Categories
PLACE

Saying Goodbye to Cascadia

The for sale sign is in the front yard. The house is listed online. The time has come. After almost 10 years of residing in Oregon, my wife and I are packing up and moving back to California. I am starting a new job with a wonderful nonprofit organization dedicated to the scientific study of […]

Categories
CULTURE

Ducks, Beavers, And A Tale of Two Ball Fields

For college baseball in Oregon, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. When I moved to Eugene in 2013, the state’s two major college baseball programs were in very different places. The Oregon State University Beavers had recently won the national championship in 2006 and 2007. Inching their way toward […]

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CULTURE PLACE

What Is The Deal With Olympia?

It is often said that state capitols do not make for great cities. This is undoubtedly true along the West Coast. Sacramento is exceedingly lame compared to its much cooler cousins San Francisco and Los Angeles. Salem is fairly forgettable and not so interesting when lined up against Bend, Ashland, or Portland. And then there’s […]

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CULTURE

Strong Coffee, Clean Restrooms, and the City of Books

The restroom at Powell’s City of Books is not the dirtiest public facility I have encountered. Actually, given the volume of foot traffic trouncing about the labyrinthine literary vault, the bathroom at Powell’s is relatively clean. At least it was when I visited the lavatory circa 2012. It all started across the street at Stumptown […]