My home part two

Why do I love the Oregon coast so completely? If pressed I might liken it to a loving parent. As a mother, it is comforting and protective. As a father, it is a great provider. It is not necessary to be rich to be fed well here. A person could eat quite well without stepping foot into a grocery store.

If you can hunt, there is plenty of wild game. Deer, Elk, geese, ducks, bear and much more. Fishing in the lakes brings bass and trout. The ocean offers salmon, halibut, and countless other fish. My personal favorite is dungess crab. You haven't really eaten Oregon 'til you've dipped a steaming crab leg into melted , real butter and savored the buttery sweet flesh. At low tide you can help yourself to littleneck, steamer or gaper clams. A day of crabbing is as much about fun as it is food. With a comfy chair, a good book, and a cooler full of goodies, your set for a day of relaxation.

Some of the best food here is, in my opinion, a little less obvious. Take August, for instance, blackberries are everywhere. And they are wonderful. But what about the berries that typically ripen earlier(or later) in the season? Salmonberry,red and black huckleberry, thimbleberry, Salal berry to name a few. Each one is differently delicious.
In fall the rains will bring hundreds of varieties of mushroom. The edible ones are well worth hunting for. It's exciting, and a little like Christmas, to happen upon a patch of Chanterelle, lobster, or hedgehog mushroom. Each new find is like unwrapping a present. Just when you think you've opened them all and the fun is over, you discover one you've missed.

Tuna are in season now. An afternoon walk on the docks yielded a great find. Fresh albacore tuna at $2.50 a pound. Phil and I grabbed two 14 pounders. We ate as much as we wanted for dinner and there is plenty to home can tomorrow. I'll be up early getting canning jars at Walmart.

Local farms offer you-pick blueberries. I love the reassurance of a freezer full of blueberries. They will make muffins, pancakes, and pies all winter. And on the Oregon coast, wild strawberries ripen on the beach! They are tiny, hard to find and blissfully sweet.

Hopefully, my children will someday love this place as much as I do. It's a joy and a privilege to show them all that life has to offer. We live in a great place to do it.