During the anticipated high wind event scheduled for Tuesday November 19 I ventured out to take some photos and video in hopes of capturing something interesting to share with our beloved readers.
I started on Devils Lake with my anemometer (wind speed gauge) in hand. The lake was starting to get agitated by the winds that had reached a steady nine mph. Visually it wasn’t that interesting so I made a quick post on our Facebook page (now over 31,000 members strong!).
From there I went to the D River Wayside to join a couple of dozen cars lined up along the seawall. The waves were beautiful but nothing out of the ordinary for a semi windy day. My wind gauge read a max wind speed of five mph and even the seagulls weren’t bothered by it.
Heading to the SW 32nd street parking area in Nelscott, nothing was any different from what I had seen at D river. Off shore waves were being topped by winds but the action on the shore was mild. I was going to leave when I saw a stump and a long tree branch resting on the sand about 10 yards from the cement retaining wall dividing ocean from land. Â
I noted that the water had jostled the wood a bit so I thought I might catch a video of the strength of the wave as a public service announcement to remind folks how easily water can lift heavy objects.
But, then something queer happened. As the water approached the log it found its way through a hole pored in the center which caused a jet of salt water to shoot out of the stump. Being a juvenile at heart I found the display funny on all sorts of levels.
Trying to decide on a way to frame the event without going down into the gutter I noted on the Facebook post the following: “Sure, Depoe Bay has the Spouting Horn, but Lincoln City has the Squirting Log!”
That was it. I was done. I had been soaked through by the rain at my last three stops and my dogs in the back of my truck didn’t seem to pleased with me. As a reporter one needs to know when there just ain’t no news, so home I went.
To my surprise, by the time i got home and into dry clothes and looked at the posts I had made, the 17 second video of the Squirting Log had exploded (relatively speaking) with 45 comments, 72 shares and 125 views. For a small town news outlet that’s a pretty good response.
As of Wednesday the 20th the video has 103 comments, 1.5k reactions, 18.9k views and 371 shares.
Why am I sharing this? Well, honestly it’s just interesting to me what engages people. I knew the post was funny because the video was funny and left interpretations up to the viewers (and boy oh boy did some of you have weird interpretations). But in the end, it’s always the simple things that amuse or bring joy. A log with a hole in it squirting water can be pretty darned funny (from certain perspectives).
Anyway, thanks for reading Lincoln City Homepage, thanks for looking at the Lincoln City Homepage Community Page and thanks for sharing a laugh with me. I appreciate you all.
