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A mole in a pout is a sight to behold, rare, and slightly scary. Thinking I was early, I had ridden the wheezing Otis to the 15th floor of Eugene’s oldest high-rise, shuffled down the hall to our office, Wine Investigations, found Mole already in our lab, in a mope. “Hey, Sleut’,” he said, “whatcha got from all yer trackin’ wit’ out me?” Continue reading
Few things in the plant world are as blue as the flowers on the bluest ceanothus. Otherwise known as wild lilac or California lilac, shrubs of this genus (which are not lilacs at all) are native to the Americas, mostly California and south to Guatemala. The majority are evergreen. That and their often stunning flower color makes the genus popular in gardens. Wild lilacs with the deepest blue flowers mostly come from California species, but Oregon has several species well worth growing. Continue reading
Andy Zuñiga in mid-swing as he passes the ball up field. Photo by Trask Bedortha. Like many children, Tunde Jowosimi grew up playing soccer, and he continued playing when he moved from Nigeria to England. Continue reading
What better way to spend a day of Eugene Beer Week than a little botanical exploration? Continue reading
Welcome to the next four months of your life. It’s finally time to pack away the umbrella (if you even have one — what kind of Eugenean are you?) and break out the sunglasses. Consider this guide your roadmap for the summer. Within this issue that you’ve wisely chosen to pick up, you’ll find wonders galore, from weeklong stargazing parties to kite-flying extravaganzas to wild three-day music festivals. Sounds fun? Continue reading
Nesting season is coming to a close this month, easily noticed with geese and turkey nestlings that leave their nests and swim or run right after hatching. One of the enjoyable sights of early summer is watching a troop of goslings or chicks paddling or scurrying around after their parents. They are out feeding for themselves, learning how to find and handle their food by following their parents. Most songbird babies stay in the nest until they are ready to fly. After they fledge and leave the nest, they are pretty much on their own. Continue reading
For 25 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has captured images of astronomic wonders — nebulae, galaxies, star clusters — that exist millions of light years away from Earth. These pictures are spectacular, but for members of the Eugene Astronomical Society, there’s nothing quite like looking at the night sky with their own eyes. Continue reading
Before Connor Doran’s indoor kite-flying performances were wowing television audiences on season five of NBC’s America’s Got Talent, he was tearing up the skies on the beach at Lincoln City’s annual Summer Kite Festival. “It’s where I started out,” Doran says, who will perform at the next iteration of the annual kite festival in late June alongside a host of other champion kite fliers. Continue reading
Golfing is to sports what masturbation is to sex — a solitary endeavor that, no matter how vigorously you go at it, always ends up being about you and you alone, as you come face to face with your own failings in the universe as well as the measure of your stamina in overcoming them. I’ve been golfing, more or less vigorously, for years, and I’m sad to report that my game hasn’t improved one jot. It’s an existential dilemma. Golf, for me, is too often a good walk spoiled, just like people think Mark Twain said. So why walk? Continue reading
With hashtags like #HowToSpotAFeminist recently creating a focal point for derogatory tweets that peg feminists as hairy man-haters, it’s clear that, even in 2015, people still love to hate feminism, or whatever their warped interpretation of it is. Continue reading