Dressed for battle

When the state of Oregon joined the Union in 1859, the United States were becoming disunited and on the nation was rapidly heading toward civil war, the conflict forever known as the Civil War.

Oregon signed on as a Union anti-slavery state and opposed to freed slaves moving in too, for that matter. You can decide for yourself how far the state's residents have evolved on that point for yourself. Given the sentiments of the time, it may not be surprising to know that there was also an active pro-secession movement in the state at the time, and one of the most high profile demonstrations of that occurred in Eugene, that bastion of liberalism and Birkenstock.

In "modern" Oregon, the Civil War has a different connotation. This is Civil War Week, the week when one of the oldest college football rivalries in the nation will play out for the 111th time as the University of Oregon and Oregon State University battle it out on the gridiron for state bragging rights for another season. Why the game is known as the Civil War, I have no clue. Other than one school is "north" and the other one is "south" on Oregon's Highway 99. It's not exactly the Mason-Dixon Line though.

I'm a proud alumnus of the "North" school, Oregon State. A few weeks ago, when the University of Oregon Ducks were ranked No. 2 in the nation with Heisman trophy-candidate Dennis Dixon running the high-powered offense, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that the Ducks would kick Beaver ass.

Then Dixon got hurt and all dreams Oregon playing in a national title game collapsed to the turf with him, as did the Ducks' high-powered offense.

So, now, even though the Ducks are still favored in the game, the Beavers are looking like they could break the string of the home team winning every Civil War since 1997. It's by no means a lock, but optimism runs high in Beaver Nation.

So, in honor of the occasion, I am feeling the need for some OSU apparel, of which I have a virtually none, except hats. So, I made a long overdue trip to the Beaver Fan Shop at Keizer Station today after work. I picked up a few T-shirts to show my team pride, and a couple of items commemorating the OSU baseball teams' back-to-back national championships (which were on sale).

I came home beaming with Beaver pride, and envy for all the cool gear I liked but couldn't afford. But I find myself bothered by the ongoing reference to the states premier college football game as the Civil War game. The game has a long, proud (sometimes dubious) history. But the Civil War, in reference to the 1860s conflict, is not something we need to associate our college traditions with. Yes, Oregon is largely divided by those who align themselves primarily with Beaver Nation or the Duck Blind. We mostly live in harmony, save for one weekend a year. The Civil War was deadly divisive and wounds still run deep. Oregon played but a small part in that bloody conflict. Many communities in the East and South have histories tied to the Civil War, but Oregon was not on the frontlines of that battle.

And let's face it, Oregon is still a largely Caucasian state with plenty of unresolved issues connected to race and ethnicity. Must we keep fighting and losing the war of racial justice? How did the game come to be known as the Civil War Game? There are plenty of people out there calling for schools to stop using Native American names as school mascots, why aren't some of those people lined up to oppose the use of a war of separation and slavery to commemorate a college sports contest?

It's time to find a new name for Oregon's intrastate football rivalry. For the 112th game, it needs a new moniker. Washington has the Apple Cup, Stanford and Cal have the Big Game, Arizona and Arizona State have the Duel in the Desert. We need a new name.

I'm sort of partial to the Beaver State Bowl.

Winter goes out like a lion

Snow is falling in some areas in the higher elevations around Western Oregon, including in areas around Portland and Salem.

Spring is less than two weeks away and this is only the second day this winter that there has been snow or ice on or near the valley floor. Yet, I've been hearing cars driving all around Salem all winter long with studded tires.

That's enough reason to chew up asphalt all over the Willamette Valley isn't it? One or two days of slick roads per winter?

Winter
Snow
Willamette Valley

Trees fall and dreams rise

OK, I realize that leaves of many trees fall to the ground in autumn, but now the trees themselves are tumbling to the ground all over Salem and the Willamette Valley. Sometimes they take out power and other utility lines on the way down. But don't take my word for it, read the Statesman Journal article for yourself. Prolonged, heavy rains and brisk winds are toppling trees like they were Tinker toys.

Last night I was telling my friend Brat about two trees that had fallen over not too far from my building in my apartment complex. But as I headed out to my car this morning to head to work I was confronted by the sight of another tree that had fallen overnight, about 15-20 feet from where my car was parked. Fortunately the tree fell between two buildings, although it had to have scraped one of the buildings on its tumble to the soggy turf. However, if it had fallen the other direction it probably would have taken out several cars in the parking lot in the row behind where I park. Some of the upper branches may even have reached across the travel lane and into the row of cars where my assigned space is located.

