Columbia River Reader Feb 2024 by Columbia River Reader

CRREADER.COM Vol. XX, No. 228 • February 15, 2024 • COMPLIMENTARY Helping you discover and enjoy the good life in the Columbia River region at home and on the road

HAIKUFEST 2024

TRANSFORM YOUR JAPANESE MAPLE LEWIS AND CLARK FIND THEIR WAY TANDOORI CHICKEN!

Righting Our Rivers

HABITAT THAT WORKS “Snipe,” by Debby Neely

People+ Place page 30

COLUMBIA RIVER

dining guide

BRICE CRAYNE LOWER COLUMBIA FISH ENHANCEMENT GROUP

COLUMBIA RIVER READER PRESS BOOK BOUTIQUE LEWIS AND CLARK REVOLUTIONIZED

COLLECTORS CLUB ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION THOUGHTFUL GIFTS... FOR YOURSELF OR FOR A FRIEND!

• COMPLIMENTARY 176 • March 15 – April 15, 2020 CRREADER.COM • Vol. XVI, No. road River region at home and on the the good life in the Columbia

Helping you discover and enjoy

What really — truly — happened during those final wind-blown, rain-soaked thirty days of the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s trek to the Pacific? Southwest Washington author and explorer Rex Ziak revolutionized historical scholarship by providing the answers: day by day and week by week.

MOSS IN YOUR LAWN? What to do page 15

ONE RIVER, MANY VOICES WASHINGTON’S POET LAUREATE COMES TO WAHKIAKUM COUNTY page 14

People+Place

IN FULL VIEW Rex Ziak $29.95 A true and accurate account of Lewis and Clark’s arrival at the Pacific Ocean, and their search for a winter camp along the lower Columbia River.

The art of the woodcut

page 19

dining guide

ESCAPE TO BARCELONA • “FEATURED

We’ll send your recipient a printed gift notification card.

NEW! Debby Neely is a Northwest artist and poet. This is her first book combining words and woodcuts. This work is astonishing. The variety of moods and nuances Debby evokes in simple black and white — delicacy writ with a knife and gouge — testifies to her craftsmanship and to her love for her subjects.

WORDS AND WOOD

Pacific Northwest Woodcuts and Haiku by Debby Neely •Boxed, Gift Edition with tasseled bookmark $35 Adding haiku to these dramatic images pins them in moments and memories and heightens our attention and interest. We’re proud to present Debby’s Words and Wood to the people of the Pacific Northwest and to lovers of art and the natural world everywhere. – The Editors

MIchael o. Perry is a retired environmental technician, avid collector and conservator, and student of Pacific Northwest history. He lives in Kelso, Washington.

Field Guide

“‘Dispatches’ is a great read, well researched and documented, and presented in an appealing format. The perfect place to start learning more about the Corps of Discovery.” — ALLEN BENNETT President, Lower Columbia Chapter Traditional Small Craft Association

— DANIELLE ROBBINS Education & Public Programs Coordinator, Cowlitz County Historical Museum

to the in

Field Guide to the

Lower Columbia River

M I C H A E L O. P E R R Y

Poems and Pictures

Featuring the work of

woodcut artist Debby Neely

Poems and Pictures

“Meadowlark” On the cover: “Whispering”

Robert Michael Pyle Judy VanderMaten

EMPIRE OF TREES

dispatches from the discovery trail

• Boxed Signature Edition, with color $50 • Collectors Edition, with color $35 • Trade paperback B/W $25 • Audiobook $15

Lower Columbia River

Robert Michael Pyle Judy VanderMaten

Michael Perry has a collector’s eye, a scientist’s curiosity, and the Pacific Northwest in his heart. In thIs engagIng new book author Michael Perry takes a fresh look at the Lewis and Clark Expedition — what they set out to do, what they experienced, and where they failed and succeeded — from the layman’s point of view. Compiled from a popular monthly magazine series, and adding new notes and commentary, Perry’s Dispatches adds to the lore and legacy of the famous Expedition the insights, quirks, and wry observations of a gifted amateur historian.

“Michael Perry gets it right! Good storytelling is key to meaningful learning for all ages, and ‘Dispatches’ informs us in a relaxed, enjoyable way, perfect for anyone wishing to explore with the explorers.”

debby neely

COLUMBIA RIVER READER PRESS

in Poems and Pictures By Robert Michael Pyle and Judy VanderMaten.

Tidewater Reach

pacific northwest woodcuts and haiku

Debby Neely From Words and Wood

THE TIDEWATER REACH Field Guide to the Lower Columbia River In three editions:

words and wood

I sign my name with the red chops. The top chop is my name in Chinese. The bottom chop says, “I draw birds and animals.”

Photo by hal Calbom

The

11 issues $55

CHEF” RETURNS

words and wood • debby neely

EYEWITNESS TO ASTORIA Gabriel Franchére $21.95 The newly edited and annotated by Rex Ziak version of Franchére’s 1820 journal, Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the Years 1811, 1812, 1813 and 1814, or The First American Settlement on the Pacific.

Cutting Edge page 28

COLUMBIA RIVER

DISPATCHES FROM THE DISCOVERY TRAIL A Layman’s

M I C H A E L O. P E R R Y

dispatches from the Discovery trail with HAL CALBOM woodcut art by dEbby NEELy

A LAYMAN’S LEWIS & CLARK

$35.00 ISBN 978-1-7346725-6-5

53500>

www.crreader.com/crrpress

CRR PRESS

Lewis & Clark by Michael O. Perry. •BW Edition $35

Collectors Edition

ISBN 978-1-7346725-4-1

9 781734 672565

read by Hal Calbom (online only)

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t’s time once again for CRR’s annual HaikuFest, possibly #15. Founder and Chief Judge Gary Meyers and I never knew just how long we’d been at it. We laughed, amazed as interest, and entries, continued to grow each year, originally thinking it’d be a one-off. For certain, I know I have an archival entry dated 2009!

Sue’s Views

And, regrettably, this will be the first time we’ve conducted HaikuFest without Gary at the helm. Sadly, he passed away last summer. We miss him and remember him fondly. In fact, we are honoring his memory by naming his brainchild the “Gary Meyers Memorial HaikuFest.” I think he would get a kick out it. I think he would like it. Gary’s brother, Ron Meyers, has agreed to serve as our 2024 Honorary Chief Judge, joined on the panel by Debra Tweedy, CRR’s very astute proofreader whose monthly column “Quips and Quotes” inspires and delights readers; Debby Neely, the talented Woodland

THE GARY MEYERS MEMORIAL

woodcut artist, whose book Words and Wood: Northwest Woodcuts and Haiku, was published by CRR Press in November 2023; and one or two more individuals yet to be chosen.

HaikuFest 2024

People tell me when they’ve taken the time to slow down, get quiet, and sit meditatively, they’ve found writing haiku pleasantly calming, and meaningful. Every season is full of haiku-worthy images, ready to be distilled into words.

Haiki is a Japanese poetry form of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world. Haikus can give a glimpse of an idea and convey the sense of a single moment.

Whether you’re a regular HaikuFest participant or a novice, give yourself a winter gift and set aside time to write a few haikus. Entries are due by March 31.

Our world in words: Distilling images, and moments.

Submit up to five previously unpublished entries with three lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables.

And by the way, Daylight Savings Time returns March 10. Remember to set your clock ahead! The days are getting longer, so maybe we won’t miss that hour. It’s on loan until Nov. 3.

Judges will make selections in traditional, pop, youth (under age 18) categories, with special emphasis on Birds and Animals, and the Columbia River and its Environs. Please submit your haikus via email to: publisher@crreader.com, noting “HaikuFest” in the subject line, or via US mail to: CRR HaikuFest, 1333 14th Ave, Longview WA 98632

Warm winter wishes!

Sue Piper

Submission Deadline: Must be postmarked or received via email by 12:00 Midnight PDT, March 31, 2024. Selections chosen by the judges will be published in April 15 CRR.

Columbia River Reader ... Helping you discover and enjoy the good life in the Columbia River Region, at home and on the road. ON THE COVER Publisher/Editor: Susan P. Piper Columnists and contributors: Hal Calbom Nancy Chennault Alice Dietz Brian Fleming Joseph Govednik Dayle Olson Michael Perry Ned Piper Dan Polacek Robert Michael Pyle Marc Roland Alan Rose Greg Smith Andre Stepankowsky Debra Tweedy Dennis Weber Judy VanderMaten Editorial/Proofreading Assistants: Merrilee Bauman, Michael Perry, Marilyn Perry, Tiffany Dickinson, Debra Tweedy

Brice Crayne, project manager for Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group, on the Coweeman River. Story, page 17.

Photo by Hal Calbom Columbia River Reader is published monthly, with 14,000 copies distributed in the Lower Columbia region. Entire contents copyrighted; No reproduction of any kind allowed without express written permission of Columbia River Reader, LLC. Opinions expressed herein, whether in editorial content or paid ad space, belong to the writers and advertisers and are not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Reader.

Submission guidelines: page 32. General Ad info: page 7. Ad Manager: Ned Piper 360-749-2632.

Advertising Manager: Ned Piper, 360-749-2632 Columbia River Reader, llc 1333 14th Ave, Longview, WA 98632 P.O. Box 1643 • Rainier, OR 97048 Office Hours: M-W-F • 11–3* *Other times by chance or appointment E-mail: publisher@crreader.com Phone: 360-749-1021

CRREADER.COM Visit our website for the current issue and archive of past issues from 2013.

Haikus submitted become the property of CRR.

In this Issue 4

Letter to the Editor

Dispatches from the Discovery Trail ~ Episode 32

Civilized Living: Miss Manners

Man in the Kitchen Classic: Tandoori Chicken

Astronomy / Sky Report

Biz Buzz

Where Do You Read the Reader?

Museum Magic: Egg-cellent Museum in Winlock

People+Place: Return to Forever

Northwest Gardener: Transform your Japanese Maple

Where to Find the Reader (24/7 and even in your bathrobe)

Notes from My Lives, by Andre Stepankowsky: Computers and AI

Roland on Wine: Southern Italy’s Enchanting Wines

Quips & Quotes / Besides CRR What Else Are You Reading?

Cover to Cover / Bestsellers List / Book Review

Columbia River Dining Guide

A Different Way of Seeing ~ CRRPress Book excerpts

Submissions Guidelines / Hikes

Outings & Events / Performing Arts

The Spectator: Fire up the grill, grab your gardening gloves

Plugged In to Cowlitz PUD: Energy Efficiency at Home

February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 3

A different way of reading

We appreciate you running our news about the $500,000 grant! We had school supporters commenting about it, and you are the only media who ran it (as far as we know). C R R j u s t m a ke s p e o p l e fe e l good. And Miss Manners cracks me up. She is always spot-on. I go to her first. Sometimes I read her backwards — answer first, ponder what Gentle Reader’s issue is, then read Gentle Reader. And yes, I often read the last chapter of a book first, too. Julie Rinard, Development Director Three Rivers Christian School

Editor’s note: The grant is from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, which provides grants and enrichment programs to organizations that strengthen the region’s educational, cultural, and spiritual base in creative and sustainable ways. The funding will be instrumental in the renovations at Three Rivers Chistian School’s new middle/high school campus on Beacon Hill in Longview. Appreciates Alan Rose’s Reviews

As a CRR subscriber, I always look forward to the book reviews by Alan Rose. Just like seasoned journalists, he knows how to cram a lot of information into limited space. His recent review of

Letters to the Editor Founding Partisans by H.W. Brands in the January edition is a welcome and concise accounting of a very important part of our country’s early history. Rose effectively brings out essential personality portraits of Hamilton, Jefferson, and Washington, along with an excellent summary outlining the creation and passing of the U.S. Constitution. I learned something important I’d forgotten since my U.S. history classes in high school and college: For a long time now, many in the Democratic Party — which today generally favors a strong, central federal government — have traced its origin to Jefferson who, Rose says, advocated for the individual states because he was wary of a powerful federal government. (His faction was dubbed the “DemocraticRepublican Party.”) The opposite view was held by the Federalists, headed by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, who “wanted a strong central government to stand up to the European heavyweights.” Today, we have the conser vative Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies which, I assume, takes its name from the Federalists of Adams and Alexander. This reputable organization, rather than advocating a

Interestingly, Rose concludes, “Rather than the crowning achievement as we see it (the Constitution) today, it was considered a compromise document leaving no one happy. It was “ratified grudgingly as the best they could agree upon. And we’ve been arguing pretty much ever since.”

strong federal government, is described as “an American conser vative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution” [Wikipedia], which seems to be the opposite view of the original Federalists.

John McClelland III Longview, Wash.

