Views from Home
Blue Sunset skies stream over the Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River. Cape Disappointment is seen beyond the bridge. Astoria, Oregon, 2004.
Views from Home: The Columbia River at Astoria
The views from my home in Astoria are at once epic and intimate: big skies and big water, thick with weather. Rolling clouds, fog, and every form of water and wind. The light ranges from luminiscent to soft and heavy. I have come to feel at home in this, to treasure the everyday and exult in the extremes. Is it odd to find comfort in the rhythm of the rain on my roof, of wind and hail on my windows? I think not: I suspect I have company in this.
Great ships carrying commerce of the world pass through these scenes. They seem so slow, but only because the water is so big. Try to photograph one or chase it, and they’re going too fast. From town, the ships seem to glide past in eerie silence, though in the quiet of the night, I hear them before they come past the buildings and trees into my view from home.
I lived in this view from 2000 to 2017, and continue to visit it.
River Dreaming. Freighters on the move at dawn on the Columbia River. Tongue Point to the right, the Altoona Ridge in the distance. Astoria, Oregon, 2004.
Rain Squall at Megler. Rain squall near the north end of the Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River. Cape Disappointment is seen beyond the bridge. Astoria, Oregon, 2000.
Gull in the Gale. The Great Coastal Gale of December 1–3, 2007 was one of the greatest storms of a century. Though the peak gusts were not quite record-setting, the 3 day duration was. The Columbia River was photographed from my home between the Astoria-Megler Bridge and downtown Astoria, Oregon. Gulls kept flying throughout the storm. 2007.