View from Porch

Brian D. Ratty is a retired media executive and graduate of Brooks Institute of Photography. Ratty is the author of seven books, including “Tillamook Rock Lighthouse: History and Tales of Terr…

The first thing that happened was the old stove croaked. According to Consumer Reports, the average lifespan of any oven, dishwasher, washer, dryer, or fridge is now eight to 12 years. When we…

Seaside photographer Lance Wagner grew up in the Bay area before heading south to Orange County to attend Cal State Fullerton. After graduation he got a job shooting motorcycles for Honda, the…

It was my birthday weekend and our son and daughter-in-law in Portland decided to blow me away with an eating and drinking extravaganza. I rarely get off the Coast so every trip to Portland is…

We’re nearing the end of apple picking season and there’s not much left on the trees. We have two apple trees in our front yard. It took some research to learn they are king pippins. We have t…

As a person who taught creative writing for seven years in both medium- and maximum-security prisons for women, I was very interested to attend a talk last week at the Seaside Public Library g…

Say “cheese!”

While I am very aware there is an opioid crisis, I’d be the first to admit I don’t know squat about the current thinking regarding opiate addiction treatment. The last time I checked, it was a…

I don’t like to rub it in too much to our less lucky friends, but here in Seaside, we live in a great neighborhood for good eats. We don’t have to get in the car to find a superlative breakfas…

A few months ago I was pleased to make the acquaintance of local artist Josh Fry whose stencil art I found very eye-catching. Josh probably gets a little weary of hearing his work compared to …

By EVE MARX

Our miniature pinscher, Lucy, is generally a shy, reserved dog. We got her four years ago in October from Elaine Hanson, a breeder, who for years bred and sold dogs in Seaside.

On a startlingly beautiful Wednesday evening in the waning days of August, a dozen or so people gathered on the beachfront patio of a private home in the Cove to hold the second meeting of the…

We don’t get into Portland very often but when we are there, we eat. While our friends on the coast tend to head into Portland to shop, see specialty doctors, visit grandkids, hit the airport,…

Growing up in the 60s, nearly every household boasted a collection of board games. My own family owned “Sorry,” “Clue,” “Concentration,” “MouseTrap,” The Game of Life” and of course, “Monopoly…

It’s been a couple weeks since I purchased a magnesite sideways cross bracelet from Jennifer Lynn Loper, jewelry designer, mixed media artist, Reiki master, and proprietor of Zen Living Arts, …

Because the news is so exhausting and likely to bum me out, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time this summer watching television.

The first ones I saw were in the late spring, higher up on the alphabet streets, in particular Avenue U and Beach Drive, but also just on the Prom at Avenue T. The carts were always empty and …

Three weeks ago I was walking Lucy, my young dog, on Avenue U past The Osprey Café when I noticed a young man on the sidewalk doing a sun salutation. Beside him on the ground was a large and f…

It’s not often that I read a book in two sittings, but that’s exactly how I devoured “The Paper Wasp,” a new novel by Lauren Acampora. And it wasn’t just me who literally ate the book up. My h…

If you’re inclined toward observation, you may have noticed something out of the ordinary on South Holladay Drive, not far from Broadway. It’s a railroad car, a caboose in fact.

Last week Mr. Sax and I had an unusual day. What was unusual was we went out for lunch. Lunch at our house is a mundane affair; we eat, but not for fun, as much as for sustenance. My usual lun…

In the summer of 1977 I met Curtis Watkins in New York City. We were habitués of a cafe in Greenwich Village. After a long hiatus, we met again in 1997; he was taking a class with an Iyengar y…

In college, living in a little college town, there was a shop in that town selling what was known as hippie-dippy things. There was a shelf of hand-thrown pottery, mostly cereal bowls and coff…

A friend in Gearhart who I trade “Have you eaten here yet?” information with recently made a strong case for a new place called South Bay Wild Fish House in Astoria.

You might say “A Wandering Man” got its start in the 1990s when Robert Liddycoat and his late wife, Barbara, bought a home built around 1900 on North Downing Street in Seaside.

A few months ago a friend told me about a camping trip that took her near the Arizona border. She and her husband were in Ajo, which is about 50 miles from the U.S. border, not far from Oregon…

This morning on my early dog walk, I noticed a trio of men parked in the lot at the end of Avenue U, preparing their fishing gear. Having lately observed what appears to be an unusual number o…

Very few people enjoy contemplating the end of life.

A couple of weeks ago my husband was walking down the street with one of our dogs when a car slowed down beside him. The car stopped and the window opened so the driver could speak to him.

Is there anything as good as a perfect hamburger?

April is National Poetry Month, a celebration introduced in 1996, organized by the Academy of American Poets.

If you Google “smart meter dangers,” you may soon fear for your mitochondial functions like insomnia, tinnitus, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, irritability, listlessness, heart palpitations, and …

I just had the pleasure of meeting author Pam Houston at Beach Books in Seaside as part of their Lunch in the Loft series. I’ve been a fan of Houston’s writing since her debut novel, “Cowboys …

By Eve Marx

Bebe Michel of Gearhart and Russ Mead of Seaside have been interested in drumming for awhile.

It’s another Valentine’s Day, so I decided to take a moment to count my blessings. At this stage of the game, I’m happy to say the official day of romantic love is not a heartbreaker or heart …

By Eve Marx/Seaside Signal

Eight Sunday nights in a row late this fall, I became obsessed with the HBO series, “My Brilliant Friend.”

As 2018 draws to a close and 2019 begins, I feel an urge, usually alcohol induced, to make resolutions for the coming year. This would be a good time for me to say that when it comes to resolu…

My husband, also known as “Mr. Sax,” has been living up to his name playing saxophone versions of Christmas music pretty much around the clock. He’s in a band and they’ve got some holiday show…

This morning as I wound my way around town, I noticed live Christmas trees for sale in Seaside on the corner of Holladay and 12th. What’s better than the smell of a live tree? The trees remind…