Great Backyard Bird Count at Fort Clatsop, February 16-19 Lewis and Clark National Historical Park invites everyone to participate in the 27th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). In this worldwide citizen science opportunity, anyone can count wild birds anywhere on one or more days and enter their sightings at birdcount.org. The information gathered by tens of thousands of individuals helps track bird population changes on a massive scale. The GBBC is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, Birds Canada, and Wild Birds Unlimited. Park hours are 9am to 5pm each day. Admission is $10 per adult and free for youth 15 years old and under. America the Beautiful passes and Oregon Pacific Coast Passports are accepted for free admission.

From Friday, February 16, through Monday, February 19, visitors to Fort Clatsop can join in the count by recording bird observations in the park, and make plans to count birds in their own backyards. Binoculars will be available for loan within the park.

For more info

Check birdcount.or g for more information on the worldwide bird count event or to submit bird counts.

Along with the actual bird count, the park will be sharing other bird-related activities. A “Great Pink Heron Scavenger Hunt” will be on-going using the Netul Trail along the Lewis and Clark River. A “Birds of Fort Clatsop” display may be viewed in the visitor center. A variety of bird field guides and bird-themed items are available for purchase at the Fort Clatsop Bookstore operated by the Lewis & Clark National Park Association, the park’s non-profit education partner.

The weekend’s birding events at Fort Clatsop are sponsored by the Lewis & Clark National Park Association and the National Park Service. For more information, call the park at 503-861-4414 or visit www.nps.gov/lewi or lewisandclarknps on Instagram, or Lewis and Clark National Historical Park on Facebook. •••

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360-414-3288 360-431-6286 1110 Commerce Ave. Longview 4 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

Lewis & Clark

DISPATCHES FROM THE DISCOVERY TRAIL EPISODE 32

Who arrived first? By Michael O. Perry

hile many people still believe Lewis and Clark were the first white men to explore the Great Plains, others wonder how the land included in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase initially came to be owned by France and Spain. In 1738, Pierre Verendrye, a French fur trader living near present-day Winnipeg, Canada, visited a Mandan village near present-day Bismarck, North Dakota (about 60 miles south of where the Lewis and Clark Expedition spent their winter in 1804-1805). Mandan, Cheyenne, and Crow Indians told Verendrye about Spanish trading ships along the Pacific coast, fueling his desire to find a route to the Pacific Ocean. In April of 1742, two of his sons, and at least two employees, set out from the Mandan village on an exploration that they hoped might end up at the “Western Sea.” The Verendyne group was warned of the fierce Snake (Shoshone) Indians, so they made a long detour to avoid a potential conflict. Rather than following

the Missouri River, they traveled southwest and west until, on January 1, 1743, they saw snow-capped mountains to the west which they reached eight days later (probably the Big Horn Mountains near present-day Sheridan, Wyoming). Their Indian guides refused to go any further, so the group was forced to return without seeing what lay beyond the mountains. In March 1743, on their return trip, the Verendrye brothers buried an inscribed lead tablet on a bluff near present-day Pierre, South Dakota, claiming the land for France. The plate, discovered by accident in 1913 by school children, now resides in the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center at Pierre. Upon his return to Manitoba, Louis Verendrye wrote they had “added considerably to the geographical knowledge of the period; ensured for the Canadians and French the friendship and loyalty of... Indian tribes until then unknown... (and

In April 2021 we introduced a revised version of Michael Perry’s popular series which was expanded In the new book, Dispatches from the Discovery Trail, edited by Hal Calbom and published by CRRPress. It includes an in-depth author interview and new illustrations and commentary.

Portion of the route map, above, drawn by William Clark, shows the part of the river traveled between April 16 and 21, 1805. The area inside the faint box corresponds to the cartographic reconstruction at right and the Course and Distance information shown on page 6. A map from Martin Plamondon’s “Lewis and Clark Trail Maps, Volume II.” The box in Clark’s map, above, corresponds to the map at right. Plamondon used the information in Clark’s daily journals to determine identifiable starting and ending points that could be located on modern USGS topographic maps (typically, stream mouths, ox-bow bends, prominent buttes, etc.). Plamondon then attempted to plot Clark’s traverse readings on the map. Clark’s distances were consistently too long, and his bearings did not take magnetic declination into account (and often did not come close to fitting the lay of the land). Still, Clark’s maps were remarkable considering the conditions under which they were made.

demonstrated) that the route to the western sea was not to be sought to the southwest, but to the northwest...” However, members of the Verendrye expedition were not the first Europeans to explore the interior of North America. 200 years earlier, Spain’s Francisco Vasquez de Coronado had led a large expedition from Mexico to near present-day Salina, Kansas, and was the first white man to see the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River. Coronado’s journey took place 80 years before the Mayflower’s Pilgrims landed near Plymouth Rock in 1620. Mapmaking

Michael Perry enjoys local history and travel. His popular 33-installment Lewis & Clark series appeared in Columbia River Reader’s early years and helped shape its identity and zeitgeist. After two encores, the series has been expanded and published in a book. Details, page 2.

MICHAEL

O. P E R R Y

dispatches

rail iscovery T from the D with HAL

CALBOM NEELY by DEBBY

woodcut art

A LAYMAN’S

LEWIS & CLAR

William Clark was the mapmaker. When the expedition left St. Louis in 1804, he took copies of the best maps available. Clark had a large comprehensive map, drafted by Nicholas King in 1803, that had a longitude and latitude grid accurately showing the course of the lower Missouri River as well as the Pacific Coast. Lewis & Clark were expected to fill in the blank area in the middle of the map. Clark also carried copies of maps made by Spanish and French

explorers that showed parts of the upper Missouri River region to the Rocky Mountains. President Jefferson had told Captain Lewis he wanted him to accurately record bearings and courses as the Corps of Discovery traveled west to the Pacific Ocean. But frontier surveying was nowhere near as accurate as ordinary surveying. Rather than a series of closed loop traverses, Clark would have to make do with a single open-ended traverse several thousand miles long. Ordinary surveying methods, using a transit and chain to create several hundred accurate closed traverses, would be impossible to use on the trip, so shortcuts were developed. Since most of the journey would be on water, Clark tried using a “log line” to measure distances. A log line (a piece of rope of a known length tied to a piece of wood) was used to measure distance and speed of the river. Unfortunately, it did not work well and errors of 25-40% were common. A sighting compass replaced the transit, but errors due cont page 6

January 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 5 February

Lewis & Clark

from page 5

to local magnetic anomalies and magnetic declination were common. In the end, Clark resorted to dead reckoning for much of the journey. Lewis and Clark also used an octant and sextant to try to determine latitude and, with the aid of a chronometer (an accurate timepiece), longitude. Their chronometer stopped several times, and poor weather often made it difficult to make the necessary sightings on stars. Virtually none of those readings were accurate enough to be of any use. Clark made many map sketches as they traveled across the continent. Those charts laid out the course of

the Missouri River and showed many details of the land along the route. Unfortunately, Clark’s original maps between St. Louis and Fort Mandan have been lost. After the expedition was completed, Clark allowed Prince Maximilian, a German anthropologist, to copy some maps he had made of the lower Missouri River. Those maps, used during Maximilian’s trip up the Missouri in 1833, include 17 sheets (numbered 13 through 29) illustrating the river from Omaha to the Mandan villages in North Dakota. In July 1805, President Jefferson wrote that he had received “29 half sheets” from Lewis and Clark at Fort Mandan showing the course of the river to that point, so it is evident the 12 missing maps existed at one time.

Part of a page from Clark’s daily journal showing his Courses & Distances for April 17, 1805, on the Missouri River just west of the present-day Lewis and Clark State Park in North Dakota. While Clark believed they covered 26 miles that day, they actually traveled only 13 miles. This area is now flooded by Lake Sakakawea, behind Garrison Dam, just west of where Fort Mandan was located.

... coming to life ... Plamondon’s maps make the Expedition journals come to life in a way previously impossible. Remarkably, nobody had ever used Clark’s field notes to create a set of maps. Plamondon’s third volume charts the route along the Columbia River from Pasco to the Pacific Ocean and back to St. Louis. Gary Moulton, editor of the University of Nebraska edition of the Lewis and Clark journals, also compiled a large volume reproducing all the known maps Clark created during the journey. Those maps, which are often hard to decipher in the original, come to life when viewed in conjunction with the trail maps drawn by Martin Plamondon.

6 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

The Verendrye marker is a thin lead plate, 8.5 by 6.5 inches and about 1/8-inch thick. The inscription on the front is in Latin and reads, “In the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Louis XV, the most illustrious Lord, the Lord Marquis of Beauharnois being Viceroy, 1741, Pierre Gaultier De La Verendrye placed this.” That inscription is actually incorrect; Pierre Gualtier de la Verendrye did not bury the tablet in 1741 as written, but it was the only plate his two sons had. On the back side, a message in French was scratched to correct the errors: “Placed by the Chevalier de la Verendrye Louis, Joseph, La Londette and Miotte the 30th of March 1743.”

In any case, during the winter months of 1805 while at Fort Mandan, Clark created a single map that incorporated everything he knew or believed to be true about the land between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. His map was based on maps made by other explorers, information supplied by various Indians and fur trappers, and information Clark recorded on their journey up the Missouri in 1804. That map was aboard the keelboat when it returned to St. Louis in 1805. The original “Fort Mandan” map has been lost, but two of the four copies made by Nicholas King in 1805 still exist. While the information obtained from the Indians on the 1805 map was speculative, it proved to be remarkably accurate once the journey was over and the final maps drawn. The following winter, at Fort Clatsop, Clark consolidated his field notes covering their journey west from Fort Mandan. He made a series of small maps that were used to create a large detailed map after the journey was over. He may have added information to the 1803 “Map of the West” that King had drafted for Clark’s use. Clark kept detailed field notes in his journal showing courses and distances traveled each day. Clark assumed cartographers would use his painstakingly recorded traverse to create accurate maps after the journey was completed. But for almost 200 years, those field notes were ignored.

Fortunately, Martin Plamondon II, a resident from Vancouver, Washington, changed all that with his Lewis and Clark Trail Maps. Martin Plamondon II, a descendent of Southwest Washington pioneer Simon Plamondon, worked for 30 years to create a three-volume set of more than 500 maps covering the entire 7,400 mile route Lewis and Clark took. Sadly, on May 26, 2004, just before his third and final volume was published by Washington State University, Plamondon died. His health had been declining for years and for a while he had been afraid he might not complete his project. His Lewis and Clark Trail Maps are cartographic reconstructions that cover every step of the journey, comparing the rivers as they flowed 200 years ago to their present-day courses. Surprisingly, the contrast is often impressive. Locations of the campsites along with the present day river channels and features, with towns, roads, bridges, dams, etc., added, help modern day explorers retrace the route. Relevant quotations from the expedition journals were added to each map to help the reader understand events the Corps of Discovery experienced. •••

Civilized Living

By Judith Martin, Nicholas Ivor Martin and Jacobina Martin

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have a friend who I know from others has recently undergone very disfiguring facial surgery due to cancer. There has also been substantial weight loss. I have not seen this friend in person yet, but when I do, how should I greet them? It seems rude to mention the obvious surgery and weight loss, but on the other hand, it seems uncaring not to note that something very unpleasant has happened. What is the polite thing to say? GENTLE READER: “I am delighted to see you.” DEAR MISS MANNERS: Do all the hangers in the closet have to face the same way? My wife says yes, I say no. GENTLE READER: Etiquette says either is acceptable -- unless, of course, the blouse is asking the skirt a direct question. DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have two sons, 17 and 21. I moved about five hours away from where they grew up. My 21-year-old had moved across the country and my 17-year-old decided to stay with his dad.

Well, within two weeks, both of them ended up moving in with me, and my home is very small. My husband and I decided to rent an apartment for them. Neither one of them have a job, and when I go over to their apartment, they’re lazily lying around a messy house and playing video games. I’m kind of at a loss with what to do. Do you have any suggestions? GENTLE READER: Board games? DEAR MISS MANNERS: Last Sunday, a woman I’ve known for many years but haven’t seen for quite a while came to church. I waved her over to sit with me, thinking it was good to see her, and welcomed her warmly.

who talks way more than she listens. I have no interest in going to lunch with her for a second helping of the stuff she always serves up.

mutual heritage, Miss Manners admires you for refusing to play. People spoiling for a fight are not put off by facts, any more than by common decency.

May I just ignore her demand? If, to be polite, I have to do lunch, can I simply arrange to meet her for a meal after a church event? At least that way, I feel it doesn’t take up so much time. I dread it already.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have breakfast once a month with a friend I went to school with. For the most part, our time together is enjoyable.

GENTLE READER: The advantage to someone’s putting the burden of calling on you is that you do not have to accept the challenge. Miss Manners grants you license to ignore her demand. If, however, your woeful friend follows up and you get cornered -- and claims of a harried schedule do not work -- an after-church meal is acceptable. Maybe you will get lucky that day and the Scripture will include the passage about being “quick to listen and slow to speak.” DEAR MISS MANNERS: While searching for bargains at a local charity thrift shop, an older lady near me suddenly asked me why I was ignoring her.

