Mutterings From The Mountain
by The Opinionated Oregonian™
Mount Hood: Nov 13, 2000 - It
snowed here a few days ago. Not really
unexpected given we are at 2500’ on one of
Mount Hood’s ancient glacial moraines. The
Mountain, 9 miles from our home, gleams
whitely now, much of its raw rock covered by
the 6-8 inches of new-fallen snow. [I can
hear the skiers and snowboarders cheering in
the background’]
For us, with the woodshed full [we heat
with a woodstove] outside work is tailing o ff
and it is time to think of indoor delights. One,
for me, is a good book, a hot woodstove nearby
and, as appropriate, a drink close at hand.
Having finished of Harry P o tte r and
the Goblet of Fire some weeks ago [Ms.
Rowling continues to impress me], I’ve been
revisiting WW II through the British naval
novels of such fine writers as Douglas Reeman,
Philip McCutchan and Dudley Pope. All three
fought at sea, usually in small ships which
meant they experienced the war close up and
highly personal. Pope, serving in the
merchant fleet, was disabled out after his ship
was torpedoed; his injuries eventually killed
him, but not before he wrote several highly
regarded histories and a couple dozen fine
novels. Reeman and McCutchan are still
writing. Check your library.
Which is a lengthy introduction to a
gripe. And a question. Do you find yourself
squinting at the newspaper or your book,
blinking because the words are harder to see
than in earlier years? It isn’t necessarily
your aging eyes that are at fa u lt. . . it may be
your light bulb!
In recent decades, lighting ‘experts’
have wooed us into buying ‘so ft w hite’ bulbs
which are ostensibly easier on the eyes.
Unfortunately, th a t’s a lie.
The amount o f light a bulb puts out is
measured in lumens. For decades, a 10Ow
bulb put out 1740 lumens. Then came the soft
white bulb, the energy saver bulb, and other
designer specials. And the lumen levels
dropped. I have not seen a 1 OOw 1740 lumen
bulb for years. Best I’ve seen is 1710 and
they are increasingly harder to find. 1690
seems what’s most available now but scant
days ago, my wife bought home a pack of
energy saverl OOw bulbs which put out a
paltry! 675 lumens. Try reading with one of
those! An eyestrain special!
So, the next time you find yourself
straining to make out the print on whatever
you’re reading, check the lumen level o f your
bulbs. You may find you are happier with two
60w [to ta l lumens 1740] but note the total
wattage as your electric bill is going to sneak
UP. More profit fo r everyone but the end
user.
Grrrrr.
Notice should be given that the 18th
Annual Oregon Dixieland Festival is
looming on the horizon. It’s in Seaside Feb 23,
24 & 25, 2001. That’s the last weekend of the
month and fo r Jazz information, ring up
1 - 8 0 0 - 3 9 4 - 3 3 0 3 ; 1 -8 8 8 -3 0 6 -2 3 2 6 w ill
get you housing information. Be there! Trad
Jazz is great fun. There’ll be 9 great bands
including Pat O’Neal’s Riverboat Jazz Band,
High Sierra Jazz Band and the Wooden Nickel
Jazz Band. It’s gonna be a great time and I
hope to see many of you there.
The Bag Lady on 8
suspect, the Fundamentalist Theocrats would,
in due course, set up Re-Education camps and
stock them with those opposed to their beliefs.
A fte r all, Hitler, Stalin, and Phol Pot did it.
Why not the FTs who have, as they will assure
you, your best interests at heart even if you
don’t understand that. Brrrrr, I find that
chillingly possible.
= = = = = = = = ==3
Well, as this is written, things are
still confused in Florida and we still don’t have
a president-elect. I suppose it will all be
settled by the time this sees print. Among all
the commentary by learned pundits, I’ve noted
one major omission: no one I’ve heard has
noted that all this confusion and fussing is
occurring without any armed insurgency by
adherents of one side or the other. Or both.
