A Deafening Silence

As I near my 60th birthday, I am still amazed at the impoliteness of some people.  A recent situation illustrates this frustration to the max.

I serve as the [unpaid volunteer] Production Manager for KOSW 91.3 FM in Ocean Shores, Washington.  We're always working to develop new ways to interact with our listeners and the overall community.  We held an event yesterday that accomplished these ends.

I hatched an idea to host a Chubby Bunny Challenge live on the radio.  I got the idea from Cassidy Quinn's vlog that I used to subscribe to.  She posted a video of her own Chubby Bunny Challenge versus her dad and it was funnier than hell!

Ms. Quinn is an Entertainment Reporter for KGW-TV (NBC affiliate) in Portland, Oregon.  As it so happens, Portland is 3 hours or less from Ocean Shores.  We got to thinking, "Why not invite Cassidy Quinn to take part in our event?"  It would represent a win-win situation: She would be put in the spotlight and, maybe, garner new YouTube subscribers and our radio station would get a little press from it ourselves.

We realized at the outset that getting Cassidy was a long shot.   KOSW is a small rural station and Ms. Quinn is a very busy young woman.  But heck, it was worth a shot.

And so, we started a very public campaign on our station's Facebook page.  We received a very enthusiastic response from our own deejays and the listening public at large.  Untold numbers of people emailed or texted her.  Invitations to come to Ocean Shores were left in the comments section of her YouTube vlog and on her Facebook page.

She did not respond to a single one of them!!  Not one.

This amazes me because she constantly invites people to contact or interact with her.  While many public figures hide their contact information, she provides a multitude of ways to get in touch with her.  And though we utilized most, if not all, of these avenues, all we received for our efforts was silence!

Near the end of the week, my wife sent her one more private email.  Della wrote that all we really wanted at this point was SOME acknowledgement.  Even telling us to go F... O.. would let us know that she had noticed the invites.

But no response was forthcoming.  Our opinions of her have changed due to this non-interaction.

It in no way dampened our Chubby Bunny Challenge.  We already had a contingency plan.  We blew up a picture of her face and affixed a stick to the back of it.  One of our DJs role-played Cassidy Quinn to the delight of those attending.  After watching hours upon hours of her videos and "borrowing" audio snippets from them, we conducted a live "interview" with Ms. Quinn that was absolutely hilarious.

We had great attendance and, because of the numbers, we ended holding one contest for adults and another for children.  The adult winner somehow stuffed 12 marshmallow peeps in her mouth and the kid's winner managed 7.  I got a stomachache simply calling the action!!

All in all, it was a great event and a great day.  

Still, I'm very peeved with one Cassidy Quinn!!  All she had to do was send one note stating something like, "Hey folks, I'm really flattered by all your positive attention, but I have plans for that weekend" and no one would have held it against her.

But she chose not to do that.  No, she chose to do nothing.  And that silence proved deafening.

On the FM Dial

Trey Smith

I have a confession to make. I haven't been as attentive to this blog over the past 2 or 3 weeks as is usual. I have been committing the barest amount of time to keep it humming along. The reason for this happenstance is that I have signed on to become part of the team for Ocean Shores' all-volunteer, community radio station, KSOW-LP, 91.3 FM. I have been appointed to the Radio Board and I'm in the process of trying to get the production protocol down so that I can assume the duties of the station's production manager.

I even have been on the radio itself a time or two. I'm starting out small by experimenting with taped weather forecasts and news reports. Once I become more comfortable, there are a good number of public affairs projects I hope to tackle.

This in no way means the end of this blog. Once I better understand the software I'm dealing with -- it's on a computer that runs (yuk!) Microsoft -- and I have settled into a routine, I'll have more time to write. In the meantime, if you want to listen to KOSW, here is the link to the stream.

A Howling Good Time

Trey Smith

We lived in South Bend on the edge of a forest for 6+ years and yet I've seen or heard more wildlife in my first month in Ocean Shores!

Late last night, as I walked with Jaz in a nearby field, we heard a pack of coyotes not more than 2 or 3 blocks away. A few nights earlier, I watched a raccoon the size of a koala waddle across the road about 4 blocks south of our apartment. Everyday I see scores of deer in all sections of town. In the southern part of the Ocean Shores peninsula, there are sitings of fox, otters and, on occasion, even black bears. The last reported siting of a cougar was near the high school (about 1.5 miles north of us).

