Fall at the Pacific coast is another one of those reminders that nature rules, and even overrules the bad mood inflicted by too many thoughts about politics. This is particularly true if fall weather is as sunny as it has been this October, really breaking all norms. It makes for very happy bunnies,

intensely happy dogs

and extremely happy people.

It also foreshadows what is largely predicted now by all relevant researchers: a return of El Nino this winter, with warmer temperatures and less precipitation – maybe a boon for the coast but a disaster for snowpacks on inland mountains which serve as fresh water supply for Oregon all year long.

http://www.chinookobserver.com/co/free/20180725/climate-forecast-favors-onset-of-el-nixf1o-could-mean-warmer-winter-in-northwest

I have lived in the Pacific Northwest since 1986, and am still in awe, after 32 years, at the beauty of the landscape, its wilderness, its variety. I am also amused at the descriptions of this region – here is an example found in the Encyclopedia Britannica: …. the American Pacific Coast represented the western borderland area of the United States. As such, the people and the press of this region displayed over the years a degree of regional self-consciousness. Isolation from the rest of the country was early corrected by regional efforts to bring about a union of Eastern and Western lines of transportation and communication, an enhancement of maritime trade, and adequate coastal military defenses. Since then the Pacific Coast has been obliged to cope with many problems more peculiar to the West than to the East. For example, large-scale immigration from Mexico and Central America has been a major Pacific Coast concern, as has rapid urban population growth beginning during World War II. Another problem peculiar to this region has been the heavy dependence of West Coast business enterprises upon Eastern capital investment.

The people of the Pacific Coast are generally credited with being individualistic, casual in dress, and innovative in business management.

I arrived here yesterday and woke up to a misty sky this morning, just right for a planned hike on Neahkahnie mountain. There will be enough sweating as is, given the shape I’m in. I will take an individualistic tempo up hill, be casual in dress and innovative in my photography…..

This was yesterday’s sunset:

 

 

Thomas Moran’s Pacific Sunset (1907).