Another post...finally

This is the view of Cannon Beach, Oregon, from the balcony of a third floor room. This is looking north, the one below is looking southwest.



Some of you might find the beach familiar...especially the part with the big rock (Haystack Rock). The movie "The Goonies" was filmed in Cannon Beach and Astoria, Oregon. The last scene of the movie shows this rock with a giant pirate ship sailing out from it. The picture above was actually taken at low tide...if you look at the sand, there is a stripe of darker colored sand...that is the water line for high tide. We spent four days in Cannon Beach, and two and a half days in Astoria.

D's nephew and his partner live in Astoria, in a house they bought about five years ago, that they are working on remodeling/restoring. The house is really cool. It is tall and narrow (most houses there are...makes it easier to get a view of the Columbia river from your house). What is really cool about the place is that it was split into two apartments at some point. So the upstairs has a full kitchen, and the first floor has a full kitchen. The guys are talking about turning the upstairs kitchen into a "media room", because it is a rather dark room, and you would not have to go through it to get to any other room in the house.

Astoria was really cool. We spent a lot of time walking around the downtown area and the river walk on the first day...in the rain! On the second day, the nephew and his partner took us over the bridge to Washington (directly across the river). We drove past "Dismal Nitch" and went to "Cape Disappointment"...yes, those are the real names of these places!

So...after two and a half days we headed off to Cannon Beach. This was the location of the family reunion...for the part of the family that I lived with as an infant and toddler, but was removed from. It was incredible! Within ten minutes of arriving, I felt like an integral part of the family...a part that had always been there, and belonged. What was really interesting to me is that the only times that felt strange were times when I asked a question or someone asked a question of me, that people who grew up together would not need to ask. These times felt foreign to me, not the spending time together otherwise. I recall as a child, and later as well, wishing for a big sister that I could confide in and spend time with...I recall wishing for a big brother to protect me. What is most amazing to me is that I have a big sister, and I have THREE big brothers...and they fell right into those rolls that I had wished for. Obviously I don't really need a big brother-protector now, but I have three anyway...while they didn't do any "actual protecting", the feeling was definitely there. As for the sister...we've been talking and confiding by email for months prior to the reunion, it's been wonderful. There are tentative plans for another reunion in two years, at which time I will have a great niece or nephew in addition to the eight nieces and nephews I met at this reunion (one announced she is expecting). There are also plans for me to go stay with the sister when I (hopefully) go to the east coast for grad school interviews. If I don't get any interviews, or if the schools decide on phone interviews, then D thinks I should go stay with her for a few days anyway. So it looks like I may visit in January of next year.

The last semester of my undergrad started three days ago. I have a pretty tough schedule, but I think it is going to be good. I am taking Art History (lower division GE that I somehow missed early on), Upper division Plant Biology, Senior Seminar (capstone Sociology research project), Biology Colloquium (weekly lectures by bio professionals), and I am TA for microbiology again. That's 16 units. In addition to this, I may be taking an online "Lifespan Psych" course, because it is a pre-req for several programs I am looking at, but is not offered anywhere near me. My graduation date is December 2010, and I will walk May 2010 (cumme Laude if I do as well this semester as I have in past semesters). I am feeling really ready to be done and moving on with my education and life....grad school here I come!

S