Morty the Dog: Grays Harbor County

Showing posts with label Grays Harbor County. Show all posts

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Guns and Hoses baseball game, where the police and firemen square off at the McCleary Bear Festival. During the game we had the worst lightning storm in recent memory, complete with torrential rain, hail, and thunderbolts directly above. And still they played. No real Grays Harbor County guy is going to be the first to admit they have enough sense to get out of the rain, much less potential lightning strikes.

And that is part of the reason I choose to live here in McCleary. This town, as the masthead of the old McCleary Stimulater newspaper used to declare, is as "Independent as a Hog on Ice." There is no logical reason why this village should be here, yet here we are. Bezango WA 985.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Washington, My Home, Wherever I May Roam

While the rest of the country bakes those of us in Grays Harbor County, Washington are still getting soaked with rain. It is almost 9 o'clock here, still light, and the rain is coming down steady. Just took this photo a few minutes ago of the wet sky framed by my elm and black walnut trees.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Phone photo 1671

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Mini-Comics Day in McCleary, pt. 10

The Floating Head of Humptulips was a jam on Mini-Comics Day by Frank Young, Jim Gill, Paul Tumey and Morty the Dog. The "occupency" sign (by Paul?) is a real-life typo from a public notice posted by the City of McCleary in the Community Center. Yes, Grays Harbor County is indeed in the Third World, where literacy is not first nature and dictionaries gather dust. It is even evident on street signs and newspaper headlines. On the public health index and unemployment, this county ranks dead last out of 39 counties in Washington.

Still, I love Grays Harbor County. This place is one of the last islands of the old Washington State, the real Washington we rural Boomer natives knew as we were growing up. Sasquatch is safe out here. We can still scratch where it itches. Wild Russian boars run amok.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Phone photo 1489

Preacher's Slough

Grays Harbor County, Washington

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Phone photo 1457

Cherry blossoms drooping from the weight of abundant Grays Harbor County rainwater direct from the Pacific Ocean

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Grays Harbor County Rain

On a clear day I can see the foothills of the Olympics from my front yard. But we don't get a lot a clear days here in Grays Harbor County, Washington. Mostly we get rain. A lot. And this is why we are called "The Evergreen State." At least on the western side. Today my front yard visibility is about 4 blocks.

I am guessing this constant rain, which keeps many of us inside most of the year, is a major contributing factor to why so many cartoonists come from the Pacific Northwest.

The best description of our climate I have ever read came from Ken Kesey in Sometimes a Great Notion. I note that recent immigrants to our corner of the world don't mind the rain so much as the constant overcast and lack of sunlight.

But this is Washington, my home, wherever I may roam. This is my land, my native land, Washington, my home. I was born in Spokane, but raised on the wet side, so I consider myself a true trans-Cascade Washingtonian, loving both sides of this great state.