Monthly Archives: April 2013

Gorge Guide On Your Phone!

30 Tuesday Apr 2013

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This is entirely cool… Gorge Guide now has an app so you have Gorge Guide to go, even when you left your copy at home! I looked over Steph’s shoulder today when she downloaded it and it’s a great app.

Gorge Guide2

So hie to the App Store or Google play and enjoy thoroughly… this is a great publication, and a valuable addition.

* You’ll notice I said “Gorge Guide On Your Phone”, not “Gorge Guide On My Phone”.  Windows version not available at this time, so I’ll just peer over the shoulder of all you cool people with iPhones and Android. : )

Images gorgeguide.com

 

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In Need Of A New Car?

16 Tuesday Apr 2013

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MHCC’s Foundation Auction is coming up on May 4th… can’t think of many other opportunities for a (good) shot at a new car for a hundred bucks. : )

MHCC_Car Raffle 050413

300 tickets = great odds : ).

Visit the foundation auction site at
http://www.mhcc.edu/Foundation.aspx?id=3189

A Triumph Of Trilliums

14 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by in And Around, Other Side Of The Inside Of The Box, Ramblings

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When I was a young girl, what I knew about trilliums was that each one will only bloom once every seven years.

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I don’t know if that is true, or if it was something to tell a child who wanted to take the treasure of a perfect flower home for her own, or if, maybe, I am remembering something that never happened at all.
I don’t expect I’ll ever punch the buttons to find out.

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Because do you know what happens when you find out that this beautiful, this perfectly white, this immaculately formed, miracle first flower of spring in front of you last bloomed in the year you were born?

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It creates a miracle in every next time you see it for the rest of a whole life.  Something joyful that is only for you.

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The first trillium appeared on my trail to the Sandy River on March 26th.  Every day, the first was joined by the next and then more, until there were dozens.  Right there and just for me.  And for the past twenty days, I have hiked that two miles down, two miles up, with more delight than the everyday peace that place is for me.

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They are starting to fade.  White petals tingeing to lavender, today’s deluge of rain and hail bowing their heads.

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It’s okay.  The wild strawberries and the salmon berries are blooming and will soon be a different kind of delight.  The ferns are showing new furls, and will fan out to obscure their winter-killed fronds.  The cottonwoods are leafing and, once again, the understory will contain no clear paths through.

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I hope that when my season is done, I turn gently to lavender before I sink back to ground.

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Mama, thank you for teaching me this love of wet and green and mud.
Loree

Snapshot No. 2

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

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The dogs stopped and turned into the last sun through the trees towards the long low growl across the river, and listened.
It faded, and they stood another minute and returned to the trail.

The growl came again, in the distance on the other side of the gorge, and, once again, they turned to the edge of the bluff and waited to know, then continued up the trail.

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The third time the growl echoed through the trees, both turned to listen, then one turned to the woman, a clear question in his eyes.

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She laughed and said, “Crotch rocket”.

Both dogs turned and continued uphill towards home and dinner, the next growl unheeded.

Trail in the Sandy River Gorge.  Max and Ebb listening, King ahead on the trail, being old enough to know better.
Cell phone pics at dusk.

Columbia Gorge Flower Frenzy!

08 Monday Apr 2013

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Friends of the Columbia Gorge
Flower Frenzy Challenge 2013!
March 1 to July 31, 2013

FriendsoftheColumbiaGorge_FlowerFrenzy2013

What a great reason to get boots on the trails, and experience the spring and early summer in our beautiful Columbia Gorge!  Every year, I intend to get out to Dog Mountain in the spring, and every year, I miss the window.  Rain or shine, I am going this weekend – mark it.

Friends Of The Columbia Gorge has put together a treasure hunt of 25 beautiful flowers that appear briefly in the Gorge in the spring and early summer, and the challenge is to get out there and find as many as you can, with the shyer of the bunch being worth more points.  There are prizes, although I would suggest the treasure, in this case, is in the finding more than the winning :).  The log has great information on each flower, like:

Bitter Root

Bitter Root _ Lewisia rediviva… This flower was found in the Bitter Root Mtns by Lewis & Clark (state flower of Montana). The speciman they brought back had a viable root and bloomed years after the expedition. Hence the scientific name. American Indians valued it highly as a food, and although it is nutritous, it tastes bitter. According to tribal myths, the plant grew from the tears of a starving old woman, and its roots are bitter because of her sorrow. The large, fleshy roots were harvested just as the blossoms began to bud, and, after being boiled, became jellylike and less bitter.

Register at www.gorgefriends.org/flowerfrenzy , print out your log, and go find some beauty you haven’t seen before.  Even if you’re not going to play this time, become a member!  Memberships start at 35.00, which is a killer deal and gives you access to great inside information and resources.  I also see that if you register now, you get a free copy of Ross Jolley’s “Wildflowers Of The Columbia Gorge”!WildflowersoftheColumbiaGorge_RussJolley

Some of the early ones will be disappearing soon (or you’ll have to hike up higher to find them), so start this weekend and I’ll see you on the other side of a cluster of Dutchman’s Breeches!

First Friday April 5th!

03 Wednesday Apr 2013

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Troutdale crop

April 5, 2013

Featured Artists & Locations

 TROUTDALE PASSPORTS!

Pick up your Troutdale Passport at participating businesses.  Then, visit ALL the artist venues, get your card validated, and drop it off at Marco Polo Designs or Columbia River Gallery for a chance to WIN a FREE Gift Basket filled with lots of goodies from participating Merchants and Artists!

