CRR November 2020

CRREADER.COM • Vol. XVII, No. 184 • November 25, 2020 • COMPLIMENTARY Helping you discover and enjoy the good life in the Columbia River region at home and on the road

People+ Place A Layman’s Lewis & Clark Part 2 page 28

COLUMBIA RIVER

dining guide

OJoy! ! the

Capt. William Clark, 1804

CELEBRATE A NEW YEAR • WINTER CHEER • GIFT IDEAS • HOLIDAY FOOD

COLUMBIA RIVER READER COLLECTORS CLUB

LEWIS AND CLARK REVOLUTIONIZED

• 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. We’re delighted to offer In Full View, and Rex’s other two books, one with an extraordinary fold-out map, as our inaugural offerings from CRR Collectors Club.

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

Cutting Edge The art of the woodcut

page 19

page 28

COLUMBIA RIVER

dining guide

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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.

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THE TIDEWATER REACH

EYEWITNESS TO ASTORIA Gabriel Franchére

Field Guide to the Lower Columbia River in Poems and Pictures

By Robert Michael Pyle and Judy VanderMaten.

Boxed Signature Edition, Color and BW $50 / Trade paperback $25 “It’s a different way of seeing.” A one-of-a-kind Field Guide to the lower Columbia, in poems and pictures.

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Robert Michael Pyle Judy VanderMaten

Robert Michael Pyle Judy VanderMaten

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DOWN AND UP Rex Ziak $18.95 A unique fold-out guide mapping dayby-day Lewis and Clark’s journey from the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean and back.

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

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DEBBY NEELY

A LAYMAN’S LEWIS & CLARK

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HAL CALBOM

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A Layman’s Lewis & Clark

By Michael O. Perry Boxed Signature Edition, Color and BW $50 / Trade paperback $25 Compiled from the popular CRR series, with new notes and commentary, this book adds a gifted amateur historian’s insights, quirks and observations to the lore and legacy of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. ORDER NOW for pre-Christmas delivery.

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A LAYMAN’S LEWIS & CLARK

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T

his holiday season may be somewhat subdued, but there’s still plenty to enjoy and celebrate.

CRRPress is celebrating, big time, publication of our second book, Dispatches from the Discovery Trail: A Layman’s Lewis & Clark, by Michael Perry. I’m especially proud of the author, who happens to be my brother. It was about this time some 17 years ago, and I was thinking about buying the newspaper you now hold in your hand. We were having drinks in Seaside, Oregon, after a disappointing evening dig yielding just three clams.

I asked Mike if he’d write a column in my future newspaper, somehow marking the upcoming Lewis and Clark Bicentennial.

Over the subsequent months, I watched Mike blossom as an amateur historian, become immersed in the story of Lewis and Clark, and share it with CRR readers.

Since then, many of you have asked if there was any way to get the entire 33-episode series. The rest is history, as they say, and the book is finally a reality, here just in time for holiday reading and giving! Cheers! Congratulations, and thanks to you, Mike.

Sue’s Views

Enjoy and Celebrate...

Cheers!

a negative connotation. Yet in his book Flow:The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi writes a spirited defense of the word and idea, suggesting that beginning with its roots in the Latin verb amare, “to love,” amateur referred to a person who loved what he was doing. May we all be so fortunate! All hail the gifted amateur!

Recently we learned that this year’s Winter Solstice Lantern Walk at Lake Sacajawea was canceled. You can still enjoy this experience, however, without the station-to-station social interaction (see page 38). If you go at twilight a day or two either side of Dec. 21, the waxing crescent Moon will escort you. Be sure to pick a dry day (yes, there is such a thing), bundle up, and take a housemate and thermos of your favorite hot beverage to share.

Or go solo and ponder the things you love doing, your many blessings, the mystery of the night sky, and the meaning of the holidays.

Production/Graphics Manager: Perry E. Piper Editorial/Proofreading Assistants: Merrilee Bauman, Michael Perry, Marilyn Perry, Tiffany Dickinson 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 Website: www.CRReader.com E-mail: publisher@crreader.com Phone: 360-749-1021

ON THE COVER

Cover Design by

And who knows, with luck, things may open back up before Christmas, enough that if you drop by Dec. 17–22, we’ll even be able to offer you a hot toddy!

Now, THAT would be something to celebrate! From the Columbia River Reader staff and family, I send warmest holiday wishes, with gratitude, to you and yours this season.

Sue Piper

In this Issue

Publisher/Editor: Susan P. Piper “Redwing,” by woodcut artist Debby Neely, one of10 woodcuts featured in Dispatches from the Discovery Trail, a new book just published by CRRPress. In animal symbolism, seeing a red-winged blackbird is said to be a positive omen...may this apply to 2021!

I hope to see many of you this season.

At the CRR Holiday Shoppe (see page 8), we’ll have books for gift-giving (even to yourself), and Seely’s mint patties and Wine Aroma Wheels as stocking stuffers. Call 360-749-1021 for curbside pick-up or free local delivery.

Columbia River Reader . . . helping you discover and enjoy the good life in the Columbia River region at home and on the road.

In his People+Place Production Notes this month, Hal Calbom writes in praise of the “gifted amateur,” as preface to his interview with the author. In some circles the word “amateur” is given

Columnists and contributors: Tracy Beard Hal Calbom Alice Dietz Joseph Govednik Jim LeMonds Gary Meyers Gian Paul Morelli Kathleen Patton Michael Perry Ned Piper Perry Piper Robert Michael Pyle Marc Roland Alan Rose Alice Slusher Greg Smith Debra Tweedy Dennis Weber Raleigh Wyatt

And as much as possible this season, please buy local, preserve and celebrate all that we have here in our communities. CRR’s advertisers, and all local businesses depend upon — and appreciate — our support.

2

CRR Collectors Club

4

Letters to the Editor

5

Civilized Life: Miss Manners

7

Dispatch from the Discovery Trail ~ The End of the Journey for Meriwether Lewis

Roland on Wine

9

11

HaikuFest 2021

13

Northwest Gardening: Holiday Kits ~ The Perfect Gift

16

Wining & Dining with Tracy Beard

19

Museum Magic: New Exhibit at Cowlitz Historical Museum

20

Quips & Quotes

Columbia River Reader is published monthly, with 15,000 copies distributed in the Lower Columbia region. Entire contents copyrighted by Columbia River Reader. No reproduction of any kind allowed without express written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed herein, whether in editorial content or paid ad space, belong to the writers and advertisers, are not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Reader.

21–24 People Place ~ The Layman’s Lewis & Clark, Part 2

Submission guidelines: page 36.

36

Outings & Events Non-Calendar / Hikes

General Ad info: page 18

37

Hold It Close: Columbia Theatre Director Bids Adieu

Ned Piper 360-749-2632.

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

26

Where Do You Read the Reader?

27

The Natural World ~ Carnal Knowledge

28

Lower Columbia Dining Guide

29

Me & My Piano

30

Besides CRR, What Are You Reading?

31

Cover to Cover ~ Book Review / Bestsellers List

33

Introspection: Gaspar’s Journey

35

Lower Columbia Informer: Remembering My Grandparents

38-39 Astronomy / The Sky Report / A Space Walk You Can Take 42

The Spectator: Holiday Toasts: Here’s to Books!

42

Plugged In to Cowlitz PUD: Winter is Coming

HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 3

Letters to the Editor Likes Lewis and Clark We pick up the Columbia River Reader frequently and the last one had the story by Mr. Perry about Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea — it was is really a good read.

Dave Clark Vancouver, Wash.

Castle Rock here and there We just took a driving trip to see our son in Minnesota. We have one picture in front of the Castle Rock, Minnesota post office, not far from his home (as we live in Castle Rock, Washington). And on the way home we stopped at Mount Rushmore and

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(See Where Do You Read the Reader, page 26). We have only lived in the Pacific Northwest for a year now and love your paper. It really gives us a feel for our new home and what all is going on locally. Thank you for a great paper.

Tom and Laura McGoldrick Castle Rock, Wash, Long-term Reader reader I continue to enjoy reading your entertaining and informative monthly newspaper — and, these days, what a joyous relief from all the political and nation-dividing material read in the “common” press.

Michael Perry’s journeying with Lewis and Clark is highly informative and a great read; however, I noticed that in the October 15 edition... the author states that the thermometers the Expedition had with them would measure only to 45 degrees below freezing — and were, therefore, useless. Is that a correct statement?

I had no idea that anywhere in the contiguous U.S. got near that extreme temperature. Surely that’s from the Arctic? Or the Antarctic?

Your Columbia River Reader

Thank You. Have a Happy Holiday Season and a Merry Christmas!

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Happy Holidays!

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Plastics Still Accepted

Please do not place your recyclables in plastic bags

Plastics 1 and 2 Only, via curbside program

Place directly into your BROWN recycling container

No need to remove paper labels or crush plastic

In an effort to serve you better, the City has compiled common information that residents often request, plus created an easywayfor you to communicate with us.

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Reuse or donate if possible, but...

When in doubt — throw it out!

Got a question? Just Ask Longview!

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www.longviewrecycles.com 4 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

Read it • Enjoy it Share it • Recycle it

Columbia River Reader is printed with environmentally-sensitive soybased inks on paper manufactured in the Pacific Northwest utilizing the highest percentage of “post-consumer waste” recycled content available on the market.

My usual trip through the newspaper begins with my obeisance to the Editor and her column, then straight to Dear Miss Manners. I love “her” responses, sarcasm sometimes laced with chocolate, and although I usually find myself in total agreement with “her” replies, I sometimes feel a little less “Mannerly” and have a sharper response than hers. After that, I usually read Ned’s piece and then go back to start in a straight line from page 2 to the end.