After the service, we talked for about 20 minutes, during most of which she told me her woes of divorce and her 30-year-old son who won’t get a job and move out. (He does deal with depression, anxiety and ADHD ... but the apple doesn’t fall far from the “it’s always something” tree.)

I’d had no inkling that she had even addressed me. I apologized and asked what she wanted.

I do feel for her, and for her son, but her oversharing and her resistance to any of my attempts to ask questions that might lead to positive steps were so frustrating. As she went on and on, I just felt dumped-on.

I was floored. I just mumbled something like “I guess so,” and scampered away. She raised her voice to deliver more racist attacks.

I’m writing because her parting words were, “Let’s get together for lunch. Call me.”

223 NE 1st Street, Kalama 9–8 M-Sat, 10–7 Sun • 360-673-2200

First, isn’t it rude to order someone else to call you? Second, our interaction reminded me that she has always been a complainer

IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE!

Call an ad rep: Ad Manager: Ned Piper 360-749-2632 All areas Sue Lane 360-261-0658 Downtown Longview & all areas Laurel Murphy 360-673-3866 Kalama and all areas AD DEADLINES. March 15 issue: Mar. 1 April 15 issue: March 25 Submission Guidelines, page 32.

She immediately fired back, “It’s because of my skin color. You whites drive me crazy. Your s*** stinks just like the rest of us.”

The thing is, I am Latina, just as she was, but I do not necessarily look it. How should I have reacted? Should I have identified my cultural background? Should I have verbally sparred with her instead of hurrying away to lurk in the glassware area until the all-clear sounded? GENTLE READER: Insult collecting — taking offense when none was intended — seems to have become the national sport. Tempting as it surely was to point out that this person had failed to notice your

Your Columbia River Reader Read it • Enjoy it Share it • Recycle it Columbia River Reader is printed with environmentally-sensitive soy-based inks on paper manufactured in the Pacific Northwest utilizing the highest percentage of “post-consumer waste” recycled content available on the market.

However, I have noticed that she has a problem with people who are overweight. She will make nasty comments about them as they walk by our booth, sometimes loud enough for them to hear. I remain silent. This friend was a bully in school and seems not to have grown out of that persona. What is a good comment I can say to her that does not bring me down to bully level? GENTLE READER: Other than “Sorry, I’m not free for breakfast”? Well, you could try saying, “Why are you making these people feel bad?” If the response is anything like, “It’s for their own good,” Miss Manners resubmits her first suggestion. DEAR MISS MANNERS: My husband called from work to say he was bringing home a dinner guest -- a fellow worker from out of town. I prepared a lovely dinner, had the kids go to a friend’s house and dressed nicely for the occasion. I served the food, then sat down and took a portion, all while making small talk with our guest. Said guest looked at my plate and said, “Do you really think you should eat that much? Look at the size of you.” I have never been so taken aback in my life. I just sat silently eating my meal. I didn’t reply, but neither did my husband say a word in my defense or tell him he was out of line. Later I thought about it, and I think that it was all a plot on my husband’s part because I had put on a few pounds and he didn’t know how to approach the matter himself. I never brought it up again. What should I have done in this situation? GENTLE READER: Citing the expression “I will not be insulted in my own home” comes to Miss Manners’ mind -- and it goes for your husband, too. ••• Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 7

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Northwest Foods

MAN IN THE KITCHEN CLASSICS

Tandoori Chicken

By Paul Thompson

Indian spices satisfy, promote health

ave you ever smelled a crushed cardamom seed or a pinch of garam masala powder? I hadn’t, until I walked into my first Indian restaurant years ago. Love at first sniff! And Indian cuisine is much more than curry, its signature spice combo. There is so much more to please you. And not all the dishes are hot, even many of the spicy ones.

Tandoori Chicken

1 chicken, whole or cut-up 1 /2 cup tandoori paste 1 /2 cup plain yogurt Remove the skin from the chicken. Split each breast in half and slash all the meaty pieces (breasts, thighs and legs) so they’ll more readily accept the marinade. Mix the paste and yogurt, place with the chicken in a plastic bag and fondle it until the chicken parts are evenly coated with the marinade. I double-bag to prevent leakage. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Health benefits

Health scientists are applauding the value of turmeric, cumin, chili pepper and ginger for their potential to inhibit and kill cancer cells, reduce the size of tumors, work as high-powered anti-oxidants and much more. These spices, key ingredients of curry, have long been used in Indian medical treatments. Modern scientists have begun in recent years to discover their significance.

Grill over medium heat outdoors, or bake in a 350º oven. Bottled Tandoori paste is readily available from specialty food stores in the Portland-Vancouver area or online. You can also make a Tandoori paste facsimile in your own kitchen. Here’s my recipe: Tandoori Paste

A Veritable Garden of Eden

Lamb and chicken are the primary meats consumed in India, and even vegetarians and vegans find themselves in a veritable Garden of Eden. I’ve been to regular vegetarian restaurants and walked away wondering where the flavor went, and I wasn’t chewing gum. That will never happen in India. India has more vegetarian-only restaurants per capita than any other country in the world, and enough flavors enhancing those veggies to satisfy even the most ardent carnivore. People on low sodium diets know that spices can replace salt, and with satisfaction. Indian cuisine is also very low in saturated fats. Check out the skinless Tandoori Chicken recipe, at right.

I’ve bagged up and marinated enough of this chicken the night before a cookout to serve 50 people, or a more intimate group of 4. They always devour it, even the finicky eaters. I have never tired of Tandoori Chicken; it’s one of my “signature” dishes. Try it outdoors on the grill (or in the oven if, on the odd chance, it rains — what? Here?!). Bon Appetit!

I generally buy a whole chicken and cut it up myself, but starting with a cut-up chicken saves time. And Band-aids.

1 tsp. cayenne pepper 2 tsp. garam masala (available in grocery stores’ standard spice sections) ½ tsp. salt 2 tsp. ground coriander seeds 1 tsp. turmeric 1 tsp. cumin ¼ tsp. fresh-ground nutmeg ¼ tsp. ground cloves 4 cloves minced garlic 2 Tbl. minced ginger 2 Tbl. lemon juice, fresh Mix together all ingredients and blend in: 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt Use paste as directed in the preceding Tandoori chicken recipe. Tandoori chicken is a stand-alone dish anytime, but if you want to extend the flavors of India to a complete dinner, add Indian-inspired side dishes such as Matar Paneer (tofu and peas) and Aoloo with Cardamom (potato). Recipes abound in traditional ethnic cookbooks and online and you’ll even find some Indian-esque frozen items in the grocery store (Amy’s brand has several). ••• Paul Thompson was a pillar in the formation of Columbia River Reader. He passed away July 2021. We fondly recall his fun--loving and wise nature, and offer readers from time to time a reprisal of Paul’s favorite recipes and cook’s commentary. See “The Spectator,” page 34, for Ned Piper’s recollectionsi

February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 9

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SKY REPORT

Astronomy

Looking UP Feb 18 – March 17, 2024

By Greg Smith

The Evening Sky A clear sky is needed.

February 18th, Jupiter is high in the Southwestern sky by 7PM., also the half Moon will be high over the constellation Orion in the southern sky. Saturn is below the horizon at this time. The bright constellation of Orion is near its highest in the sky with its star nursery M42 in the South. The Spring constellation of Leo has risen by 7:30 pm. A good sign that the seasons are changing, and better weather is on the way. The Morning Sky

A cloudless eastern horizon sky required. February 22nd Venus rises around 7:22 in the morning with Mars right next to it; making a conjunction in the bright morning sky in the Southeastern sky very low on the horizon. Best seen with binoculars. Venus will be very bright at -3.9 and Mars at 1.3 a difference of 120 times dimmer than Venus. Good luck in seeing them both. Night Sky Spectacle

A clear sky is a must. The night sky is a spectacle in itself. With the bright constellation of Orion and Leo along with the Pleiades lacing the sky, what more could you want?

Longview resident Greg Smith is past president of Friends of Galileo. Meet him and other club members at monthly meetings in Longview. For more info about FOG, visit friendsofgalileo.com.

Those with binoculars, the sky is full of star clusters to the left of Orion: the Beehive cluster of Cancer and, of course, the nebulae of Orion’s sword. If you have a telescope of any size, the nebula in Orion with its four-star trapezium that energizes the glow of the nebula; there is enough there to hold you in awe for hours. Those star clusters in a telescope can fill a great deal of time wondering what a night sky on a planet around one of the stars in a cluster of stars would be like. •••

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shington he local

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12 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

Biz Buzz What’s Happening Around the River Biz Buzz notes news in local business and professional circles. As space allows, we will include news of innovations, improvements, new ventures and significant employee milestones of interest to readers. Please email publisher@crreader.com to share the local buzz.

Kiwanis helps Early Head Start, Kelso Police K-9 program

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At a recent Kelso Longview Kiwanis Club meeting, Melanee Evans (left) and Michelle Strozyk (center) gave a presentation about the Longview Early Head Start Partnership which benefits Longview students, who are parents, by providing daycare, preschool and assistance to finish school and build parenting skills. Club president Jim Harvey (right) presented items donated from the membership, including diapers, personal care items and children’s books, and a check for $1,000. The motto for Kiwanis International is “Young Children Priority One,” which focuses on the same efforts as Early Head Start: the children in the community.

Iconic pole to be revealed to the community on February 18 at 2:00pm

Lelooska totem pole to be rededicated Port Commissioners and staff, together with partners from the Lelooska Foundation and Cultural Center, invite the public to a memorable occasion, the re-dedication of the Lelooska pole at 2pm, February 18th at the Port’s Mountain Timber Market. Carved in the early 1960s by Chief Don Lelooska, the gigantic pole towered over the Port’s waterfront for nearly 50 years before a year-long restoration and move to the inside of the new public market. Invited guests, including members of the Cowlitz Tribe, will be treated to a special video (which will be on permanent display in the market) explaining the origins of this iconic part of Kalama.

At a subsequent luncheon, the club presented a $4,500 check for the K9 program to Kelso Police Chief Darr Kirk, pictured here with Officer Brent and her partner “Blue.”

Member SIPC

Port receives prestigious AWB ‘Washington Advance Award’ for contributions to community and economy The Port of Kalama was recognized by the Association of Washington Business (AWB) in November 2023 for contributing to the local community, and to the state and national economy. The AWB’s 1920s-themed awards program was held in Seattle, where the Port was nominated for creating hundreds of jobs and making significant investment in public recreational facilities. Accepting the award on the Port’s behalf, Executive Director Mark Wilson (pictured above, third from right, with commissioners and other staff members), accepted the award on the Port’s behalf. “Our organization is the result of the shared vision of decades of great people who came before us,” he said, “and we strive to build on that legacy for those who come after us.” ••• Port of Kalama news briefs provided by Dan Polacek, Port of Kalama Legistative/ Public Relations Administrator February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 13

Where do you read

THE READER? Belize Blessing “Voluncation” team at Xuantunich Archaelogical Reserve near San Antonio, Cayo District, Belize. The Altrusa-Rotary team provided an ambulance, medical clinics, and library activities for the San Antonio community. Team members pictured are Jan Kerby, Nancy Gill, Ilona Kerby, Joann Goebel, Dr. Anne Mette Smeenk, Monica Seidl, Cameron Fields (front), Eric Rentner (back), Dr. Peggy Gurrad. Not pictured: Trece Gurrad, Greg Moore.

Looking for the whiskey distillery!

O Solo Mio!

Leroy and Bonnie Zwiefelhofer, of Winlock, Wash., with daughter Sara Zwiefelhofer and friend Lyes Yahiaoui, from Dubai, traveling to Venice, Italy.

On a Portuguese Walking Tour Longview resident Vince Penta with Lisbon resident Perry Piper, from Longview, Wash., in Portugal last fall. The Pentas were enjoying their own “shore excursion” while on a cruise from Bordeaux to Spain and Portugal, then through the Strait of Gilbraltar and back to Barcelomna. Photo by Karen Penta.

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From Iceland to Scotland Peter Sonne and Linda Bird-Sonne from Toledo, Wash., recently enjoyed the Reader in Stirling, Scotland (UK) after a stopover in Iceland. Standing in front of a statue of Robert the Bruce. The two caught the tail end of the fall colors.

WHERE DO YOU READ THE READER? Send your photo reading the Reader (high-resolution JPEG) to publisher@ crreader.com.For cell phone photos, choose the largest file size up to 2 MB. Include names and cities of residence. Expect an acknowledgment within 5 days of submission; otherwise, please re-send. Thank you for your participation and patience, as we usually have a small backlog!