When we made this move, we ostensibly moved from a small town to a slightly larger one. According to official census data, the population of Ocean Shores (5,500) is over three times greater than South Bend (1,700). But those figures are a bit deceiving. There are a lot of people who are counted as Ocean Shores residents who don't actually live here. They are snow birds. They own property and "live" here only 2 months of the year (July and August).

While this is a more urban environment than South Bend, it's not by much.

There are two other factors at play as well. First, there is a lot of unimproved land sprinkled throughout this peninsula -- excellent habitat for wildlife. Secondly, while Ocean Shores is 3 times larger than South Bend in population, it is nearly 6 times larger in total area (12.4 square miles to 2.01 square miles). Less human population density is an invitation for greater wildlife density.

Real Life Tao - Early Mornings on the Beach

Trey Smith

Since moving to Ocean Shores, I take Jaz to the beach every morning for exercise. On most days, we arrive at or just after sunrise. In most cases, no one else is on the beach -- at least within eyeshot. My dog chases seagulls or sticks that I toss into the surf. Me? I watch the waves ebb and flow, ebb and flow. Mesmerized.

A person can be a Taoist (or simply find symmetry in Taoist metaphors) anywhere at anytime, but it is so much easier at the beach! The concepts of transformation and ever returning are on display 24/7. The waves coming in quickly transform into the waves going out. While water constantly recedes toward the ocean, it concurrently always migrates toward land.

It is a symphony with no apparent beginning or end. From the standpoint of my singular life, the tides have been this way from before the time I was born and will remain so long after I die.

When I am on the beach, I am at peace. I understand the unknowable just a wee bit more than at any other time. Watching the rhythm of the waves, the words of the Taoist sages ring true...wordlessly.

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.

Riding the Waves

Trey Smith

With a title like that, you might think that I'm going to tell you that I've decided to take up surfing! Those aren't the kind of waves I'm referring to. For one thing, I'm too old and feeble to learn a sport such as that. For another, unlike many other coastal communities around the world, our weather and water temperatures are not that conducive to surfing. This is not to say that no one surfs off of our coasts, but the folks that do so are hardy souls...and a bit nuts too!

No, the kind of waves I may be riding soon are air waves. Ocean Shores is blessed with a low-power FM radio station, KOSW-LP. It's an all-volunteer effort that will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year.

Like many nonprofit groups, the station was launched with great fanfare.  For the first few years, there were plenty of volunteers and the future looked bright.  However, once the initial enthusiasm began to wane, the station lost a lot of its momentum.  While a small and dedicated core of volunteers and supporters remain, their small number greatly limits what the station could accomplish.

What they desperately need is new blood and I need a local project to occupy my time when I'm not writing posts and administering this blog.  So, maybe it is fortuitous that I landed here now.  I suppose we'll see.

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Bambi

Trey Smith

Hunting is not allowed within the boundaries of Ocean Shores and so this approximate 7 miles long peninsula has remained home for a variety of wild critters. While sitings of bears and cougars happen very infrequently, raccoons and coyotes are often seen. But the one wild animal that dominates our area is the black-tailed deer. They are everywhere and I mean that almost literally.

Late last night in a field near our apartment complex, Jaz and I practically walked up the back of one. We came within a few feet of it before we realized it! Today, on a drive down Ocean Shores Blvd., I counted over 50 deer in less than 3 miles. Because they are protected AND some people feed them, most of the deer are not scared of people. This is not to suggest that the majority will eat out of your hand, but you generally can come within a few feet of them before they saunter away.

Of course, this lack of fear of humans can be quite deadly. As long as the deer remain within the confines of the City of Ocean Shores, they are safe. However, the moment they cross those invisible boundary lines, they can be shot (in season). I'm sure the deer do not comprehend this distinction!

Out of Touch

Trey Smith

I can't remember a time within the last 20 years when I have been this out of touch with what is going on in the rest of the world. Over the past week, a major climactic event, mass shooting or political uproar could have taken place and I would be none the wiser.

In one way, this bothers me greatly. I have been a news and information junkie my whole life, so I feel quite out of sorts. However, in another way, it is a bit of a liberating feeling. Not being tied to the computer or TV, I have spent a lot more time than usual out in nature. I have been to a state park and/or public beach every day this week with one exception.

