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BAR RESEARCH: DO YOU READ BEER BLOGS

Bar research is essential to bloggers in the know. Just ask me. Goes like this: Mask up, find a seat with space around it, and say the magic words: “Beer, please.” Then retweet a Tapphoria tweet to get on the big screen, Big Time. Things proceed from there, but go slow. If you ask someone […]

BAY MAN ON COOS BAY, THE WATER AROUND NORTH BEND

Who’s a bay man? I’m a bay man, and here’s why: Born on San Francisco Bay. Raised on Coos Bay. Married a woman named Bayes. Three for three settles it for bay man. I can smell bay from here by just looking at the top pic, and it’s comforting.

HEALING PROCESS SECRET? STAY OUT OF THE WAY

I learned about the healing process early. The first fourteen years included two brothers, then a sister. My dad used to tell us to “quiet down, there’s a sick man in the hospital.” In North Bend, Oregon, the hospital was about a mile and a half from our house. We weren’t that noisy. After a […]

RURAL OREGON FROM COAST TO WILLAMETTE VALLEY

Rural Oregon has never looked better through my windshield. Looked so good I extended a drive by hours just to see more. No, I wasn’t lost. The backroads from Charleston to Coos Bay showed places I’d never seen, and I like to think I keep my eyes open. It looked like rural Alaska without the […]

OREGON STOPS: FROM CLAUSEN OYSTER TO CRESWELL BAKERY

The roads around here are not in drive-by country. Oregon Stops make you pull over, or turn around and go back if you missed the turn. Clausen Oyster is one such Oregon stop. What makes Clausen’s a good stop? Oysters in every size I could imagine. Even better?

HOLDING GRUDGES TAKES A SPECIAL KIND OF STRENGTH

Holding grudges is a time honored tradition between races, religions, nations, and families. “We don’t like them.” “Why don’t we like them?” “Why would we?” This exchange gets played out between young and old, men and women, brothers and sisters. Eventually holding grudges turns into something completely different than how it started because no one […]

YOUR LANE? STAY IN IT OR HIT THE GAS ON A HIGHER CALLING

The “stay in your lane” reaction comes from the wrong sources. As if anyone knows which lane is right for you, but they sure know which one is wrong. It’s the wrong lane when you take others our of their comfort zone of who they think you are. But people change. Just not those who […]

GRECO ROMAN MEDAL WITH A HAPPY FAMILY

Greco Roman sounds so classic because that’s what it is, classic. It sounds old, like Greek City-State and Roman Empire old. Way the heck back there. In the sports world, Greco Roman is a particular style of wrestling, not an architectural element. It’s for athletes who don’t want to get tangled up in someone’s legs, […]

OREGON EXPERIENCE: WHAT TO EXPECT IF YOU’RE NEW TO THE STATE

People come from far and wide for the Oregon experience. They leave with gratitude for their time here, and make plans to return. After thrilling at the waterfalls, mountains, and beaches, they see places like Kansas and Oklahoma through new eyes. They take the Oregon experience home and make it work. By the way, what […]

GREEN CHAIN DANCER TELLS SISTER STORY

The green chain in the local plywood mill called for me after freshman year in college. I had a college loan and the job was the best for paying it off and putting money away for sophomore year. I was the new guy on the swing shift crew in 1974 with men who enjoyed a […]