Thank you for continuing to publish the CRR — a work of love, obviously.

I hope that you are able to expand your Astoria “footprint” in future editions, since Astoria IS at the very mouth of the Columbia.

Warm wishes to you... and with warm memories.

Chris Stevenson Gearhart, Ore Editor’s note: Yes the temps got that low.

The Expedition’s thermometers went at least to 45 degrees below zero (or 77 degrees below freezing), based on journal entries for Dec. 17, 1804.

Mr. Stevenson is a longtime reader and special friend of the Reader, recently relocating from St. Helens to Gearhart, Ore.

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DEAR MISS MANNERS: I know you have recommended moving away from others who choose not to wear masks during the pandemic.

What is the proper response to retail or other service providers who wear their masks hanging below their noses?

This has happened to me twice lately. At a car lot, three salesmen were lingering by the showroom door, and one had his mask below his nose. I stopped and said, “You know that mask doesn’t work if it’s not covering your nose.”

BS, MSPA, PA-C

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He gave me a slightly perturbed look, pulled up his mask and opened the door for me. Was I out of line?

Today, a bank clerk was opening an account for me wearing a stylish mask that was clearly too large for her. It kept dropping below her nose.

After trying a few times to pull it up, she gave up and left it hanging below her nose.

Rather than say anything, I simply scooted my chair back a few more feet. This episode was all the more disconcerting because her colleague had just confided (in a separate office) that several family members were infected with COVID-19 and her father wasn’t expected to survive.

I try to get curbside delivery and order online, but it’s not always possible. What advice do you have for us to behave politely when we are compelled to conduct business in public?

Computer, phone, tablet bugging you?

GENTLE READER: Handle this just as you would if someone inadvertently had spinach in their teeth or toilet paper on a shoe: Politely point it out with the presumption of innocence, rather than blame.

Miss Manners recommends something like, “I’m not sure if you noticed, but your mask seems to have slipped. I would help you, but of course that would defeat the purpose of protecting ourselves from spreading germs. I’ll just step back while you are fixing it.”

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Due to an unfortunate experience with Victorian novels and my dear grandmother, I was led to understand that the only things that should sparkle on a lady during the day are her wedding jewelry and her eyes.

Therefore, I have long been mystified to see, in daylight, perfectly ladylike women in sequin-covered evening wear as if they were appearing on TV. Now, a few decades later, I have observed women at the office, the beach and the grocery store wearing sequins on random bits of clothing, including face masks. Can Miss Manners please update us on the proper wearing of sequins and other sparkling things for the modern lady?

GENTLE READER: Sparkly things should not be worn by grown-ups during the day. Neither should dangling earring — but clearly only Miss Manners, you and the heroines of the unfortunate Victorian novels you’re reading know and follow the rules. cont page 6

FROM THE PET DEPT. Merry Christmas!

May you have no bone to pick with Santa. ~Ginger Victoria Findlay’s dog, aka Gretchen

I can help!

Hands-on lessons with your electronic devices at your home or CRR’s Downtown Longview office.

Call or text:

360-270-0608 PERRY PIPER PRODUCTIONS

Happy New Year!

I recommend enjoying a nip of your favorite beverage, followed by a ca nap. cap nap. ~Smokey Man in the Kitchen’s cat

HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 5

Miss Manners

from page 5

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I know in this current pandemic, there are pressing issues to discuss; however, I would appreciate your feedback on this board game question.

My sweet, loving wife and I have begun to play Scrabble together, but now we are in disagreement on fair play. Apparently, she has become quite good at Words With Friends, a smartphone app similar to Scrabble, which I frequently see her playing while I read or watch a movie.

Words With Friends has no requirement for knowing the meaning of words you play, but I think respectable Scrabble players should know the words they play.

That way, they learn and build their vocabulary, too!

My wife (she probably now loves me a bit less) now refuses to play with me because I think it’s a reasonable request to know the meaning of words you use.

GENTLE READER: Are you certain there are issues more “pressing” than preserving your marriage during these difficult times? Like what?

Besides, your once-loving wife IS building her vocabulary because you keep challenging those words, thus requiring her to look them up. Not much comfort for you, Miss Manners dares say.

In the interest of marital peace, she suggests that you build your own vocabulary -faster. Online, you can find a list of two-letter words. Learn them in order to use them yourself, and to know when to issue a challenge.

Here is our conflict:

Or persuade your wife to play chess with you.

In Scrabble, my loving wife will play two-letter words in crossword style to generate several words for triple-word points, and when I challenge her on their meaning, she doesn’t know or can’t explain their context. She defers to the Scrabble dictionary online.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I’ve wondered for some time now whether or not it is acceptable to open a bottle of wine and have a half-consumed glass in your hand when your dinner guests arrive.

I find it’s nice to loosen up and enjoy those first few sips while I finish the preparations.

She is usually correct: For example, did you know TA is a saying of gratitude, and BA is a name for the eternal soul in Egyptian mythology?

She didn’t, either. But she got the bonus points, and I lost a turn by challenging.

Is it rude to have started drinking before your guests arrive? Does it make them feel obligated to continue having what you’ve just opened?

Should you still open the bottle they have brought as soon as they come in?

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I’ve been thinking more about this recently, as my husband and I have been participating in socially distant happy hours with another couple.

When we meet them at the park or picnic table, is it OK for us to show up a few minutes early,

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cont page 8

to our friends and customers!

1111 Washington Way, Longview • 360-423-3350 • WWW.STIRLINGHONDA.COM 6 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

Lewis & Clark

The End of the Journey for Meriwether Lewis After the triumphant return of the Corps of Discovery, Meriwether Lewis’s life spiraled downward until, on October 11, 1809, 35-year old Lewis lay dead in a pool of blood. What happened? How could this be?

A new job and life’s a mess

Upon their return to St. Louis in 1806, Lewis and Clark, along with Big White, a Mandan Indian chief, headed east to meet with Thomas Jefferson. In 1807, President Jefferson made Captain Lewis governor of the Upper Louisiana Territory and gave him 1,400 acres of land. It took a year for Lewis to report to his new position in St. Louis and he soon realized he was not suited for the job. Piles of paperwork relating to land claims, quarrels and feuds among Indian trading companies, and partisan politics made Lewis wish he had never accepted the appointment.

His personal life had begun to fall apart, as well. While Lewis courted several women, none would agree to marry him. He drank too much and was taking opium to help him sleep.

Michael Perry enjoys local history and travel. His popular 33-installment Lewis & Clark series appeared in CRR’s early years and began its second “encore” appearance in April 2018.

Lewis & Clark Encore We are pleased to present

Installment #30 of Michael Perry’s popular 33-month series which began with CRR’s April 15, 2004 inaugural issue.

“Dispatch from the Discovery Trail” helped define and shape Columbia River Reader in its early years during the Bicentennial Commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Each installment covered their travels during the corresponding month 200 years prior. We are repeating the series for the enjoyment of both longtime and more recent readers.

Both William Clark and President Jefferson were concerned about the lack of progress on the three-volume set of books Lewis had promised to write about the Corps of Discovery.

After his initial efforts in 1806 to obtain help in publishing the proposed book, Lewis apparently never wrote a single page of the manuscript.

and was in “a state of mental derangement.” The keelboat’s crew told him Lewis had “made two attempts to Kill himself, in one of which he had nearly succeeded.”

Lewis was put on a 24-hour suicide watch “until he recovered” a week later.

After losing money in land speculation, he grew more depressed as debts mounted up. Worst of all, Lewis felt his honor had been tarnished when he was formally rebuked in July 1809 for unauthorized expenditures and the government refused to pay some of his vouchers. A month later, Lewis decided he had to go to Washington to plead his case in person. Part of his reason for going may have been to deliver the original Lewis and Clark Expedition journals to a publisher in Philadelphia.

Lewis originally planned to take a ship from New Orleans to reach Washington, D.C., but the presence of British war ships in the Gulf of Mexico worried him. In a letter to President Madison, he wrote, “my fear of the original papers relative to my voyage to the Pacific ocean falling into the hands of the British has induced me to change my rout and proceed by land through the state of Tennisee to the City of washington.”

When Lewis met with Clark in St. Louis to explain his problems, he turned over deeds to his land to Clark to be used to pay his debts. Clark could see Lewis was in poor health — both physically and mentally. He tried to talk him out of the trip, but Lewis insisted on going. On September 4, Lewis and John Pernier, his free mulatto servant, along with Lewis’s Newfoundland dog named Seaman, boarded a keelboat going from St. Louis to New Orleans.

Journey to the Big Easy — Not so easy!

Lewis became ill during the trip, possibly from malaria he contracted in 1803. His journal contained several references to “bilious fever” and “pills of opium and tartar.” Lewis wrote a will on September 11th designating his mother as his sole beneficiary.

The boat arrived at Fort Pickering (near present-day Memphis) on September 15. Gilbert Russell, the fort’s commander, later wrote that Lewis had been drinking heavily

Detour to Nashville

The Natchez Trace was a 450-mile trail from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. James Neelly, an Indian agent, accompanied Lewis since robberies were common along the path. They left Fort Pickering with their two servants on September 29. During the night of October 10, two packhorses wandered off (one carried a trunk containing Lewis’s Corps of Discovery journals). Major Neelly stayed behind to look for the horses while Lewis, who was very sick, rode ahead to a tavern, or inn, called Grinder’s Stand (the two servants followed behind him). That night, Lewis was shot and died. No completely satisfactory explanation for his death has ever been found.