Local Culture

MUSEUM MAGIC

Winlock’s Egg-citing Museum Tastefully re-purposed spaces house exhibits galleries Story and photos by Joseph Govednik, Cowlitz County Historical Museum Director

antiquated single-cell jail in the former police headquarters, which usually served as the drunk tank for those who celebrated a little too much on a Saturday night.

he city of Winlock with its population of about 1,200 may be small, however it is well-known as the “Egg Capital of the World.” Amtrak travelers will pass the world’s largest egg (pictured at right), making it an easy place to spot going north or south.

No, this is not the Winlock Historical Museum.

The bays for housing the fire engines and offices for city administration upstairs are tastefully re-purposed as exhibit galleries celebrating the heritage of Winlock. Visitors will learn about the importance of the timber industry, egg production, and the Finnish, Swedish, and German immigrants.

Among the many treasures of this small city is the Winlock Historical Museum, located at 400 NE 1st Street in a former fire house, which also served as the city hall and police station. Remnants of its previous use are noted by the

Among my favorite pieces on display are hand-crafted wood carvings of lumbermen topping a tree, operating a steam donkey, and sawing through logs, each with painstaking detail (photo, next page). The mayor’s desk is featured prominently in the upstairs gallery which once served as the mayor’s office, including pictures of mayors of past decades. This museum holds an impressive variety of artifacts on display, yet does not feel crowded, as everything is carefully placed to create a cohesive cont page16

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Map suggests only approximate positions and relative distances. Consult a real map for more precise details. We are not cartographers.

February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 15

Museum Magic from page 15

people+ place

storyline. The museum admission is free,, however donations are gratefully accepted. The museum maintains regular operating hours of Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 11am – 2pm.

Celebrating life in the Columbia River region, supporting local journalism, and spotlighting community causes

For a perfect weekend outing, the Winlock Historical Museum makes a great addition to a visit to this sleepy town that melts your worries away with its relaxed atmosphere. Finish your visit by exploring the walkable downtown with several options for eating lunch nearby.

Thanks to our sponsors: Weatherguard • Cutright Supply • NORPAC • Sue Lantz The Evans Kelly Family • Joe Fischer • Cowlitz PUD For information about becoming a sponsor, please contact publisher@crreader.com or call 360-749-1021.

For more information about the museum, please visit https://www.facebook.com/WinlockHistory/ or contact Museum Board President Tommy Thompson at 360-880-8668.

Greg and Margaret Lapic and Sue Lantz support

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and host families choose their student from a wide variety of backgrounds, countries and personal interests. ASSE also offers qualified American students the opportunity to learn another language and culture by spending a school year, semester or a summer with a host family in another country. Those interested in hosting an exchange student or becoming an exchange student abroad may call Elena at 1-800733-2773, visit www.asse.com or send an email to asseusawest@asse.com to request more information or start the application process. Students are eager to learn about their American host family, so begin the process of welcoming your new son or daughter today. The memories and the friendship you create with your exchange student will stay with you forever.

16 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

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Production Notes

Return to Forever A World of Wonder

O u r o b j e c t i v e s i n c r e at i n g

“People + Place” more than five years ago have stimulated some wonderful journeys in the company of some remarkable individuals. We hit the jackpot again this month in selecting Brice Crayne, of the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group, as our cover subject. Our founding vision was that the character of our corner of the world might be revealed through the interplay of people and their places. We’ve tried to create pictures and stories where the whole truly is greater than the sum of the parts. Where each amplified the other, and the alchemy of an individual and his or her environment could inspire, not just instruct.

ioneer loggers were a breed apart. Their inventiveness, ingenuity and sheer guts brought timber to market despite obstacles both terrible and terrifying.

flushed out not only the logs, but the native spawning habitats, too. People really didn’t start thinking about salmon and steelhead until years later.”

“For those times, it was pretty remarkable,” Brice Crayne told me as we walked the Coweeman and Toutle a few weeks ago. “These rivers were basically torn up and converted for log transport. With horses and oxen, pike poles and dynamite, that’s some major engineering,”

Generations of Northwest loggers carved skid roads into steep ridges and channeled raging rivers into flumes, chutes and sluices. They blasted their way down streams, straightened out the crooked ones that hung up their progress, and then herded their colossal wild logs downriver, tons of them, like stubborn steers fated for roundup.

Despite dedicating his life’s work to undoing much of the damage done by these practices, he’s refreshingly free of prejudice or finger pointing at the past. “This was just how you did it,” he said, “pure ingenuity.”They created liquid conveyor belts. Unfortunately, they

Remaking the Rivers

The loggers created new channels which sped up river flows and scoured the bottoms clean of sediment, sand and gravel, dramatically changing these waterways, especially as habitats for native fish.

THIS IS TRULY RESTORATION AND, AS SUCH, IS A THING OF BEAUTY

Brice Crayne

“All those interventions, turning the rivers into raceways, were disastrous for spawning salmon and steelhead,” said Brice, project manager for the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group. “The fish need slower water, pools sheltered from the main channel, and sediments to build their redds, their spawning grounds.” Splash Dams Rampant

Adding insult to these injuries was the admittedly ingenious, devastatingly effective, home-made-looking piece of aquatic architecture known as the splash dam. The first southwest Washington splash dam was built on the Coweeman River in 1880. cont page 18

Call it a dual travelogue, outside the window and inside the heart, in parallel. It starts with conversation, still the best learning tool around. The moment we hopped into Brice’s F-150 we felt his enthusiasm and energy. No email or text message can transmit information and intimacy like a face-to-face conversation. Then there’s passion , a complete commitment and immersion in what we’re talking about. It’s contagious. It warms up the room (or the pickup cab) and elevates interest and relevance. Experiencing a shared environment focuses our attention and brings our senses to bear. If there’s passion behind it, and worthwhile conversation, even the tour of an office can be stimulating and informative. If you’re out in a magnificent forest, so much the better. Finally there’s learning, command of the subject shaped by dialogue and demonstration. Even on a ho-hum day, producing “People+Place” is one of the best gigs going. Out on the trail with Brice Crayne this month, it’s a world of wonder. ••• February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 17

People

from page 17

Brice showed us its remains, huge logs now overgrown and hidden by the shrouding forest. “Splash dams were used to elevate the level of the water,” he told us, so logs could be collected and pooled. “Each one had a chute and when they’d collected enough logs, they’d open it up and let the dammed-up water shoot the logs downstream.” Builders cobbled together whatever material they found at hand, usually fallen timbers and boulders, and let the dam naturally fill and seal itself with silt and other sediments. Dams could raise water levels as much as 40 feet, creating and filling burgeoning log ponds in the wild.

Splash dams in the early century, and a poolful of stored logs ready for the next “drive” downstream. Photo courtesy of Cowlitz County Historical Museum

The improvised hydr aulics allowed harvesters to transport millions of board feet of timber from steep stands of trees until rails and roads came into use. It was a pervasive and lucrative practice. The Coweeman alone hosted five splash dams, and i n we ste r n O re g o n , which has more closely monitored its timber history, more than 250 of them choked the waterways draining to the Columbia and the coast.

THE FOUR H’s

Factors impacting salmon abundance

Hydropower Dams and fish passage

Harvest Limits on catch Hatcheries Artificial breed and release

Habitat Repair and restore host rivers

Pacific Northwest rivers still show evidence of this brutalizing. Brice showed us boulders with cable grooves worn into them, remnants of an industrial-level commandeering of the streams, and decades of overlordship. Bringing Fish Back to Life

Today we’re walking the woods to see what Brice claims might be our single greatest opportunity — more than hatcheries, harvest restrictions, and knocking down dams — for bringing salmon, steelhead and their desecrated populations back to life. “We call them the “Four H’s,” he told me. These are the four things that affect fish populations and survival: Hydro — where we put our dams and how they influence migrations; Harvest — the way we regulate catching the fish; Hatcheries — our attempts to breed and release fish artificially; and, finally, Habitat — which is the reason we’re here today.

Photos: Previous page: A “reach” on the Coweeman extensively restored. The logs and debris have been re-implanted to promote useful habitat for spawning, rearing and protection. This page, color photos: remnant pieces of the upstream splash dam that was notched in the 1940s to re-establish fish passage blocked since about 1880. 18 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

“

I glorify God as a Christian athlete by playing my sport for Him. I pray before games and practices and focus on growing my relationship away from the game of basketball. I go to FCA on Monday nights, and I am committed to read scripture daily. I give God thanks for the opportunity to play college basketball and seek to glorify Him by the way I play the game.”

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+ Place Crayne and his team and 13 other fish enhancement groups spread throughout the state evaluate the “four H” status of rivers and streams to determine which might benefit most from habitat restoration. The fewer the H’s that impact a river, the more attractive it is for their purposes. Enhancement teams tend to choose water that’s not already host to hydro or hatcheries, hence the Coweeman and Toutle. “The Coweeman is big enough to have supported splash dams and be heavily modified, an ideal candidate for their program,” he explained. Every few miles a creek flows into the main channel, offering further potential spawning grounds. We approach the destination of our trek, a major habitat restoration site. Giving Back the River

Then comes the biggest surprise of our trip: there’s nothing to see. Actually, there’s a lot to see — a beautiful, pristine river in seemingly original condition — but nothing that has the look of the remodeled or re-configured. No concrete abutments, culverts, channeling. The genius of the habitat enhancement effort is that it simply returns rivers to their natural state, then lets the river and fish do the rest. This is truly “restoration” and, as such, is a thing of beauty.

“These are hard things to measure, the passages and migrations, but we already have a good indicator on one project,” he said. Where two years ago that stretch of water hosted 25 redds, female-prepared spawning sites, that same site this year sported over 70. Spawning and regeneration have begun. In an ironic echo of the splash dam era, Brice and his team are committed to ultimately letting the river do the work. “There’s no sense in engineering this like you would a house, to the nth degree,” he told us. “The river’s going to change, and it’s so powerful. The river has its way.”

engineered to create rearing habit or spawning habitat,” Brice told us. “Each piece of wood in that river is put there with a purpose.” By design, the river will slow down, sand and sediment will settle into nooks and bars and before long the fish themselves will come home. How do we know?

‘EVERY PIECE OF WOOD IN THAT RIVER IS PUT THERE WITH A PURPOSE’

In giving the river back, they’re also relinquishing day-to-day control, a “natural” advantage to habitat restoration and enhancement that the other “H” strategies — harvest, hydro and hatcheries — can’t claim. And the restoration time frame — one or two years to begin to see results — beats the decadeslong prospects for dam removal, new hatchery establishment, and manipulation of harvest. On the Lahar

We climb back into our now thoroughly mud-encrusted pick-up and head across an 1,800-foot ridge to a second major site, a very different enhancement challenge, on the south fork of the Toutle River. cont page 20

“To the untrained eye, it just looks like a bunch of logs in the water. But every piece is

Photos, from top: Cable grooves worn in the streamside boulder are relics of past forest practices; Jesse Barr with LCFEG drilling into a 36,900-pound boulder prior to it being placed in the courtesy photo Coweeman River near Nineteen Creek; Another reach “seeded” with logjams, stumpage, downed trees, boulders and sediments.

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People+Place Then and Now February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 19

from page 19 “ Welcome to the lahar,” Brice announced. “This is the aftermath of the St. Helen’s eruption.”

The topography is dramatically unlike the Coweeman’s, the valley f loor wide and flat as opposed to the tight V-shaped cuts through the ridges. The road has leveled and the texture of the perfectly flat ground is uniform. Lahars seem to be nature’s concrete. They are slurries of water, debris, and the ejections from volcanoes, known as “pyroclastic”material. They are massive, quickly moving, and destructive beyond measure. Yet they leave a placid scene: an elevated stream bed, tabletop smooth, hardened and flat as any backyard patio. The rivers must again recreate their courses and the fish, again, must find new habitat. “There are over 1200 logs here, waiting to be placed in the river,” said Brice, pointing to ranks of stacks stockpiled near the south fork. “Most of them donated to us by Weyerhaueser, some of them purchased, some of them too big for commercial cutting.” Brice and his team will begin a second major enhancement and restoration project that will take years to implement, one log, one boulder at a time.

People + Place Keeping On

We are joined by Brian Davern, board chairman of the Fish Enhancement Group, at the lahar staging area on the south fork. “We have three key components,” he told me, “an all-volunteer board, an incredible group in the field, Brice and two other project managers and their teams, and our funding sources, chief of which is the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.” The Group evaluates potential recovery sites, then applies for project grants available from a variety of sources — federal, state, tribal. “The financial support has grown tremendously,” said Brian. “We’ve grown from grants that support hundreds of yards of river bank restoration to projects like this one that will restore miles of river.” “We want the public to know that there are no losers here,” said Brice. “Weyerhaeuser does a pretty dang good job managing this tree farm,” and supports LCFEG efforts, as do the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and other environmental managers. “We want people to know that we’re out here thinking critically to make rivers healthy and functional, not trying to take them away.” At the final stop on our tour, Brian dons waders and tosses in a fly. He’s looking for steelhead this season, while Brice looks over his work in progress. “This looks fantastic! Look at this off-channel habitat.” He knows seemingly every rivulet on the river, every beaver dam and complex, the spot where he once spied two steelhead lurking under a bridge.

