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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2017
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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DEC. 1, 2017 • 1C
Aaron Breniman photos
More than 100 years after it ran aground, the Peter Iredale still stands vibrantly in Fort Stevens State Park, the jumping off point for Aaron Breniman and his
mother, Susan Breniman, to explore Astoria and surrounding areas for her recent birthday.
THE GIFT OF TIME
A mother’s North Coast birthday
Presents are easy. Time
is meaningful. There
is no better gift we can
give than ourselves.
By AARON BRENIMAN
For The Daily Astorian
F
or my mother’s birthday last
month, I realized that the most
important gift I could ever give
her was my time, as she had given me
hers for so many years. Fully focused,
attentive time.
Time is fleeting, gone like gusts of
passing winds. The moments I miss
most, I find, are the moments I will
never get back.
I’ve lately chosen to be more inten-
tional with my time. I’ve prioritized
what matters, and spending time with
family and loved ones has been at the
top of that list. I’ve had many long meals
and long hours of conversations with
friends old and new, with family near
and far. I’ve connected deeply.
I recently took my dad camping, in
the rain. We fished. We talked family
history. We cooked trout over a fire.
As I age, it strikes me that I don’t
often realize my parents are aging as
well. Nobody expects their parents to
Jeff Anderson’s “Salmon in the Trees” along the Willapa Interpretive Art Trail,
one of many installations celebrating the fish’s importance to the region’s
ecosystem and heritage at the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge.
live forever, but in our day-to-day lives
we often don’t appreciate how many
occasions to spend time with them are
lost.
For her birthday, my mother, Susan
Breniman, and I headed down to Asto-
ria for a couple of days to spend time
together, and found casually exploring
Astoria and surrounding areas to be full
of opportunities for conversation, dis-
covery, shopping and indulging.
There won’t
always be tomorrows
We visited the remnants of the Peter
Iredale — the barque steel sailing ves-
sel that ran aground in October 1906 in
what is now Fort Stevens State Park —
arriving on a blustery Sunday afternoon
to empty, sand-blown parking lots.
We talked about camping as a fam-
ily when I was young. And how my
brother and I enjoyed playing with and
eating slugs.
From there, we headed into town
to check into the Astoria Crest Motel,
which I’d chosen for its sweeping
views overlooking the area. Quite
pleased with the accommodations,
we unloaded a few things and headed
down for dinner at Buoy Beer at the
recommendation of the woman work-
ing the front desk.
On this sleepy, off-season Sun-
day night, we lucked out and caught
pub songs and sea shanties by Wash-
ington’s Trevor Hanson on his ‘multi-
state’ tour — a show both entertain-
ing and great background for more
conversation.
The next morning, one could have
thought it was mid-spring or a late fall
morning with warm temps and clear
skies. But, as with any weather on the
coast, just give it a few minutes and it
can change.
We headed up the Astoria Column
for more views, photography, simple
quiet time together and reflection. The
Column, dedicated in 1926, was the
“crowning monument” in Great North-
ern Railroad President Ralph Budd’s
“pet project” celebrating early settlers’
expansion to the Pacific Coast.
We made our way through winding
country roads about 25 miles north of
the Astoria Bridge to explore the Wil-
lapa Bay Wildlife Refuge. Here we
walked the Willapa Art Trail, checked
out the many natural art interpretations,
wandered the grounds and talked about
life. For there won’t always be tomor-
rows for those conversations.
See BIRTHDAY, Page 2C
Dramatic skies and sweeping views this fall morning of the Columbia River and Astoria Bridge from the Astoria Crest Motel, a hidden gem high up on the
hill just off Old Highway 30