Fortunately, the sun came out for a bit this afternoon, but not for long enough to do much to dry things out. Rivers are still running high, some streets are flooded. Even the hardcore webbed-foot valley natives are beginning to comment on how much rain we've been getting. The forecast for the next few days: Rain and wind to continue which means more trees will likely fall victim to the stormy weather. When is spring supposed to arrive?

***

How would you spend $156 million dollars? That's the amount of Wednesday's Powerball lottery drawing. The drawing has been growing rather large for several weeks, but I have kept forgetting to buy a ticket. But I remedied that today.

I plunked down $5 on a dream, a fantasy. Yea, I may never win, but $5 can buy lots of dreams on which I can travel further than I would have on the 2.5 gallons of gas I could have got with the same half a sawbuck.

***

I'm just a week and a couple of days from my final planned date to give up the nicotine completely, including the gum. I'm in the one-piece-every-4-to-8-hours phase now, but unfortunately I'm still struggling to make it past the 4-hour mark. I was hoping to be up to 8 hours by Thursday, but 6 may be more likely. Sometime the 4 hours passes relatively painlessly, although the cravings are still there. Other times, the cravings hit me like a freight train at about the 2-hour mark.

The good thing is that I've resisted the rather strong urges at times to cheat with a cigarette here and there. I have not bought a pack in more than a week. But I'm thinking now that I may have to alter my timeline slightly. I'm still chewing the stronger 4 mg gum, which I think is still putting too much nicotine into my system when I do chew it. So I may switch to the 2 mg gum when this box runs out and potentially extend my program 1 week at least, to make up for my 1 week of flagrantly violating my program. But maybe what I need is to take some time off to alter my daily routines.

One thing is certain, I need to get past the cravings soon so I can start cutting back on the munching of popcorn, chips, candy and other snacks I've been doing rather than chew extra pieces of gum or, worse, running to the store for a can of snuff or a pack of smokes. I've put on at least 5 pounds, maybe more. And I was already suffering from the middle-age spread before this ordeal began. But the extra weight is growing uncomfortable.

However, first things first. I want to beat this nicotine addiction once and for all. Then I'll work on the other aspects necessary to be an irresistible chick magnet! Oh, that reminds me of other things I can add to my list of what to do with my Powerball winnings. Hire a personal trainer and a dietician.

Weather
Rain
Winter storms
Willamette Valley
Powerball
Lottery
Quitting nicotine

Shrouded in ick

OK, so I've bitched plenty about the seemingly incessant rain in the Willamette Valley this winter (which is a lot like complaining about heat in the desert), but to be fair the sun is expected to shine today.

However, what is not fair is that we have to endure fog this morning.

Is that the price we must pay for winter sunshine?

Weather
Willamette Valley

Writer's apathy

I sat down last night to write a post, but got no more than a couple of sentences into it and walked away from the computer. I came up with another idea for a post today. Both were a couple of good rants. But I find I just don't have it in me to rant.

It's not writer's block. More like writer's lethargy or apathy. I just don't have the energy. Just don't care. Don't care about much of anything.

Maybe it's the relentless rain. One of the recent weather reports said we've had something like nearly 30 days straight with rain, some of it heavy. The days are dark and gloomy. The sun breaks have been few and far between.

I can certainly understand why a man this week climbed onto a bridge here in Salem and threatened to jump. It's the second time a man has threatened to do that on the same bridge since I moved here. The first guy snarled traffic for the better part of a day with his threatened suicide, which happened about a week after I moved to town. The irony this week is the threatened suicide attempt came barely hours after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Oregon's assisted suicide law. Maybe the guy needed a push. Or a pill. Or a plane ticket to Mazatlan.

I wouldn't want to say I'm suicidal. That would be an overstatement, a radical over dramatization. Besides, who has the energy for something like that?

Ever been so tired, so worn out that it's too much effort to take a nap? To go to bed at night? That's the feeling.

Yea, maybe it's the rain. Or maybe it's something else. Not that it matters. It's not as if I have the power to change either factor at the moment. Fortunately, some clearer dryer weather is in the forecast in the days ahead. The long-range forecast for the other situation is not so bright. No sunshine on that horizon anytime soon.

Maybe I'll tell you about it later, when I have a little more energy.

Blogging
Weather
Rain
Salem, Ore.

Ice, ice baby

Isn't one of the benefits of living in the Willamette Valley in the winter supposed to be that it rarely gets cold enough to freeze here? What's up with this weather?

Yea, it is great that we are going to see sunshine today, but with the temperature only expected to reach about 42 degrees, that's not the sort of homecoming I was hoping for.

I don't like cold weather. Never have. And it's seems I've moved back to Oregon just in time for an unusually cold winter.

