13, Downtown

Today's picture was taken almost a month ago, while waiting for lunch at one of our favorite downtown spots. On a nicer day there might be people at those tables. There is some impressive architecture around town, but most is a bit rundown. That sky? Pretty typical. In fairness, we have lots of nice, sunny days here, too, but if I ever had to name a paint color I'd pick that bright gray and call it "Oregon Sky." 

11 and 12, Other People's Houses

There are two houses that I drive by every day that I just love. The one above showcases the best of the common house styles out here, the bungalow. It's just adorable. That's my car antenna slicing through the picture, as I tried not to look like a creepy person taking pictures while getting the kids out of the car. 

The next one is a tiny house on a street full of tiny houses - and NOT the trendy kind. It is the amazing lipstick-red rhododendron blooming in front of the slightly worn cornflower blue siding that makes this one worth looking at. Again, my stalker phone picture barely does it justice. 

Having lived only up and down the east coast, and admittedly in fairly affluent areas, the, um, appearance of neighborhoods out here was a bit of a culture shock. But there are plenty of gems tucked here and there and driving by my favorites always brightens my day. 

9 and 10, More at the Beach

Back to our favorite hiking spot at the ocean. These trees, and the fresh and clean quality of the air, aaahh. 

And this, a little evergreen sprig floating in a tide pool. Such a juxtaposition of forest and ocean. 

8, Snails

In the spring it is easy enough to find a snail on demand by just flipping over one or two of the large paver stones on the wall out back. The one demanding is usually Caroline. I'm just as fascinated, too, as I have never lived any place with snails as common as earthworms. I love their intricate and surprisingly fragile shells, and the funny way they stretch their faces out when they start moving.  

6, Fig, 7, Slide

In thinking ahead to the pictures I want to include in this month long project I fear I might be leaning too heavily on individual plant specimens but I must not let the fig tree in our backyard go unmentioned. I had never even eaten a fresh fig before, let alone picked one off my own tree. They are such funny little fruit on a funny little tree but anytime I am lucky enough to encounter them in the future figs will always make me think of here. 

I believe William took this picture, and I was about to delete it but instead I'm blogging it. Another thing we have all been grateful for about this house has been the large backyard and the huge wooden playground/swing set. My father-in-law reportedly scrubbed this whole slide clean when he and Don first got out to the house so it was ready for the kids. I think they all spend as much time running up it as sliding down. It's a very good slide. 

5, Fire

When we rented this house a big selling point was the wood-burning fireplace. D and I both grew up with fireplaces but hadn't yet had one in a house of our own. 

Almost two cords of wood later, we have loved it even more than we expected. It doesn't really get very cold here, but it is cold-ish for quite a lot of months, and quite damp at the same time. The light and warmth and family time that this little fireplace has provided will be one of our favorite memories of this house. 

4, Coffee

One small thing I will miss when we leave here is the extremely excellent coffee, made even more excellent by its wide availability from places like this - stand alone, drive-thru coffee shops where you roll up, turn off your car, and lean right up to the window (not a speaker) to place your order. Forgive me if I'm actually a dolt and places like this exist elsewhere in the country but this is the first and only place I've ever seen them. Coffee, especially my favorite latte-type drinks, is such a thing here that there is even a barista in the medical center. 

Incidentally, rainy mornings (like the one when I took this blurry picture while driving away) are made much friendlier by a little coffee stop.