After my last sad post about my dog Chico, I thought I’d give you a few happy notes from my weekly trip east to Albany to see my husband Fred and Salem to teach my creative writing class at Chemeketa Community College.
A string of Canada geese squawks overhead as I leave Burger King after a pit stop. They’re flying north early. They fly in the shape of the top of a crown. Later, walking around the pond at Waverly Park with Fred, I’ll see another batch in a V formation. On the ground, ducks and local geese vie for bread being tossed out by a young couple and their little boy. In their midst, I notice a few sea gulls trying to blend in. It works fine till they try to quack.
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A church in the far west portion of Corvallis has a sign out front that says Ch__ch. Beneath is another sign that says, “This is a church; what is missing?” The answer? UR. Clever.
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Sighted on I-5 just north of Albany: A dark-haired woman in the car next to me is blowing a gigantic bubble—about 3 inches in diameter. I’m already laughing when she eases ahead and I see the sign on the back of her car: “Naked Cleaning.” What? Her license plate says: ntr spy. Hmm.
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Back at home, I look up into the bright sky and see a double rainbow around the full moon. Complete circles with color. You don’t usually see color at night. “Hey, Annie, look!” I call, but of course the dog has her nose to the ground.
I did a little research. It’s not a rainbow or a moonbow, although there is such a thing, produced by light reflected off the surface of the moon. Colored rings close to the moon are a corona caused by ice crystals that reflect and refract the light of the moon. They are red on the inside, blue on the outside.
One of the great things about living in Oregon’s coastal forest is the constant sky show. Without smog or ambient light, the sky always offers something new to see.
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Life can be challenging, but it’s full of blessings, too, if you look for them.
Unleashed in Oregon 