He said…

A week later, on October 18, Neelly wrote a letter to Jefferson saying that Robert Grinder had not been home when Lewis arrived, and that Mrs. Grinder, “discovering the governor to be deranged, gave him up the house & slept herself in one near it.” Neelly went on to

What happened to Seaman?

N o t m u c h i s k n o w n about the Newfoundland dog Capt. Lewis bought for $20 in 1803. He was mentioned in the journals occasionally, and when some Indians stole him in 1806 on the return trip up the Columbia, Lewis was prepared to kill the Indians responsible if his dog wasn’t returned. The last official reference to Seaman was on July 15, 1806, when Lewis wrote the “musquetoes continue to infest us in such manner that we can scarcely exist. for my own part I am confined by them to my bier [a raised bed] at least ¾ of the time.

My dog even howls with the torture he experiences from them.”

No official record exists about Seaman’s fate after Capt. Lewis died. However, there are interesting clues. In 1814, Rev. Timothy Alden published a book that described an interesting dog collar he had found in an Alexandria, Virginia museum that was inscribed “The greatest traveler of my species.

My name is SEAMAN, the dog of captain Meriwether Lewis, whom I accompainied to the Pacifick ocean through the interior of the continent of North America.” Alden added a note in his book saying “After the melancholy exit of gov. Lewis, his dog would not depart for a moment from his lifeless remains… he refused to take every kind of food, which was offered him, and actually pined away and died with grief upon his master’s gave.”

The museum was probably part of the Masonic Lodge in the AlexandriaWashington D.C. area that was established in 1812, the year Capt.

Clark received a letter from a Lodge official thanking him for the “truly valuable Present made by you to our infant museum.” Unfortunately, Seaman’s collar doesn’t exist today – a fire in 1871 destroyed many artifacts in the museum.

cont. page 10 HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 7

Miss Manners

from page 6

open the bottle and enjoy a glass before they arrive? Or is this akin to starting the meal before everyone’s been seated?

GENTLE READER: Cocktail hour does not have as fixed a start clock as a meal; in normal times, you would be serving drinks as guests arrive. (Serving whatever they may bring is optional, as it is intended as a present.)

So approach this knowing that they are not being intentionally rude. To persuade them to change, you must explain why:

example, eating, texting or talking — please turn off your camera and microphone.”

“While we are unable to be in church, we would still like to maintain our usual decorum. If you must plan to do other things during the service — for

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have followed always your guidance that I should say “Congratulations” to bridegrooms and “Best wishes” to brides.

This Holiday Season, don your mask and shop Downtown - let’s support local business...our friends, neighbors and community!

Columbia River Reader

HOLIDAY SHOPPE

Gift Books Lewis & Clark, Astoria, Columbia River ...

GREAT ITEMS, GOODIES & GIFT CERTIFICATES

poetry, history, 7 titles, pg 2

CRR Gift Subscriptions Stocking Stuffers

The Broadway Gallery

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am on the worship committee for my church, and we’ve had online Zoom services since March.

I often notice that during the service, people are eating, texting, getting up and down from their seats, talking to others and doing other varied activities that are suited to a living room but NOT A CHURCH SERVICE.

My first thought was that the tradition carries a vague sense of condescension cont page 15

This blurs the situation enough to cover reasonable behavior. Who knows that the glass in your hand was not intended for a guest who arrived earlier?

The exception can even, Miss Manners supposes, be extended to include your early arrival at the picnic table. Just promise her that, when home entertaining returns, you will never greet your guests by calling over your shoulder, “Honey, the Cartwrights are here” and punctuating it with a gulp from said glass.

However, I was recently in a meeting with a colleague who said she had been recently married. (She brought up the subject to explain that her name was changing.) I said “Best wishes,” but it felt awkward.

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I find this rude to the people who have invested time and energy into providing the service. We on the committee are creating a “protocol” to share with the congregation to attempt to get them to behave, well, as if they’re at a church service.

Would you offer us suggestions on the wording, please?

GENTLE READER: Please do not think that Miss Manners is deserting you — or propriety — when she asks you to consider why this is happening.

Presumably, these people behaved when they were actually in church, or you would have mentioned it.

Now they are in a living room. Or a kitchen. Or a bedroom. However solemn the content, the experience is like watching television. You are probably not expecting them to dress up.

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Roland on Wine

Tapping into Joy Meet the Wine Aroma Wheel “A person with increasing knowledge and sensory education may derive infinite enjoyment from wine.”

By Marc Roland

~ Ernest Hemingway

T

his quote from the great Ernest Hemingway gives all wine enthusiasts hope that wine may indeed be the holy grail for enjoying life. It also dispels the myth that wine is something only for those with superior tasting ability. In life, there is rarely anything that can promise infinite joy, yet wine is recommended as such a thing, and can in fact be learned by those with a thirst to learn.

We are entering into the busiest and most joyous time of the year. What better time to take the time to increase our education in wine? I don’t think I could survive infinite joy of anything.

But I’m willing to try. The publisher of this paper suggested that I explain a tool that has helped people, from novice to expert, get better, called the wine aroma wheel. I have some experience with this tool and have found it to be helpful The Wine Aroma Wheel is a simple aid that enhances one’s ability to taste the complexity of flavor in wine. When I first started drinking wine, the enjoyment derived was from the calming effect of alcohol and how it seemed to heighten my awareness of the good things in life, like family, friends, and conversation.

So it became a means to an end,

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but hardly infinite joy. I can say confidently after years of drinking wine—there is more—the wine itself speaks if you listen. But in order to hear, one must put in the effort to develop a meaningful vocabulary. To me it means, does this wine remind me of a familiar fragrance or flavor?

For example, I will never forget what watermelon tastes like because it reminds me of a hot summer night with my cousins, playing till we drop, and digging our faces into the cold fruit.

When we start seriously tasting wine all we need to do is associate flavors that we know well to wine. We all know that wine does not have added flavors to make them taste like a

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 360-8467304.

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“Building, nurturing, and cultivating relationships are the most important things that any person can do in their lives,” she said. “It only makes sense that I would want to be a part of a business where these ideals are cohesive with the business plan.” After hearing this, we wanted nothing more than to hire Angela on the spot!

particular flavor like soda, so the descriptors we use to talk about wine are instructive to make connections. For example, if a wine reminds you of watermelon, it is joy.

So the purpose of the wheel is to suggest terms to describe wine aromas. The creator of this handy tool is Ann Noble, professor of viniculture and enology at the University of California at Davis. There are many imposters who have their own version, but this is the best.

The wheel has three circles. The inner circle has very general terms like fruity or spicy, going to the most specific terms in the outer circle such as cherry or vanilla. These terms were researched

by Noble and are representative of those most often encountered. When I first started tasting wine I just didn’t get it at all. Even with the wine wheel, I was skeptical. I think I was trying too hard. It was only when I quit trying to make direct comparisons and started to think in terms of sense and texture. I started to say to myself “this reminds me of…”. It reminds me of getting tackled playing football in the field at Kessler school back when I was a youth. The grass and dirt in my mouth, reminds me now of a cold climate syrah. Laugh if you want, but if you will reach back in your memory of food experiences, you will start to come around. All the wine wheel does is jog those memories. I love northern

The Wine Aroma Wheel was first published in 1984 and is still available online. A limited supply is also available for purchase, $4 each, at Columbia River Reader, 1333 14th Ave, Longview,

Rhone wines like Chateaux Nuf du Pape. When I drink it, I go back to the smell of licorice at the candy store in Long Beach. This is joy.

It is holiday time. Life seems to slow down with the onset of winter. We are all changing our lifestyles to deal with a pandemic.

We may be drinking more and enjoying it less, or we are celebrating and enjoying it more. I would suggest you pick up one of these cool wine wheels and get a few family and friends together in your bubble, and have some fun drinking responsibly, drinking often, drinking thoughtfully, and see if you can tap into some infinite joy.

•••

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Dispatch

from page 7

say, “His servant and mine slept in the stable loft some distance from the other houses. The woman reports that three o’Clock she heard two pistols fire off in the Governors room; the servants being awakened by her, came in but too late to save him. He had shot himself in the head with one pistol & a little below the Breast with the other - when his servant came in he says; ‘I have done the business my good Servant, give me water.’ He gave him some, he survived but a short time.” Neelly said he didn’t arrive until “some time after“ Lewis had died from the two .69 caliber (5/8-inch diameter) pistol balls. Neelly had Lewis’s two trunks forwarded to Washington, and told Jefferson two more trunks had been left at Fort Pickering. But Neelly stole Lewis’s horse, his silver watch, his rifle and both pistols. The money Lewis was carrying disappeared, too.

She said…

Eighteen months later, in May 1811, Mrs. Grinder told Alexander Wilson a story containing more details than found in Neelly’s 1809 letter. “In the same room where he expired,” Wilson wrote, “I took down from Mrs. Grinder the particulars of that melancholy event.” She said Lewis “came there

about sunset, alone, and inquired if he could stay for the night.” When asked if he was traveling alone, he said two servants would arrive soon.

When Mrs. Grinder called Lewis to supper, he only ate a little before jumping up, “speaking to himself in a violent manner” with his face flushed, ranting about his enemies in Washington. Lewis suddenly calmed down, lit his pipe and remarked in a kind voice, “Madam this is a very pleasant evening.”

