Fireweed

September is a harvest month for Willamette Valley inhabitants. We are not having as good a time as we might wish because the lead-up has been slow. The long, cold spring followed by a cool, wet early summer has slowed tomatoes from ripening and reduced eggplant production. Even the zucchini are not growing into baseball bats as quickly as usual. Corn grew slowly until there was a burst of hot days, resulting in a sudden glut and the lowest prices in years.

Squirrels are busy dropping acorns out of the oak trees and putting away their winter food store. I grump at their digging in flowerbeds I’d rather they leave alone. They will be working on the filberts next. The jays do the same thing but with more finesse, simply hammering their nuts into ground like pile drivers.

I went to Sitka, Alaska, for a bioblitz late in August, responsible for tallying mosses and liverworts. It was a treat to gather moss in the world’s biggest temperate rain forest, made especially enjoyable by rare sunny days that made the woods glow green. We enjoyed a flush of wildflowers delayed compared to ours. Fireweed in Alaska is in early bloom but almost finished in the Oregon Cascades.

Watching the shoreline from a ferry we were puzzled by the prominence of dead snags emerging everywhere from the canopy in otherwise healthy looking forests. It is global warming: Lack of insulating snow results in Alaska yellow cedar dying from frozen roots.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!