The upper left edge. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1992-current, August 01, 1996, Page 4, Image 4

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    Eagle Harbor Book Company
1.47 \k inslo» W *> East
Bainbridge Island W A 98110
l ì « . » « : 5J32
CONTEM PORARY
D E S IG N
F IN E A R T
Joe Betts glanced at the tachometer mounted on his
raked and “leaded-in” ‘57 Chevrolet, dressed his
blond ducktail haircut with a delt swipe and nodded
to me.
,
,
.
"Let’s head to Rockaway. There s a dance at the
Rockaway Natatorium tonight.”
That year was the summer ol 1959, may be 60.
Joe’s Chev was the slickest, quickest, bitchinest
short mv buddies and 1 had ever seen. It glistened in
the sun like the spangliest August day, a gleaming
alabaster pavement thrasher, raked in the tiont end
and stnpped of all superfluous exterior chrome.
Churning in lront ol us was a 1959 Corvette engine,
snorting and chuffing, its Iskendarian camshaft,
ported and relieved motor, and six tw o-barrel
carburetors quivering that Chevy chassis so that it
lunged and pawed the ground like a Brahma bull as
Joe edged the clutch.
Joe and 1 were nauseatingly adolescent and
searching for the heart of Saturday night. Like the
Chev, we were tricked out, garbed in customized
period gear: Tanker jackets, pointed black brogue
shoes with huge metal taps, pegged Levis white
socks, 1 had paged dow n my perpetually frowzy
hair with some unspeakable green, viscous goop (a„
precursor of Dippity Doo) to achieve the proper "in
style. When this slimy product seized up, it could
lav down a porcupine’s quills. My head looked like
a lump of bull kelp and smelled like a urinal cookie.
We caromed down the curves of the coast
highway and entered the sleepy village ol Rockaway.
Joe idled three blocks south ol the natatorium,
stepped outside the car, and unplugged the full-
length Lakes Plugs exhaust pipes. Thunder rilled the
street. Joe climbed back in, stopped the accelerator,
banded second gear, and screamed his burning rear
tires until thev both burst simultaneously, smack in
front of the natatorium. An admiring throng of
teenagers swarmed from the dance hall awe struck..
We coolly exited the vehicle like Shoguns from the
palanquin to greet the assembled. Inside the car,
K.ISN Radio played rockabilly Eddie Cochran’s
song:
“Sometimes 1 wonder
What I’m a gonna do.
‘Cause there airi t no cure
For the Summertime Blues....”
Occasionally, 1 reflect on those years, not as
better or worse times, but perhaps simpler. The
world 1 inhabited w as naiv e and I an ingenue. Now,
in the late ‘90’s, 1 really get the summertime blues.
I .act week 1 drove my automobile through the
tourist clamor of weekend, mainstreet Cannon
Beach. The grate, crash, and abrasion of people
undid me completely. Through my windshield I
beheld a stunning prefigurement of the modern
Apocalypse as rendered by, say, Hieronymous
Bosch. Human waves sluiced down the streets,
chewing and jabbering, while vehicles lunged at their
ranks. Alarms and sirens cut the air. The belly ol
our little town was swollen with the bloat of
suburbia.
1 felt like the Indian warrior, Aijuna, who appears
in the great Hindu book, the Mahabharata. Attended
on the field of battle by Krishna, an avatar of the god
Vishnu, Arjuna begs Krishna to give him just a brief
glimpse of the universe in its totality. Krishna
consents. The vision Arjuna sees wrenches and
pummels his sensibilities. He is terrified and
devastated. I felt that way Saturday. 1 saw too
much. I saw' a time when we would be like blades of
grass trompled by buffalo. Summertime blues for
the ‘90’s and beyond. Clutch what remains to your
breasts, readers at the Edge, ‘cause the urban
steamrollers grind fine, and they’re rumbling this
way.
(503) 436-2910
Jb 5 \ . H em lock
P.O. Bov 1 JOB
C annon Beach, OR 97110
Bookstore Hours
Monday Fridas 9-7 Saturday 9-6 Sunday 10-6
Thursday Evenings until 9 pm
C h ris te n
A lls o p
Jupiter's Rare & Used Books
L in d a
k i n h a n
244 N Spruce (503) 436-2915
Box 1222 Cannon Beach, OR 97110
Open Daily from around 10 AM til about 5 PM
We Buy Books !! Cash for your Library !!
We Buy Estates !! Paperbacks, Hardbound,
Old, New, Rare, Sets, Bring'm in, We'll buy or
Trade, or help you Recycle
Your 0THEK Office
1235 So. Hemlock
Cannon Beach, Or 97110
(5 0 3 ) 4 3 6 - 2 0 0 0
Fax ( 5 0 3 ) 4 3 6 - 0 7 4 6
Conveniently located in
Midtown
Ju p iter’s is in the process of buying a wonderful
4000 volume library, so drop by and check out the
latest arrivals!
Printing Services
Graphic Design
Mailing Services
UrO Ohipping/racking
IN AN UNJUST WORLD... JUSTICE.
Personal Injury Lawyer
GREGORY KAFOVRY
202 Oregon Pioneer Building
320 S.W. Stark Street
Portland. OK 97204
and much more....
Phone:
(503) 224-2647
Robert Evenson
Associates
Architects AIA
510 NW Third Avenue
Portland. Oregon 97209
503 / 221-0890
RECENT COASTAL PROJECTS
Tillamook Cheese Factory Additions
North Yachats Motel
Seatides Condominiums - Seaview, WA
St. Helens Marina Townhouses
NEW & USED BOOKS
SPECIALIZING IN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT
« Commercial
♦ Multi-Family ♦ Retail
:
• Greeting Cards •
Buying & Trading Quality Used Books
(503) 842-7756
2015 2nd. Street • Tillam ook. OR 97141
Poetry
Bonita Rhinehart
iced august
it was a cold summer,
we kept blankets on the bed.
the wind blew the trees,
the curtains,
the water,
our hair.
we sat on the front porch
and watched the storms
at false dawn
and twilight.
there was an ice storm
in august, we learned to swim in the
rain,
and say, “look--there is the sun!”,
before it was eaten by clouds.
R ecords
TAPES
ETC
1023 BROAD VAT
SEASIDE OR. W 8
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
73 8 -9 2 ^ 6
QUIET COTTAGES
CLOSE TO BEACH
YOUR HOST
PATRICK KEALEY
(503) 436-2237
188 E. VAN BUREN
P.O. Box 426
CANNON BEACH, OR
Geppelto’s
silver net
you called at five a.m. and said,
“it’s raining.”
i did not need to ask, “so?,”
but leapt unhesitating from my bed,
threw on warm clothing,
brushed my teeth, washed my face,
and pulled the last tangle
out of my hair
just as you drove up
drinking 7-11 orange juice,
like nuns taking communion,
we drove to the ocean,
stepped out to the edge of the tide
and watched the sun throw
a silver net
through the storm’s steel gray.
ere’s no money in poetry, hut then
»re’s no poetry in money either.
Robert Graves
Shoppe
200 N. Hemlock
Cannon Beach, OR
436-2467
Where quality and tradition make kidsjiappy
NATU R E OBSERVATION KITS
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Activity sets make
it easy for your child
to learn about insects
and other creatures
by providing
identification booklets,
magnifying glass, jars
and houses.