Even though Mrs. Grinder had prepared a bed for Lewis, he told her he wanted to sleep on the floor and had his servant bring his bear and buffalo skins. Mrs. Grinder went to the kitchen by the main cabin to be with her four young children and a 13-year old slave girl. Unable to sleep, Mrs. Grinder heard Lewis walking back and forth and talking to himself “like a lawyer.” Around 3am she heard a pistol shot and something falling on the floor, followed by “O Lord!” Then she heard a second pistol shot.

Front of a Series 1901 United States $10 Note. Nicknamed the “Buffalo Bill,” it was issued to stimulate interest in the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition held in Portland, Oregon, in 1905. The left portrait shows Meriwether Lewis while the right portrait shows William Clark.

wounds.” Through cracks between the logs, Mrs. Grinder said she saw “Lewis stagger back and fall against a stump that stands between the kitchen and the room. He crawled for some distance, raised himself by the side of a tree where he sat for a minute” before crawling back to his room. She said Lewis later returned to her door seeking water. How she saw all this is a mystery since there had been a new

moon just the night before. And, since the waxing crescent moon set at 6:21 pm the night Lewis died, the sky would have been pitch black.

Wilson wrote that after Mrs. Grinder “permitted him to remain for two hours in this most deplorable situation, she sent two of her children to the barn, her husband not being home, to bring the servants.” She said they cont page 11

In the light of the moon?

A few minutes later Lewis was at her door, calling out: “O madam!

Give me some water, and heal my cont next page

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HaikuFest 2021 from page 10

found Lewis lying on the bed in his cabin, still conscious. Lewis “uncovered his side and showed them where the bullet had entered; a piece of his forehead was blown off… He begged they would take his rifle and blow out his brains,” in return for which “he would give them all the money he had in his trunk.” He told them, “I am no coward, but I am so strong, so hard to die.” He finally died around 7am, “just as the sun rose above the trees.” After Lewis was buried on the Grinder’s property, his dog Seaman kept a vigil at the grave, refusing to eat, and soon died with grief.

Digging for the truth Lewis’s grave was opened in 1848 prior to Tennessee’s construction of a 20-foot tall stone monument. A doctor examined Lewis’s remains to verify they built it in the right place and, without any explanation, the committee wrote “The impression has long prevailed that under the influence of disease of body and mind Governor Lewis perished by his own hands. It seems to be more probable that he died by the hands of an assassin.” That was the first official mention of murder – and was the beginning of the many conspiracy theories that continue to this day!

Alternative facts?

In 1838, almost 30 years after Lewis died, an Arkansas schoolteacher visited Lewis’s grave.

He was able to locate and interview Priscilla Grinder in her home 25-miles north of the old tavern (it had burned to the ground). Mrs. Grinder, then a 68-year old widow, had revised her story. She said three men had arrived after Lewis and the two servants. They left when Lewis drew a pair of pistols and challenged them to a duel. Mrs. Grinder said she heard three shots that night and saw Lewis crawling across the road on his hands and knees. She was surprised to see the servants coming from the stables because she thought they had shared the house with Lewis. She noticed Lewis’s servant was wearing the clothing Lewis had arrived in.

After searching for Lewis, the servants found him across the road, badly wounded and wearing old tattered clothes. They brought him back to the cabin where he soon died.

Whether these discrepancies were due to a blurred memory on the part of Mrs. Grinder or lies she had previously told, no one knows. However, Robert Smith, a post rider carrying mail along the Natchez Trace on the morning of October 11, 1809, reportedly came upon Lewis lying against a tree outside Grinder’s Stand with a bullet wound in his head. These and other conflicting stories have fueled murder conspiracy theories for 170 years.

History repeats itself

After Lewis’s death, his servant, John Pernier, traveled from Grinder’s Stand to Virginia. Pernier had worked for President Jefferson from 1804 to 1807 before he became Lewis’s servant. Pernier met with Jefferson on November 26, 1809, and told him Lewis had committed suicide. Jefferson accepted Pernier’s judgment and later wrote Lewis “had from early youth suffered from hypochondriac affections... inherited by him from his father.” Pernier also visited Lewis’s family seeking $240 Lewis owed him for back wages. Lewis’s mother refused to accept the story of suicide. Then, seven months after Lewis’s death, the servant was dead. Pernier was described as “wretchedly poor and destitute” when he killed himself with an overdose of laudanum (tincture of opium) on April 29, 1810.

While it seems almost certain Lewis killed himself, some people feel he might have been the victim of a random murder since he was a distinguished traveler with money and goods. Maybe the two servants killed Lewis for his money? Or, maybe Neelly was part of a political conspiracy that wanted him dead. Local legend holds that, a year after Lewis’s death, Robert Grinder was brought before a grand jury on a warrant for Lewis’s murder, but no records exist. So yes, murder is a possibility. But, if Lewis was shot by someone else, why didn’t he tell Mrs. Grinder or John Pernier or Major Neelly’s servant before he died? The debate will likely continue forever.

Pursuing possible positives in a pandemic

By Gary Meyers, HaikuFest Founder and Chief Judge

S

omeone once said that you must play the cards you’re dealt; that adage applies equally to haikufests. And we’ve been dealt a doozy! Traditionally, our annual events have been scheduled around year’s end with the results being announced after the holidays. But who could ever have imagined Covid-19 sweeping the world and turning our lives upside down?

Our quandary was whether to delay or cancel Haikufest 2021 in view of the pandemic. We concluded, however, that a haikufest might be just what our reader poets needed — a welcome diversion and momentary escape from the sobering statistics and the trials of being confined at home with tensions rising and the walls closing in. The decision was made to PRESS ON! Accordingly, Haikufest 2021 is hereby announced! And since Covid-19 is the elephant in the room that cannot be ignored, we have decided to make it our theme for this year’s event.

Random glimmers of light amidst the gloom During this dark period, we encourage our poets to dig deep and craft haiku that will convey uplifting personal experiences encountered during this scourge. Our objective, and it is a tough challenge, is to seek, collect, and deliver to our faithful readers random glimmers of light amidst the gloom that surrounds us.

As in past haikufests, the format is traditional: three lines of five, seven, and five syllables each. Each poet may submit by Jan. 20, 2021 five entries, preferably by email to haikucenter@aol.com.

But we will not exclude snail mail entries, provided they are postmarked by January 15, 2021. They can be sent to Gary Meyers, 3045 Ala Napuaa Place #1406, Honolulu, HI 96818.

There are no fees. However, all entries become the property of the Columbia River Reader. Results will appear in the February 15th edition of the CRR. ••• Gary Meyers grew up in Longview, graduating from R.A. Long High School, then completed careers with the U.S. Marine Corps and Northwest Airlines.

Now retired, he enjoys Honolulu as his home base while he continues exploring the world, with frequent visits to SW Washington.

••• Ne examine what Captain Clark did after he returned.

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HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 11

MEDICAL MATTERS

Shawnna Riedwig celebrates

By Jim LeMonds 15th year with LOA

W

hen Shawnna Riedweg said. She has Riedweg moved been on an upward to Longview in 2005, trajectory ever since. she had never heard of When Longview Ortho Longview Orthopedic moved to its new location Associates. She was at 625 9th Avenue at placed at LOA by the Pacific Surgical Institute Employers Overload in 2006, she was given a temp agency for a twolead position and soon week stint as a medical became the supervisor Shawnna Riedwig records custodian. for the reception and Fifteen years later, she is scheduling departments. the clinic’s operations manager.

Riedweg considers that move from “I was offered a full-time position St. John Medical Center to PSI as before the end of my first week,” one of the most memorable changes

during her career with LOA. “It was a huge transition moving to our new office space.”

Even more significant was the change to electronic medical records that began in 2012. “I led a team that chose the EMR software and helped implement the transition,” she said. In 2019, she worked with Clinic Manager Kathleen Lappe on an expansion that added five exam rooms.

As LOA’s operations manager, she is a fixer of all things and also the staff coordinator. And with Lappe’s recent retirement, Riedweg now oversees human resources and payroll as well.

What has she enjoyed most about her 15 years with Longview Ortho? “The staff and the patients. This is my work family, and everyone holds a piece of my heart.”

She cited the fact that numerous coworkers have remained at LOA for many years as evidence of LOA’s family atmosphere. They include Susan

Jane Gerdon

Whittall (RN, 26 years), Laurie Hammond (receptionist, 23 years), Rebecca Phillips (receptionist, 17 years), and Catherine Bollie (medical assistant, 15 years).

“I am grateful that Kathleen (Lappe) saw potential in me when she hired me in 2005. I’m honored to be where I am today.”

•••

Former R.A. Long High School English teacher Jim LeMonds is a writer, editor, and marketer who rides his mountain bike whenever he gets the chance. He lives in Castle Rock, Wash. His published books are South of Seattle and Deadfall.

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Northwest Gardening

A

s the days are cooling and the clouds are rolling in, I’m starting to feel a bit blue, anticipating a long, wet, gray winter, stuck here at home. However, as difficult as 2020 has been, I am determined to keep myself busy, engaged, and hopeful as we begin the New Year.

I’ve been thinking about Christmas gifting ideas. We’ve been getting some of those subscription meal kits, and it’s fun to try new recipes without having to go out and buy the individual ingredients. It got me to thinking — the best gifts this season should be ones that will be fun to give and even more fun to receive, especially if it includes an activity that the whole family can do. Why not assemble “kits” with everything that’s needed for the activity? Since most of us won’t be doing much visiting this winter, schedule a Facetime or Zoom session to share the results.

Offbeat containers can be key So here are some ideas. Hint: To really personalize the kits, go out to local boutique shops and thrift stores for unusual gift containers. If you have little ones with you, it can be a lot of fun to let them help with the choice.

