We headed out early this morning to Oswald West State Park.
By the time we ended parking around 9am, the parking lot was full. I had forgotten there was a surfer culture here, much more nomadic than the southerly surfer species. Mostly suburu hatchbacks, VW hippie-vans and crusty looking Datsuns1 with plates from Idaho, Washington, but mostly Oregon, all converging here.
With beatific faces, the surfers are making a religious trek, lugging surfboards and coolers of cheap beer.
All of them with a burnt out/in look, perhaps of staring at the sun for far too long or of a dedicated asceticism to something I’ll never know. All worm smooth by the wind, sea and sun. All decidedly friendly to us, since we didn’t have surfboards.2
As we arrived onto Short Sands Beach, the cold mist was burning off, and the sun was getting warm on our backs. The kids were running around, getting their feet wet in the cold, cold water. Dogs were running around, for once at peace with the world: the surf drowning out the man-made noises that must surely drive them nuts and an almost limitless expanse of sand to run on. Me? I got reminded why I live where I do.
So sick of tourists already. Damn, who the hell’s idea was it to start promoting Astoria as a tourist town? Shit! This used to be a place they avoided, now the goofy schmucks are all over the place. They gotta get rid of that Sunday Market crap and stop catering to these out of town terrorist sumbitches. And what in the hell is the deal with all these assholes from California moving up here anyway? Jesus, if those clowns dont drive a person up the wall nothing will. God I miss the old days around here. Life sure was better when this was a fishing, shipping and mill town. Now it’s just a bunch of midwesterners and those damn Californians prancing around as if they know what the you-know-what they are talking about. Man, I tell ya..there are some people ready to go off around here, know what I’m saying?
Somebody should do something and I talking “something”, if you get my drift. Yeah, put this place on the map as a place to avoid at all costs. Maybe if we just told the truth about just how much violent crime goes down here people will get the message. Jeez, I was talking to one of my cop friends a couple of weeks ago and he was telling me there have been five murders during Sunday market in the past four years! They’ve been able to keep it on the Q.T. because the women were tourist women and the cops didnt want to make a big deal out of it to, you know, scare away the tourist trade because those greedy bastards at the Chamber Of Commerce dont want Astoria to get labled as a dangerous place to visit. Christ almighty, five women in four years found dismembered and disembowled in either those little blue shitters or in dumpsters. I’m surprised the newspapers havnt been all over it trying to catch the fiend. Then there’s all those rapes and robberies of the cruiseship passengers. Since those people arent local either they dont run back to those Love Boats and dont get off again. Someone should at least post signs along the river walk saying “Dont Go Beyond This Point-Especially Alone Or After Dark.” Oh well, none of my business what folks do, if they want to risk gettting raped, robbed and their throats cut, well, oh well
first, it wasn’t me. second, no you can’t dig up my back yard.
now if you’ll excuse me i’ve got a food basket to lower down to “it”.
oh, we need more female tourists. four more.
I dunno if you’re under suspicion or not, Dave. I do know there is, supposedly, some token investigation going on, but my contacts who are in the know are vague and nebulous about it. I do know there we’re some witnesses to something. Some one saw an older weathered out looking guy riding a bicycle away from the immediate area where one of the bodies was found. Not that old guys riding bikes around here is some kind of rare thing, but this fellow’s arms were dripping what appeared to be blood and there was a butcher knife stiicking out of the back pocket of his jeans, but that could’ve been anyone-like a cannery worker or doctor from CMH going home after an honest days work.