4A • November 6, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
An artistic salute to the belittled umbrella
C ANNON S HOTS
I
t was pouring rain and our
friend Joe and his basset hound
Columbo were stranded at our
house in the storm. I offered them
a ride home, but Joe politely de-
clined.
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willingness to get soaked.
“Do you have an umbrella,
perchance?” Joe asked.
Umbrella? Oregonians hate
umbrellas, so I’d heard.
Joe was unabashed, so I poked
around the trunk of the car and
pulled out a collapsible blue um-
brella, a remnant from our 3,000-
mile cross-county journey last
spring.
The magical whoosh of the
umbrella as it opened —
Mission accomplished. Dog
and owner were walkin’ in the
rain in style.
Turning function into form
On Manhattan streets, alas,
umbrellas priced high and low
are more often than not used to
spear a pedestrian’s way through
a storm, and metal sticks and
shreds of umbrellas of all price
points are routinely found poking
out of trash bins upside down.
At Grand Central Station, peo-
ple huddle under the awning when
the rain starts to fall. Miraculous-
ly, on the corners, men of inter-
national descent magically appear
selling $6 umbrellas. Those will
get you from 42nd to 44th Street
but then not much further.
At Brooks Brothers on Mad-
ison Avenue, you can like the
“window-paned checked auto-
matic” umbrella, priced at a rea-
sonable $60. Nordstrom’s can
supply you with an Italian-made
Alexander McQueen bone handle
umbrella for slightly more, $635,
rain not included.
In China, the umbrella even
became the inspiration for a po-
At the Library
By
R.J.
MARX
Umbrellas,
like kites, are
magical museum
creations — form
and function
majestically
married to art
and nature.
True Oregonians don’t use
umbrellas, he averred, preferring
to mummify themselves in rub-
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drenched. Maybe that’s why his
Van’s sneakers were squeaking
all the time.
We get it. While it’s been rel-
atively dry since our arrival in
May, even in the rain we haven’t
had occasion to grab the umbrella.
Standing on a look-out over Hug
Point a couple of weeks ago in a
windstorm was enough to set me
straight. Gusts that can blow a car
door off its hinges would churn
an umbrella into bobby pins and
shredded nylon with merely a
breath.
What’s under your umbrella?
At the Stormy Weather Arts
Festival this weekend, Cannon
Beach once again jumps on — to
mix a metaphor — the umbrella
bandwagon.
litical movement, inspiring de-
Five artists will present four
mocracy protesters in 2014. The one-of-a-kind painted umbrellas
umbrella not only protected pro- to be auctioned off Friday, Nov.
testers from the rain and sun, but 6, but held in reserve until Satur-
VHUYHGWRGHÀHFWSHSSHUVSUD\DQG day when they will be used in the
tear gas.
Stormy Weather runway show,
My favorite umbrella movie is “Dancin’ in the Rain.”
“Les Parapluies de Cherbourg,”
Designing artists are Bonny
marked by the lilting and memo- Gorsuch, represented by the Can-
rable Michel Legrand score. The non Beach Gallery; Dragon Fire’s
melody “I Will Wait for You” plays Nancy Norman; Marianne Post,
throughout the movie as a young representing Primary Elements
Catherine Deneuve makes young Gallery; Krista Guenther from
men swoon, all to the pitter-patter the Coaster Theatre; and students
of raindrops and the subtext of the from Seaside High School’s art
French/Algerian war.
class.
Chicago’s Morton Salt girl,
The brilliant 28th Annual Story
whose iconic umbrella is placed Weather poster artwork was cre-
prominently along the Kennedy Ex- ated by Ken Grant and presented
pressway, is more than a century old. by White Bird Gallery.
Our son, who learned about
The event will help provide
rain at the University of Ore- establish scholarships to local
gon, introduced us to Oregon’s arts’ camps in Cannon Beach. the
anti-umbrella tone. There are no Cannon Beach Arts Association
charming Morton Salt girls here, art camp for Kids, Coaster The-
no umbrella democracy.
atre Theater Camp for kids, and
SUBMITTED PHOTOS/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
LEFT: Nancy Norman’s umbrella, presented by DragonFire Gallery.
RIGHT: Umbrella designed by Marianne Post and presented by Primary
Elements Gallery for the Stormy Weather Arts Festival. “”My inspira-
tion for this comes from my work with a tropical landscape designer on
the Big Island of Hawaii,” Post said “I call it my Hibiscus umbrella and
dreaming of the islands gets me cheerfully through wet and stormy days.”