 

113 W.  Sage Salon
FREE Nail gift to the first 30 with Troutdale Passports!
20% off Salon Products tonight!

Sage Salon

107 E   West Columbia Gorge Chamber
Loree Harrell – “The Mirror Project” Photography and Jewelry
Drawing for AP 2/2 of Mirror 583;  Crown Point from Women’s Forum

Mirror 583 Crown Point From Women's Forum

202 W.   Ye Olde Pub
Open to Minors until 10pm
Full Lunch & Dinner Menu for Friends & Family
Happy Hour  3pm – 6pm & 10pm to close

 Ye Olde Pub

108 E.   Brass Rail Tavern
Food & Beer Garden
LIVE ROCK-N-ROLL by Eric Savage-Johnson
8pm – 12am

Brass Rail

 

135 E.  Troutdale Tattoo
Reynolds High   School Metals Dept. – Metal Art

Troutdale Tattoo

149 E.   Marco Polo Designs
20% off Special Tonight!
Plus…FREE Italian Prosecco and Hors d’oeuvres!
Deposit your completed TROUTDALE PASSPORT HERE for a chance to WIN the Gift Basket!

MarcoPolo

165 E.   Siam Sushi Restaurant
Thai & Japanese
Parris Foley – Glass Mosaics

Photos of Siam Sushi Restraurant, Troutdale
This photo of Siam Sushi Restaurant is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Mayor Square
OPEN AIR MARKET – Creative Arts & Crafts!
Native American Jewelry, Metal Art, TieDye Clothes Handmade Soap, Antiques & Collectibles
Pastries & Sweets, Smoked Fish & More!
Annette Jackson – Art and Cards
3pm – 8:30pm

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177 E.   Ristorante Di Pompello
LIVE ACCORDION by Michael Maffei

Ristorante Di Pompello

205 E.Columbia Gorge Salon & Spa
First Friday Special:  20% off ALL Salon Products!

Columbia Gorge Salon  

233 E.    Troutdale Massage
(Columbia Gorge Chiropractic)
5 Minute Mini-Massages by Elizabeth  5:30pm to 9pm
Tammy Kromm – Oil Paintings

Troutdale Massage

253  E.   Caswell Gallery
Mike Rangner – Oregon Landscapes
Cynthia Feustel – Figures & Still Life
Phil Smith – Photorealistic Landscapes
Sculpture 101 – Student Works on Display!
LIVE VOCALS & GUITAR by Jairus Minsky
FREE WINE TASTING with Phelps Creek Winery
MHCC Foundation Car Raffle!
Buy your ticket to win!

Rip Caswell_Nimitz Sculpture

Rip Caswell_Nimitz Sculpture

253 E.   Ali Peret Designs
Stop by and see what Ali Peret is up to!

Ali Peret

266 E.   Troutdale Vision Clinic
Barbara Brosh – Hand Crafted Metal Jewelry
Maria Brezovay – Knitting & Embroidery
SPANISH GUITAR by Gyorgy Brezovay


275  E.  Brewligans Bottle Shop
Brew Tasting 8pm – 10pm

Brewligans

302 E.  Taste Of Village
Cantonese & Mandarin Cuisine

Taste Of Village

303 E.   Columbia River Gallery
(Come Downstairs or Thru Infusion Gallery)
Marguerite Perry – Columbia Basin Jewelry
CUPCAKE TASTING
with Jackie Barron of “Simply Cupcakes by M.E.”
Deposit your completed TROUTDALE PASSPORT HERE for a chance to WIN the Gift Basket!

COLUMBIA RIVER GALLERY

COLUMBIA RIVER GALLERY

305 E.  Infusion Gallery
Anton Jarmer – Original Drawings & Paintings
Heather Greene (Soderberg) – Sculpture
LIVE LAZY ACOUSTIC SWING by “Swingali”

INFUSION GALLERY

INFUSION GALLERY

319 E.  Celebrate Me Home

329 E.   Rustic With a Twist

333 E.   Art, Ink, Letters
FIESTA FRIDAY! Chicken Quesadillas & Taco Salads
FREE WINE TASTING – Selections by
Lumos Winery, Airfield Estates and Patit Creek
ACOUSTIC BAND – “Rusty Road”
Featuring John (Deere) Sandgren, Doc Jim (James), Michael Roi and Sharon Anne
Karen Rhein – Jewelry

CELEBRATE ME HOME

CELEBRATE ME HOME

345 E  Paws for a Cause
Rebecca Leonard – Dried Flower Wreaths/Wall Hangings

Paws For A Cause

345 E  Alix’s Attic
Lu Feazel-Hurt – Watercolor Cards & Plaques

Alex's Attic

359 E Troutdale Antique Mall
Jane Miller – Girlfriend Bags

Troutdale Antique Mall


SEE YOU FRIDAY AND…
NEXT TIME on May 3rd, 2013!

Snapshot No. 1

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

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spring3

When that moment comes of spring, all the waiting things fling themselves towards change and growth and new, with the abandon of a child.  A new box of all of the one hundred and thirty three colors.

Fern.  Forest Green.  Atomic Tangerine.  Beaver.  Bittersweet.  Blue Bell.  Blue Violet.  Blue Gray.  Blush.  Brown.  Burn Sienna.  Chestnut.  Copper.  Dandelion.  Fuschia.  Hot Magenta.  Inchworm.  Indigo.  Jazzberry Jam.  Mahogany.  Maize  Manatee  Mango Tango.  Mountain Meadow.  Neon Carrot.  Olive Green.  Outer Space and Piggy Pink and Purple Mountain’s Majesty.  Sepia and Shadow.  White.

A new box.  All of the one hundred and thirty three colors.