Natural Beauty

One of the joys of living in this neck of the world is the tremendous scenery and natural wonders that it has to offer.  We open our door daily to it which is pretty (and) amazing!  There is something about Cloudplay that brings all of those wonders together…

That being said, there are so many other special spots to see and experience that make it natural to share these with the Wwoofers who make our place their temporary home.  I have made it a point for anyone staying two weeks or more to take them to visit at least a couple of those awesome wonders as well as to various spots that make Curry County and the Siskiyou region such a unique bioregion.

As well as these pictures of the coast, which are quite indicative of what you’ll experience in travelling here, there’s (at least) a couple places that I don’t want folks who come all of this way to miss.

a shot along the way

 



shrouded in clouds or sunny, it's magic!

streams and waterfalls, too...

‘Secret Beach’ is one of those.  Whether you catch it on a foggy or sunny day, the magic of that spot cannot begin to be gathered until seen by descending the hill from a very basic pull-off behind a safety railing from the main highway.  There are pelicans and seals checking you out from just offshore, waterfalls, small creeks with pools, tree-topped rock islands and forested cliffs that filter the sun, hidden caves and routes through the humungous rock formations and even natural arches and rock bridges to explore during low tide.

 

Dan in awe in our living cathedral

‘Stout Grove’ is another.  A path winding along a pristinely turquoise river takes you to a cathedral of trees—the mighty redwoods—that speak of another time and which man has fortunately left to be.  There are nooks and crannies, fallen logs, gigantic trees that a family of ten can’t reach around, and a fairy forest in which you can just sit and absorb forever.  Viewing upward takes awhile to discover how and where the sun could possibly enter to hit on scattered patches on the fern-laden ground.  There is no doubt that this place is sacred, and this is only enhanced by the ghostlike voices of fellow souls as they echo within and throughout.  Leaving this place is possible, but not something you are in a hurry to do.

 

All of this being said, you can discover much more at your leisure and find those places that resonate for you.  And no, I am not a tour guide!

Labo(u)r Day

It’s already September!  For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s kind of like Good Friday (although that’s a bit changeable) in that it marks the end of summer and good weather and getting out and about for holidays and vacations.

On the other hand, Kiwis and Ozzies have Christmas to mark the entrance to down time and better weather, where we here in the US have Memorial Day, which is more like your Anzac—although, we always move it toward a weekend to make for a longer break.  So, we’re now all back to work and/or to school and the days are rapidly getting shorter.

So we have just celebrated our last ‘day off’ until Thanksgiving just like you wait for the Queen to celebrate her birthday in early June.  It also marks the official end of our tourist season, although here in Curry county in SW Oregon, that can go until the rain really sets in in November when most of the retirees and childless couples take advantage of the kids being off the road to visit and to enjoy the natural beauty in our neck of the woods.

Just a few fun facts for those of you interested in planning future breaks depending on your hemispherical perspective.

Labor Day has always been a time that I stop, observe, and reflect on where I and we are and where we’re going.  For us here at Cloudplay that’s easy: we established, planted, and fenced the main garden with the help of Wwoofers Sandy and Danny and just finished fencing the addition that Wwoofers Angelita and Noel helped create.  This creation has been quite satisfying and organic in nature and has really helped this homestead to become a home.

A note on the addition of the ‘winter garden’, after finding several cabbage seedlings disappear, it became imperative to get the fencing up that our friend Sue donated to the cause.  Other than a few plants being munched, however, all the other kale, broccoli, greens and peas appear very happy indeed.