03/13/2026
🌲🍄🌊 Hello, beautiful Brookings! Happy March! 🍀
I’ll never forget the moment a customer asked me a question that completely changed the way I think about our beaches... 🌊
We had only been living here a few months and were still figuring out how to run a café. It was one of those wet, blustery December mornings.🌧️ I was covering barista duties and the shop felt especially cozy. The din of people chatting over their breakfast, a little lofi music in the background, and the steady sound of rain on the roof. ☕🥐
Suddenly the door flew open and the welcome bell jingled loudly as a woman rushed in, completely soaked. ☔
She ordered a latte and an avocado toast, clearly grateful for a little warmth and shelter from the storm. I began to prepare her espresso as she found a table.
A few minutes later I brought her drink over as she looked up at me and asked:
“Hey…question for you. Who cleans your beaches?”
I paused. I'd always felt our beaches were quite clean actually. “Excuse me?”
“Who cleans them?” she repeated. “Like Sporthaven Beach. All those ugly sticks and logs washed up everywhere. It’s such an awful eyesore!”
And that’s when I realized what she meant.💡
Our beaches don’t look like other beaches.
Places like Sporthaven can sometimes be covered with thousands of sticks, logs, branches, roots. Whole trees even, scattered along the shoreline. On stormy days the ocean can look muddy, angry and full of debris. Giant, menacing logs are tossed around by the waves, threatening even cars in the parking lot.🪵🚗
But that “mess” is really part of the story of the river.
I explained that Sporthaven sits right at the mouth of the wild, undammed Chetco River. During big storms, trees get blown down or pulled into the river by rushing water. Some travel for miles downriver before finally reaching the ocean, where the waves tumble them around for months, even years, smoothing them into eventual driftwood.
Some get carried back to shore by humans to become future art projects. Some become benches for beach walkers. And some end up as oceanfront perches for seagulls and crabs. 🦀
Sometimes those trees are enormous!🌲This is Oregon after all. Seeing a massive Douglas fir, or even a coastal redwood, make that entire journey from forest to river to sea is pretty incredible when you stop and think about it. 🤓
By the time I finished my slightly nerdy explanation, she sat quietly for a moment and then smiled.
“Well,” she said, “you’ve completely changed my attitude about your ‘ugly’ beach. I’m going straight back there this afternoon with a fresh pair of eyes.”
And that moment has stuck with me.
Because living near a wild river means the story of the forest, the mountains, and the ocean are all connected in ways you can actually see if you slow down long enough to notice.
And once you start noticing those connections, it’s hard not to get curious about the stories behind them.
That curiosity is part of why this week we’re excited to host a couple events at the café that celebrate the rivers and watersheds that shape this place we’re lucky enough to call home. 🌲🍄🟫🐟
🎬 This Saturday, we’ll be hosting a screening from the Wild Rivers Film Festival - Brookings Oregon featuring the independent film Oregon Drift Boat - a story rooted in the culture and craft of life on western rivers. Starts at 3pm with screenings every 35 minutes or so. Beer, wine, bubbles, coffee and food will be available. ☕
🧠 Next Thursday, we’ll welcome our friends from the Curry Watersheds Partnership for a Watershed Trivia Night, where we’ll explore the rivers, forests, and landscapes that all flow together here along the southern Oregon coast. Come hungry! Our full lunch menu will be available, as well as beer, wine and bubbles! 🍻 You will learn some things, have some fun and maybe even win prizes! 🤓 📝🏆
Around here, the story of the forest, the river, and the ocean is really the same story. Be sure to stop, take the time and appreciate the unique experience of living on the wild rivers coast and of course don’t forget to drink it all in. 🧭 🌹 ☕ See you at the movie and trivia!
Compass Rose Cafe is located at 555 Chetco Avenue. Open Thursday through Monday from 8 to 2. ❤️