Be creative — my daughter bought a plastic dinosaur, cut a hole in the top of it, added soil, and popped in a succulent. She did the same thing with a black plastic Halloween rat. Yes, my daughter is…unusual. But you’ve got to give her points for creativity!

If you canned any produce from your garden this year, assemble a recipe kit that features your canned specialty, along with a recipe and everything

Quirky,

Holiday kits: the perfect gift!

Personalized,

By Alice Slusher

Fun to assemble!

necessary to make a really special meal or dessert. Younger kids love to help in the kitchen, and think how proud they’d be to fix one of the easier meals from start to finish. Shop around in local thrift shops for a basket or a baking dish as a container, add a bow, and you’ve got an original gift they’ll remember for a long time.

A veggie kit How about a veggie kit to bring some summer into the winter kitchen? Many salad greens, such as microgreens (edible seedlings), mustard greens, mache (corn salad—my favorite), spinach, or other leafy greens will grow in cool, low light conditions like a window sill. Pick up some seeds, inexpensive seed-starting soil from one of our local nurseries, and small pots or plastic cups with holes in the bottom. Find a whimsical container at one of the cool local shops. Make an instruction card with directions from the seed packet, and you’ll have a great gift that’s fun to watch grow on a window sill. And even more fun to eat! For the more adventurous growers, I suggest calling one of our local bookstores to order Gardening Under Lights: The Complete Guide for Indoor Growers by Leslie Halleck.

Just add water – or not Really, once you get started, I’ll bet you can think of many ideas that lend themselves to a kit gift. Put together a wreath kit—buy a metal wreath ring or a grape vine wreath form. Add some floral wire, ribbon, a couple of Christmas ornaments, then

go out and cut some evergreen boughs from your yard.

Package it up, and drop it off on your friend’s doorstep!

And have your little ones help you to make one for your family, too.

Make a DIY winter herb kit Culinary herbs like oregano, chives, mint, rosemary, and thyme are well suited to growing indoors. Because of our almost constant winter cloud cover, your herb garden will need supplemental light. I suggest an inexpensive clip-on light with an LED grow light —which you can probably find at one of our local hardware stores. You’ll need small pots with holes in the bottom, seeds, a card with the seed packet instructions, and potting soil. For more fun, find a box or container for the pots, and add some paint and paintbrushes to decorate it.

Sunshine kit Tsugawa Nursery in Woodland has some unusual citrus trees. Create a “sunshine” kit with the citrus tree, some citrus fertilizer, growing tips from the nursery, and order Pucker: A Cookbook for Citrus Lovers, by Gwendolyn Richards from a local bookstore.

Make up a kit with the seed start mix, a container with holes in the bottom, and your choice of amaryllis or narcissus bulbs. The directions for growing are usually provided when you get the bulbs. Add one of your thrift store “finds” as a pot, and you’re good to go.

Pandemic paraphernalia Face masks are all the rage right now. Offer a winter pandemic “personal fashion statement” kit. Pick up or make some masks, add a bottle of sanitizer and a box of tissues. Throw in some fabric paint pens so families can create imaginative or funny designs on them.

I hope this gets your imagination going—have fun with your kit creations. Let’s all take the time to appreciate each other and celebrate with joy all our differences. We can do it. It starts in our hearts and spreads out to others. Thank you, gentle readers, and let’s enjoy 2021 together!

•••

Kalama resident Alice Slusher volunteers with WSU Extension Service Plant & Insect Clinic. Call 360-577-3014, ext. 8, or send question via cowlitzmastergardener@gmail.com.

HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 13

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Miss Manners

cont from page 8

based on the fact that she is a woman, and perhaps the tradition is no longer as charming as it once was.

My second thought was that perhaps I shouldn’t even say something as perfunctory as “Best wishes” to someone I know professionally, rather than personally. (I was not, after all, a guest at the wedding.) Can you kindly help me resolve my feeling of being incorrect?

GENTLE READER: First, Miss Manners must thank you for being probably the only person in the world

besides herself who makes this distinction.

Her own fondness for it is because the condescension is in the other direction: It was based on the idea that the bridegroom is to be congratulated on his good fortune, but that the bride IS that good fortune, and therefore should only be wished well.

But even without the gender factor, why do you consider it perfunctory to wish anyone well? Perhaps it has become devalued now that many use “Best wishes,” or just “Best,” instead of “Yours sincerely” or “Yours truly” to close letters.

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You could bolster it by grabbing the bride’s hands and saying, “I wish you all the happiness in the world,” but perhaps that is not perfunctory enough -- especially if others are behind you, waiting to congratulate her.

GENTLE READER: Reaching out to the widow of someone you knew professionally is a thoughtful way to demonstrate respect for the dead, but it requires a handwritten letter, not a mere card, because there is much to say.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: A friend of mine is turning 60 and having a birthday party. She doesn’t need money, so I made a $60 donation to a good charity in her name.

First, introduce yourself, explaining your connection to the deceased, and then express your condolences in the normal way. End with a brief anecdote or recollection about the deceased that shows him in a good light, and of which the widow may not have been aware.

Miss Manners considers the extra time this will take to be well spent, and trusts that you will as well.

But when the acknowledgement card came, it did not have the amount of the gift on it. Would it be tacky for me to write in “$60 in honor of your 60th birthday,” or should I just leave the amount a mystery?

GENTLE READER: Paying $60 for a 60th birthday party strikes Miss Manners — and probably would strike your friend — as less clever than you are hoping. This leaves her to wonder if the clarification is worth the effort. An actual gift that showed some thought for your friend’s interests would be ever so much cleverer.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: How do I address a sympathy card to a widow, whom I have never met, of a client?

DEAR MISS MANNERS: A family member uses their middle finger, rather than the index finger, when operating devices or pushing buttons.

Is this something worth addressing?

GENTLE READER: Only if the finger is being lifted and extended to you.

••• 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.

HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 15

FOOD • AND • WINE

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The pleasures of combining them

T

he holiday season is upon us, and it is exciting to share sensational meals. I’d like to inspire you with some of my favorite food and wine combinations, suggest a few pairing techniques and encourage you to explore and experience pairings that will wow you, your family and your friends.

Pairing wine and food is not an exact science but more of an art form. It is essential to respect each element carefully, ensuring that the tiniest nuances of the wine, food and sauces shine independently, and that the combinations marry together seamlessly, creating a lavish explosion of taste with each bite. It has been my pleasure to experience numerous incredible wine and food pairings over the last four years.

My Wine Knowledge Last year I interviewed Erik Seigelbaum, one of fewer than 600 people who hold an Advanced Sommelier Certificate through the Court of Master Sommeliers. In 2019, Food & Wine magazine selected Seigelbaum as one of the world’s top nine sommeliers. He knows wine.

“My wine and food philosophy is to relax about wine and food pairings,” Erik said. “There are millions of wines, so why not drink what you want and choose your meal around it? The difference between a good pairing and a great pairing is patience between the sips and bites.”

Vancouver, Wash. resident Tracy Beard writes about luxury and adventure travel, traditional and trendy fine dining and libations for regional, national and international magazines and is a regular “Out & About” contributor to CRR.

16 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

Story & photos by Tracy Beard

My wine and food knowledge continues to grow from conversations with Erik, interviews with world-renowned winemakers, chats with professionally trained sommeliers, and wine and food experiences prepared by Michelin-star chefs. I have recreated many dishes and played with a variety of wine combinations.

My Pairing Tips First and foremost, it is essential to drink what you like. When you contemplate pairing a particular wine with food, consider what Andrea Immer from Windows on the World said about wineand-food synergy: “When the two are paired, both taste better.” The idea is that the wine you choose will elevate the taste of the food and the food will enhance the flavor of the wine. Keep the following points in mind: 1) Select combinations that complement or contrast each other.

2) Acidity acts as a booster for flavor.

Ensure that your wine does not get lost in the food and does not overpower it.

3) Food and wine both have elements of texture. Full-style wines fill the mouth and can overwhelm delicate dishes. Look for harmony in the texture.

4) Sauces play a significant role when pairing food with wine. If you add a rich cream or cheese sauce to a light fish, look for a medium or full-bodied wine to maintain balance. cont page 17

from page 16

5) Never be embarrassed to ask an expert their opinion on a pairing.

In a world full of exceptional wines, there are exponential pairings. The best way to learn about what works together well is to read and ask about the wine you want to serve, identify the wine’s aromas and then taste and taste some more. Wine information can be attained through books, the Internet, wine tasting tours and a unique guide called “Wine Aroma Wheel.”

Wine Aroma Wheel This wheel, formulated to stimulate communication about wine flavors by providing standard terminology, helps wine drinkers label the fragrances and tastes they experience when sipping wine. If you can decipher whether a wine is fruity, floral, spicy or earthy, you can dig deeper and describe whether it contains notes of berry, orange blossom, clove or mushroom. This i n f o r m a t i o n Read more about the will help you Wine Aroma Wheel, page 9 select food pairings that will work well with that wine. The more you can describe the wine, the better luck you will have with your pairing. Remember, practice makes perfect.

My Starting Point I believe the best place to start any meal, event or pairing is with bubbles. Sparkling wines are seductive, and whether you prefer brut Champagne, sparkling prosecco or an effervescent cava, you cannot go wrong with the allure of these tiny bubbles. Sparkling wines exhibit several taste profiles: brut, extra brut, blanc de blanc, rosé and demi-sec (sweet). A classic combination is Champagne with raw oysters, but bubbles also complement fried foods, cheeses, steak and many desserts.

