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GOOD PARKS FOR A BETTER LIFE

I didn’t move to the suburbs for good parks, but I would have if I knew how important they are for living a better life. The first time I took my tiny kids they weren’t impressed. I was. It was Cook Park in Tigard, Oregon and it was beautiful with paths and forests alongside the […]

SENDING THE RIGHT MESSAGE TO WHO?

I’ve heard the right message all of my life: Do this and this; don’t do that. Sometimes the right message comes from the right place. Other times?

REMEMBER TO VOTE: BE SOMEBODY

Remember to vote at this late date. Late? Well, this is the last day to drop ballots at collection sites. Mine dropped yesterday. Felt pretty good.

VOTERS’ PAMPHLET OR VISION OF THE FUTURE

What do you do when the voters’ pamphlet arrives in the mail? Ignore it because you already know who to vote for? Open it up to see who in the world would put themselves up for election? Or read it in search for better candidates for better representation at the local and national level?

CUVÉE MOTHER’S DAY WITH CHEF GILBERT HENRY AND COMPANY

Mother’s Day grows more importance when it’s part of a masterplan. Add a road trip with a restaurant at the end and it edges toward epic. It goes without saying that any two lane drive through rural Washington and Yamhill County is enough to make you want to sell everything and move into a dilapidated […]

SHARING SPECIAL DAYS, EVERY LAST ONE

Special days have special meaning which don’t hit the same for everyone. For some it’s repeating, “Why bother,” for the fortieth time. Others like to say, “I thought we’ve moved past all that.” But you still find those looking for something special in every day, and keep looking until they find it. Hell or high […]

OLD PORTLAND, YOUNG PARENTS

Make that old Portland, youngish parents. Or not so old Portland, and not so young parents. We weren’t teenagers, but if you ever want to feel like one push a stroller around downtown. With two kids it’s like a double punishment, like sent to your room AND missing dinner. What else?

NORTH BEND HEROES START HERE

 Calling North Bend a small town is a disservice to real small towns everywhere. Driving south on 101 and crossing the North Bend Bridge takes you under this sign. If you’re not paying close attention and keep going the same direction, the entire area of the largest metro complex on the Oregon coast feels like […]

RECLAIMING MY TIME ON SOUTHERN OREGON COLLEGE SIXTY-FIVE YEARS LATER

Southern Oregon College Graduating Class of 1960: My dad. He transferred after two years at Central Oregon Community College in Bend. It was a well used path to the first college degree in his family. He was thirty years old, an old 30. Back then thirty was older, fifty was a grandparent. Hit sixty and […]

GAINING CONFIDENCE, losing confidence

The thing about confidence, gaining confidence, is making it personal. Something bothers you until you do something about it, then it doesn’t bother you. As much. Whether you fixed a problem, or not, you did something. That’s a win in the davidpdx book, blog, post, something. It’s win.