Consequently, the title of this post is something of a misnomer. While I have been out of touch with one aspect of my life, I have been more in touch with another. I am hopeful that I can strike a good balance here in Ocean Shores -- ya know, the best of both worlds!

Not Bad, Not Bad At All

Trey Smith

As I have shared with you in this space, I did not want to move from South Bend. I liked the community. I really liked our house and I certainly liked the routine I had established. The very idea of messing up such a well-established routine rendered me anxious and quite unhappy. In fact, due to my sadness, I tended to focus on the negatives and not the positives.

Recently, one of those positives slapped me in the face.

I took Jaz (the big dog) to a state park located only 2 miles north of Ocean Shores. We parked in the day use area and then hiked through the dunes to get to the beach. Sitting atop a rather large sand dune, the two of us sat there staring at the majesty of the Pacific Ocean. We listened to the surf crashing ashore and we watched the waves turn into churning foam. We also watched the storm clouds approaching from the west and didn't quite make it back to the car before the heavens opened up on us. :-D

Each day I have been here -- with one exception -- Jaz and I have trekked to the ocean's edge. One day last week, we stood on a dune to stare into the face of almost gale force winds and rain falling vertically!

It seems that I had forgotten just how much I love the ocean. I find it mesmerizing...and calming. I can sit for hours doing nothing except watching the waves and listening the roar of the surf. In fact, as Della had noted to me previously, you can hear the roar of the ocean in the courtyard of our apartment complex. Late at night, when the rest of the town has grown silent, we sit in front of our apartment listening to the ocean as if it were right next to us -- it almost is!

While many aspects of this move still bug me, I am able to see one of the big perks. After all these years, Della and I finally realized a shared dream: living in a community that abuts the Pacific Ocean!

All Squared Away (I Think)

Trey Smith

I have spent far more time than I expected away from posting on this blog. Part of the reason simply has to do with the moving (unpacking) process. The other part, however, had to do with a slew of unexpected encumbrances.

For starters, we had a bit of trouble setting up our new home wireless network. The USB wifi adapter we have isn't configured to work with Linux -- no surprise there! Usually Linux Mint is really good at working out a configuration set-up on its own, but not this time. So, I had to pull a PCI wifi adapter from another computer to get the network up and running.

Once this problem was solved, I planned to post something early Sunday evening before another problem cropped up, one I have not encountered before: the main computer cord shorted out. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem at all. I simply would have grabbed one of several such cords we keep around and my computer would have been up and running again in no time.

One of the potential pitfalls of a major downsizing is that, as soon as you "downsize" a particular item, you need it! That's what happened. We had donated almost all of our spare computer components and accessories. So, I had to wait until Monday morning to trek down to Ocean Shore's thrift shop to buy another cord!

Yesterday morning with two major hurdles dealt with, I had one more to tackle. I couldn't set up my new email account. I followed all the various instructions, but nothing worked. I called tech support and followed all of their instructions and it still wouldn't work. The tech people tried a number of things and they couldn't get it to work either. Finally, someone up the chain of command made some sort of change to my account -- I have no idea whatsoever what it was -- and all the things that didn't work previously miraculously worked like a charm.

So, "I think" I'm finally all squared away. After making my last cleaning trip back to South Bend today, I hopefully can start setting up my new routine here in Ocean Shores which will include more regular posts to this blog.

Buck Naked

Trey Smith

For the past three days, I have gone without TV and the internet as I finished up the major aspects of the move north. I thought it might leave me feeling buck naked, but it really hasn't been so bad. By the end of each day, I have been so exhausted that I've simply collapsed into the nearest bed. Writing a blog post was the furthest thing from my mind!

I'm still a day or so away from resuming regular posting. While most everything has now been moved here to Ocean Shores, we are now knee-deep in the second phase of any move: unpacking. We are still trying to figure out where everything goes or if, maybe, we brought a little too much with us. Sprinkled in with this activity is a new constant in our lives: walking the dogs. No longer can they run down the steps into a fenced backyard to do their business -- now one of us must take them out!

One Last Time, Part 3

Trey Smith

This is it: my last night in this house that has been home for 6+ years. Though I will return a few times more, those will be rather brief day trips. The only residence in which Della and I lived in for a longer time period was our home in Salem. It was difficult saying goodbye to it too, though the decision to move then was our own choice.