C h a r d o n n a y, p i n o t noir, and pinot meunier historically make the best bubbles, and these pair exceptionally with most appetizers and command a grand finale when accompanied with dessert. Now that we have a fantastic beginning and ending to the meal, what goes in between?

My Favorite Combos I really enjoy old-style chardonnays. Rombauer Vineyards in Napa Valley, California, still makes oaky, buttery chardonnays. One of my favorite dishes is sautéed halibut with a butter wine sauce made with and accompanied by Rombauer chardonnay.

This combo is a great example of complementing wine and food.

While dining at Valley of the Moon at Madrone Estate in Sonoma, California, Chef Sam Badolato prepared a lunch with braised beef short ribs accompanied by a creamy polenta and jam made from Madrone Road Zinfandel and estate berries. The berries supplied a sweetness in the jam, and the zinfandel contrasted with the dish by generating a tartness that

mingled deliciously with the beef. Chef served the beef with a Madrone 2014 Old Vine Zinfandel. This zinfandel, made from estate vines dating back 128 years, paired eloquently with the dish.

Pasta with red sauce is best served with a delicious chianti from Tuscany, Italy. Chianti typically is made with sangiovese grapes or a blend that may include canaiolo and trebbiano grapes. During a dinner at Del Posto, a Michelinstar restaurant in New York City owned by Lidia Bastianich, I enjoyed a delectable bowl of penne in a light red sauce with a glass of Poggerino, Bugialla 2015, Chianti Classico Riserva. It was simply divine. medium-bodied pinot noir from the Willamette Valley AVA or from the Russian River Valley AVA in California makes a match made in heaven.

Guy Fieri’s Pizza Dough 1 teaspoon sugar 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon fine sea salt 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

My Recipe and Pairing Suggestion I have tasted many wines around the world from budget varietals to expensive grand crus. I never really cared for pinot noir or burgundy, no matter the price point, until I had a glass paired with mushrooms and truffles. We are coming upon the Oregon truffle season. These truffles are not nearly as expensive as those from Italy and France, but if purchased locally and in season, they can serve as an incredible pairing with a local pinot noir.

I find many pinot noirs to be too light. It does not matter whether they come from Burgundy, France, or are local pinots from Oregon. However, my favorite truffle mushroom pizza paired with a

Dissolve the sugar in 1 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees). Sprinkle yeast on top and let stand 10 minutes. Add olive oil and salt. Mix in a mixer with a dough hook until it comes together. Knead in mixer or by hand until smooth.

Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a light towel. Let stand in a warm place for one hour.

Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut into two or four pieces. Roll into balls and cover loosely and let rise again for 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.

Flatten dough and form into pizza crusts.

Topping 6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 10-15 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese-torn into pieces 2 shallots-thinly sliced Assorted mixed mushrooms 1 small truffle-shaved (Substitute truffle oil if you can’t find truffles.)

Sea salt Drizzle dough with olive oil. Top with mozzarella cheese, shallots, mushrooms and truffles or truffle oil. Sprinkle with salt. Bake in oven on a pizza pan or pizza stone for 8 – 10 minutes.

•••

HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 17

THANK YOU, COWLITZ COUNTY! We are overwhelmed by the support you have shown during this campaign. Together we succeeded in bringing change to the 190th District and it will be my great honor to represent you in the State Senate.

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AD DEADLINES Jan 15 2021 issue: Dec. 28.

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by Mike Wallin

Fun Tips for Holiday Road Trips

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hether the holidays take you over the river and through the woods or you travel strictly in the fast lane of a national highway, traveling by car is one of the few things that the pandemic hasn’t changed. The road trip, whether it’s to Grandmother’s house or a fun local getaway with the kids, is one way to get a sense of adventure during the “new normal.” Many Americans spend far more time on the road during the winter holiday season. Perhaps it’s time for you to do a checkup on your vehicle.

No, not just for safety (that’s a given), but for comfort and convenience, as well.

Charge it The last thing you need on a long road trip is a dead battery in your phone or whatever gizmo is keeping the kids entertained. About the size of an iPhone, a power inverter can provide DC to AC power. Handy if you need to charge your phone, laptop, “… breast pump, CPAP, nebulizer” and more. We found this one on Amazon.com.

There’s an app for that Technology is your friend, especially when you’re traveling. Take a look at some of the latest travel apps and download those that meet your needs. Free apps to choose from: • Roadtrippers—For journeys with multiple stops. Plug in your stops and the app will figure out total trip time and mileage, even estimate gas cost for the trip. Available for both iOS and Android.

• Waze—Keep abreast of traffic conditions with warnings of traffic conditions ahead. Available for both iOS and Android, the information comes from other users and includes accidents, traffic jams, changes in speed limits and police in the area.

• GasBuddy—helps locate a gas station (even in the boonies) and the one with the lowest gas prices.

Creators claim GasBuddy app users in Canada and the U.S. have saved more than $2.9 billion at the pump over the last 15 years.” ...

For the full article visit www.mikewallin.com/real-estate-blog/fun-tips-for-holiday-road-trips

Mike Wallin

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michaelkwallin@gmail.com 1140-11th Ave., Longview, WA By appointment only

Feel free to reach out to us if with questions on this or any aspect of the home purchase process.

Local Culture

MUSEUM MAGIC

A Holiday Treat

by Joseph Govednik Cowlitz County Historical Museum Director • Courtesy photos

A

s we get ready for the holiday season, I want to take a moment to reflect how 2020 has impacted our local museum communities.

This year has brought many challenges to all non-profit organizations and local businesses. Most of the museums and cultural institutions within the distribution area of the Columbia River Reader are small “mom and pop” operations staffed by volunteers who are generally older, and thus more at risk with the current pandemic.

the Cowlitz County Historical Museum’s past Winterfest programs which we hope you will enjoy! We also have holiday craft bags for children (Danielle is filling one, at right) at the museum, located at 405 Allen Street, Kelso. The Museum is closed again to the public, so please come to the parking lot on Tues-Friday, 10-4pm, call 360-5773119, and a staff member will make a “sanitized delivery” to your car. Bags are FREE and available December 1 through 23rd.

Many of these smaller museums have opted to stay closed for the safety of their volunteers and guests. Museums such as the Children’s Discovery Museum, which emphasizes hands-on activities essential for children’s experience, will likely be closed until the situation stabilizes.

Please consider supporting your local museums during this time of thanks, giving, and reflection so they can give back in 2021!

Sweet Snowman Fun! What could be better than making an ice-cream snowman?

Start with the marshmallow head. First use candy corn or real carrot slivers for the nose, and second draw a face using decorators’ gel (or use a toothpick dabbed in chocolate frosting to draw the face). Get a big scoop of vanilla ice-cream and put your marshmallow head on top. Use chocolate chips or your favorite candy pieces for buttons and licorice, pretzels sticks, or other stiff edibles for arms.

Place a cherry on top for a hat and enjoy!

Ingredients: *Marshmallow •Vanilla ice cream *Candy corn, carrot slivers, pretzel & licorice sticks *Decorators’ gel or chocolate frosting *Chocolate chips or other candy

To conclude Museum Magic 2020 on a positive note, we want to share a sweet treat idea you can put together at home for the holidays. This is from one of To: Centralia, Olympia Mt. Rainier Yakima (north, then east) Tacoma/Seattle

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• Woodland Tourist Center I-5 Exit 21 Park & Ride lot, 900 Goerig St., 360-225-9552

Castle Rock

• Naselle

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Seaside

• Kelso-Longview Chamber of Commerce Kelso Visitor Center I-5 Exit 39 105 Minor Road, Kelso • 360-577-8058

504

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Columbia River

Washington

Vader

Ocean Park •

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VISITOR CENTERS

FREE Maps • Brochures Directions • Information

Vernonia

Longview

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• Ridgefield

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• Naselle, WA Appelo Archives Center 1056 SR 4, Naselle, WA. 360-484-7103.

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• Pacific County Museum & Visitor Center Hwy 101, South Bend, WA 360-875-5224 • Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau 3914 Pacific Way (corner Hwy 101/Hwy 103) Long Beach, WA. 360-642-2400 • 800-451-2542 • South Columbia County Chamber Columbia Blvd/Hwy 30, St. Helens, OR • 503-397-0685 • Astoria-Warrenton Chamber/Ore Welcome Ctr 111 W. Marine Dr., Astoria 503-325-6311 or 800-875-6807

Col Gorge Interp Ctr Skamania Lodge Bonneville Dam

Troutdale Crown Point

97

Goldendale

• Seaside, OR 989 Broadway, 503-738-3097; 888-306-2326

•Yacolt

Scappoose•

Oregon

Cougar •

Kalama

• Wahkiakum Chamber 102 Main St, Cathlamet • 360-795-9996 • Castle Rock Visitor Center Exit 49, west side of I-5, 890 Huntington Ave. N. Open M-F 11–3.

Maryhill Museum

Stevenson Hood River Cascade Locks Bridge of the Gods

The Dalles

To: Walla Walla Kennewick, WA Lewiston, ID

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

HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 19

The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community.

Thank You!

Please join me in brightening the Christmas season for kids in need......

Drop your new, unwrapped toy donation at my office, 9am–5pm weekdays.

2020 P+P Sponsor Partners Community leaders supporting excellent journalism while spotlighting worthy organizations and programs.

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Richelle Gall Proud Sponsor of People+Place

It takes a village... let’s help hungry kids...

