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THE LONG ROAD OF FAMILY LIFE

The long road of family life in the good old days started with moms and dads in the lead. Whether they loved each other like soul mates, or hated each other like oceans do shorelines, they stayed married. I’m not looking at statistical data when I say they stayed married, it’s just that I don’t […]

SPORTS FAN REVIEW: IN THE BEGINNING

Sports fan knows one thing: Rivalry. Without rivalry, sporting events resemble theater without the curtains. With rivalry we feel something deeper, way deeper, way down there. If you come from a certain time and place the only rivals that mattered were the Marshfield High School Pirates. But, everyone grows up. Right?

PERSONAL RIVALRIES? WE ALL HAVE THEM

Personal rivalries started early and close to home. We had kids down the street who challenged us to rock fights, tree house building, and dogs. And they won every time. It set me up for a lifetime of personal rivalries.

NEW RIVALRY: HAWKS VIEW WINERY vs TAPPHORIA TAP HOUSE

My new rivalry is like my usual rivalry: geographically close and deserving of more research. Hawks View Winery is my new classroom. The lesson begins with six wine tastings from white to red. What goes best with six swigs of Oregon wine? A flatbread plate. My new couple’s membership compliments a single membership in Tapphoria’s […]

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 […]

EARLY SCHOOL RIVALRIES FUEL LIFETIME OF CONTENTION

Early school rivalries explain so much about how we interact with one another. I started school at sea level; the rivalry schools were on higher ground. That’s where kids from the fancy part of town learned how important they were and why they were better. At least that was the theory in first grade. Sports […]