Lazy Circles in the Sky

Summer in Oregon.

Grain and grass seed harvest in the Willamette Valley.

Perfectly still warm days.

Hawks making lazy circles in the sky.

Perfection!

White On White

After nearly two days hurricane force winds, blistering hail, and relentless rain pounding our little house by the sea while watching the ocean become a ferocious force 

with 25' swells and pounding surf, 

suddenly 

all was totally and perfectly still.  

Even the ocean 

quieted itself.

Dropping from the sky were heavy perfectly formed white flakes of snow.  Snow that covered every wind-battered branch of every shorepine, snow that covered every beaten down blade of grass and struggling daffodil and primrose, snow that covered every piece of mighty driftwood and every smooth and shiny rock on the beach.  Our wold was covered perfectly and evenly by five inches of the gentle beauty of snow.  Even our favorite seagull sitting high on his snow covered perch was unable to dodge the snow.  

White on white.  

God's "rainbow" after the storm.

The Best Sashimi Ever!

How was it that I tasted the best sashimi ever?  Well, long story short, that delectable taste of raw fish came after a long day of salmon fishing on the Rogue River.  But, just how did that fresh caught salmon find its way to our condo kitchen on a summer evening?

First, you need to have a friend who is an avid fisherman.  A friend who lives to fish.  And in particular, a friend who lives for salmon season and his chance to put his boat in at Gold Beach, Oregon to fish the mouth of the Rogue River.

One early early morning with the sun just starting to glint off the waves of the ocean and the riffles of the Rogue River, the boat was launched for a day of fishing for salmon on one of the best salmon fishing rivers in the US.   Rods, reels, bait, nets, ice chests....all were ready.  All the fish had to do was find our bait.  All we had to do was reel them.  Again, long story short....fish were caught.  Salmon were caught...very big salmon were caught!

Those very big salmon were weighed and proudly displayed for photo opportunities.  Long hours of patience had paid off.  Long hours of sitting in a bobbing boat had paid off.  The haul of the day was finally trundled off to the cleaning station where that delectable pink flesh was laid bare and the fish was filleted and made into steaks. 

Back at the condo those of us who had not actually sat for hours in a fishing boat but instead had taken a jet boat trip up the Rogue River for lunch at a rustic restaurant and a chance to view endangered wildlife along the protected part river, had the grill ready for those salmon steaks.

But wait!  I had just returned from Japan where I had eaten all sorts of sashimi -- raw fish of many kinds!  I suddenly realized what a delicacy had been hauled out of the Rogue River onto our kitchen counter--salmon sashimi!

What an evening!  The freshest and best salmon sashimi ever followed by the best grilled salmon steaks ever!  A rare treat!