E.A.T. (Eat and Thrive), started by a group of women in 2018, currently provides more than 200 local kids (with identified needs) a bag of food to keep them fed through the weekend, and is supported by private donations.

people+ place More info:

*Good Items to Donate: Canned Tuna • Hearty Soups Chili • Top Ramen • Granola Bars • Crackers Individual packets of Oatmeal, Jerky, Peanut Butter, fruit , etc

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20 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

Paul W. Thompson

RY

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.

Published by Columbia River Reader Press

PER

Christmas is a bridge. We need bridges as the river of time flows past. Today’s Christmas should mean creating happy hours for tomorrow and reliving those of yesterday. -- Gladys Taber, American writer and columnist, 1899-1980

...the rich reward of writing his 33-episode Lewis & Clark column beginning in CRR’s first issue, April 2004.

I can’t wait to see this book ~ a perfect gift!

L O.

There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal. ~Toni Morrison, American writer, 1931-2019 There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means. ~ Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the U.S., 1872-1933

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. ~Mary Oliver, American poet, 1935-2019

Dispatches from the Discovery Trail...

HAE

Let us temper our criticism with kindness. None of us comes fully equipped. ~ Carl Sagan, American astronomer, astrophysicist and author, 1934-1996

Congratulations to fellow CRR columnist Mike Perry on his new book

MIC

A man should be able to hear, and to bear, the worst that could be said of him. ~ Saul Bellow, CanadianAmerican writer, 1915-2005

In any given moment, we have two options: to step forward into growth, or to step back into safety. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again. ~Abraham Maslow, American psychologist, 1908-1970

Proud supporter of People+Place

overy trail

The trouble with us in America isn’t that the poetry of life has turned to prose, but that it has turned to advertising copy. ~ Louis Kronenberger, American journalist and critic, 1904-1980

One of Longview’s pioneer families.

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Selected by Debra Tweedy

The Evans Kelly Family

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UIPS & QUOTES

How beautiful the leaves grow old, how full of light and color are their last days. ~John Burroughs, American naturalist and writer, 1837-1921 Keep your eyes open to your mercies. The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish writer, 1850-1894

*Please drop food donations at Weatherguard or Bud Clary Subaru in Longview, Nortech in Kelso, or Poker Pete’s Pizza in Kalama.

Monetary donations may be made at Red Canoe Credit Union.

CRR’s Man in the Kitchen Emeritus

CRR

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Proud Sponsor of People+Place Proud sponsor of People+Place Due to COVID-related health risks, this year’s Walk

RY

Trail

DEBBY

NEELY

LARK

& Knock will be replaced by

Drive & Drop • Saturday, Dec. 5 • 9am – 3pm

Drop-off Locations:

LONGVIEW Lower Columbia CAP Help Warehouse (parking lot off 12th Ave between Maple & Vandercook Way)

and Walmart, Ocean Beach Hwy KELSO Three Rivers Mall (Macy’s parking lot) and Riverside Park, Lexington

Please, no perishable foods, homemade food or preserves.

Organized by Lions and Rotary Clubs of Longview/Kelso in coordination with Lower Columbia CAP and many volunteers, churches and community groups.

Proud Sponsor of People+Place

A monthly feature written and photographed

by Southwest Washington native and Emmy Award-winning journalist

people+ place

Hal Calbom

Production Notes

All Hail the GIfted Amateur

The Layman’s Lewis & Clark: Michael O. Perry, Part Two This is the second of a two-part series. In Part One, Mike Perry encounters the daunting 13-volume set of Lewis and Clark Journals; finds his writerly voice at the rate of 1,000 words per monthly column; discovers an appreciative audience for his collections of vintage postcards, coins and stamps; and makes a commitment to asking common sense questions, getting the “layman’s eye view.”

T

T his month our profile of author Michael Perry celebrates his new book, “Dispatches from the Discovery Trail: A Layman’s Lewis & Clark.”

Perry’s monthly column in the Reader, chronicling the Expedition through his own eyes — and re-run twice by popular demand — has been a favorite of our readers, hence the compilation of columns into the new book.

his second conversation celebrates the publication of “Dispatches from the Discovery Trail,” the compilation of Mike Perry’s 33-part series debuted in the Reader in 2004. In this new book, Perry supplements his original text with reflections, notes, and observations, some 15 years after the Lewis and Clark bicentennial celebration.

One year ago in this space we profiled Rex Ziak, the Naselle-born logger, adventurer, Emmy-winning photographer and, as it developed, gifted amateur historian.

It seemed appropriate to begin by asking the lifetime Longview - Kelso resident whether the explorers had taken proper notice of his own home turf.

Rex turned Lewis and Clark scholarship on its head by detailing the horrendous three weeks the Expedition spent at the mouth of the Columbia, which academic historians had either overlooked, ignored, or simply gotten flat wrong.

His boots-on-the-ground approach, and endearing lack of a Ph.D and stuffy intellectual pretensions, profoundly influenced Mike Perry — and the others of us driven only by our own curiosity and collective experiences.

I asked the author which of the many episodes he describes most affected him personally. He highlighted the Expedition’s painful portage at Great Falls, their discouragement crossing the continental divide, and especially their encounter with Celilo Falls, which his family had visited a few years before The Dalles Dam drowned Celilo, and its indigenous culture, in 1957.

MP: I never really knew what Lewis and Clark did in the Lower Columbia region. For one thing there just wasn’t much information about this region.

HC: Because they’re heading downstream?

MP: You bet. When they came through here, they were on a roll.

They wanted to get to the ocean.

They went right by what is now Longview and Kelso and that was it. So my first experience of looking something up — see what they said about this area — was about a half a page or so. I thought, ‘I’m not going to get much more than that by buying that big set of books.’

Michael O. Perry at Prescott Beach on the Columbia RIver

HC: What changed your mind?

MP: I think I wanted a way to reach out to people like myself that really didn’t know much about Lewis and Clark, and give them enough to really understand why this is important to all of us. cont page 22

It occurs to me that, besides their shared love for the Lewis and Clark story, Mike and Rex share another prominent quality: They are both, to use the quaint term, “gifted amateurs.” And what a fresh, liberating, hopeful thing that is.

The amateur is less constrained and self-conscious than the pro, not obsessed by tenure and bibliographies. He or she finds their way by love of learning, not a life sentence burrowing deeper and deeper into one’s own field.

Perhaps because of our challenging times, we’re experiencing a grand renaissance of the gifted amateur: endlessly taking lessons, composing odes and scrapbooks on social media, hanging guitars on the wall, dabbling in watercolors, road tripping with guidebooks in hand.

It’s the DIY Decade. And that’s not just home repair. All hail the gifted amateur.

••• HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 21

People +

from page 21

HC: So you needed more than the local angle?

MP: Yes I did. But it turned out there was a little more of that on the way back, when the going was slower upstream. The Cowlitz Indians were a pretty major tribe, salmon harvesters, and they had a place downstream at Mount Coffin where their summer home was.

HC: Mount Coffin?

MP: At the time it was a famous Columbia River landmark a few miles downstream from the mouth of the Cowlitz.

HC: Which puts it right on the site of…

MP: The world’s largest lumber mill. But actually, Weyerhaeuser didn’t knock it down. Portland Sand & Gravel had bought it and was mining it when R.A. Long came to town. A lot of the rock from Mount Coffin makes up the south jetty at the mouth of the Columbia.

“ When they came through here they we The author makes it clear that he was not “stalking” Lewis and Clark, out to cover every footprint he could. In fact, that’s been a frustrating path for many historians, amateur and professional alike. As with our own Mount Coffin, notable landmarks and sites have succumbed to civilization and development. Routes described in the journals have been difficult to identify and authenticate. What Michael Perry arrived at was a synthesis of personal travel, common sense curiosity, and in-depth reading and research. Not only does his Mini Cooper have a ton of miles on it, but also a trunk full of Lewis and Clark books, hundreds of pounds of them it seems, to this day. And above all he has always — perhaps because of the limits imposed by a monthly column and its general audience — retained an eye and ear for details that will resonate with the rest of us.

HC: What’s the closest you got to the actual footsteps, the experience of the Expedition?

MP: It was in Montana, at the portage they made around Great Falls. When you get to a place that’s a hurdle that they have had trouble getting across or getting through, then you really see — you feel for them. That was one of the few places, besides down at the mouth of the Columbia, that I felt that I was reliving what they saw and did, as far as the landscape goes.

HC: Was it of historical significance?

MP: Yes. It was named Mount Coffin because tribes used to bury their dead there in canoes up on stilts. And then when Lt. Charles Wilkes’s expedition came in 1841, the whole area caught fire mysteriously — some people think this was their version of urban renewal.

That was the mentality then, unfortunately.

But that’s the kind of stuff that turned a lot of the Indians hostile to our knocking it all down.

HC: Is there much similarity in the present-day falls?

MP: I was a little disappointed in the falls themselves. They didn’t have much water going over them, electrical generation and flood control at work. Once a year they open up the gates and let the water flow across, but not like it used to.

HC: But you say the portage route is pretty much untouched?

MP: Just because it’s so steep and brutal. It goes up and down a series of steep draws,

People+ Place re-visits the Discovery Trail.

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At the Shelter, 909 Columbia Blvd, Longview.

Proud Sponsor of People+Place 22 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

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Congratulations to the staff and leaders of Avamere at St. Helens for truly living and showing our mission:

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Wishing All a Wonderful Holiday Season!

For more information contact Jenny Hicks 503-366-8070

+ Place

ere on a roll. They wanted to get to the ocean.”