You know, this situation has turned out both to be more painful and less painful than I imagined. It has been more painful because it has been so drawn out. With Della unable to help much due to her health issues and my health not being great, it has taken me nearly two months of steady work to accomplish what an able-bodied person probably could have finished off in 2 or 3 weeks! The slow pace of watching my routinized world taken down piece by piece has been excruciating -- like dying a thousand deaths. I have been in a funk the whole time.

And yet, as I prepare for the final move, there is a sense of relief that it is drawing to a close. While I expect I will be teary-eyed as I pull away from the house tomorrow, I don't think I will sob profusely (that may or may not come later tonight). While I am very nervous about moving into the small space that is our apartment in Ocean Shores, I am ready for it to happen.

As I have previously noted, this house no longer feels like home. The things that made it home -- Della, Jaz, Lily and our possessions -- are not here. In between all my work, I still putter around as usual, but I'm puttering around in a shell of a former self. Though I am anxious about my new "home", I am ready to see what the future holds.

Later tonight I will build one last fire in the fireplace and sit in an almost empty living room staring at the flames. I will talk to the house and tell it how much it has meant to me. As I drift off to sleep, I will dream about what it's been like to live here and then, when I awaken on Thursday morning, I will pack up the car to head for my new home...where the woman I love and who loves me awaits.

A Dud of a Blow Job

Trey Smith

After listening to a week's worth of nasty predictions about the weather, we really dodged a bullet. While South Bend was hammered by the storm -- strong winds and nearly 5 inches of rain in 24 hours -- it fortunately didn't make it as far north as Ocean Shores. While our crew of 4 had to deal with rain and wind on Moving Day, it was nothing out of the ordinary for autumn on the Washington Coast.

Though the weather wasn't half the impediment that we anticipated, it still was a long and back-breaking day. My old body is so worn out that I'm taking today off.

~

After we finished moving our furniture and belongings into our new apartment, we treated our two helpers to a big lunch at a local pizzeria. When Della and I lived in Aberdeen about 6 years ago, this restaurant was our favorite place to eat in Ocean Shores. On the drive up, we raved about the quality of the food and both of us were REALLY looking forward to eating there.

Well, we did eat there...but the great pizza we remember wasn't so great! In fact, on a scale 1 - 10, I'd rate the pizza we had at about a 5. It just goes to show that you can't always judge the present by the past. Things change and not all those changes are for the better.

Northern Exposure

Trey Smith

After a soap opera that has spanned several months, it looks like Della and I f-i-n-a-l-l-y have a landing spot: Ocean Shores, Washington. We learned on Monday that all of our documentation apparently has passed muster and we have been given a move-in date of Friday, September 20. While it is quite a relief to know where we're headed and it is in a location that we like, we really don't feel like celebrating. We're leaving South Bend only because we have to -- this is not the sort of outcome we had hoped for when we moved here.

For those of you unfamiliar with Ocean Shores -- my guess is that this will include almost all of you -- here's a photo of the town.

Ocean Shores is located on what is called the Point Brown Peninsula, a six mile long spit of sand that represents the northern entrance to Grays Harbor. In the photo above, the water to the right is the harbor and the water to the left is the Pacific Ocean. Our apartment complex is situated near the far end of the photo only about 500 yards from the ocean beach.

Ocean Shores is an interesting place. It is home to a lot of wealthy people as well as a lot of poor people (we will be in the latter). A good number of the poor people service the rich ones! Most of the jobs in the area are in the service industry (motels, hotels, restaurants and the various accoutrements you would expect to find in a resort community). I read that singer Pat Boone has or used to have a home here.

The population is listed at around 5,600 or nearly 4,000 more than South Bend. My guess is that a lot of the residents are snowbirds, so the population in the winter months probably is a lot less.

Besides the fact that getting used to [cramped] apartment living will be a major stressor for me -- our 2 bedroom apartment will be less than one-half the square footage of this house -- there is another aspect of this move that will be heart wrenching. We have 3 pets and only 2 can go with us. We have decided that those two will be our dogs which means we need to find a home for our 13 year old cat. Dylan is Della's baby, but knowing his eccentric personality, we both agree that he is not cut out for apartment living. We're just worried that his age and sometimes odd behavior will make it difficult to find him a new home.

As with all things in life, there are positives and negatives with our situation.