The coast is a cool place to live in every sense, including temperatures. I’ve just returned from 3 ½ weeks in California where the last two weeks were in the 90s nearly every day. So coming into Florence with overcast skies and temps in the 50s last Sunday about 6 p.m. was heavenly. Apparently, I missed a heat wave in the 90s on the coast by only a couple of hours. Sometimes I time it right.

Notice that the Florence Festival of Books logo includes the Siuslaw River Bridge.

Florence Festival of Books responsibilities

The very cool Florence Festival of Books will be happening again on September 28. So as co-chair, I met with my other half on Monday to plan for the committee meeting the next day and to set the agenda. Just before our meeting, we met with the director of the Florence Events Center and the committee liaison with the Center. On Tuesday, I made calls to other members to bring certain items, took notes during the FFOB meeting, and ran a number of errands.

On Wednesday I typed up the minutes and sent them out. Then I spent the rest of the day at the Siuslaw Pioneer Museum, where there were visitors from warmer parts of the Northwest enjoying the coastal cool.

Any gentle, sweet, house cat can become a “wild” cat when you pull its tail!

Surprise cat bite

I received a not-so-cool cat bite about 1 p.m. Monday. Groucho, my usually wonderful kitty, got outside because I didn’t close the front door all the way. I left it ajar, and a wind gust blew it open. When I realized that and saw him in the yard, I went after him. As I reached out for him, he wriggled out of my hands. And I found myself holding his tail. Big mistake! In a flash, he turned and scratched my hand, arm, and leg as well as biting my hand. I let go. Overkill! I would’ve let go after the first scratch. As I was cleaning all wounds with soap, water, and hydrogen peroxide, Groucho came up on the deck, wanting in. He was his usual purring, friendly self. At least, he’s not holding a grudge.

The next day, during the course of the morning, the hand with the bite had swollen, turned reddish, and was definitely warm to the touch, as well as still sore. So between a morning hair appointment, errands, and the afternoon FFOB committee meeting, I waited at the “walk-in clinic” to see a doctor. I finally got to see one about 3 p.m. and received an antibiotic.

One of my errands involved visiting my taxman. I received some cool advice from his wife about an old-time poultice remedy for treating cat scratches/bites––soak bread in milk, heat, then apply. The half dozen scratches were healing fine; it was the bite that had become infected. So besides taking an antibiotic, for three evenings after dinner, I applied a soggy, warm bread mass to my hand and left it there for an hour or more. It didn’t look so cool, but by Friday, the swelling, heat, redness, and soreness were considerably lessened and even more so by this morning. So between the old and the new, my hand is getting back to normal.

This major tourist attraction carries both of my books and just celebrated its 80th anniversary during a Founder’s Day Celebration on April 27.

Can’t forget my books

By Thursday, I could start thinking about Crossings: McCullough’s Coastal Bridges and The Crossings Guide to Oregon’s Coastal Spans. I made several calls in Florence and up the coast and delivered some in Florence to Books ‘N’ Bears in Old Town and Sea Lion Caves north of town. On Friday, I headed up the coast on a cool, overcast day. All week, I’ve  been a sponge, soaking up the cool air. I stopped at Mari’s in Yachats, the Waldport Chamber of Commerce located in the Historic Alsea Bay Bridge Interpretive Center in Waldport, the Nye Beach Book House in Newport, and the Interpretive Center at Yaquina Head north of Newport. All six of these venues do a wonderful job of selling my books.

My first born continues to do well despite competition from its little brother.

Bottom line: I sold 68 copies.  I expected the new book The Crossings Guide to do well, but I was surprised that out of the 68, 38––more than half––were Crossings. To me, that is very cool! And I crossed a milepost—1,801 copies sold.