"BEARD'S HOLLOW"

Sometimes missing the turn can be a good thing. It certainly was for me on this autumn day.

I was on a six month shoot of the Oregon and Northern California coasts. Cannon Beach was my first coastal stop. On this particular day Oregon was doing what Oregon does best, storming. I decided to take a drive up to Astoria as I had heard it was a quaint little town. I''ll never know because I missed it completely.

Astoria is...
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"BEARD'S HOLLOW"

Sometimes missing the turn can be a good thing. It certainly was for me on this autumn day.

I was on a six month shoot of the Oregon and Northern California coasts. Cannon Beach was my first coastal stop. On this particular day Oregon was doing what Oregon does best, storming. I decided to take a drive up to Astoria as I had heard it was a quaint little town. I''ll never know because I missed it completely.

Astoria is situated on the Columbia River just across from Washington State. If you miss the turnoff, as did I, you will find yourself on the Astoria-Megler Bridge with only one option, cross it. Once across I figured I might as well explore the North Beach Peninsula and so I did.

The thing I love to do more than almost anything is walk a trail never walked, drive a road never driven. So it was that I went down this narrow road and ended up at a place called Beards'' Hollow.

It was apparent to me from the moment I saw it that it was a magical place. For some reason the little pond made me think of the story Chris O''Donnell told in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. The story was about a field where a lake used to be and how it had frozen whilst a flock of ducks floated on it and when the ducks took off they took the lake with them. I''ve always been partial to that story. It''s magical too. I could just see the ducks floating on this little pond taking flight and taking this pond with it.

The gray stormy day only added to depth and texture of the colors in this scene. I spent the rest of the day trying to capture the magic and this is the fruit of that labor.
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