Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Location, location, location....


I’m convinced; because I’ve experienced it first-hand; that you can actually lose time on the road. I don’t mean lose track of time, I mean lose time itself!

I stopped at the US Post Office after lunch yesterday, and was surprised to find it locked. The sign taped to the glass door said, 'Closed in Observance of Martin Luther King Day.' I thought, "Since when do we celebrate MLK Day at the beginning of January? Hmmmm?"

* * * * *

I enjoyed a long weekend of warm, bright, cloudless days. After my stop in Bandon (Or.), I continued south on coastal route 101 to Cresent City, (Ca.).

The morning was spent in the 'office,' printing 1099-MISC forms for Trems and compiling reports for my tax preparer. What made this otherwise dire duty tolerable, in fact quite pleasurable, was the view. My ‘mobile office,’ sat perched on a narrow point of land overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean, where, carried by a cool, on-shore breeze, the sound of waves crashing rhythmically onto the rocky shore, was enough to make me forget I was doing tax work!


Opting for less traveled, scenic highways, I headed south on the coastal route. Not wanting my leisurely pace to delay local traffic on the narrow roads, I kept an eye on the rear view mirror. When a motorist appeared too close in my mirror, I looked for a spot to stop and let them pass. On one occasion, as I pulled over at what I though was an abandoned gas station, I noticed a crude, hand-painted sign in the store window that read "Smoked Salmon." I turned off the van, and stepped down to check it out.

I entered through the make-shift front door into an interior that had indeed been a gas station in it's glory day. Several counters, an empty oil can display and long wooden shelves along one wall were poorly lit by what appeared to be the original 1950s, single-bulb, ceiling fixtures. A dark-haired, middle-aged women seated behind one of the counters greeted me with a broad, bright smile. "How can I help you, Sir?"

An hour later; after learning the story of how native salmon, caught in the local river, are seasoned and slow-smoked with alder wood; and after sampling cold-smoked salmon, brown sugar salmon, teriyaki salmon, salmon jerky, and one-day, three-day and five-day smoked salmon; I walked out of that 'filling' station with a half-pound of garlic-seasoned, three-day, dry-smoked, savory sapid salmon that was sooooo scrumptious! :-)

The road today brings me to Napa Valley and back to Fairfield...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gosh JP, you really are a fabulous photographer. You could be professional...hhmmm...maybe an idea for future work? Nah, that would spoil the fun. "Savory sapid salmon that was soooooo scrumptious"...I like alliteration too. Sighed me, a perfectly poetic profusion of passion and puissance possibly headed on a prophetic path approaching the pacific. LBo

Unknown said...

Jeff.your discription of all that salmon makes my mouth water ...can
I join you?
It's great that you are able to "work" and still enjoy the beauty of God/s work!

Love you
M&M
The Villages

Anonymous said...

I'm really glad to have you back with us Uncle Jeff!!! :-)

Love you,
Sadie

Anonymous said...

It's nice to know you can still actually fill up at a 'filling' station. The salmon does sound scrumptious... It looks like you are having nice weather where you are, and this is just a reminder to enjoy it because it is freezing here. In fact, it took Jayne and I 14 hours, I repeat, 14 hours to drive Hilary to Boston and come back home on Sunday. We got 17" of snow here, and we drove most of the way to Boston in blizzard-like conditions. We saw about 50 cars off the road, as many if not more police cars and tow trucks. Traffic was at a snails pace...there is a fine line between staying safe and getting to Hilary's flight on time. Anyway, got back at midnight and fell into bed, exhausted from the white-knuckle driving.

Did you watch any of the inauguration?

Martine said...

About actually losing time when you're traveling . . . I've heard of "wormholes" C2C style. If you get up one morning and you don't have white hair, a few pounds lighter and aren't wearing glasses you'll know you surely went through one. Good grief I sure wish I was with you. Your adventure wouldn't be complete without that smoked salmon experience. Did I mention we got 6feet of snow in 20 days? Oh-h-h YEH! I wish I was with you. By the way, it's Jan. 24th, we saw a flock of robins today and it's 19 degrees. Either they're confused or spring is right around the corner. Happy trails, Jeff.