Oregon Coast magazine

Last fall was the last issue of Oregon Coast magazine or so we thought. Yesterday, I received the summer issue of Oregon Coast magazine in the mail and this one probably is the last issue. I have a soft spot for this magazine because I worked there from March 1989 until July 2009. That’s where I honed my writing skills and learned to become an editor.

And I have a soft spot for this last issue, it has my favorite bridge on the cover—the Siuslaw River Bridge––and inside is an eight-page story I wrote about the coast’s iconic historic bridges. I was so pleased to be asked to contribute to this issue along with two others also affiliated with the magazine for many years. Coast Lines, the editor/publisher column, explained it well. “We thought it was perfect that these long-time contributors end up in the final issue.”

Many photos were added, some historic and some present day. I like the way all of it turned out. (Although, the caption for two Siuslaw River Bridge photos got it wrong.) The last page has two sidebars about two other interesting south coast bridges. One of them took much research to find what I needed. The big story took a lot of time, but was not hard because I used excerpts from my book, The Crossings Guide to Oregon’s Coastal Spans.

The first of those two bridge sidebars only took a little digging when I researched it, but the second one—the Chetco River Bridge––was difficult. It took days, I checked every site on the Internet that sounded like it might have something. I did get some background on previous bridges on that site, but not even a sentence about the current bridge. Then I looked in books I have on bridges and finally found what I needed in one of them. So, if you get a chance to see this issue, check out my story and appreciate that one last sidebar that took so much work. And see if you can spot what’s wrong in the caption for two Siuslaw River Bridge photos.

Florence Festival of Books

We had our third meeting of the Florence Festival of Books (FFOB) planning committee yesterday, Thursday, and everything seems to be going along on schedule.

I was able to share with the planning committee the press release printed in Florence’s Siuslaw News last Saturday. I had sent the same press release to newspapers all over western Oregon. I hope it gets run in most of those newspapers. It’s aimed at the authors and publishers who plan to attend the FFOB on September 17–18. It may seem a long way off, but we start accepting applications July 12 and we usually fill up within a few weeks. So, I want to get the word out about the July 12 date.

New book—The Cancer Blog

After weeks of waiting, we finally received a proof copy of the inside pages. I was concerned that they may be too dark. And they were! So, Bob, my publisher, sent them back, asking for them to be lighter and for another proof copy. More waiting. It arrived this past week and the color photos were much better. So, we gave the go-ahead. In a few weeks, we’ll have a shipment of 1,500 books. Now, I’m getting excited!

Online Shopping

Last week I ordered two silk plants for the front porch. And I ordered clothes for summer travel where the weather will be a lot hotter than it is here. I ordered three gauze tops and two pairs of cotton pajamas, none of which were my first choice. The clothes part was a day-long frustrating experience.

The pajamas I ordered arrived last Friday and were only 60% cotton and did not fit very well. So, after trying them on, I decided not to keep them. I re-wrapped and returned them. Later in the day, I ordered two pairs that I had seen on Cuddledown. They were more expensive, but they had my first choice in color in my size and said that they were 100% cotton. I was so pleased, that everything worked so well on this order that I thought I would cry. Yesterday, I got word that they have been shipped. I can hardly wait.

On Saturday, I received a new Coldwater Creek catalog. On the cover were some big shirt type crinkle cotton shirts that could be worn as a top or with a tank top or other shirt under it. Lightweight like gauze, this was exactly what I was looking for. So, I immediately got my credit card and headed for the computer and found the shirt and lo-an-behold, they were out of all sizes in the colors I liked except small and extra small, which is not me! Once again, frustration.

Tuesday, I received a Northstyle catalog and found a tan shirt that looked perfect. Tan seems to be out of favor in catalog colors right now. Of course, it’s what I want. It was available in size and color and 100% cotton. So, I was ready to order, but I read through the reviews first and one stopped me. It said, since it is cotton, it needs ironing after laundering. Well, I have a perfectly good tan shirt that is linen and looks terrible without ironing and even after ironing, one wearing and it looks rumpled. So, I rarely wear it. That’s why I could use a tan shirt but not if it is another one requiring ironing. The fun continues.

As to the plants I ordered, one is delayed, but the other one arrived yesterday. It was scrunched but with a bit of working with the stems, it looked fine. I put it on the porch and I like it. So, I’m getting to end on a happy note!