Sauvie Island: Last Gasp of Summer Warmth
(Collins Beach near the volleybal courts, Entrance #2)The beach is beautiful, serene and stunning in its' own right . . . but it needs its' happy, sun-loving children to warm the subdued colors, golden. I can hardly wait until next summer!
Sunday was supposed to be a break in the rain showers and miserable weather we've been having these past several weeks . . . our typical autumn weather. So I drove down to Portland hoping to find like-minded friends enjoying that last gasp of sunshine on the beach. As one person put it, '. . . even if itmeans hunkering down in a foxhole in the sand for a few hours.' My kind of dedication . . . or insanity!
Well I didn't see anyone out there a'hunkering down, though I did see what looked like a poor excuse for a foxhole near the v-ball courts and a whole lot of fire pits that looked recent. Channel 12 (the Beach Radio channel for ORCOBA) was remarkably silent. Had the entire beach all to myself except for several textile couples out walking their dogs. A cabin cruiser came inbound up the river and I heard the surprised voice of some guy bouncing across the water (the voice, not the guy) saying 'hey, there's a nude guy on the beach!', so I 'mooned' them and sent them on their way.
A float plane came in and buzzed the beach REAL LOW. Sorry, only me and I ain't much to look at . . . LOL Guess that's why he didn't come back around for a second pass.
Toward late afternoon, by which time I figured no one else was going to show up and keep me company (or at least bring me a Grande Latte with 1/2 a pump of vanilla), the sun came out from behind the clouds, the sky cleared and a few other brave souls showed up for the last of the sunshine . . . so warm on the skin. There we stood, facing the sinking western sun like priests ready to begin a ritual sacrifice . . . ever taking one more step backward toward the water's edge; staying out of the lengthening shadows to absorb one or two more ergs of solar radiation. A trio of bundled-up gawkers on the textile beach stared at us as if we were crazy. Shoulda mooned them as well . . .
Cleaned two trash bags of bottles, bottle caps (Corona is the beach favorite, hands down), beer cans, assorted other trash and fifteen billion cigarette butts (them damn smokers) but all in all the beach was pretty clean. So unless someone's going to get a cool-weather beach activity going, I guess this is my last visit for this season.
Well I didn't see anyone out there a'hunkering down, though I did see what looked like a poor excuse for a foxhole near the v-ball courts and a whole lot of fire pits that looked recent. Channel 12 (the Beach Radio channel for ORCOBA) was remarkably silent. Had the entire beach all to myself except for several textile couples out walking their dogs. A cabin cruiser came inbound up the river and I heard the surprised voice of some guy bouncing across the water (the voice, not the guy) saying 'hey, there's a nude guy on the beach!', so I 'mooned' them and sent them on their way.
A float plane came in and buzzed the beach REAL LOW. Sorry, only me and I ain't much to look at . . . LOL Guess that's why he didn't come back around for a second pass.
Toward late afternoon, by which time I figured no one else was going to show up and keep me company (or at least bring me a Grande Latte with 1/2 a pump of vanilla), the sun came out from behind the clouds, the sky cleared and a few other brave souls showed up for the last of the sunshine . . . so warm on the skin. There we stood, facing the sinking western sun like priests ready to begin a ritual sacrifice . . . ever taking one more step backward toward the water's edge; staying out of the lengthening shadows to absorb one or two more ergs of solar radiation. A trio of bundled-up gawkers on the textile beach stared at us as if we were crazy. Shoulda mooned them as well . . .
Cleaned two trash bags of bottles, bottle caps (Corona is the beach favorite, hands down), beer cans, assorted other trash and fifteen billion cigarette butts (them damn smokers) but all in all the beach was pretty clean. So unless someone's going to get a cool-weather beach activity going
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