Flotsam

Thursday, June 7, the rain stopped, more or less, so we decided to run over to see the recent arrival from last year's tsunami in Japan, a steel and concrete dock washed ashore two days before at Agate Beach.  It was not the first flotsam to hit the West Coast─a soccer ball washed up in Alaska, a Harley in a shipping container in B.C., a derelict ship sunk before it entered shipping lanes─but it was a first for Oregon.
       At Newport, the sky had broken clouds, the temperature was in the 60s, a slight breeze blew off the water.  We pulled into the parking lot at the beach, walked through the tunnel under the road, and out into a delightful afternoon.

Others had had the same idea, but Agate Beach is big enough that the crowd was hardly noticeable.  We could barely see the dock about three quarters of a mile toward Yaquina head so we started hiking.

The dock weighs an estimated 165 tons, measures 66 feet long, 19 wide and 7 tall, but in the surf it did not seem significant.  In fact, one report suggested that for comparison, if the Pacific were the size of a football field, the dock would be about the size of a human hair.

The dock is one of four installed in 2008 in the port of Misawa, Japan, that had broken loose, identified by a plaque fastened to the side.

One was found washed ashore in Japan, this one 5000 miles away in Oregon, and two are still missing.  At low tide, the dock is dry, but we arrived shortly after high so we couldn't get close.

An OSU researcher said that hitchhikers on the dock presented "a very clear threat" of invasive species, especially a small crab that has infested the East Coast but not yet the West, an edible seaweed known as wakame that has hit southern California but not yet Oregon, and a starfish, about 3 inches across, that has not before been found in the U.S.

 To prevent their possible spread, volunteers scraped the dock, as shown in Oregon Parks and Recreation photos, then seared the surface to sterilize it.

An estimated ton and a half of material was removed and when we arrived it was being buried on the beach, clearly within storm tide levels.

"Experts" suggested that burial "above the high water line" was the best way to safeguard the environment, but remember in 1970 when experts thought the best way to dispose of a dead whale was to dynamite it?  You should read Dave Barry's report of the consequences of that decision: http://theexplodingwhale.com/evidence/resources/day-barry-article/.

The dock was a nice excuse for a walk on the beach but it hardly rivaled other surprises from the sea we have examined in the last forty-odd years.  Laurel remembers when we visited 41 beached sperm whales south of Sea Lion caves, at the time, 1979, the third largest number ever recorded.

 More recently, Deb and I examined a Grey whale beached near Seal Rock─she could not get close downwind, the smell was so ripe.

And few Oregonians can forget the ship that simply wouldn't go away─the New Carissa, beached, hauled off to sea, broken loose, and beached again─before being hauled away again and torpedoed.

So─after looking at the Zeniya Kaiyo Service dock, we drove to the South Beach Deli for some of the best fish and chips on the Coast.  A pleasant afternoon.

One Hot Trip

We drove to Portland on Tuesday to use the "Park and Ride" at the Radisson for our 6 a.m. flight to Dallas May 23─3 hours and 45 minutes in the air, a 3 hour layover, then an hour and 40 minute hop to Huntsville to see kids and grandkids and the new house, a lovely brick with wood floors, lots of rooms and bathrooms, enough space for kids and guests.

Fortunately, it has two air conditioning systems: the temperature when we arrived was in the high 80s.

A major reason for visiting at this time was to see Matthew in Clowns, a major production for sixth graders at his school , the last performance the next morning.  Cast call was at 7:30 so Laurel early helped him get started on face paint which he finished himself,

drove him to school, then returned to pick us up for the performance, a musical review featuring most of the students in the top three grades.

After, as a reward, we stopped at Starbucks for freezes, then drove back to the house.  The temperature was in the low 90s, nothing to faze Bamans, an oven for Oregonians.

Friday, we shopped at several antique malls, sprinting from air conditioned car to air conditioned building, but the only thing that tempted was a minuscule trowel and rake, sterling handles and elephant ivory, tools for a miniature Zen rock garden; the price was gigantic.  Deb wants to add that we visited the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, a final destination for luggage from airlines and bus services that cannot be reunited with owners, a conglomeration of bags, clothes, shoes, electronic devices and miscellaneous stuff, of which the most interesting is hung on the walls and not for sale: a 10-foot dungchen (Tibetan long horn), a 4-foot wide Benin bronze plaque, an African headdress.

We kayaked a 3-hour stretch of the Flint River, which flows near Huntsville between tree-covered bluffs and flatland into the Tennessee River, mostly slow moving but with a few fast spots for added interest.

We saw a heron, two raccoons, and heard birds we could not identify.

We visited Cathedral Cavern State Park, not far from Huntsville, and waited for the guide at the entrance, where the temperature was at least 20 degrees cooler than at the lodge 50 yards away.

 The cavern has a number of features to recommend it:  a constant temperature of 57-60 degrees─nice; the widest entrance of any commercial cave in the world, 25 feet tall by 128 feet wide;

the largest column in the world (named Goliath, 45 feet tall, 243 feet in circumference); and about two miles of an 8-foot-wide concrete walkway to view everything.

In 1995, Disney Studios shot the cave scenes in Tom and Huck here.

An area is set aside for weddings; minister, bride and groom stand on sand, guests stay on the path.

 We visited the Space and Rocket Center to see the Mammoths and Mastodons exhibition, created by the Field Museum in Chicago, a collection of fossils, artifacts, interactive exhibits and a replica of the most complete baby mammoth ever found, thought to have drowned in Siberia when a month old, frozen for 40,000 years.

And given the heat, we spent a lot of time in the new home:  Laurel cooked crêpes one morning.  David grilled yummy steaks at night.  I spent time with Matthew as he built Lego fire trucks.

As the sun went down, we sat on the second floor deck and enjoyed the view.

Wednesday morning, we rose about 3 a.m. (Oregon time) to catch the early flight to Dallas, looking forward to a leisurely breakfast during our 4-hour layover, but thunderstorms shut down DFW, a 2-hour flight turned into 6 hours including an hour or so refueling in Abilene, a mile sprint in the DFW terminal, and 4 hours later we land at PDX for the drive home.  Coolness.