going off […]

How High’s the Water, Mama?

How high’s the water, Mama? Five feet high and risin’. How high’s the water, Papa? She said it’s five feet high and risin’. Well, the rails are washed out north of town. We gotta head for higher ground. We can’t come back till the water goes down, Five feet high and risin’ ~ Johnny Cash, […]

Coasting

They flew in a ragged formation above the beach, but something seemed off. “They’re flying backwards!” I realized. A strange sight — but a familiar feeling. We were dealing with the aftereffects of a Pacific typhoon along the Oregon coast; the waves were huge and the winds terrific. A rare tornado touched down in the […]