THE SWEET SIGHT OF SUCCESS: OFF-CHANNEL HABITAT

He calls our attention to new pools and rivulets cutting through the lahar, a slowing of the main channel and new cuts opening up slower side water. “Spectacular!” ••• Interviews have been edited for clarity and concision.

TO LEARN MORE visit lcfeg.org

From top: 1,200 logs destined for the Toutle’s south fork to slow the flow and create off-channel habitat; LCFEG Board chair Brian Davern with Brice Crayne on the lahar, and trying his luck; LCFEG activity and other enhancements are part of the larger Weyerhaeuser sustained forest management program.

THANK YOU, MARYALICE WALLIS! For your gracious leadership as Longview’s Mayor. Best wishes to you and the entire City Council.

Brian Fleming

Proud Sponsor of Proud Sponsor of People+Place 20 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

People+Place

Hal Calbom, a thirdgeneration Longview native and author of Empire of Trees: America’s Planned City and the Last Frontier, produces CRR’s People+Place monthly feature, and is CRRPress associate publisher.

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Northwest Gardener

JAPANESE

STEP BY STEP BEGIN HERE: Winter is the best time to look closely at your mature specimen of Japanese Lace Leaf Maple (Acer palmatum dissectum “atropurpureum”). Homeowners often ignore them for years, until the once- appealing ornamental takes on the appearance of a shaggy haystack.

Transform your “shaggy

1 BEFORE

Story & Photos by Nancy Chennault

anuary 2024 brought us a winter snow cover that lasted a week and a deep freeze, the likes of which we have not seen for about 15 years. We got out to the garden only long enough to take “snow pictures.” However, February is a month to get outdoors and do some important maintenance pruning before the weather warms. February would be the month to tackle the pruning of that unruly Japanese Maple. You’ve let it go long enough. You can do this!

Tool selection for Maple renovation would include (L-R) loppers, hand pruners, hand saw, leaf rake. Always make sure cutting surfaces are sharp to ensure clean cuts.

Look for dead or damaged structural limbs close to the trunk. These dead stubs were left and have begun to decay. See white fungal spores on largest stub in the center of the photo. Take these out first.

4 Look for the “collar” that surrounds the branch you are going to take out. This collar will allow the wound created by the pruning cut to heal quickly. Cuts larger than 1.5

inch should be beveled, (angled), to prevent water from entering the wound and promoting disease.

7 Next you will look up into the branches from within the tree itself. Years of neglect have resulted in many dead twigs and a buildup of leaves shed over several autumns. Sunlight cannot penetrate this layer and the interior branches begin to die.

6 Stand back and take a look at the shape of the tree after removal of the offending stubs and deformed structural branches. You will see the possibilities revealed.

5 With dead stubs cleaned out of the interior, you will begin to see the interior structure of the tree.

Using the short-handled leaf rake, clean off all the old leaves from the canopy of the maple. You see that a shorter person has an advantage as you will spend a lot of time cleaning and pruning from within. Of course, working from your knees is an option, so don’t let height discourage you. 22 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

9 You will see a tangle of branches that add nothing to the beauty of the maple. Many of these will be dead. The challenge and the joy of bringing back the beauty of your specimen is here. Remove any branches that are dead. Then take a look at where the branches go and how certain ones could add to the artistic appeal of your tree. Choose branches that would be likely candidates for removal.

10 Over the years, some of the branches may have grafted (grown) together and have become one. If they add interest to the tree and pose no physical threat they can be left. Otherwise take the complete section out and all the branches and branchlets associated with it.

Northwest Gardener

MAPLE MAKEOVER

haystack” into a graceful work of art Deep winter pruning is best to prevent the maple from “bleeding” too much sap. Any day above freezing will result in sap movement, especially if the sun is shining. Avoid days that signify a warming trend toward spring; the movement of sap will be substantial and may be harmful to the tree. Prune mid-afternoon as the temperatures drop for minimal sap loss.

Follow the steps pictured here; then, each winter, continue to enhance the now- stunning Japanese Maple specimen by continuing to fine tune the design. Dead twig ends occur annually and snapping them off can be a therapeutic activity on a mild winter afternoon. You should never have to perform a complete renovation again if you make maple maintenance one of your mid-winter projects to keep the maple picturesque and healthy.

18 AFTER Congratulations! You have just created a masterpiece. Give yourself a ‘pat on the back’ for sticking with it.

You will need to eliminate not only the visible dead twig but also the middle leader. When the middle leader and one of the side branches are removed, the branch that remains will take over and become dominant. You are in control of the direction your tree will grow, so take the time to visualize the final shape with this in mind.

If you attack a Japanese Maple with a hedge trimmer (heaven forbid!) or shear into a ball, the result will be an explosion of twigs referred to as “witches broom.” A multitude of these unsightly “brooms” add nothing to the beauty of your completed work of art.

2024 is Nancy Chennault’s 50th year pursuing her horticultural endeavors. She’s grateful to be continuing, even in retirement, to grow beauty as a member of “Castle Rock Blooms’” team of volunteers. She and her husband Jim operated a landscaping business and independent nursery/garden center for 20+ years. She wrote CRR’s Northwest Gardener column with great spirit and pizazz from 2006 until early 2017. Now, after a seven-year hiatus she has come out of “retirement” to reconnect us with some of her favorite gardening topics.

15 Maples’ branches grow opposite each other. This can present a dilemma as to which branch (es) to remove when directing a branch to grow in a specific direction.

Many of the smallest twiglets will snap off cleanly, leaving no dead stub. For larger twigs and branches make sure you prune off the dead stub end to the collar as before.

13 11

12 After removing the surplus branches you will see the character of the maple beginning to appear.

Stand back and take another look. You are almost done and your maple is looking magnificent! Give yourself a well deserved refreshment break and then tackle the last phase of the overhaul.

As you look closely at the canopy of your maple you see countless grey twigs that interfere with your view into the center of your tree. Some of them may have disappeared as you worked from within and pulled the larger branches out. As tedious as it is, however, removing them will complete the transformation and should not be minimized. February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 23

Don’t let a sportsrelated injury keep you out of the action!

he winter sports season is in full swing, and that means plenty of opportunities to be active. If a sports-related injury is keeping you out of the action, the talented staff at Longview Orthopedic Associates can help. Our experienced providers treat college, club, prep, and recreational athletes of all types and have dealt with just about every injury imaginable. LOA offers rapid appointment scheduling, as well as MRI and physical therapy services onsite for your convenience.

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February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 25

Where to find the new Reader It’s delivered all around the River by the 15th of each month. Here’s the handy, regularly-refilled sidewalk box and rack locations, where you can pick up a copy any time of day and even in your bathrobe: LONGVIEW U.S. Bank Post Office Bob’s (rack, main check-out) In front of 1232 Commerce Ave In front of 1323 Commerce Ave In front of Elam’s 1413 Commerce In front of Freddy’s 1110 Comm. YMCA Fred Meyer (rack, service desk) Teri’s on Broadway Grocery Outlet, OB Hwy The Gifted Kitchen (711 Vandercook Way) Fibre Fed’l CU - Commerce Ave Monticello Hotel (front entrance) Kaiser Permanente St. John Medical Center (rack, Park Lake Café) LCC Student Center Indy Way Diner Columbia River Reader Office 1333 14th Ave. (box at door) Omelettes & More (entry rack) Stuffy’s II (entry rack) KELSO Visitors’ Center / Kelso-Longview Chamber of Commerce KALAMA Fibre Fed’l CU Kalama Shopping Center corner of First & Fir McMenamin’s Harbor Lodge (rack) Luckman’s Coffee, Mountain Timber Market, Port of Kalama WOODLAND The Oak Tree Visitors’ Center Grocery Outlet Luckman Coffee CASTLE ROCK Lacie Rha’s Cafe (32 Cowlitz W.) Parker’s Restaurant (box, entry) Visitors’ Ctr 890 Huntington Ave. N., Exit 49, west side of I-5 Cascade Select Market VADER Little Crane Café RYDERWOOD Café porch

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COLUMBIA CITY Post Office WARREN Warren Country Inn ST HELENS Chamber of Commerce Sunshine Pizza St. Helens Market Fresh Olde Town: Wild Currant, Big River Tap Room Safeway SCAPPOOSE Post Office Road Runner Fultano’s Ace Hardware WARRENTON, OR Fred Meyer CATHLAMET Cathlamet Pharmacy Tsuga Gallery Realty West Puget Island Ferry Landing SKAMOKAWA Skamokawa General Store NASELLE Appelo Archives & Café Johnson’s One-Stop

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26 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

ROLAND ON WINE

NOTES FROM MY LIVES by Andre Stepankowsky

Infused with sun-soaked history

Will it take a computer to protect us from the perils of AI?

he recent news from the frontiers of technology has been both frightening and exhilarating. Fake pornographic pictures of Taylor Swift created with artificial intelligence (AI) have flooded the Internet, showing how difficult it is to stop creeps from distributing offensive, non-consensual images. AI now can “create” historical characters by analyzing the writings, speeches and biographical details of famous and infamous people. In the cyberworld, we can bring back to life Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt, John Lennon, John Kennedy, Babe Ruth, Robin Williams or any other well-documented character — good bad, funny, outrageous or whatever — and give them a kind of electronic and, perhaps eventually, robotic immortality. Would these new “beings” assert rights, power or privilege? I shudder at the possible legal, political, social and ethical consequences. On the other hand, researchers are using pioneering biotechnology to create lab-grown egg and sperm cells to save the northern white rhino from extinction. The species is down to only two aging females after decades of poaching. And in the battle against climate change, some ranchers are employing new feed additives to reduce beef cattle’s prodigious production of methane, a potent green house gas created in bovine digestive systems. So there is reason to applaud and fear the advance of technology, even though I often find myself wishing for technologically simpler times. In a crazy and wistful sort of way, I sometimes wish we could arrest scientific advancement where it is. I’m certain that people from previous generations had the same wish about locomotives, cars, telephones and other gadgets. It won’t happen, of course, partly because most new science and technology emerge

from good motives — creating better medicines, making farms, factories and office systems more productive, exploring the earth and space for the betterment of our species and others’. But science can be and often is perverted into things that are dreadful, such as the development of atomic fission. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atom bomb, years later told an interviewer: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” Even technologists have fears. In an 2023 open letter, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk joined 1,000 other tech leaders urging a pause on large AI experiments, citing the chances that technology can “pose profound risks to society and humanity.” Among them: job losses, deepfakes like those involved in the Taylor Swift situation, violations of privacy, socioeconomic inequality, market volatility, weapons automation, and creation of self-aware, uncontrollable AI (robots and computers taking over). To this list you can add political and social manipulation and unrest. Technology is not in itself bad; it’s what humans do with it or fail to control that makes it so. That’s why I’m more worried than optimistic. The message of the movie Jurassic Park is simple: Don’t mess with nature (as in using biology to recreate dinosaurs) unless you can control human nature (remember that it is the greed of one employee who sets off a chain of disastrous failures). Albert Einstein had the same worry when he said: “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” The march of science and technology won’t cease. Our only hope is to improve human thinking, character and education so we can respond to all the challenges new inventions pose. Perhaps we can invent a computer to do that for us. •••

Award winning journalist Andre Stepankowsky is a former reporter and editor for The Daily News. His CRR columns spring from his many interests, including hiking, rose gardening, music, and woodworking. More of his writing is available through his online newsletter on substack.com by searching for “Lower Columbia Currents.”

by Marc Roland

Let Southern Italy’s wine enchant you

have always wanted to go to Italy. My wife swears my people must have come from there, despite the fact that my DNA shows strong Scottish and Western European roots. It could be my swarthy skin and affinity for Italian wine. Everything I know about Italy are things I love, like art, architecture, and sun. I think Florence will be my first destination, and soon after, I will venture to Southern Italy. The wines of Tuscany and the Piedmont: some of the most famous Italian wines

Who doesn’t love Chianti Classico (Sangiovese), Barolo, and Barbera? But what about the so called “Barolo of the South,” where the Aglianico grape reigns supreme. I bet you’ve never heard of it.

many planted for at least 2,000 years. The appellations of Taurasi and Greco di Tufo produce some of the best wines in the region. In Puglia, the heel of Italy’s “boot,” Primitivo reigns. Primitivo, believed to be genetically identical to California’s Zinfandel, thrives in Puglia’s warm climate, yielding wines brimming with ripe fruit flavors and velvety tannins. Salice Salentino and Primitivo di Manduria are among the region’s most esteemed appellations, revered for their bold, spicy character and remarkable aging potential. The wines of Southern Italy should spice up our wine game this year

Venture off the beaten path and take a Southern Italy enjoys a sun-drenched journey where some of the oldest and geography that holds the secrets of an storied vineyards exist with primordial ancient civilization with a diverse array beauty found nowhere else in the of terroirs* and native grapes. From world. This is a world where traditional the volcanic soils of winemaking meets M o u n t Ve s u v i u s , innovation to Italian Wines to Try to the region of get the most out Tenuta Del Portale Aglianico Basilicata, just east of indigenous Del Vulture red wine. Total of Campania, we find grapes varieties. Wines, Vancouver; Costco sometimes wine comparable to I n n ov a t i o n h a s the renowned wines in Greco di Tufo white wine A wine been slow but the north. The region of Campania and the region’s methodical, around Mt. Vulture, most loved white wine. Total focusing on the only volcano east Wines, Wine.com, Costco sometimes natural organic of the Apennines, is methods. The use Tormaresca Primitivo Salento full of basalt soils that of stainless steel, from the Pulia wine region. Total give way to a great better sanitation, Wine, Costco sometimes wine, Aglianico del and lower yields Vulture (pronounced in the vineyard are Vo o l - t o o - re h ) . At creating wines that its finest, Aglianico is a savory, yet show off the unique flavors of the inviting grape with a fruity and mineral volcanic and chalky soils. These wines background, but firm, a rare balance of have been a mainstay of the Italian perfumed aromas and graceful flavors. palate, but have not been widely accepted in the international market. Campania is also a region of spectacular beauty in the southern Italian Peninsula. Abundant sunshine, dramatic scenery, a rich tradition of gastronomy and the south’s deepest repertoire of fine wines. The Romans referred to it as Campania Felix, or “happy country.” Campania is also a stronghold for native grape varieties,

I hope you will embrace the best examples of these food-friendly native grapes. If we don’t, Italian winemakers will be tempted to plant more popular Italian grapes and then blend them to reach a larger market.

