High Tide on Clay Street

The lanes in Oysterville are grassy thruways that, for the most part, lead from the bay up to Territory Road and vice-versa.  From the north they are Division, Merchant, and Clay Streets.  Main Street is the only lane that runs north to south; part of it is paved and part is grassy.  All the lanes are dedicated County roads and all are maintained (read mowed) by the adjacent neighbors.

Clay Street is ‘our’ lane; we share its care with Susan Holway, but other neighbors have weighed in over the years, too.  The inviting bench at the end the lane was built and installed by Chris Freshley.  It was Chris, too, who put up the “No Cars Please” sign about halfway along.  Not that the oystermen and other people with bay business shouldn’t drive to the bay’s edge.  Actually, that’s why the broad grassy roads exist.  The sign is to discourage unnecessary to-and-fro traffic from tearing up the lane’s fragile surface.

Willapa Bay Comes Visiting – Up to Our East Fence

On Friday, the bay made its way right up to that No Cars sign.  It made me think that we should have changed it out with a “Boats Only” announcement – at least for the hour or so that the tide was high enough to creep up over its banks and try to come on into town.  The water got about as far as our east fence but, politely I thought, stopped there and didn’t come on into our garden.

I love it when the tide is high like that.  It doesn’t happen very often because the magic combination that brings the bay into the village has to include a strong and stormy southwest or westerly wind, in addition to a nine-foot-plus tide.  Usually, that happens in December.  But I love it whenever it occurs!

The Meadow at High Tide, February 10, 2017

So do the waterfowl.  Saturday, a fleet of geese swam around and around in the erstwhile meadow.  They seemed to be out for the pure pleasure of the paddle and didn’t appear at all interested in the trees or in Willard’s stone bench that had become part of their watery territory.  Nor did they pay any attention to the occasional car that stopped on the road so that the occupants could take high tide pictures.

As I always do, I wished that the water would come on up and cover Territory Road.  I’ve seen that happen only once or twice in my lifetime and remember someone actually rowing up the street on one occasion.  I wondered if anyone had a dinghy at the ready this time… just in case.  Tucker, maybe?  Now that would be a high tide picture worth taking!