Thursday, July 19th, 2012 … is that they take tsunamis very seriously around here.
This is a photo of the Tsunami Strobe Light Warning System right at the beach. It’s got a klaxon which blows in the event of a tsumami to warn people off the beach and to get to high ground. [It’s also tested every Wednesday at 11 a.m. You can hear it for miles.] The light on top blinks blue.
Here’s a close-up of the explanatory sign on the Tsunami Early Warning System.
And yet another sign, posted in the parking lot near the beach, warning that the beach is a hazardous area in the event of an earthquake (which will cause a tsunami.)
Here’s an unusually round sign (only unusual because all the other tsunami signs have been square) posted along the evacuation route. It makes certain you’re going in the right direction.
When you’ve reached high enough ground, this sign lets you know.
And here’s a sign in front of an evacuation site, which interestingly enough, leaves off the word “tsunami.” Presumably the locals know it’s for that purpose.
The sign just happens to be in front of the local movie theater, which I presume is an awesome place to ride out a tsunami. Because if the world is going to end, and Oregon goes floating off into the sea, you might as well enjoy a good movie (and some popcorn) while it’s happening.
Sunday, April 8th, 2012  Happy Easter!
We spent the day yesterday doing ‘Eastery’ things, including dying eggs and watching an Easter Egg hunt.
My sis made a fabulous coconut cake and we’ve already busted into it this morning. (I’ve also been into the potato salad. Shh, don’t tell Mom.)
We had Easter Dinner last night, so this morning we’re having a huge breakfast before everyone gets on the road to drive home.
Hope everyone has a terrific day!
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012  Happy Vernal Equinox!
Even though I’m bummed I didn’t get one really good snow day this past winter (am I the only adult I know who LOVES sledding?) I’m looking forward to spring.
I want to uncover my fig trees, dig in the dirt and watch the flowers bloom.
(I am now anxiously awaiting those precious few days when the lilac bush under my window is bursting with color and fragrance. Lilacs are my absolute favorite!)
I’m also getting that “spring cleaning” bug. Anyone else?
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012  It’s Tuesday night. So it’s game night in the Harmon Household.
This means that the Husband of Awesome™ and a platoon of his cohorts are in the nether realms of the basement gaming, drinking scotch, and probably acting like neanderthals.
(They probably wouldn’t like me saying that.)
But that’s not hard to believe if you’d hear the laughter rolling up the stairs like thunder every so often. (One wonders what they jabber about. The game should be taking all their attention, right?)
They approached me last week and asked if it were all right to play tonight. I was dumbfounded.
I mean, I knew I wasn’t celebrating tonight. (We’re gearing up for a raucous party Friday night.) But what are the odds that the Husband of Awesome™ and every single one of his gaming buddies is free as well?
I smell a conspiracy.
I told them that I wasn’t the woman they needed to clear this with…after all, every one of them has a wife or fiancĂ©e. They should be asking their own women!
But darned if every one of them didn’t show up tonight.
So, I’m writing blog posts…and cleaning off the desk. Looking forward to Friday when I can spend a lot more time in the company of the Husband of Awesome™. What are you all up to tonight?
Sunday, February 5th, 2012 Woke up to a snowy morning, just gorgeous. Would have loved to have stayed in and sat by the fire, but it was not to be.
A picture from the road:
How the day ended:
Saturday, January 21st, 2012  Discussion: who knows what jimmies are? There was much discussion around my kitchen table the other day as we were eating some home-made confections…
Apparently jimmies (sprinkles, for those of you who are unfamiliar) must be a local (or regional) term. Is this actually the case? Please let me know in the comments.
What spurred the discussion was my creation of these little ladybug cake confections.
I received one of those “cake pops” pans for Christmas this year. Totally unexpected. I bake a lot of cookies — mostly Italian style biscotti using my Grandmother’s recipe — but I don’t bake cakes.
 It’s not that I don’t like cake. It’s just that a cake, even a small one, usually rots on the counter after a few days in this small household. It’s just a waste.
But cake pops on the other hand…are a neat way to economize…
…unless you decorate them, I’ve found. I could have bought a HUGE bakery-made sheet cake — fully themed – for what I paid for candy melts and icing pens, junior mints and confetti and jimmies.
But it was a lot of fun…if not as delicious as I thought they should have been.
Frankly, a slice of cake would have been fine.
But these do look so cute on the counter.
Now… no derisive comments about my decorating skills, okay? I’m a novice.
Friday, January 6th, 2012 Up early as usual, I caught the sunrise over the trees this morning. Before the sun came up, the sky was awash in this gorgeous red. Beautiful morning here.
About a half hour later, the sun peeked out from behind the rise in my backyard.
Sunday, January 1st, 2012  Wishing everyone a safe, happy, healthy and prosperous new year.
To my writer friends:
May this year bring you more sales than you’ve ever had before. May your story ideas be ever-flowing, and may you not suffer any writers block. May we all be in a best-selling anthology together. 🙂
Saturday, December 31st, 2011 The presents unwrapped, the (delicious!) Rock and Rye all consumed, we loaded the car and came home from my Mom and Dad’s… the first Christmas we’d spent there in a lot of years.
My little home town sported this big “Welcome Home, Troops” sign and flag at the traffic circle a few miles from my home.
Very cool.
Welcome Home, Troops!
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
So, one of my roommates asked to borrow some wrapping paper to wrap a gift. This is what happened.
Note the strategic placement of granola bars to hold down the corners to commit this atrocity.
The worst part? The gift is apparently for me.
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