"Learn to be what you are...and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not." - Henri Frederic Amiel

I like that quote up there, in measure. I need to be constantly refining, living up to what God enables me to be as opposed to what I am if I allow myself to get character lazy. But some of us have trouble allowing ourselves to be who he made us instead of some idealized version of ourselves.
Ah, the effects of European Calvinism. A two-edged sword if ever there was one.

We left Baker Rd. about 1 p.m. yesterday just as it was starting to get...hot. It hit 92 here yesterday.
I turned the air on as we headed west; by the time we turned north on 101 in Florence the AC was off, the windows up, and we realized we were WAY underdressed. Low 70's, 20 mph wind, and fog flying N to S at quite a clip.

That's a beautiful drive made nicer by the brand new pavement on that stretch of highway. Our first stop was at the Heceta Lighthouse. I asked, and it's pronounced heh-SEE-tah.

A 1/4 mile hike from the parking lot and beach up to the lighthouse station offers some classic Oregon coast views. This doesn't show the wind and only a bit of the fog. That big rock to the right is covered with all kinds of fancy-pants sea birds that nest there. Without binoculars, and especially with the fog all we could do was hear them.

The lighthouse itself is closed for renovations so we couldn't climb to the top like we have in the past. And re-reading all the info about it meant standing still; shorts and a lightweight shirt meant moving was the better option. It's still a working lighthouse but is now automated, not manned (or womanned).

That little building on the side is open and has some cool artifacts from back in the day. That's where they stored the oil the guys had to carry up the stairs to fuel the light and other tools necessary to keep it operating 24/365. These guys and their families lived a physically demanding, very difficult, very isolated life.

Behind the lighthouse is a trail I don't remember from previous visits that climbs the hill behind it. Pretty steep, but the view from the top is worth the effort. I wish it had been a sunny day for a better pic.

After this stop we drove another 15 miles up the coast just for the scenery with a turn-around at the Cape Perpetua overlook to see grey whales surfacing surprisingly close to the coast, and then back to Florence for dinner at the C Food restaurant. (That's their name.) We both had the special, a salmon salad that was pretty good. Then the drive home with the opposite; start with the windows up and end with the AC on.
Nice day away.

I got the power out to the garage (Barnette). I'm not at all happy with the cheap fluorescent shop light I bought at Ace Hdw, but I may have a loose ground wire. I'll look into it tomorrow and then decide how to proceed. If I decide to pitch it I'm out less than $20.

We're eating dinner early (it's 4:30 now) and then heading into town for some errands. I want to get a CHEAP watch that includes a stopwatch function for timing my runs and I need a piece of rubber hose for the truck to go from the radiator to my McGyver overflow bottle. It's 93 degrees, so we may find our way to an air conditioned Starbucks while we're there.