We are not fighting in the streets over this
situation and that is a major strength of our
democratic system. We’ve had presidents die
in office, be murdered in office, and we’ve
never grabbed up clubs and guns and taken to
the streets. Nor has the military stepped in to
‘restore order’ and dictate who the new Leader
is to be. Our transitions have been peaceful
and orderly. Think about it. You have every
right to be proud of our system and your
friends and neighbors.
Soaring
Crane
Gallery
1“ floor,
Inn at Cape
Kiwanda,
331OS Cape
Kiwanda Drive,
Pacific City
“The little gallery the big
galleries are talking about**
1O:3O-5pm most days
503-965-7848
I want to taki the ain to
heart
and fee) It move
like possibility, the idea
o f change. through things
seen and unseen . .
Kathleen Norris
L
BOOKS
3 4 8 12th Street
A stor« OR. 97103
503-325-4210
www.lucysbooks.com
The Cannon Beach Gallery presents
The Second A n n u ai A rt Docents ’ Show
SUNFIRE
G A L L E R Y
central coast
glass artists' gallery
2289 Main Street
The Cannon Beach Gallery is staffed
almost exclusively by volunteers, many of whom
also extend their interest in art to actual production.
This month's exhibit gives the tireless and devoted docents a
chance to show off samples of their work. It is a gift
from the gallery to its hard-working supporters.
Cambria, C A 93428
December 2nd- 31-
8 0 5 • 9 2 7 • I8 0 0
Reception Saturday, December 2nd, at 6pm
Cannon Beach Gallery
1064 S. Hemlock
(503)436-0744
I see by the papers th a t Lon Mabon is
busy trying to revive the FrankenHomo
monster for the 2002 election. I suspect he’d
do this even if the vote had been 99% against
his archaic and essentially unchristian
viewpoint. What scares me in all this, is that
from things said by hiS followers [members
and supporters of the OCA and the Oregon
Christian Coalition] is th a t what they really
want is a Theocracy along the lines of th a t run
by the Taliban in Afghanistan. That is, one that
not only requires, as the Southern Baptists put
it, wives to “ subm it” to their husbands, but
would criminalize homosexual activity and
condemn any religion th a t is not Christian
Fundamentalist [i.e. Old Testament-based] as a
religion of heathens and whose believers are
clearly outside the pale. Jews, Catholics,
mainline Protestants, to say nothing o f non-
Christian religions, would, sooner or later, be
on the theocratic shitlist. And, I strongly
ANTHONY STOf’ F’lELLO
= = = = = Architect
Earth friendly architecture
Consultant - Educator
Passive solar design
Conscientious material use
Licensed in Oregon and Washington
310 Lake S t • POB 72, Ilwaco, WA 9Ô 6 24 (3 6 0 ) 6 4 2 -4 2 5 6
One day while 1 was waiting tables, 1 got a
bag lady. She sal in back at Table 8, near the kitchen,
and ali she wanted was hot water for her lea bag She
had her bugs every where, all around her She had old
raggedy clothes cm and long dirty hair. I had seen her
lor the past couple days along Highway 101, shouting
at the cars that drove past. She was about my age.
“Can I bn ng you something to eat?” I asked her.
“You can have a sandwich if you like.”
“I don't eat meat,” she said.
I brought her a vegetarian sandwich and
soup. The cooks filled up a bag with food for her,
cheese and vegetables and German bread. The
German bread was our specialty, a recipe from
Dick’s grand-mother in Pomerania.
“And how is it?” I asked.
“I prefer soy cheese,” she said, and then she
shook her bread at me “And I don't usually eat
debns,’ she said. Debris now that means rubbish,
doesn t iL Debns, and she waved the bread at me.
Mrs. Schwartz’s recipe, all the way from Germany.
That’s just the thing about being a waitress in
Oregon: out here, everybody has got their food
ideology. And when you’re a waitress you get to hear
it all.
