"I must go down to the sea again . . ."

I'm feeling like I should be posting photos of work in progress, but quite honestly, it isn't happening. Seems like Ray and I keep hopping in the car and taking off for one place or another, but even when I'm home I'm distracted by other things. I got my quilt back from Houston last week and was a little bummed by the judging sheets. I shouldn't have been, but I was. Just having my quilt accepted was a big thing, but I'm a sensitive soul. (snort!) The category of "Visual Impact", which seems sort of like the bottom line, was judged "needs improvement" by one judge, "satisfactory" by the second, and "outstanding" by the third. (Clearly only the last judge has any taste at all!) When I got the photos sent to me by a couple of people who went to Houston I had to fret a bit over how insignificant my piece looked next to that brightly hued, giant head next to it. Well, my friend June told me that Houston was not the right venue for me. She may be right or I may just need to—what? Make things big and bright? Probably not.

On another note, we went down to the beach with my friend Beth ( walking partner, co-conspirator, quilter) and her husband, Ed, for a couple of days. They have a house in Seaside, where Ed grew up. They are the kind of people who live for the beach, couldn't exist without that frequent infusion of sea air and salt spray, so the house is a real labor of love—very comfy and cottage-y. This is their view from the house—not bad to wake up to!

On our morning walk we ended up at the statue of Lewis and Clark looking out at the ocean. It occurred to me that I had just recently been thinking about L&C trekking through the Columbia Gorge (see last entry) and here they were again. I like the detail of the dog with the fish in its paws.

Down the way, tucked in among houses is the reproduction of Lewis and Clark's salt cairn. Sea water was boiled in buckets set into the cairn (rock structure—oven in this case) until only salt was left. The Corps of Discovery was happy to have this salt, not only for seasoning, but to use to preserve the game they killed. The Corps wintered near Seaside at Fort Clatsop, before their return East.

I have to admit I enjoy the historic stuff as much as I do the ocean air, but it was pretty great too.

This last picture was taken out near where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful beach grass.