If someone would just drop a pin any place in Cannon Beach, I feel sure that we would all hear it and run to our windows to see what happened. Wow it is really quiet these days.

When our holiday revelers decided it was over, they decamped, leaving no trace. Will we see anyone again before spring break? I surely hope so.

There are enough good things planned that we should be marking our calendars right now, so we dont miss anything.

One thing is certain: Cannon Beach Yoga Festival is coming to town. Once again, Christen Allsop has put together a world class event in our world class location. Space is limited for this years festival, Feb. 28 to March 2. For reservations and information, call 503-440-1649 or email: info@cannonbeachyogafestival.com.

Next up will be Savor Cannon Beach Wine and Culinary Festival, March 6 through 9. Four days of wine-tasting events, wine dinners and a wine walk featuring dozens of Northwest wineries are planned for the event. This community-wide festival features food, wine and arts events all around town, including several wine-tasting events showcasing Northwest wines and focusing on specific themes over the festivals four days.

The event kicks off with the Thursday Night Throwdown, where participants taste 12 select wines (two of each varietal) to determine their favorites. Other events include the Battle of the Blends, featuring four red and four white wine blends from the Northwest. Saturday of the festival is the Savor Cannon Beach Wine Walk, featuring approximately 40 Northwest wineries pouring tastings at Cannon Beach art galleries, restaurants and retail shops.

Cannon Beach restaurants host special wine dinners and pairing menus throughout the festival, and other businesses participate in a tasting tour featuring free or low-cost tastings ranging from chocolates to specialty salts. Local shops and galleries also host their own events over the weekend. Festival events are intimate and limited in size, with only about 100 tickets available for tasting events and 500 tickets for the Saturday wine walk. For ticket info, see the Savor website.

Next up on our Good Times Calendar is Get Lit at the Beach – A Gathering for Readers in mid-April. Tolovana Arts Colony hosts four bestselling authors – Karen Joy Fowler, Robert Dugoni, Brian Doyle and Kevin OBrien – over three days in a variety of settings, at three different venues in Cannon Beach.

Activities include a Friday evening Meet the Authors reception, author talks and book signings on Saturday, followed by a prime rib buffet dinner with Doyle as featured speaker Saturday evening. The event will close with a Sunday morning moderated Q & A panel with all authors. Host author Terry Brooks leads the program. This experience combines a variety of genres – fantasy, literary arts, crime/mystery and romance — great food and drink, and all for $75. Book sales and signing are offered throughout the event. Email tolovanaartscolony@gmail.com. Event details at www.tolovanaartscolony.org .

Now that we know we have at least three things to anticipate in the near future, lets examine where we are currently: the doldrums. The doldrums is a colloquial expression derived from historical maritime usage, which refers to those parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean affected by the intertropical convergence zone, a low-pressure area around the equator where the prevailing winds are calm. The low pressure is caused by the heat at the equator, which makes the air rise and travel north and south high in the atmosphere, until it subsides again in the horse latitudes. Some of that air returns to the doldrums through the trade winds. This process can lead to light or variable winds and more severe weather, in the form of squalls, thunderstorms and hurricanes. The doldrums are also noted for calm periods when the winds disappear altogether, trapping sail-powered boats for periods of days or weeks.

The term appears to have arisen in the 18th century when cross-equator sailing voyages became more common. Colloquially, the doldrums are a state of inactivity, mild depression, listlessness or stagnation. The word is derived from dold (an archaic term meaning stupid) and -rum(s), a noun suffix found in such words as tantrum.

So, if you are feeling depressed, stagnant, listless and stupid, Wikipedia knows why

Hang in there; this, too, shall pass.

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Val Ryan is the owner of Cannon Beach Book Company.