My body has a very difficult time crawling out of bed in the mornings when it's cold. The whole time I was in Vegas it was considerably easier to wake up and drag my butt out of bed, even on nights where I had far less sleep than I got last night, and I think that's just because it was warmer in the room. And the irony is, I don't think we ever even turned the heat on in our motel room. I know I didn't and I don't think my brother did either.

When I lived in Southern California, Palm Springs in particular, it was not unusual to run into people who said they didn't think they would like living there because they like having four distinctive seasons. For the record, I think those people are whacked in the head. Why would people want to be cold? I don't get it.

I guess I can't avoid it any longer. It's time to venture away from the heater and out into the cold -- 29 degrees. There's a bit of ice out there, which could make the drive into work a little more exciting than normal. Several schools and school districts are delaying their openings due to some ice conditions.

And winter hasn't even officially started yet.

Is it too late to turn around and go back to Vegas?

Weather
Winter

Too cold at home

Brrrr! It's 28 degrees this morning here in Salem. Yes, 28. That's below freezing people! I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually looking forward to the return of the rain.

I made the mistake of looking at what the current temperature is for my friends in Palm Springs, where it is already 63 degrees.

If I can resist the urge to crawl back under the blanket and comforter, I am going to take a long, hot shower.

Global warming my ass!

Weather

A cold hard look in the rear view mirror

The brisk air assaulted my lungs like a foreign invader. Bronchi were shocked into waking by the chilly air just a few degrees north of freezing. I could see my breath huffing out of my mouth as I walked the few blocks to the convenience store.

On a night chilly enough to store perishable food on the patio, I inexplicably decide it was a good idea to walk to the store. An array of sensations, seemingly forgotten, came flooding back. My house keys wriggled around in the pocket of my slacks, feeling like an ice cube melting against my thigh. I felt the tips of my ears turning red. I fought against the cold air by lighting a cigarette from a long-ago purchase bar pack found on the inside pocket of my coat.

I walked at a swifter pace than normal, which increased the wind chill against my face but raised the heart rate, keeping shivers that threatened to penetrate my ribs from breaking the skin.

When I arrived at the corner store, before I could get to the counter I was sniffling like a coke-head after a trip to the restroom. Why does your nose run when you come in from the cold?

I made my purchase and headed back out into the night. I decided it was time to take the gloves out of my pockets and put them on for the return hike. Trying to soak in the moment, I was both repulsed and intrigued by the chilly autumn air. I stared at the fogged up windows of cars parked along the street, wondering how long it would take the fog to turn to frost. I looked up above the street lights and saw a few of the brightest stars penetrating through the haze of light that hovers over the city at night. Days of rain and clouds gave way this afternoon and evening to mostly clear skies. There was no protective blanket of clouds tonight to hold in the earth's warmth. Suddenly I wished the clouds were back.

When I got back to my place, I walked into the door and my glasses immediately fogged up, like the windows of those cars parked along the road. I didn't bother to try to wipe them off, I merely placed them on the table and walked away, letting them acclimate to the radical change in temperature.

They made the adjustment much quicker than their wearer has.

Spending nearly 10 years in the California desert seemed to virtually wipe out any recollection of what life was like in the before time, when I was an Oregonian. Now, seemingly daily, I'm bombarded by memories -- names, faces, experiences, locations -- that make the last 10 years melt away, like a dream upon waking. It all seemed so real while I was in it. Now, the memories, names and faces of a decade of living and working are slipping away. It's a mixture of the movie "Groundhog Day" and the end of Daylight Saving time all wrapped into a wool blanket. I keep falling back in time, over and over again.

I feel like I'm navigating my course ahead through a fogged windshield and the only clear view I have is in the rearview mirror, at a life mostly forgotten here in Oregon that is slowly coming back into focus and another life left behind in Southern California that I am reticent to let go of, yet it keeps receding away.

It's good to look back at a life lived once in a while, but I'm growing wearing of squinting through the fog and looking backward. I want to look forward again and find the road ahead.

Groundhog Daylight Losing Time

Tree disease being ignored by Oregon media

Something weird is going on, but the local media are ignoring it.

I think there is some weird sickness infecting trees all over Salem and throughout the Willamette Valley. So, I'm turning to the blogosphere for answers.

What could possibly cause the leaves of trees to change from vibrant green to brilliant red and then die and fall to the ground? It's happening all over the place. On some trees, the leaves are turning a golden color. And the ground is starting to become littered with dead foliage.

And it's getting damn cold at night too! What's that all about?

Gone are the 80-degree days, and yet people keep commenting about the weather and professing their affection for "fall."

Someone really needs to look into this. I think there is a grand conspiracy out there to kill off trees in the Willamette Valley or some highly contagious arbor disease going around.

Fall foliage