Moonset

This evening, as the summer slips away, and the sun sets on August, a graceful, crescent moon set into a pastel sky over the Pacific.

Goodbye August. Hello September!

Opening Day!

All kinds of grand events are brought to mind by the words "Opening Day". However, on the Oregon coast, we don't have professional baseball, and hunting and fishing seasons come and go throughout the year.

But for blueberries, the brain food of champions, "Opening Day" denotes when the U-pick blueberry farm in Siletz opens to the public. Last year's season lasted one day, I believe. As a result, this year, many people planned to be at the farm at opening time (8 AM), on opening day, today. Pickers came in all sizes and ages, and were generally a very happy group, eagerly anticipating a future filled with blueberry pies and other tasty recipes.

In about 90 minutes, we picked 30 pounds of blueberrries. Half went into the freezer, 8 cups went into blueberry chutney, some went into dessert with fresh peaches, and the rest awaits us, in the refrigerator. Oregon berries are big, and tasty.

Quadruple double

By yesterday, over the last three weeks, Bori had a triple double. Which is to say that he had caught the limit of 2 Chinook salmon per day, three times. These included both hatchery fish and wild fish, in 2 rivers.

This morning, the ocean conditions a few miles from home were calm enough that I joined him, and watched him catch 2 more. That brought him to quadruple double status. What can I say? Either this year is a very good year for Chinook salmon populations in Oregon, or fish simply can't resist him.

Regardless, we have plenty of salmon in the freezer to feed friends and family, for quite some time.

If fish don't fear him, they should.