Views from Home For more Views from Home
Blue sunset skies behind the Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River. Cape Disappointment is seen beyond the bridge. Astoria, Oregon, 2004.
Sailboat on the Columbia River, between buoys 37 and 39, with Altoona Ridge, Harrington Point, and Grays Bay in the background. Astoria, Oregon, 2000.
Freighters on the move at dawn on the Columbia River. Tongue Point to the right, the Altoona Ridge in the distance. Astoria, Oregon, 2004.
The Great Coastal Gale of December 1–3, 2007 was one of the greatest storms of a century. Though the peak gusts were not quite record-setting, the 3 day duration was. The Columbia River was photographed from my home between the Astoria-Megler Bridge and downtown Astoria, Oregon. Gulls kept flying throughout the storm. 2007.
The Arrow is nestled against the side of the container ship Phoenix to exchange a river pilot for the journey up to Portland for the bar pilot who has brought the ship across the Columbia River bar. Astoria, Oregon, 2003.
Rain squall near the north end of the Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River. Cape Disappointment is seen beyond the bridge. Astoria, Oregon, 2000.
Up river at Dawn, seeing past Tongue Point to the Altoona Ridge and beyond in Washington. Astoria, Oregon, 2003.
Washington's Willapa Hills, across Grays Bay on the Columbia River, from Astoria, Oregon. Rocky Point and Portuguese Point to the left, the Altoona Ridge to the right. Buoys 37 and 39. 2000.
Looking up river at dawn to Astoria’s East Mooring Basin, the Tongue Point isthmus, and beyond to the hills above the Elochoman River of Washington. Astoria, Oregon, 2003.
Dawn on Grays Bay and the Willapa Hills of Washington, looking across the Columbia River. Astoria, Oregon, 2004.
Looking north across the Columbia River, to Washington between Megler and Knappton. Astoria, Oregon, 2008.
Looking north across the Columbia River, to Washington between Megler and Knappton. Astoria, Oregon, 2008.
Views from Home—Astoria on the Columbia River
For Columbia River pictures from other vantage points, see Columbia River & Communities
The views from my home in Astoria are at once epic and intimate: big skies and big water, thick with weather. Rolling clouds, fog, and every form of water and wind. The light ranges from luminiscent to soft and heavy. I have come to feel at home in this, to treasure the everyday and exult in the extremes. Is it odd to find comfort in the rhythm of the rain on my roof, of wind and hail on my windows? I think not: I suspect I have company in this.
Great ships carrying commerce of the world pass through these scenes. They seem so slow, but only because the water is so big. Try to photograph one or chase it, and they’re going too fast. From town, the ships seem to glide past in eerie silence, though in the quiet of the night, I hear them before they come past the buildings and trees into my view from home.