Longview resident and former Kelso teacher Marc Roland started making wine in 2008 in his garage. He and his wife, Nancy, now operate Roland Wines at 1106 Florida Street in Longview’s new “barrel district.” For wine tasting hours, call 360-846-7304.

•••

Whether savoring a glass of Aglianico or indulging in a sip of Italian Primitivo, one cannot help but be enchanted by the magic of the land infused with the sun soaked-history of a bygone age.

*“Terroir” is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop’s character.

February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 27

Cover to Cover

BESIDES COLUMBIA RIVER READER...

UIPS & QUOTES

What are you reading? Monthly feature coordinated by Alan Rose

Selected by Debra Tweedy

And suddenly you know: it’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings. --Meister Eckhart, German Catholic theologian and philosopher, 1260-1328 What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness? --John Steinbeck, American writer, 1902-1968 Listen. I wish I could tell you it gets better. But, it doesn’t get better. You get better. --Joan Rivers, American comedian, actress and writer, 1933-2014 Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act. --Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist, 1879-1955 You can be miserable before you have a cookie and you can be miserable after you eat a cookie, but you can’t be miserable while you are eating a cookie. --Ina Garten, American cookbook author and television presenter, 1948I know I chatter on far too much... but if you only knew how many things I want to say and don’t! Give me some credit. --L.M. Montgomery, Canadian writer, 1874-1942 If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased. --Katharine Hepburn, American actress, 1907-2003 A finished person is a boring person. --Anna Quindlen, American author and journalist, 1952There are people who take the heart out of you and there are people who put it back. --Elizabeth David, British cookery writer, 1913-1992

by Dennis Weber

ags-to-riches, glittering mansions, lavish highsociety parties, May-December weddings, a classic Supreme Court case, stellar bankruptcies, and a celebrity child kidnapping – all these and more are found in Vanderbilt. I’ve never been much of a fan of Anderson Cooper, preferring to get my news from Kirk Roland, David Muir, Brett Baier, and RealPolitics. com. I knew he was the son of designer denim/fragrance heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, the kidnapping victim, and as a history teacher, I was also aware of the impact the Vanderbilts had on American economic growth during the 19th Century’s Gilded Age. But I was pleasantly surprised by his family biography, not an apologetic whitewash but a curious look into the significant ups and downs of his ancestors. Known as “ The Commodore,” Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) was a sixth generation descendent from an indentured servant brought to New Netherlands in the 1600s. By the mid-1700s, the family was on Staten Island eking out a living as farmers. By the age of 27, the Commodore was operating ferry boat services, including one on the Hudson River

that led to the 1824 US Supreme Court decision banning st ate monopolies regulating interstate commerce (Gibbons v. Ogden). In the 1840s, he began switching his investments to real estate and railroads, amassing a $105 million fortune by the time of his death. He left 95 percent of his fortune to third son William, who doubled it to a modern-day equivalent of $5.8 billion. The decline of that fortune is equally fascinating, and Cooper describes the final days the last Vanderbilt spent in the family’s incredible mansion, the Breakers, in Newport, RI. ••• Dennis Weber is a retired R.A.Long High School history teacher. Currently serving as a Cowlitz County Commissioner, he also enjoys planning his next trip with his wife, Kris McElroy Weber, to visit their three daughters and their families, who live all around the globe.

SECOND

For information visit

www.alan-rose.com

Drink Good Coffee, Read Good Books Located in the historic Castle Rock Bank Building 20 Cowlitz Street West Mon-Sat • 8:30–5 360-916-1377

LOWER COLUMBIA CURRENTS Commentary by

Andre Stepankowsky Former longterm reporter and editor for The Daily News invites you to explore the issues of the day through his free online newsletter.

Since we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our minds, it is our duty to furnish it well. --Peter Ustinov, British actor, filmmaker, and writer, 1921-2004 Longview native Debra Tweedy has lived on four continents. She and her husband decided to return to her hometown and bought a house facing Lake Sacajawea.“We came back because of the Lake and the Longview Public Library,” she says.

At St. Stephen’s Church 1428 22nd Ave., Longview Mar.12

Find it on substack.com Search for “Lower Columbia Currents”

28 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

March featured artists: New Gallery Members

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First Thursday March 7 5:30-7pm

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Cover to Cover Brought to you by Book Sense and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, for week ending Jan 28, 2024, based on reporting from the independent bookstores of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. For the Book Sense store nearest you, visit www.booksense.com

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6. House of Earth and Blood Sarah J. Maas,

Bloomsbury Publishing, $19,

7. A Little Life Hanya Yanagihara, Anchor, $18

8. Never Whistle at Night Shane Hawk (Ed.), Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (Ed.), Vintage, $17

9. A Court of Wings and Ruin Sarah J. Maas,

Bloomsbury Publishing, $19

10. Throne of Glass Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury Publishing, $19

PAPERBACK NON-FICTION

HARDCOVER FICTION

HARDCOVER NON-FICTION

CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATED

EARLY & MIDDLE GRADE READERS

1. Killers of the Flower Moon

1. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

1. The Wager

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar

1. A Guide to the Dragon World

2. How to Know a Person

2. Goodnight Moon

David Grann, Vintage, $18 James McBride, Riverhead Books, $28 2. The Boys in the Boat Daniel James Brown, 2. Iron Flame Penguin, $19 Rebecca Yarros, Entangled: Red Tower 3. Braiding Sweetgrass Books, $29.99 Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $20 3. Fourth Wing 4. The Hundred Years’ War Rebecca Yarros, Entangled: Red Tower on Palestine Books, $29.99 Rashid Khalidi, Picador, $19.99

5. The Body Keeps the Score

Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., Penguin, $19

4. Remarkably Bright Creatures

Shelby Van Pelt, Ecco, $29.99

5. Demon Copperhead

6. All About Love

Barbara Kingsolver, Harper, $32.50

7. Starry Messenger

6. Martyr!

bell hooks, Morrow, $16.99 Neil deGrasse Tyson, Holt Paperbacks, $18.99

8. Crying in H Mart

Michelle Zauner, Vintage, $17

Kaveh Akbar, Knopf, $28

7. North Woods

Daniel Mason, Random House, $28

8. Lessons in Chemistry

Bonnie Garmus, Adam Grant, Penguin, $20 Doubleday, $29

9. Think Again 10. Solito

Javier Zamora, Hogarth, $18

9. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Gabrielle Zevin, Knopf, $28

10. Tom Lake

David Grann, Doubleday, $30 David Brooks, Random House, $30

3. The Creative Act

Rick Rubin, Penguin Press, $32

4. The Comfort of Crows

Margaret Renkl, Spiegel & Grau, $32

5. Oath and Honor

Liz Cheney, Little, Brown and Company, $32.50

6. Atomic Habits

James Clear, Avery, $27

By Alan Rose The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life David Brooks Random House $18 (paperback)

he start of a new year is a fitting time to take stock of one’s life; especially in February, now that we’ve gotten over those silly New Year’s Resolutions—Walk a mile a day? In winter? What was I thinking? Past the declarations to lose 10 pounds or write the memoir that’s been percolating within us, there remains the very human desire to do more, to be more. Perhaps to be a better spouse, or a better parent, a better friend, or member of one’s community. With January behind us, we can get serious.

2. Working Boats

3. Buffalo Fluffalo

3. The Skull

4. The Eyes and the Impossible

4. Little Blue Truck’s Valentine Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry (Illus.), Clarion Books, $13.99

5. Mexikid

Pedro Martín, Dial Books, $14.99 Vashti Harrison, Little, Brown Books 6. The Sun and the Star for Young Readers, Rick Riordan, Mark Oshiro, Disney $19.99 Hyperion, $19.99

Suzanne Lang, Max Lang (Illus.), Random House Studio, $8.99

9. Democracy Awakening

Heather Cox Richardson, Viking, $30

10. A Fever in the Heartland

Timothy Egan, Viking, $30

Dave Eggers, Shawn Harris (Illus.), Knopf Books for Young Readers, $19.99

5. Big

8. Prequel

Rachel Maddow, Crown, $32

Tom Crestodina, Little Bigfoot, $19.99 Jon Klassen, Candlewick, $19.99

Bess Kalb, Erin Kraan (Illus.), Random House Studio, $18.99

6. Where the Wild Things Are

Tim Alberta, Harper, $35

Tui T. Sutherland, Joy Ang (Illus.), Scholastic Press, $24.99

Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.), Harper,$10.99

7. The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory

Ann Patchett, Harper, $30

BOOK REVIEW

Eric Carle, World of Eric Carle, $10.99

Maurice Sendak, Harper, $21.99

7. Laugh-Out-Loud Valentine’s Day Jokes for Kids Rob Elliott, Harper, $5.99

7. Grumpy Monkey

8. Ooo, Baby Baby!: A Little Book of Love

8. A Horse Named Sky

Rosanne Parry, Kirbi Fagan (Illus.), Greenwillow Books, $18.99

Sandra Boynton, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $7.99

9. When You Trap a Tiger

9. Bluey: Sleepytime

10. Coraline

Joe Brumm, Penguin Young Readers, $18.99

Tae Keller, Yearling, $8.99

Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (Illus.), Harper, $9.99

10. I Eat Poop.: A Dung Beetle Story Mark Pett, Roaring Brook Press, $19.99

The soul-shift from wanting more to being more David Brooks, conservative New York Times columnist and political commentator for the PBS NewsHour, offers this thoughtful book to help the process. Borrowing from various religious and wisdom traditions, Brooks uses the image of two mountains: The first mountain symbolizes the goals typically encouraged by one’s culture: professional success, respect, family and friends, personal happiness, material wellbeing. But there can come a point where people ask, “Is this all there is?” and feel that they “are under-living their lives.” It’s a shift from “wanting more” to “being more.” This is sometimes understood as the mid-life crisis, but really, it can happen at any age (Disclosure: My first mid-life crisis happened when I was 15.) People may be tempted to make dramatic changes to their lives, changes that can be healthy or unhealthy.

Alan’s haunting novel of the AIDS epidemic, As If Death Summoned, won the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award (LGBT category.) He can be reached at www.alan-rose.com.

