Reflections on My First Year in Coos Bay

This May marks my first year living in the Empire neighborhood of Coos Bay.

I want to take stock of this year:

The house has turned out far better than I imagined. I completely restored the back fence and resurrected the back yard. I built two garden beds and the garden is doing well. I also planted two apple trees.

The propane stove in the living room has been a fine addition. Same with the burn barrel.

I’m lucky to have some good neighbors. The saga of a a distressed American family across the street continues to unfold, and I do watch from my front window.

Elmer and I have walked to local bay beach every morning of our residence. It’s truly an inspiring way to begin my day.

I’ve written approximately 200,000 words about Coos Bay since moving here. I have no idea what to do with them as far as a book goes.

I have not availed myself of Coos Bay’s cultural offerings. I remain mostly in solitude with Elmer and we do our beach thing. The exception to this are my irregular visits to my local Oregon Tavern Age joint. I’ve written up a few good stories originating there, but my enthusiasm for the joint has faded.

I continue to interact with the homeless but nothing proactive like I did in Portland. It seems impossible to that in Coos Bay.

The Coos Bay Library has been an excellent friend.

I’ve found a few places I like to patronize and the local seafood shop is sensational.

I’ve considered attending a Church of Christ service, the religion of my youth, for the sheer hell of it. What’s transpired in the half century since I was a preacher’s kid.

I haven’t made any real friends here, but I haven’t made any substantive effort, either.

I should play more golf.

I’ve built about 50 driftwood forts on the local beaches.

I met one woman who intrigued me and then she was gone.

I may enter the Prefontaine Memorial Run again. I found last year’s event exhilarating.

I’m still making sense of my dad’s death and the horror that was the probate process precipitated by two of the beneficiaries. At times, I wanted to exact some kind of cosmic revenge, but then I always remembered an immortal line from Confucius: “On a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”

So what do I expect or envision for year two in Empire? I don’t know. I will publish a volume of my poems written over the last 25 years. I do hope to reconnect with a few people from my past who reached out to me. It’s all about follow through.