Trebuchet has a ‘plaint: “But really, Dana, you were at Ecola and couldn’t at least favor me with a picture of the Tillamook Rock lighthouse?  It is, after all, sitting on a rock!”

Why, yes. Yes, it is.

They didn’t name it Tillamook Rock Lighthouse for nothin’.

Those interested in the geology of the area, but who have not yet perused the delights to be found in my archives, are hereby gently encouraged to visit here for my Ecola State Park writeup.

I didn’t have photo editing software so easy a hopeless git such as myself could use it back then, so the colors are washed. My camera’s a bit heavy on the highlights. Here’s a corrected version of the photo that graced that post, wherein the lighthouse isn’t quite so lost in the haze:

Hopefully, someday, we’ll get a closer look at it. I love it: a lighthouse on a rock, surrounded by sea. I mean, lighthouses on points and capes and so forth are common, but lighthouses on itty bitty seastacks – not so much.

The geology at Ecola is, of course, delish. Here’s the lighthouse on the rocks with some rocks in the foreground, just cuz:

There. That should assuage any disappointments caused by me failing to bung in a picture of a lighthouse on the rocks. And as a special bonus, I’ll give you the lighthouse at Cape Meares:

This one is bloody awesome because it’s not on top of the Cape. It’s on the side of it, nestled in a notch, which means when you walk up from the parking lot, you’re staring it right in the eye:

Still amazing, even though vandals had done their best to blind it. And the geology – yum!

So there ye go, lots o’ lighthouses, some geology, and a lovely ocean. Let this be a lesson to you all: if you want something, just ask. I haven’t had time to respond to comments directly, but you know I read them all, and if I can deliver, I’ll do it. It’s the least I can do. You identify all my mystery birds and flowers and generally make life round here happy. Did you know I brag about you all regularly? My meatspace friends know I have the most awesome bunch of commenters on the intertoobz, and they’re probably wishing I’d shut up about it by now, but I never will. I’m like that person with the wallet full of grandkid photos. Give me one tiny opening…

Also, apologies for the lackadaisical nature of ye olde blogging the past couple of days. I’ve been researching for an upcoming Rosetta Stones post that seemed quite simple on the surface, and turned out to be very complex beneath. It’s convinced me I’m going to have to take a petrology course, even if I don’t go in for a degree. I read a few short papers, and found myself understanding a handful of words. The rest I had to look up. I’m about ready to dig out the single sapphire I own and chuck it in the lake.

Actually, no, I’m not. It just sounded suitably dramatic. One thing I love about writing posts on subjects I know nothing about is that I’m forced to learn new things. It may hurt at the time, but oh, how I love the results! So will you, I hope. If we’re lucky, all of us will be seeing sapphires and sappy love stories with new eyes.

Failing that, we can have more lighthouses. I’ve got lots.