Heavenly days

I love tunnels! On the way from Seattle to the Washington Coast:

Our old friend Debby put us up for a couple of nights at her place on Long Beach. She is a treasure house of knowledge about the Pacific Northwest, with a strong interest in the history of the area.  We took a picnic lunch out to  Cape Disappointment (named as such by Captain Cook, of course) [No, apparently by someone named Meares] where there were a lot of rollers on the  beach called Waikiki Beach.

Note: I was tired when I wrote this and forgot to mention the central role of Native Americans in the story of the west.

This blog has some information on the geography and history of the area.

Wouldn't Anselm Kiefer go crazy here, with so much driftwood to arrange!

We also visited the park at the end of the Lewis and Clark Trail. Debby was a little cool about the place, I think partly because she has brought visitors there so many times and also because she would like more facts and clearer interpretation about this historic location instead of what could seem like the rather obscure tribute to the explorers and pioneers of the west by Maya Lin, her Confluence Project. I'm a fool for Maya Lin, though. Part of my enthusiasm is because the story of the west is never settled in my mind by mere facts and figures or even "stories." Lin's indirect, "artistic" approach appeals to me, although I can understand why people like Debby, whose forebears were actual pioneers of the Pacific Northwest, would prefer something more direct in the way of a tribute to them.  And yet I, at any rate, have an emotional response to Lin's work.

I was very pleased with her deceptively simple amphitheater made out of Trex, which turns a meadow area into a wonderful venue for outdoor performances, in the most economical way. I think this is very sophisticated!  The ocean is in the background, lost in the glare. 

On the way back to Seattle, we went by the cooling towers of a nuclear power plant that never went into operation; WHOOPS was the perpetrator of  the fiasco that was the second largest municipal bond default in history.

Still there, never demolished.  I hate the way we build big stuff in this country and just leave it there this way if we find no use for it. Maybe that's why I like Lin's work. It's modest. A walkway is useful. A shady grove is useful. A simple amphitheater is useful. A big old stupid cooling tower just sitting there is useless.

I can't believe how good the weather has been. This seems to be the best time of the year to visit the Northwest.

Comments

[mage Bailey]

Hey, the crappy weather is down here.
Yes Lin does magic things and I too like that stopping place. Think of what she could do with that dried castoff beach wood.

[Hatte]

Mage: Well, you're just spoiled on warm (not hot) sunny days where you are!
Maya Lin is wonderful at taking found materials, industrial materials, whatever is at hand, and making something totally suited to its surroundings. I don't think she is trying to make permanent monuments but more making things that are pleasant and useful for people living now.

[Musings]

I love the simplicity of Lin's work and how she uses the environment to work with her projects.

[Hattie]

Kay: So do I. Did you get to see the Vietnam Memorial?

[Michael Strickland]

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