They came in to eat at a seafood restaurant
but they didn t eat sealood. They were vegetarians,
but they could eat chicken, or they could eat fish but
no chicken, and some could eat neither fish nor
chicken but could have milk or eggs. Others could
have milk but no eggs or vice versa and some could
have no chicken, no fish, no mammals, and no eggs
or milk or cheese They ate cheese but no milk, fish
but no bottomfish, salmon but not hatchery salmon,
oil but no butter or butter but no oil. They had
allergies to gluten or shellfish or nuts. You never saw
such delicate people in your life. They could have no
alcohol, poor things. They had systemic yeast and
could have no wine, soy sauce, bread or mushrooms.
Some could have no sugar, others no salt. They didn't
eat fat and everything had to be steamed. They only
drank non-fluoridated water. They wanted margarine
or they were against margarine. They had opinions
about everything. You can’t tell them to shut up and
eat, if you’re their waitress. You can’t say just be
grateful. Be glad you have food. You have to smile
and pretend you don’t think they are a bunch of
spoiled babies. You’ve got to look concerned and
interested And you’ve got Ur look like the kind of
person who won’t go and subvert their diet in the
kitchen when nobody is looking.
And then there is the dessert tray. They’d
moan and shield their eyes. They told me how many
desserts they’d recently eaten, how many caloncs
they’d had. They pulled up their shirts to show me
how fat they had gotten. They didn’t want anything
themselves, but thought their companion should get
something so they could have just a little bite.
Something chocolate. I wanted to tell them that the
right way to say yes to something is to say Yes! and
be done with it but you’re not supposed to get
personally involved like that when you’re someone’s
waitress.
My favtwite customers were the ones who
ate with enthusiasm, who had wine and appcUzcrs
and espresso and told stones and said thank you and,
if they wanted dessert, ate it with nothing but
pleasure.
“Usually, I just eat raw food,” said the homeless
woman at Table 8 . 1 was busy, my whole station full
and others were waiting to get in and sit down.
You don’t give your time away to a non-tipper, as a
rule. You get people in and out, if you can. You don’t
throw a table away on someone eating for free.
Waitressmg, there is an ugly side you don’t know
about if you’ve never done it before. You get your
money from tips and there is something inherently
corrupting in that. But I just stood there, with the
meter stopped, looking at her.
“This has been a grxxl year for
blackberries,” she told me. And seeing that I was
interested and likely looking for dietary advice, she
said in a low voice, like this was a secret and now she
was sharing it with me, “My usual diet is raw juice."
“Like orange juice?”
“Juice!” She waved her hand at me. “From
fruit. You makejuice from fresh raw fruit. If s good
for the digestion.”
“But how to you manage it?” I asked. Surely
being homeless was hand enough. She motioned to
her bags spraw led out on the floor. “I bring my juicer
with me.”
She smiled at me and I looked at her mouth,
where the teeth used to be.
Alison Clement is ■ form er w aHiess
vegetarian. living in Corvallis, OR.
4 th S tr e e t S tu d io & d^niierif
Aitorla
"A Unique Blend of Art.
Cafe and Com fort’
108 ,0»h Street
Astoria, Oregon 97,03
503-325-5450 • Fax 325-9712
Cannon tea ch
’ Fine Art Gallery and Gifts’
13, W 2nd • P O Box ,245
Cannon Beach. Oregon 97,10
503-436-,253 • Fax 436-16,7
I »ever make the mistake of argaing with people
for whose opinions I have no respect
Edward (Jibbon
Local Artists
Bosket Studio, Watercolor, Photography
Prints and Gift Items
Attend Fund-Raising Art Event
Saturday, August 5th 4 pm to 8 pm
Art -- Music - Appetizers
¿25 A.
~~ Mtuefneti/g,
(503) 368 6449
Oft
UPPER LEFT EDGE DECEMBER 2000
and
form er