Individualism, taken too far, leads to tribalism. Hannah Arendt noticed the phenomenon decades ago (in The Origins of Totalitarianism). When she looked into the lives of people who had become political fanatics, she found two things: loneliness and spiritual emptiness…They revert to tribe. Tribalism seems like a way to restore the bonds of community. It certainly does bind people together. But it is actually the dark twin of community. Community is connection based on mutual affection. Tribalism… is connection based on mutual hatred. Community is based on common humanity; tribalism on a common foe…Tribalism is community for lonely narcissists. – from The Second Mountain

Brooks understands this as the second mountain, the opportunity to reassess and re-orient one’s life to what’s really important to a person, wanting “to want the things that are truly worth wanting.” He distinguishes between happiness, having to do with perceived success or sensual pleasure, and joy, which involves some transcendence of self. Think of those moments “when life seemed at its peak, when life felt fullest, most meaningful, and most complete.” In part, he blames our contemporary s o c i e t y, “ a c u l t u r e o f hy p e rindividualism” that’s too selfpreoccupied, too focused on the individual over the community, and obsessed with what he calls “the Instagram Life.” You may or may not agree with his social analysis — it reflects the conservative’s longing for an earlier, simpler, happier age, ignoring that all ages are complex, all have their benefits and their disadvantages. Golden ages are invariably seen in the rear-view mirror—but his basic idea is sound, and has been attested through the millennia, in different cultures, cont. page 32

February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 29

COLUMBIA RIVER

Clatskanie, Ore. Fultano’s Pizza 770 E. Columbia River Hwy Family style with unique pizza offerings, hot grill items & more! Dine-in,Take-out and Home Delivery. Visit Fultanos.com for streamlined menu. 503-728-2922

dining guide

The Corner Cafe

796 Commerce Ave. Breakfast & Lunch. Daily Soup & Sandwich, breakfast specials. Tues-Sat 7am-3pm. Closed Sun-Mon. 360-353-5420. Email: sndcoffeeshop@comcast.net

Eclipse Coffee & Tea

Ixtapa Fine Mexican Restaurant 640 E. Columbia River Hwy

Fine Mexican cuisine. Daily specials. The best margarita in town. Daily drink specials. Dine-in, curbside pickup. M-Th 11am–9:30pm; Fri & Sat 11am–11:30pm; Sun 11am–9pm. 503-728-3344

Rainier. Ore. 102 East “A” Street Microbrews, wines & spirits 7am–8pm Daily. Inside dining.

Interstate Tavern

119 E. “B” St., (Hwy 30) Crab Louie/Crab cocktails, crab-stuffed avocados. 17 hot and cold sandwiches. Amazing crab sandwiches. Full bar service. Catering for groups. 503-556-9950. interstatetavern@yahoo.com

El Tapatio

117 W. ‘A’ Street Mexican Family Restaurant. Open Fri-Sat 11am-11pm, rest of week 11am-10pm. Full bar. Karaoke Fri-Sat 8-11pm. Patio seating. 503556-8323.

Longview, Wash. 1335 14th Avenue 18 rotating craft brews, pub fare. M-Th 11am–8pm. Fri-Sat 11am–10pm; Sunday 11am–6pm. Local music coming soon. 360-232-8283. Wine Wednesdays: $5 pours.

Bruno’s Pizza 1108 Washington Way. Pizza, breadsticks, wings, salads, fish & chips. WE DELIVER. Four beers on tap. 360-636-4970 or 360-425-5220,

The Carriage

Restaurant & Lounge

The Carriage Restaurant & Lounge (formerly located on 14th Ave).

NEW LOCATION! 3353 Washington Way (formerly Regents) Chinese & American cuisine. New menu in the future. Full bar, banquet room available for groups, special events. Restaurant: 11am–9pm, Lounge 11am–1:00am. 360423-8680.

In the Merk (1339 Commerce Ave., #113) 360-998-2139. Mon-Fri 8am– 4pm. Specialty coffees, teas, bubble teas and pastries....drinks with a smile. Takeout and on-site.

Freddy’s Just for the Halibut

1110 Commerce Ave. Cod, Alaskan halibut fish and chips, award-winning clam chowder. Burgers, steaks, pasta. Beer and wine. M-Sat 10am–8pm, Sunday 11am–8pm. Inside dining, Drive-thru, outdoor seating. 360-414-3288. See ad, page 4.

Hop N Grape

924 15th Ave., Longview Tues–Thurs 11am–7pm; Fri & Sat 11am–8pm. BBQ meat slow-cooked on site. Pulled pork, chicken, brisket, ribs, turkey, salmon. Worldfamous mac & cheese. 360-577-1541. Kyoto Sushi Steakhouse 760 Ocean Beach Hwy, Suite J 360-425-9696. Japanese food, i.e. hibachi, Bento boxes, Teppanyaki; Sushi (half-price Wednesdays); Kids Meal 50% Off Sundays. Mon-Th 11-2:30, 4:30-9:30. Fri-Sat 11am10pm. Sun 11am-9pm.

Lynn’s Deli & Catering 1133 14th Ave.

Soups & sandwiches, specializing in paninis, box lunches, deli sandwiches and party platters. Mon-Fri 8-3, Saturday 10-2. 360-577-5656

Roland Wines

1106 Florida St., Longview. Authentic Italian wood-fired pizza, wine, and beer. Casual ambience. 5–9pm Wed-Fri, Sat. 1–9. 360-8467304. See ad, pg 35. Scythe Brewing Company 1217 3rd Avenue #150 360-353-3851 Sun-Thurs 11:30am -8pm; Fri-Sat 11:30am -10pm. Family-friendly brewery/ restaurant with upscale, casual dining, lunch and dinner.

Stuffy’s 804 Ocean Beach Hwy 360-423-6356 8am–8pm. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. American style food. Free giant cinnamon roll with meal purchase on your birthday with proof of ID. Facebook: Stuffy’s II Restaurant, or Instagram @stuffys2.

Teri’s Café on Broadway

1133 Broadway. Lunch and Dinner, full bar. Open Mon-Sat 11am–8pm. 360-577-0717

30 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

Castle Rock, Wash

uckman’s Coffee Company 239

Huntington Ave. North, Drive-thru. Pastries, sandwiches, salads, quiche.

Parker’s Steak House & Brewery 1300 Mt. St. Helens Way. I-5 Exit 49. Lunch, Dinner. Burgers, hand-cut steak; seafood and pasta. Restaurant open 1-8pm Tue-Th, 1-9pm, F-Sat. Lounge Happy Hours 4pm. 360-967-2333. Call for status/options. Vault Books & Brew 20 Cowlitz Street West, Castle Rock. Coffee and specialty drinks, quick eats & sweet treats. See ad, page 38.

Kalama, Wash. LUCKMAN’S COFFEE, Market Timber Market, Port of Kalama

Scappoose, Ore. Fultano’s Pizza 51511 SE 2nd. Family style with unique pizza offerings, hot grill items & more! “Best pizza around!” Sun–Th 11am–9pm; Fri-Sat 11am–10pm. Full bar service ‘til 10pm Fri & Sat. Deliveries in Scappoose. 503-543-5100. Inside Dining.

Ixtapa Fine Mexican Restaurant

33452 Havlik Rd. Fine Mexican cuisine. Daily specials. The best margarita in town. Daily drink specials. M-Th 11am–9:30pm; Fri & Sat 11am–11:30pm; Sun 11am–9pm. 503-543-3017

Warren, Ore. Warren Country Inn 56575 Columbia River Hwy. Fine family dining. Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Full bar. Call for hours.503-410-5479. Check Facebook for updates. Dine-in.

Toutle, Wash. DREW’S GROCERY & SERVICE

5304 Spirit Lake Hwy (10 mi. fr Exit 49) 24-hour fueling (gas & diesel, card at pump, cash at Jule’s Snack Shack (when open). Red Leaf Organic Coffee. See ad, page 21.

Woodland, Wash. 215 N. Hendrickson Dr., Port of Kalama. A Northwest pub and unique bars serving breakfast, lunch & dinner daily. Info & reservations, bar hours at mcmenamins.com. 8am–midnight daily. 360- 673-9210. Indoor dining, covered outdoor seating, curbside take-out.

“SoCo” 1350 Atlantic Ave. Rotating craft brews, pub fare. Open M-Th 11am–6pm; Fri–Sat 11am–10pm; Sunday 11am–6pm. 360-841-8941. Wine Wednesdays: $5 pours

St. Helens, Ore. Sunshine Pizza & Catering 2124 Columbia Blvd. Hot pizza, cool salad bar. Beer & wine. Limited inside seating, curbside pickup and delivery. 503-397-3211 See ad, page 26. Big River Tap Room 313 Strand Street on the Riverfront. Lunch/Dinner Tue-Thurs 12–8pm; Fri-Sat 12–9pm. Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef, pastrami. Weekend Burrito Breakfast, Sat 8-11, Sun 8am-3pm.

uckman

Coffee Company 1230 Lewis River Rd. Small batch on-site roasted coffee, breakfast, lunch. Inside seating. M-F 5:30am–6pm, Sat 6am–5pm, Sun 7am–3pm..

THE OAK TREE

1020 Atlantic Ave. Breakfast served all day. Famous Bankruptcy Stew, Oak Tree Salad, desserts baked in-house. Full bar. Happy Hours 1-3, 7-9pm. Live music. 360--841-5292.

Restaurant operators: To advertise in Columbia River Dining Guide, call 360-749-2632

A Different Way of Seeing

THE TIDEWATER REACH FIELD GUIDE TO THE

LOWER COLUMBIA IN POEMS AND PICTURES

EMPIRE OF TREES

by Hal Calbom

AMERICA’S PLANNED CITY AND THE LAST FRONTIER In 1920 the nation’s largest lumber company rolled the dice. They would build the world’s largest sawmills, and a planned city to house them, in the far Pacific Northwest. From a reclaimed swamp on the Columbia River, they produced a million board feet a day, shipped their lumber around the world, and built a model city called Longview.

Poem by Robert Michael Pyle Photograph by Judy VanderMaten Field Note by

This is history not just of a region, but of a daring spirit, relentless idealism, and colossal ambition. By the mid-thirties, the Depression had broken their empire. But the model city they built still stood, and stands today.

Hal Calbom

NEAP

Tides are products

of gravitational interaction among the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon. Because the Moon is so much closer, it exerts a greater effect on the tides. Tidal range is the result of juxtapositions of the three bodies. When they align, and the Moon is either a new moon or a full moon, the tidal range is most extreme. On the other hand, tidal range is least during the two “half ” moons each month, when the orbs are out of alignment, and counteract each other. The result is a Neap Tide, from the Anglo-Saxon, meaning without the

power.

A Moon I Didn’t See Was it low and red, that moon you saw above the river mouth? The color of a dull ache long after a fall, when it rose?

WORDS AND WOOD

by Debby Neely

PACIFIC NORTHWEST WOODCUTS AND HAIKU

I didn’t see it, so I don’t know; but I’ve seen moons that ached like that before. Last night another moon cruised the ceiling of the fog, glanced off the tin-roofed bridge like a discus thrown the old way, skidding to a stop in the river’s moonglade. I’d like to think of every moon as mine despite my absent eyes. Maybe it’s the moons you never see that burn the deepest. •••

Meadowlark

Fence post podium Meadowlark with yellow vest Sings a song of joy

This page and page 4 feature samples from CRRPress’s four books.

CRRPRESS was founded in 2020, with the first printing of Tidewater Reach, followed by Dispatches from the Discovery Trail, Empire of Trees, and Words and Wood. For purchase info, see page 2.

BOOKS • BOOKS • BOOKS • BOOKS • BOOKS • BOOKS • BOOKS • BOOKS February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 31

Book Review

from page 29 ages, and traditions: There is more to life than the ego’s goals. This is ultimately a book about renewal, about rethinking what’s important in one’s life.

Allan Hunter, one of the most beloved mentors at my seminary, told how he once was called to the bedside of a man near death. The man, bitter and angry, had been a failure as a husband and father, now estranged from his family, without friends, and remorseful at the ruin his life had become. Allan told him, “Yes, you’re dying. You have just enough time to become a saint.” This is not a self-help manual, but rather a thoughtful guidebook, suggesting that it’s never too late to take stock of one’s life, and maybe go climb a mountain. •••

Mount St. Helens Hiking Club

HOW TO PUBLICIZE YOUR NON-PROFIT EVENT IN CRR

Send your non-commercial community event info (name of event, beneficiary, sponsor, date & time, location, brief description and contact info) to publisher@crreader.com Or mail or hand-deliver (in person or via mail slot) to:

Columbia River Reader 1333-14th Ave Longview, WA 98632 Submission Deadlines Events occurring: Mar 15–April 20 by Feb. 25 for March 15 issue. April 15–May 20 by Mar 25 for Apr 15 issue. Calendar submissions are considered for inclusion, subject to lead time, relevance to readers, and space limitations. See Submission Guidelines below

sketch by the late

Deena Martinson.

