Monday, October 15, 2018

Testing, one, two, is this thing on…(feedback squeal)…

OK! Pretty rusty, I am, but maybe you are too…because following a jaw-dropping autumn weekend in the Northwest, we’re all facing a Monday, October 15, 2018. Although it’s a cold predawn–sections of the Willamette Valley and SW Washington away from Portland are under a freeze warning–our string of beautiful days extends into next week, each one a sparkling treasure of dazzling sun, storybook leaves, and highs near 75. Sunrise 7:27 AM, sunset 6:24 PM.

So, what’s happening? You’re probably in a better position to tell me, than the other way around! I’d truly had enough of the current smarmy partisanship and gave the headlines no more than a cringing glance, during my liberated week, but nosing through my trusted sites and sources, I’ll give it a try!

It was so windy yesterday that dust and ash blew from the top of Mt. St. Helens, drifting it westward in the skies..leading some to wonder if the ol’ girl is up to her old tricks! Happily, no, but airplanes were advised to vector around it. Roger, Victor! But in my neighborhood, the wind peeled a thick branchy shard off an old maple tree and plopped it onto the road where I live, and I stumbled onto it while listening to a podcast about Sasquatch, which, as you may know, I might believe in. I tried to bigfoot the tree out of there myself by just muscling it off the road. Without warning, a branch snapped and sent me lurching head-first into a ditch, but my people are thick of skull, and as I lay there amid the tree limbs conducting an inventory of my own, I realized I’d suffered injury only to my delicate feelings. I fetched a saw and finished off the tree, with the help of some curious neighbors at the end.

You might have your Oregon ballot by the weekend, and Washington’s only a day or two later. Election day, here in the land of the kitchen-table voting booth, isn’t actually November 6; that’s just the deadline. Election day is whenever you tear open the envelope, flip through the Voters Pamphlet, find a pen, and wield the mighty power of the vote, and none of the reptilian gargoyles in leadership positions can tell you what to do with it. I notice that The Oregonian endorsed Knute Buehler for Governor; people have been canceling subscriptions over that, but we need the journalism, whether we align with the management’s editorial positions. In the last election in 2016, The Oregonian endorsed her, but warned, “Brown should know that Oregonians will look for decisiveness, out-front leadership and evidence that the money part of state government is being set right.” We shall see. The latest polls give Kate Brown a few-point lead, but within the margin of error. Your vote might be the deciding vote. Tomorrow is the last day to register.

We had another of our infamous downtown rumbles between violent hotheads from the right and left, as “Patriot Prayer” came to town demanding law and order–by disrupting it–and Antifa donned hoods and blocked their way outside Kelly’s Olympian at SW 4th and Washington. Fists sailed, knuckles met noses, bear spray filled eyes, and cops in riot gear rolled up with blaring bullhorns and fired off the non-lethal weapons in their arsenal. As of this writing, there have been no announced arrests, though police are watching all the video that’s been posted, and they often do make arrests after the fact. Both sides assert that the other side is a lawless angry mob, and entirely to blame, and are trying to make political hay accordingly.

Westside commuters need to know that MAX won’t be running for the next two weeks before the Fairgrounds stop and the end of the line in Hillsboro. They’re replacing a bunch of 20-year old track. (It was interesting that the 20th anniversary of Westside Max went pretty much unnoticed, except here. Westside Max, teamed with the Urban Growth Boundary, is having a huge influence on the shaping of Washington County. Where’s the institutional memory, media?).

*****

Remember when Sears was the king of the retail world? Now we wake up to the news that that company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. There will be more closures–

The Ducks beat the Dawgs! And are now rated #12 in the AP rankings, while Washington slips to #15. That makes Oregon the top-ranked team in the Pac 12! During my subterranean respite, I scanned the AM dial on Saturday night and heard a network guy somewhere saying that he thinks Oregon could line up against Alabama before this is all done. But you know AM Radio. There were other people talking about Bigfoot. Next week, our feathery football friends waddle into the lair of the WSU Cougars, ranked #25, and riding a two-game winning streak just like the Ducks.

*****

Let’s fire up the good-news radar and see if we get any echoes!

–“Mother who shielded baby from hail stones during supercell storm in line for bravery award”

–“37 dogs, 9 puppies rescued from the path of Hurricane Michael by Humane Society Naples”

–“Hive with 10,000 honeybees saved after historic downtown Charleston tree removed”

–“Dogs join their owners on an end of season swim at pool”

–“New “Googly-Eye” Optical Illusion Will Prevent Airline Bird Strikes”

*****

Well, that’s the Daily Drip, as well as I can remember how to write it. I endeavored to make this last week worthy of the word “vacation.” I walked for miles in the sand; the ocean in Oregon is so welcoming and supportive; the waves sound like applause. I discovered a long-lost journal from the 90s, and read a lot of venting about things that griped me off at the time but mean nothing in the greater scheme. I’ll edit it, before anyone else can see it. My guitars are mainly for my own entertainment, but they got the job done in a big way; I learned the same tuning that Keith Richards uses, and played “Start Me Up” while my 2-year old granddaughter danced and danced on the deck. I moved my turntable to a spot where I can listen to vinyl whenever I want, and did. I helped my wife find the snow-free routes to and from St. Louis, where she’s been showing our girl Silver in national and regional competition, and she’s happy because she’s coming home with ribbons, and I’m happy because she’s coming home.

Home! This feels like home, too. Please join us on the radio, 5-9 AM on 103.3 in Portland and KKCW on iHeartRadio elsewhere on the blue and red marble we live on, as best we can.