Nehalem Bay State Park

We may complain here at the cabin that the beach is too narrow, what with record high lake levels, but there are some things to be said for a narrow beach. At Nehalem Bay the beach was so wide that it was a major expedition to march to the sea. If Anne looks a wee bit cold that’s because she is at least standing on wet sand, if not in actual water. Water that has been chilled by the Arctic’s Humboldt current, which is cold enough to make even Lake Superior water feel warm by comparison. Still, it didn’t stop the kids from swimming there. It was actually kind of a warm day, at least of the Oregon coast.

I’m really reveling in the company of Jay and Carl and will miss them when their visitation is over. Anne broke out the Redwoods puzzle that she bought out west and the three of them have been pouring over it ever since. She is saving the Thomas Kinkade puzzle for Dan’s visit. After working on it just last night, I think that they will finish the Redwoods puzzle today. The girls have a book club meeting today, The Rosie Project. I participated in last year’s meeting, but felt too much like the fox in the henhouse, to want to do it again.

That book was Perfect Match, a novel about pedophile priests. I kind of brought the discussion to a standstill when I related my real life experience as a juror on a statutory rape case. I had everyone’s rap attention right up to the point that I told them that we had acquitted. That decision was so contrary to the theme of the book, but it was also reached just six months before Ferguson. The only black people in the courtroom were the defendant and his accuser. We voted twelve to nothing to acquit. The prosecutor was so pissed with us. The Saint Louis County judicial system was just that corrupt. Last year, we finally voted out McCulloch, the prosecuting attorney and elected Wesley Bell, a Ferguson activist. Bell cleaned house, so I expect that that case’s prosecutor is now gone.