Back, and Forth: Ten years now and counting: a project about metamorphosis
A bit of unfinished business, of the happy kind, connects me still to the community of Hood River, where I lived from April 2000 to April 2021. Make what you will of the fact that I started work at both ...
Back, and Forth: Bring Santa down to earth, and other parade suggestions
A Jolly Rancher candy once hit me in the eye. Cherry, I think it was. I was watching a Fourth of July parade and an enthusiastic Boy Scout hurled the candy our direction. The kid had a great arm. I was ...
Back, and Forth: Uncorking a few thoughts on ‘cozy’ towns
A confession: I love lists. The media term “listicle” faded a few years ago, but the items are still around, and we get them all the time in the form of press releases. Like some of these ...
Back, and Forth: Old world becomes new
The passion for journalism remains for Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and lawyer Steve Kurkjian, who spoke Nov. 9 in Ice Auditorium at Linfield University. Kurkjian told the 50 or so people in the ...
Back, and Forth: More local quirk, the odd but good
Timeless and seasonal quirk in McMinnville stood out for me last week. My new favorite vehicle in town is the blue 1970s VW bus owned by Martin Solano of Reel Hollywood Video on Northeast Adams Street ...
Back, and Forth: Angles, parallels of crossed paths add shape to life
The angles and parallels of personal interaction continue to crop up. I’ve experienced continued crossing of paths between McMinnville associations and past ones from Hood River and other places. This ...
Back, and Forth: A timeless mural gets a new unveiling from
You want local color? Look around. Many large-scale murals have caught our attention in recent months. You could say Yamhill County is crawling with walls featuring large and vivid images. This has been ...
Back, and Forth: quirk helps define community, though somet
Let’s talk again about quirk, which our localities have aplenty. I wrote about it a few weeks ago, quirk meaning elements of local culture that you might not find anywhere else, elements that are ...
Back, and Forth: Connectivity finds its most rustic roost
The last credits I earned for my Linfield degree in 1980 were from an internship at The Nation magazine in New York. It was a fine experience. I met amazing people and learned a great deal. Yet it was ...
Back, and Forth: Some things stay the same, some are just 'meant to be'
Connecting flights were all part of the fun in the trip Lorre and I took to Wisconsin and Michigan last week, by way of a visit to relatives in Chicago. It was a long-awaited journey that imbued the adage ...
Back, and Forth: ‘No Boundaries’ can be found in quieter corners of the fair
My best memories of the 2022 Yamhill County Fair include a tutu. Truly appreciating the fair, any fair, is somewhat of a ballet — turns and jumps that lead to new discoveries. As a journalist, ...
Back, and Forth: Reciting the joys of the multi-purpose first name
The other night in conversation, I referred to something from the early 1900s as “after the turn of the century,” to which my 26-year-old son dryly asked me if I meant 2021 or 1921. At ...
Back, and Forth: You don't need a mullet wig to enjoy the quirk around us
I’ve been thinking a lot about the strange and unusual around us — what you might call “quirk.” Quirk is both quicksilver and quotidian. It can pass in an instant or stand everyday ...
Back, and Forth: crackling good time in Willamina
A Father’s Day weekend was full of quiet pleasures, including our first foray into the community of Willamina since moving to Yamhill County a little over a year ago. Our Saturday night destination ...
Back, and forth: Relishing a well-worn pattern of crossing paths
In April, I rambled on about what I call “crossing paths.” I was referring to surprise or chance encounters, faces from the past, or kindred associates unexpectedly passing into, through or ...