Call leader to join outing or for more info. Non-members welcome. Driving distances are from Longview, Wash. (E) - Easier: Usually on relatively flat ground (up to 5 miles and/or less than 500 ft. e.g.) (M) - Moderate: Longer and more elevation gain (over 5 miles and/or over 500 ft. e.g.) (S) - Strenuous: Long hikes and/or elevation gain (over 8 miles and/or over 1200 ft. e.g.) Feb 14 - Wed. Lucia/Moulton Falls (E) Drive 100 miles RT. Hike 5.5 miles on level path with views of the river and waterfalls. Leader: Barbara R. 360-431-1131. Feb 21 - Wed. Castle Rock Trail (E) Drive 30 milesR T. Walk 4 miles on the Castle Rock Trail from the park up and back. Mostly paved trail. No e.g., unless you decide to go up the “Rock” trail which is short but steep and could be muddy. Leader Art M. 360-270-9991 Feb 24 - Sat. Milo McIver State Park (M) Drive 142 miles RT. Hike a 5.7 mile loop with 344’ e.g. The trail skirts the Clackamas River before climbing through lush forest, past a large meadow and up to Milo McIver Memorial Viewpoint, then returning back down to the trailhead parking lot. Leader: Bruce M. 360 425-0256 Feb 28 - Wed. Rainier High School (E) Drive 12 miles r.t. Hike a 3.5-mile loop with 100’ e.g. including a loop through Hudson Park. Leader: John R. (360) 431-1122 Mar 1 - Fri. Trillium Lake Snowshow Drive 200 miles R., Leader: Bruce M. 360-4254256

Mar 9 - Sat. Lake Sacajawea (E) Walk 4 miles on flat ground around the whole lake or any portion for a shorter walk. **This walk is designed for super seniors and/or people with physical limitations at a slow pace.** Leader: Susan S. (360) 430-9914

Submission Guidelines Letters to the Editor (up to 200 words) relevant to the publication’s purpose — helping readers discover and enjoy the good life in the Columbia River region, at home and on the road — are welcome. Longer pieces, or excerpts thereof, in response to previously-published articles, may be printed at the discretion of the publisher and subject to editing and space limitations. Items sent to CRR will be considered for publication unless the writer specifies otherwise. Writer’s name and phone number must be included; anonymous submissions will not be considered. Political Endorsements CRR is a monthly publication serving readers in several towns, three counties, two states and beyond and does not publish Letters to the Editor that are endorsements or criticisms of political candidates or controversial issues. (Paid ad space is available.) Unsolicited submissions may be considered, provided they are consistent with the publication’s purpose. Advance contact with the editor is recommended. Information of general interest submitted by readers may be used as background or incorporated in future articles. Outings & Events calendar (free listing): Events must be open to the public. Non-profit organizations and the arts, entertainment, educational and recreational opportunities and community cultural events will receive listing priority. Fundraisers must be sanctioned/sponsored by the benefiting non-profit organization. Commercial projects, businesses and organizations wishing to promote their particular products or services are invited to purchase advertising.

32 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

BROADWAY GALLERY 1418 Commerce Avenue, Longview Mon thru Sat, 11–4. Visit the Gallery to see new work. For event updates check our website: the-broadwaygallery.com, at Broadway Gallery on Facebook, and broadway gallery longview on Instagram.

FEATURED ARTISTS FEB: New gallery member Molly Butson, silver jewelry & more MAR: New Gallery members Fran McCool, fabric art; Phil Fake, painting

Join Us for First Thursday March 7 • 5:30–7pm New Art • Nibbles Live Music by Keith Hinyard

OPEN Tues - Sat 11–4 * Classes & Workshops are back! Check our website or come into the Gallery for details. We are a great place to buy gifts! Free Gift Wrap on request. Gift Cards for sale!

Find a unique gift! We have beautiful artisan cards, jewelry, books by local authors, wearable art, original paintings, pottery, sculpture, photographs and so much more.

Outings & Events Wait until Dark Feb 16-Mar 10. Fri-Sat 7:30, Sun 2pm. Play

CLATSKANIE ARTS COMMISSION

by Frederick Knott, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, directed by David Roberts. Tickets $25. Purchase online www. LoveStreetPlayhouse.com or by phone 800-966-8865. Love Street Playhouse, 126 Loves Ave.,Woodland, Wash.

Vox Fortura Fri, Feb. 23, 7:30pm. “Britain’s Got Talent “ semi-

finalists and international touring sensation showcasing the jaw-dropping sound that skyrocketed them to fame. Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts, Longview, Wash. This is the third concert of CTPA’s season. Single tickets $45 Adults, $25 Students, available for purchase through the CTPA Box Office, 360-575-8499, online at www.columbiatheatre.com or at the door. For more information call 360-636-2211 or visit www.lkcca.org.

THE MINTHORN COLLECTION OF CHINESE ART

Multi Family Indoor Sale Sat. March 9 , 9 - 3.Rainier Senior

Center, 48 W.7th, Rainier, Ore. 503-556-3889 or 503-3696382.

Evolved street band, profiled on NPR’s “All Things Considered” to perform in Clatskanie

Call to Artists Columbian Artists Association 2024 Spring Art

Show Mar. 23-April 23, Cowlitz County Historical Museum, Kelso, Wash.. Entries accepted March 19, 10am-12pm. Open to artists age 18+ from Cowlitz, Clark, Wahkiakum, Lewis, Pacifoc, Clatsop, and Columbia Counties. Need not be CAA member to enter. Entry fees: Non-=members $20 per piece; members $15.Info: columbiaartits.org, Eileen 206-949-9811. Free tax preparation with IRS-certified AARP Tax-Aide

3 Leg Torso formed in 1996 as a violin, cello and accordion trio to create original modern chamber music for their unique instrumentation. Since then, the ensemble has expanded both its musical mission and its size to become a quintet that now performs original compositions synthesizing chamber music, tango, klezmer, Latin and gypsy music.

Annual Kids’ Fish-In April 27. Hourly sessions starting at

As principal composers, founding members Bela R. Balogh (violin and trumpet) and Courtney Von Drehle (accordion) provide the core of 3 Leg Torso’s sound. They are joined by the consummate mallet/percussion of T.J. Arco and the gentleman of the acoustic bass, Mike Murphy.

volunteers. For area residents through mid-April. AARP membership not required, no age or income limitations. For an appointment, call or visit Longview Library (360-442-5300), Lower Columbia CAP (360-425-3430), or use the aarp.org/ taxaide website.

8:00am last one 4:00pm. Registration required; $10 per participant. Please register at mylongview.com or call 360- 4425400 or go to 2920 Douglas St., Longview, Wash. Hot dog, goody bag, fishing equipment and bait provided; no personal equipment allowed inside fenced area. Ppre-register early as sessions fill quickly. Plan to arrive at least 10–15 minutes before session. Presented by Longview Parks & Recreation; sponsored by Longview Early Edition Rotary.

A gift from Dr. and Mrs. H. Minthorn to the community via Lower Columbia College Foundation, The Minthorn Collection of Chinese Art encompasses a wide range of styles and is displayed in the upper level of the art gallery in LCC’s Rose Center, open M-Th 10–3 during current Forsberg Exhibition only. Free.

The ensemble’s history began with street music, expanding to perform with symphony orchestras and work with filmmakers. Their pieces have been used in various movies and television series. The group has been profiled on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

Spellebration March 14, 21+ spelling bee, Grant’s

at the Monticello, 1405 17th Ave, Longview, Wash. Hosted by Rotary Club of Kelso, benefits United Way of Cowlitz and Wahkiakum Counties Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program. 5pm doors open, 6 pm spelling bee begins. $25 per player. Teams of 8 participate together from their tables. Fewer than 8? Kelso Rotary will help you find new friends to play with. Spectator: $10 per person. Come watch the spelling contest! Players and spectators may dress up like Dolly Parton for a chance to win a prize. Drinks and food available for purchase (not included in ticket price.) $500 to winning team.

IF YOU GO

3 Leg Torso The Clatskanie Arts Commission presents 3 Leg Torso on Sunday, February 18, 3pm at the Birkenfeld Theatre, 75 S. Nehalem in Clatskanie, Ore. Tickets, priced at $25 Adults; $23 Seniors (60+) and Students; $20 Children, are available online at clatskaniearts.org or by calling Elsa at 503-728-3403. If still available, tickets will be sold at the door on concert day. Other upcoming events:

Sun, Feb 25, 3 pm.: FREE family performance of Leapin’ Louie who uses circus and cowboy tricks, a six-foot unicycle, and lots of comedy to explore all those wild critters, including us, who fly. Sun, Mar 10, 3pm.: Skamokawa Swamp Opera – definitely not an opera! Sun, April 14, 3 pm.: “Close to You: The Music of the Carpenters,” featuring a 6-piece band. Tickets available at clatskaniearts.org.

CLATSKANIE ARTS COMMISSION Performances at Birkenfeld Theatre, 75 S. Nehalem, Clatskanie, Ore.

Performance change: Friday, April 26, 7:30 p.m.: Due to visa problems, Will Martin’s performance has been canceled and will be replaced by Spencer Day and his Tribute to Frank Sinatra. Will Martin tickets will be honored for this performance.

Tickets/Info: www.clatskaniearts.org February 15, 2024 / Columbia River Reader / 33

PLUGGED IN TO COWLITZ

the spectator by ned piper

PUD

Fire up the grill, grab your gardening gloves

hen Sue bought the Reader in 2004, she persuaded her brother Mike to write a Lewis and Clark column. My friend dating back to high school days, Paul Thompson, also agreed to write for her paper. As I recall, a theme for Paul’s column had not been determined. His first contribution was a review of the play “Bye Bye Birdie,” then being performed at St. Helens High School. Paul knew the play, having taught speech and drama at Wright College when he lived in Oak Park, Illinois. He also had a side business as a stage carpenter, and later volunteered for a community theatre group in Sequim, Washington, after he retired and returned to the Pacific Northwest.

Secure, nurturing care and curiosity-driven learning takes place here. There is space for your baby in our Early Learning Center.

By Alice Dietz, Cowlitz PUD Communications/ Public Relations Manager

Over martinis, Sue learned that Paul enjoyed cooking. And, soon after, that he was very good at it. That turned out to be a perfect addition to a newspaper dedicated to helping readers enjoy the good life! Sadly, Paul passed away in 2021. We miss him, and CRR remains influenced by and infused with his spirit.

Energy Efficiency at Home

Paul “Man in the Kitchen” Thompson, cooking soup at CRR’s office in 2013

As you page through this issue, you will run across Paul’s article on Tandoori Chicken, an East Indian dish that Sue considers one of Paul’s best (see page 9.) Among other Man in the Kitchen “classics” she re-runs occasionally are his famous garlic bread, Eggs Benedict, Risotto, and Swiss Steak. I confess that I’ve not been fond of Indian food, but this is one Indian dish I love. I’ve grilled Tandoori Chicken even in the winter between rain showers. Looking back, when my mother, who was a wonderful cook, cooked Indian food, she may have gone heavy on the curry. Maybe that’s why I didn’t think I liked it. (Editor’s note: Either that or you were just persnickity. There’s nothing not to like about Indian cuisine!)

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Another “early” regular writer who came along was “Northwest Gardener” Nancy Chennault from Castle Rock. Nancy’s tips on everything to do with growing a successful garden became a popular regular feature. She took what turned out to be a seven-year hiatus (or would that be a sabbatical?) to focus on heading up the effort to turn her hometown into an award-winning America in Bloomtm city. And, as you may have already noticed, Nancy has resumed writing for the Reader. We are pleased to have her back. I’m sure you’ll agree that Nancy’s return and Sue’s practice of re-running some of Paul’s classic recipes are welcome additions to CRR. ••• Longview resident Ned Piper coordinates CRR’s advertising and distribution, and enjoys meeting/greeting friends, both old and new.

34 / Columbia River Reader / February 15, 2024

Utility bills always increase in the winter as we start heating our homes and being inside more. But with many folks now working from home and kids participating in remote learning from home, you may see an unwelcome increase in your winter bills. Here are some tips to help keep your bills manageable this winter. •Unplug electronic devices when you are not using them. If they are fully charged, unplug the chargers. If they are plugged in and you can see a light on your device, it is using electricity. •Set the temperature back five degrees on your heating system when you leave the house for two hours or more and when you go to bed at night. •Make sure the weatherstripping around your doors is in good condition. Replacing weatherstripping is inexpensive and can increase your comfort. •Upgrade your lights to LED bulbs. •Clean or replace all filters in your home. This includes furnace filters, the filters in your ductless heat pump, and the filter slot in your dryer. All your appliances will work more efficiently with clean filters. •Use your microwave in place of your oven when possible. •Refrigerators and freezers operate most efficiently when full, so keep your refrigerator and freezer as full as possible (using water bottles if nothing else). But be careful about overfilling them as this will reduce airflow and cause the appliance to work harder. •Turn off “heated dry” on your dishwasher and air dry instead. •Set your refrigerator temperature to the manufacturer’s recommendation to avoid excessive cooling and wasting energy. Not sure what temperature you’re actually cooling to? Call the PUD for a free refrigerator temperature card. •Dress for the weather. When you’re at home, dress in warm clothing in the winter and cooler clothing in the summer to stay comfortable without making your furnace and air conditioning work harder. For more Energy Efficiency Tips visit: https://www.cowlitzpud.org/efficiency/ ••• Alice Dietz is Cowlitz PUD’s Communications/Public Relations Manager. Reach her at adietz@cowlitzpud. org, or 360-501-9146.

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ColumbiaRiver RiverReader Reader/•October February15, 15,2020 2024 36 / Columbia