Moon Over Astoria

Last weekend I was more lazy than usual, so I put off my inevitable Costco shopping trip till Monday afternoon after work. I was heading back into Astoria after shopping, and just crossing the Youngs Bay Bridge around 4:30 p.m., looking at the cars ahead of me, and at the bay, merrily trundling along.

And then I just happened to look up. Wow ... the sight of that full (or almost full) moon just hanging out over Astoria in that afternoon sky visually hit me upside the head as the waning sun hit the hillside and lit it up. It was eerie, and lovely. But the closer I got to Astoria, the further down in the sky the moon appeared, until it was hidden behind the hillside.

So I whipped around the traffic circle and went back across the bridge to Warrenton, turned around again, and pulled off the road in a little turnoff just before the getting on the bridge back to Astoria. The photo above was taken from there. The wind was whipping and it was icy cold, but it was worth every second to get that shot.

For the hell of it, I took the back way home, going up 7th and 8th streets. Just as I turned right on Jerome, there the moon was again ... even more amazing from this angle, shining over several tankers lazing at anchor. The sun was bright on Pier 39 and Tongue Point, making them sparkle, and accentuating the snow caps on the mountains in the distance. It was one of those take-your-breath away, stop-you-in-your-tracks sights.

It's sights like those that make me even more acutely aware of why Astoria is so beautiful and unique.

I can't even imagine how out-of-place an enormous LNG tanker with an armed Coast Guard escort would look in that scene.

Click here to see Elleda's photography at the Astoria Photografpix web site