Sea Ranch RV Resort and Music
Camp for Kids.
The show is free and begins
at 10:30 a.m., with clothing from
Dena’s Shop on the Corner, La
Luna Loca, Maggie & Henry’s,
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lery. Refreshments are provided
by Sleepy Monk Coffee and Sea
Level Bakery.
“We wanted to make sure we
had a really strong connection
with the arts community with
this,” Court Carrier of the Cham-
ber of Commerce said.
We are delighted to see um-
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Their struggles against the ele-
ments in Cannon Beach are as
iconic as the Rock.
Cannon Beach Photo has a
website with 546 umbrella pho-
tos. Pelican Bay Brewing Co.
brews an “Umbrella IPA.” Um-
brellas. like kites, are magical
museum creations — form and
function majestically married to
art and nature.
Just got word that my friend
Joe just returned the little blue
folding $6 umbrella. Use it in the
rain? Fuggetaboutit. It’s a collec-
tor’s item!
If you must use your
umbrella, super-size it
Should you use an umbrella in
Cannon Beach? The bigger the
better, said Ann-Marie Radich of
the gallery Found.
“For the most part day to day,
wind and rain, umbrellas don’t
do any good because they blow
inside out,” Radich said last Sun-
day on the porch of Sleepy Monk.
“We went to a Seaside Seagulls
football last week. We thought
we were prepared with stadium
blankets — water repellent on the
outside, fuzzy on the inside —
rain gear, big-hooded Carhart rain
coats, when it started to rain like
nobody’s business. Somebody in
front of us had a huge stadium
umbrella my mom got to use. If
you’re sitting still at a game where
you can keep — I never would
have thought — my mom had
suggested we bring an umbrella
— that would have been inside
out before we were in our seats.
But in that case, very smart.”
CARLA O’REILLY
Library introduces readers to the ABC’s of eBooks
As we move into the time
of year with shorter periods
of daylight and stormier
weather, our thoughts turn
to snuggling up with a great
read. Card-holders at the
Cannon Beach Library now
have the additional option
of “borrowing” books from
our newly-installed eBook
program. Containing thou-
sands of reading options,
both regular and audio, the
program is easy to access,
and interested patrons may
pick up a sheet of instruc-
tions at the check-out desk.
/LEUDU\ 2I¿FH 0DQDJHU
Buddie Anderson states:
“Anyone needing extra help
accessing eBooks is very
welcome to ask for my help.
I’d be happy to walk people
through the process.” Bud-
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brary from 8:30 on, Monday
through Friday.
Reading purists may in-
sist on actually experienc-
ing a book made of paper
— but an exciting option is
being able to “check out” a
book from anyplace without
having to get in the car, es-
pecially if a storm is raging
outdoors!
Our younger generation
is very accustomed to digi-
tal learning, so the Cannon
Beach Library is prepared
to make this form of read-
ing available to them, and
what a great extra option for
participating in the summer
Boac’s Bird Notes
Bottom line is that this is
not an either/or issue. Read-
ing an occasional eBook is
not an act of disloyalty to our
trusty and beloved library
books, but an exciting addi-
tional way to experience the
joy of reading.
November events
at the library
CARLA O’REILLY
reading contest in 2016.
Those of us who are “a lit-
tle older” are told the way
to keep our minds fresh and
alert is to try something new
— so why not try out digital
reading just for the experi-
ence!
In November we welcome
another season of “The World
of Haystack Rock” lecture
series, co-sponsored by The
Friends of Haystack Rock
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ture will be Wednesday, No-
vember 11 from 7:00 to 8:30
p.m., when Bill Peterson of
NOAA will speak on “Effects
of Variable Ocean Conditions
and Climate Change on Ma-
rine Food Chains, Salmon,
and Other Fishes”.
On Saturday, Nov. 14, at
2 p.m. the Northwest Author
Series will continue as au-
thor Urban Waite talks about
“Sometimes the Wolf.” The
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Northwest and is a spellbind-
ing story of family ties, vio-
lence, and unintended conse-
quences.
Cannon Beach reads will
meet Wednesday, Nov. 18,
from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The book
they have been reading this
month is One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kes-
ey. New members are wel-
come to join the group any
time.
And looking ahead to
December — which ap-
parently is just around the
corner! — we will have our
annual holiday tea at the
Library Dec. 5, from 1 to
4 p.m. Cookies and other
treats will be served. Save
the date and come enjoy our
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place, followed by the lamp
lighting ceremony in town.
