The other morning I took my dogs, Jenna and Takoda on a sunny morning run on Greasy Spoon Road in Birkenfeld Oregon, an old set of logging roads that winds its way eventually to Astoria, a big coastal town of Oregon. This is right near Fishhawk Lake, my fulltime residence, and where I sell real estate and get to help my neighbors sell and buy homes here and the surrounding areas.
The entrance of Greasy Spoon Road
Greasy Spoon Road
was named by the locals many many years ago because an Asian family used to have a diner of sorts situated on these roads (before Fishhawk Lake was made) for loggers to stop and eat during their long days logging the forestlands around here in Birkenfeld Oregon and Clatskanie, Jewell and other small Oregon towns. Doesn’t that conjure up smells of eggs and bacon and potatoes and, well….GREASE?!
Through some research, I found a railroad historian, Brian McCamish who has written several articles about old towns and in particular Greasy Spoon “Camp”. Here’s what he wrote on his site back in 2008:
We don’t know the true name of this camp, but a logging road that was later cut right through the middle of the camp is called Greasyspoon Road, obviously paying homage to the camp cook house. So, we’ll call this Greasyspoon Camp for now. Could this cook house have survived beyond the railroad days and served locals who later moved here and built up the Fishhawk community? We don’t know. There’s certainly little evidence of anything surviving beyond the 1930s at the camp.
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(Doesn’t the sign even look Greasy??)
It was so quiet that morning as I ran that I could literally hear the wind against my ears! I think we were a bit ahead of the birds that morning, as they didn’t start vocalizing til we were on the 2nd half of our run.
In a former post on ActiveRain, I wrote about taking a hike and listening to the different sounds that surround you while walking. I took my own advice and paid attention to what I was hearing while chugging up the hills that went for almost 2 miles before we began our descent back to the truck. The wind was the first sound. Then, my own breathing. Not as labored as sometimes! There was the crunch of gravel beneath my feet. As we ran, I loved hearing the soft tread of all eight paws in the dusty gravel roads we were traveling. It is a soothing sound to hear my dogs running ahead of me.
As the sun was greeting me through the treetops, layers of birdcalls started to rise up in the gradual daylight.
One of my biggest delights is to be completely alone in nature with the gifts it brings to me. It makes me deliriously happy! Certainly the rush of endorphins pouring through me as I am getting my heart rate up has something to do with it as well, and that it seems to be there just for me to enjoy is completely intoxicating!
One of the thoughts that I pondered while on this early morning run is “being in the moment”. If I’d been thinking about past regrets or something I had to do later, I would have missed the sounds and sights gracing my path at that very moment.
Right now the sun is reflecting off the water onto the back of my pontoon. It creates this cool rippling effect like a vibrating glow.
Fishhawk Lake view from our home
I would wish for this simple moment to be shared by all that I know and love. I wish that you could be here right now, listening to the fish pop out of the water briefly to grab at a bug hovering over the water’s surface, or the squawk of crows as they greet one another across the trees. Or the soft swoosh of their wings as they fly above me. The heron sitting in the folds of branches across the lake from me just coughed his presence as a crow flew by him. Fishhawk Lake-this is heaven on earth!
Gayle Rich-Boxman
Realtor® Vernonia Realty Direct: (503)755-2905
Specializing in Fishhawk Lake Real Estate
“Your Gateway to the Lake!”
http://activerain.com/blogs/gayleatfishhawklake
My website: http://www.lakehomesatfishhawk.com/
My blog: https://fishhawklakerealtor.wordpress.com/
Fishhawk Lake Real Estate-Running on Greasy Spoon Road Copyrighted by Gayle Rich-Boxman All Rights Reserved 2011
There have been some blustery winters here at Fishhawk Lake and some mild wet ones. These photos are taken from snowy winters of the past. 2008 saw the toughest one with over 4’ of snow on our deck alone! However, that was the worst winter this part of the Pacific Northwest had seen in many years.
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