Day 2, mostly sunny

The view from the living room

Two things that didn’t get mentioned. 1. After a very dry summer, it rained yesterday morning, which was delightful. And 2. There were 3 games of trouble last night. Dave won 2 and I won one of them so quickly we didn’t even notice it. We got a new game board and we think it isn’t as much fun to play as the old one.

Then there’s a third thing, the flea line. And the identification of things. First, the identification of things. The dried up jellies are not jellies at all. They are Velella velella, a cosmopolitan genus of free-floating hydrozoans that live on the surface of the open ocean. The jellies with the radial lines are water jellies or crystal jellies – neither or which we usually see. The jellies are really fascinating because they’re super translucent and pretty thick, so the broken up bits of them look like glass with very round edges and catch the sun in beautiful ways. For more information about these things check out this link. The barnacles are pelagic gooseneck barnacles. So we have two unusual species of jellyfish-like creatures, plus the unusual gooseneck barnacles, plus the crazy high sands. And that brings us to the flea line. There are always sand fleas, but this year there seem to be more of them. They congregate at the debris line, and there are so many of them that if you walk along there it feels like your feet are being bombarded. It’s kind of icky.

Since I was up by 5:30 every day last week, my internal alarm is set way too early. I managed to sleep in until 7, and we had a slow morning of reading, Dave working on his model ship, and me dancing the first three songs of Clarity with the sound turned off, which Debbie had suggested during the training last week. It certainly helps me to focus on the moves, and I think I’m also picking up some body cues off the teacher that I wouldn’t notice with the music.

Lunch was, of course, Bill’s. Oddly they didn’t have any of the usual beers, but we each found something we liked. We sat in the not-for-minors side which is the best thing about having adult children, although next year when Ben and Joan bring Avery we’ll have to go back to sitting on the other side. It will be worth it. After Bill’s we walked around town a little, particularly enjoying the earrings and fused glass at Dragonfire. Then suddenly I was exhausted and needed to go home for a nap, so we headed home after a quick stop at Mariner. The one new thing in town is that the wine shack now has expanded into the space next to it that used to be a junk store; they have some salamis and cheese there but it’s a little sparse and not very interesting.

The last set of stairs before the beach

We both did some major napping. As I often do, I went the full advanced napper route in the bed, while Dave started with reading on the deck and moved to the couch. I think we both slept for about 2 hours. What eventually woke me up was the sun shining in on me through the skylight and making it very hot. I rolled over to the other side of the bed, but then the sun moved over there and it was time to get up. We changed up some dinner reservations (I think it’s all stable now) and then headed off for a walk on the beach, marveling at the high sand and the jellies. The sand is so high that the rocks in front of the carriage road are completely covered, and it’s only a couple of feet from the sand to the lowest part of the road. We were a little nervous about getting cut off, but what eventually turned us around was the rain. It’s a mark of how dry this summer has been that neither of us had even considered that as a possibility. So we got to Arcadia and turned around. There was no problem getting over the carriage road on the way back, and the rain didn’t last very long at all, so it was a good walk.

We took quick showers and called Irish Table about 6 to get on their wait list. They gave us a 7:30 slot, which was perfect as it gave us time for two rounds of Petanque out in the front driveway. In both games I took a large, early lead, and then lost both of them by 2 points. I don’t seem to be able to keep my concentration through the whole game. We learned to play Petanque in Macon, France and it’s been a great find – it’s like bocce (in fact you use bocce balls) but doesn’t need a court.

By the time we finished the second game it was time for dinner. Irish Table is one of our favorite restaurants in Cannon Beach and it didn’t disappoint. I had a mushroom and sweet potato wellington, and Dave had lamb shepherd’s pie – both super yummy. I need to remember, though, that the raspberry sorbet is just not worth ordering, especially since you can get the cookies without it. The waiter recognized us as people who have come there before, which is always nice.

We came home and Dave made a nice fire while I did some blogging. It’s odd and a little sad to be here without any children, but we are enjoying ourselves anyway. We need to find more games that are good for two people.

Confidential to BOS: you can just comment on facebook if that’s easier.