We also will be having our
quilt drawing at the tea, so
this is a good time to drop
into the library and purchase
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it’s too late!
The library will be closed
on Thanksgiving Day, Nov.
26. We at the library wish all of
you a blessed Thanksgiving!
SUSAN BOAC
Catching up with an old friend on the birding trail
Look who I met up with
in Grants Pass last month!
Many of you will recog-
nize Nala Cardillo, former
Cannon Beach resident and
director of Haystack Rock
Awareness Program. I was
fortunate to catch Nala on
a free day while Scott and I
were in his home town vis-
iting friends and family. We
enjoyed catching up on each
others live’s and of course
all the latest happenings in
Cannon Beach.
It was destine to be a
beautiful day, starting a bit
chilly in the morning but
sunny and the promise of
comfortable temperatures.
(It actually got so hot that
day, that I became weary by
midday) The birding was
fabulous and so fun with
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calling out over 40 different
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ing!
We went to a couple of
my favorite spots just out-
side Grants Pass. White-
horse County Park, which
runs along the infamous
Rogue River, considered
one of the birding hot spots
in Josephine County, and
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Siskiyous. This beautiful
piece of land is open to the
public, offering trails and
many different settings for a
great variety of birds..
Catching the waves
R.J. MARX PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
View from Ecola State Park.
SUSAN BOAC
I delight in watching the
gregarious acorn wood-
peckers found in southern
Oregon. They are generally
found in busy, loud groups.
Their clown-like faces
make me smile. Nala and
I came upon a tree where
they had done some seri-
ous work. They chip out
rows and rows of holes and
then stuff them with —you
guessed it — acorns! What
a sight to see!
Other noteables for
the day were many
blue-throated gray war-
blers, red-breasted sap-
suckers, oak titmouse,
wrentit, mourning dove
and western bluebird. Of
course many of these birds
are seen in Clatsop Coun-
ty as well, but I seem to
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as regualar readers (thanks
Mom and John) of this col-
umn well know.
cide where the best birding
is and bird until about 11:00.
Bring binoculars and wear
appropriate clothing. Every-
one is welcome! Upcoming
dates are Dec. 6 and Jan. 3.
Susan has spent her life en-
joying the great outdoors from
the lakes and woods of North-
Nature selfi e as Nala and ern Minnesota, Mount Adams
Susan enjoy birding in in Washington and now the
southern Oregon.
Oregon beach environs. After
spending many pleasurable
I hope some of you will hours driving her avid birder
join a group of people for our parents around, she has taken
own birding adventures in up birding as a passion, to the
the Cannon Beach area. We mixed emotions of her hus-
PHHWWKH¿UVW6XQGD\RIWKH band Scott. The Boacs reside
month at the Lagoon Trail on the Neawanna Creek in
parking lot on Second Street Seaside where their backyard
at 9 a.m. As a group, we de- is a birder’s paradise.
Holiday treasures at Cannon Beach PEO event
Cannon Beach PEO will help fund
scholarships Thursday, Nov. 19, from
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570 Necanicum Dr. in Seaside, next to
the Seaside Museum. The event is pre-
sented by Cannon Beach PEO, Chapter
FB, and features handcrafted needle-
work, kitchen delights, holiday décor,
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scholarships for women either continu-
ing their education after high school
graduation or returning to school after
a break in their educational pursuits.
Members have been working on
beautiful items not found locally, as
well as gifts for children and adults.
Autographed copies of Nancy Berry’s
book “A Gift of Poems for Christ-
mas” illustrated by Sally Steidel will
be available. A limited number of Bill
Steidel’s new children’s book will also
be for sale.
Nancy Anderson will have her pop-
ular doll kits. A supply of magnolia
leaves will be available for creative
holiday décor. Contemporary needle-
work by Jan Lambert is ready for pur-
chase, in addition to other members’
wide array of Thanksgiving and Christ-
mas hand-crafted decorations, gifts and
specialty food items to jump start the
holidays.
The Cannon Beach Chapter current-
ly sponsors three local women with
scholarships: Alanna Kieffer and Rose-
mary Kinch of Seaside, and Amelia
SUBMITTED PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Fitch of Astoria.
%XWWHU¿HOG&RWWDJHLVORFDWHGQH[WWR Examples of holiday treasures avail-
the Seaside Museum at 570 Necanicum able for sale Th ursday, Nov. 19, at Sea-
side’s Historic Butterfi eld Cottage.
Drive.