A4 • Friday, March 13, 2020 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
SignalViewpoints
The best
of Lou
Solitske
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
The man in the black suit with a camera.
Say no more. Everyone in Seaside is famil-
iar with Lou Solitske: photographer, author,
friend of animals and an inveterate walker
through Seaside.
Here are some of his best photos from
2019, among 29,182 shots taken in the year.
Lou Solitske
Sunset in August 2019.
Lou Solitske
Kite fl ying on the beach in Seaside, early September.
Lou Solitske
‘I was taking pictures of them taking pictures of me. I had a bird on my head at the time. That’s why everybody was smiling and
laughing. See more of Solitske’s photos online at SeasideSignal.com
Lou Solitske
An otter takes a dip in the Neawanna River.
April 17, 2019, a
rainbow across the
Turnaround.
Lou Solitske
R.J. Marx
Lou with O’Malley, in their Seaside home.
Air kisses only, no hugs, please
C
oronavirus was the topic du jour
when our friends visited this past
weekend.
We met through our now-grown
children. Not long after we left New
York to move to Oregon, they moved
to New Hampshire where they have a
home in the beautiful, tucked away vil-
lage of Peterborough.
Unlike us, L&L are retired, which
means they are at liberty to travel. They
have family in southern California,
and a daughter doing graduate work
at Berkeley, so they took a month to
start in San Diego and then drive up the
coast, their adventure culminating in a
visit to Seaside.
“Are you worried L&L are bringing
the virus to your door?” a mutual friend
from New York inquired.
I said I was taking steps to control
the situation by swabbing every hard
surface in my house with a bleach solu-
tion and we were already maniacally
washing our hands à la Lady Macbeth
and avoiding large gatherings.
“Maybe I should make them walk
through a sheep dip before they come in
the house,” I joked.
Once they arrived, our guests were
very willing to discuss the virus.
Mostly they expressed concern their
Jet Blue fl ight set to depart in 10 days
from San Diego to Boston (after vis-
iting Astoria and laying eyes on the
Columbia River, they turned their rental
car around and headed back to Califor-
nia) would be cancelled and they would
have to drive across the country to New
Hampshire.
“Even if it’s not canceled, you might
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
VIEW FROM
THE PORCH
EVE MARX
not want to get on a plane,” I suggested.
The idea of getting on a plane right now
is about as appealing as getting on a
cruise ship, in my opinion.
Our visit wasn’t much impeded
by the virus, although we heeded the
Centers for Disease Control’s advice
“older adults,” i.e., anyone over 60,
should “stay home as much as possi-
ble.” We walked the beach (isn’t salt air
cleaner?); had a few meals out, notably
at Baked Alaska in Astoria and in Sea-
side at the U Street Pub; we got coffee
in Cannon Beach at Sea Level, and vis-
ited a few galleries.
After their fi rst night when they
stayed with us and we ordered Thai Me
Up takeout. L & L stayed two nights
at the Sandy Cove Inn which they said
was “very nice” with real art on the
walls and very clean, and conveniently
close to the beach for viewing sunsets.
Mostly we hung out at our house and
I cooked.
And we talked.
We had a lot of catching up to
do, but we also talked a lot about
coronavirus.
“It’s like worrying about the tsu-
nami,” I said. “It could happen.”
My husband pointed out evacuation
routes and signage as we gave them the
area tour. I joked how my own plan in
case of earthquake and tsunami is not to
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Jeremy Feldman
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
MULTIMEDIA
ADVERTISING
REPRESENTATIVE
Kim McCaw
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Darren Gooch
Joshua Heineman
Rain Jordan
Katherine Lacaze
Eve Marx
Esther Moberg
Carl Earl
TUESDAY, March 17
run from the wave, but to walk towards
it.
Might as well get it over with, is my
thought.
“I hate camping,” I said. “Imagine
me surviving the wave and then hav-
ing to deal with weeks if not months of
no electricity or hot water. That’s not
happening.”
We joked how being older puts us
more at risk of contracting coronavirus,
but also how our age gives us the liberty
to care a bit less what happens to us.
“It’s really more a matter of how you
want to die,” I said. “Not that most peo-
ple get to pick.”
Laurie texted me Monday morn-
ing to say they were on I-5, headed
south. They didn’t think much of
Eugene, where they stayed one night.
Her impression was of dreariness and
impoverishment. That bummed me out.
Meanwhile I’m washing my hands
about 25 times a day and practicing
social distancing. It’s air kisses or wav-
ing from now on only. No hugs, please.
I use disinfectant to daily wipe door-
knobs and hard surfaces. I’ve washed
every sheet, every towel, and every dish
cloth in scalding water, and washed
the wood fl oors down multiple times
with a solution of tap water and vinegar
even though I just read most household
cleaning products will kill coronavirus,
but not white vinegar.
You can make your own inexpen-
sive antimicrobial spray by mixing one
part household bleach to 99 parts cold
tap water. Spray this on surfaces and
leave for 10 to 30 minutes. Note this is
bleach. It will ruin your sofa.
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Union Health District of Clat-
sop County, 8 a.m., Seaside
Providence Hospital Ed Center,
Room B.
Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District Board
of Directors, 5:15 p.m., Bob
Chisholm Community Center,
1225 Avenue A, Seaside.
Seaside School District
Board of Directors, 7 p.m.,
1801 S. Franklin, Seaside.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, work session, 7 p.m., City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
WEDNESDAY, March 18
Seaside Tourism Advisory
Committee, 3 p.m., City Hall,
989 Broadway.
Seaside Tree Board, 4 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
THURSDAY, May 19
Seaside Transportation
Advisory Committee, 6 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
MONDAY, March 23
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
989 Broadway.
TUESDAY, March 24
Seaside Airport Advisory
Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall,
989 Broadway.
MONDAY, March 30
Seaside City Council/Library
Foundation Workshop,
6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broad-
way.
TUESDAY, March 31
7 p.m., Gearhart City Council,
work session, 698 Pacifi c Way.
WEDNESDAY, April 1
Seaside Improvement
Commission, 6 p.m., 989
Broadway.
Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m.,
698 Pacifi c Way.
THURSDAY, April 2
Gearhart Budget Commit-
tee, 5 p.m., 698 Pacifi c Way.
Seaside Parks Advisory
Committee, 7 p.m., 989
Broadway.
FRIDAY, April 3
Gearhart Budget Commit-
tee, (if necessary), 5 p.m., 698
Pacifi c Way.
TUESDAY, April 7
Seaside Community Center
Commission, 10 a.m., 989
Broadway.
Seaside Library Board,
5:30 p.m., 1131 Broadway.
Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District, board
workshop, 5:15 p.m., Bob
Chisholm Community Center,
1225 Avenue A, Seaside.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
THURSDAY, April 9
Gearhart Planning Com-
mission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 698
Pacifi c Way.
MONDAY, April 13
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
989 Broadway.
Seaside Signal
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