My first stormy season: wind, power and friendship

Published 5:01 am Tuesday, December 4, 2012

It gets stormy at the coast as the storm of Nov. 18 and 19 proved. The National Weather Service recorded a gust of 101 miles per hour at the Astoria Bridge.

Ive lived in Oregon most of my life, so I can deal with rain. (Ive also biked my share through soggy autumns, winters and springs in Eugene at the University of Oregon.) But I didnt know how stormy it could get in Oregon until I moved to Astoria.

I welcomed the first storm this October by driving with a friend to the South Jetty at Fort Stevens State Park, and equipped with raincoat, rain boots and rain pants experienced the howling wind, biting rain and crashing waves firsthand.

Our most recent storm I managed to evade pretty well.

Some friends and I had rented a beach house Nov. 16 to 18 in Manzanita. It rained a little, but the hot tub softened the blow to our mini-vacation. Saturday I even spent a few hours warding off the drizzle by exploring shops along Laneda Avenue. (If you havent stepped into Syzygy or Unfurl Clothing, I encourage you to make a visit. Both shops are in the same building and offer an assortment of interesting clothes, cute jewelry and great gift ideas for the holiday season.)

We left Manzanita late Sunday morning, and we narrowly missed getting stuck on Highway 101. If we had stayed a few hours later or spent another night, the storm would have blocked our path. By Sunday evening the wind was lashing rain against the windows of my apartment.

The storm made for an out-of-the-ordinary Monday at work: Not sure if you heard, but The Daily Astorians building lost power mid-morning. We hooked up a gas-powered generator to a sole computer and had to scrounge around for lanterns and flashlights.

Thankfully, my apartment, only a few blocks away, maintained power all day.

Storms can be disruptive and dangerous, but they also can bring people together. I hosted a friend for a few hours so he could charge some electronics. Then we went to his house to appreciate a toasty wood fire with his roommate. And even after the power came back, we kept the lights off. Seated around the merrily burning fire, we lit candles and played a board game. A pretty good ending to a storm, if you ask me.