~ Michael O.Perry

down and collapse. They were that exhausted and yet they didn’t complain. They get up and they do the job because that was what they were there for.

HC: You make an effort to describe the actual ordeal at the mouth of the Columbia. The same mixture of danger, fear, disappointment, not just ‘Ocian in view.’

In his narrative Perry works hard to empathize, not just narrate. The journals themselves are famously short on “feel.”

The tone is stoic and factual, and one must read between the lines for any sense of “what must this have been like?” offering plenty of opportunity to read between the lines, speculate, and exercise some imagination.

Perry describes, for instance, the moment Clark and Lewis reached the top of the continental divide, and instead of seeing a smooth-flowing river leading them down to the Pacific, beheld yet more huge mountains extending to the horizon.

MP: It was terrible. And this is where I, and the historical record, owe so much to Rex Ziak, who researched those three weeks at the mouth where they were literally fighting for their lives. Ziak walked it, calculated it, and re-wrote it.

MP: They encountered a river up there, and drank a toast from it, saying ‘I need to drink water from the headwaters of the Columbia River.’ But then they go up a little further and see, as far as they can see, just mountains.

Not just mountains, but snowcap. It must have been a real punch to the gut, because they now knew for certain it would be terribly difficult to get to the ocean and back.

with a plateau or bench paralleling the river above it. There’s a steep little ‘V’ going up the ravine. Granted, it’s been 200 years and there’s been a lot of erosion but I — for the first time after reading what I’ve read — was able to say, ‘Okay, now I’m with them.’

HC: You go so far as to say they were dying.

MP: I don’t think that’s an exaggeration. No food, logs tossing around them, fierce winds and incessant rain, clothes rotting off their backs. Freezing temperatures. Literally no way out. They had to sink their canoes and weigh them down with rocks, then beat a retreat when they could.

HC: And yet Clark low keys it MP: They were soldiers. Stoics.

HC: How did you decide what to include, dwell on, emphasize?

MP: It was good discipline to have to write 1,000 words a month, and write them for the lay reader. I could look for things that you might not read in the history books — footnotes, asides, items of interest to someone just giving it a glance.

Something I might get out of my car and investigate myself.

HC: How about your personal takeaways?

What did you feel like you learned or stuck with you after all this reading and viewing and work?

HC: And you didn’t have four canoes full of supplies to carry.

MP: My gosh, I’ve read about this horrible effort to get the wheeled boats up there, the hailstorms they had, this amazingly steep draw.

I don’t know how you’d get an empty boat up, let alone with all the tons of stuff they had. It was just mind-boggling. Clark or Lewis, I forget which one, wrote about how the men had to stop and rest every few minutes. They were so tired. Sweat just poured off of them. They stop and they instantly go to sleep. They just lay

MP: The toughness of these very ordinary men. They went the cont page 24

Opportunities don’t just happen.

You create them.

S

ince 2016 God has been moving in powerful ways through the ministry of FCA in Cowlitz County. It’s an exciting time as the Lord is opening many doors to serve coaches and athletes. Currently, 43 student athlete leaders are being mentored, 52 coaches have been equipped or empowered to capture the hearts of their players, FCA is partnering with nine churches, and just cleared the $90,000 annual revenue mark, with three staff serving locally. We welcome help pursuing FCA’s mission to lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church. To donate or learn more, please visit pdxfca.org/cowlitz-county or contact Kane Ulrich, Cowlitz County Area Director, 509-944-0488, or email: kulrich@fca.org

360-577-7200

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HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 23

People + Place HC: How about your personal journey, what stays with you?

HC: Thoughts for your readers, takeaways for them, perhaps?

MP: The closest I got to walking in their tracks was the portages around Great Falls.

And I literally got down in those ravines, with that prickly pear cactus everywhere, and walked it all. The ground is so hard, and the buffalo had made hoofprints which had hardened into sharp edges, and these guys trudged across in their moccasins, falling asleep where they stood, as I mentioned previously. That was a powerful moment for me.

MP: We just need to slow down and smell the roses in life. That’s history. I remember I got a note from a lady who said, after reading a column about the Old Pacific Highway, my first ‘Postmarks along the Trail’ — a series I wrote after ‘Dispatches’ — she loaded her teddy bear in the car with a copy of the Reader and took all the back roads to Vancouver. She said thank you so much, it was the most enjoyable thing. History is that way. There is more out there than we can possibly learn. These little towns around here that we all hear the names but don’t know anything of. Why were they there, and what went on? If I can share those things that’s the most rewarding.

HC: Take more of the “blue highways,” as they’re often called?

from page 23

whole route, loyal to the end, never complaining. And this was dangerous, backbreaking, scary stuff. Down there at the mouth of the Columbia dodging six-foot diameter logs, marooned between a rock cliff and the tides and storms pelting you. And starving in the mountains. It’s real hardship. And yet, when they got back, they simply went back to their ordinary lives.

MP: You remember Charles Kuralt? He did a piece when they finished our interstate highway system. And signed off on camera saying something like, ‘Well, the news is today the interstate highway system is complete. It’s now possible to drive coast to coast and not see a thing.’

HC: No grand parades?

MP: No, the outcomes of the Expedition, I think, are somewhat disappointing. Besides Lewis’s failing to write it all up, nobody published Clark’s maps until much later. The natural history studies, drawings and descriptions and discoveries, got filed away in some obscure place. And, of course the politics and diplomacy just went on and on, pretty oblivious. So, really the most important thing they accomplished was reinforcing our claim to the land, which wouldn’t get settled with Great Britain until years later, anyway.

••• Images: page 21, a dugout canoe at Netul Landing, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park; pages 2223, postcards from Michael Perry’s private collection; page 24: Ecola Point north of Cannon Beach, along the route Capt. Clark took to the washed-ashore whale near Cannon Beach; at Fort Clatsop; on-the-road reading from Perry’s “portable library” in the back of “Twiggy,” his Mini Cooper.

Hal Calbom is editor of The Tidewater Reach, Field Guide to the Lower Columbia River in Poems and Pictures, recently published by Columbia River Reader Press, and the new Dispatches from the Discovery Trail, by Michael O. Perry, available mid-December.

Reach Hal at hal@halcalbom.com Editor’s Note: Interviews are edited for length and condensed for clarity.

“Alive with History!”

We can all be proud of our museum, preserving and interpreting our local heritage. Please donate to the Cowlitz County Historical Society’s 2020 Annual Campaign to support its mission in our community.

• EXCAVATION • SITE PREPARATION • UTILITIES

FIRST RESPONDERS, MEDICAL PROVIDERS, ALL OTHER ESSENTIAL WORKERS Make checks payable to Cowlitz County Historical Society, 405 Allen St., Kelso, WA 98626. Info or to donate online:

We appreciate the ongoing, courageous service of these special people in our community. Please join us in saluting, supporting and thanking them.

www.co./cowlitz.wa.us/museum

Warm Holiday Wishes!

Proud sponsor of People+Place 24 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

Proud sponsor of People+Place

“The Perfect Gift!”

In this engaging new book author Michael Perry takes a fresh look at the Lewis and Clark Expedition from the layman’s point of view. Compiled from the popular Columbia River Reader series, with new notes and commentary, Dispatches adds to the Expedition lore the insights and observations of a gifted amateur historian.

Michael O. Perry is a retired environmental technician, avid collector, conservator, and student of Pacific Northwest history.

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

“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.”

“‘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

— DANIELLE ROBBINS Education & Public Programs Coordinator, Cowlitz County Historical Museum Featuring the work of woodcut artist Debby Neely “Meadowlark” “North Fork Chinook” On the cover: “Whispering”

President, Lower Columbia Chapter Traditional Small Craft Association

Michael Perry has a collector’s eye, a scientist’s curiosity, and the Pacific Northwest in his heart.

A Different Way of Seeing...

Dispatches from the Discovery Trail A Layman’s Lewis & Clark

Order Now!

page 2

Boxed Signature Edition Color and BW $50 • Trade Paperback in BW $25 HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 25

Where do you read

THE READER?

Enjoying a good read Mary Eade relaxing with the Reader at home in Castle Rock, Washington

Two Castle Rocks, four presidents on a rock WHERE DO YOU READ THE READER? Send your photo reading the Reader (high-resolution JPEG) to Publisher@ CRReader.com. Include names and cities of residence. We make it a practice to acknowledge photos received; if you don’t hear from us within 5 days, please resend. If sending a cell phone photo, choose the largest file size up to 2 MB.

296 In this season of giving thanks, the Longview Outdoor Gallery is deeply thankful to the 296 donors who have given large and small donations to make the downtown sculpture program a success. Hats off! also to the businesses and foundations who have stepped up to the plate!

There are now 19 permanent sculptures on Commerce and Broadway.

Please continue your support so we can build on the dream of giving the city 23 sculptures in time for Longview’s 2023 centennial: “23 by 23!”

Available now! Our podcast walking tour. Available on our website, Spotify, Apple and other platforms. Or pick up a brochure at the LOG Donor Wall, at the corner of Commerce and Maple, or at Broadway Gallery.

Thanks!

Sit and Smell the Roses

Run of the Kings

PO Box 2804, Longview, WA 98632 • longviewoutdoorgallery@gmail.com 26 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

Tom and Laura McGoldrick, of Castle Rock, Wash., at the Castle Rock, Minnesota Post Office, while visiting their son, and on the same trip, at Mt. Rushmore. Their copy of CRR appears to have held up well during their travels.

Carnal Knowledge

The Natural World

Great gray garden slugs raise eyebrows with Byzantine copulation routine By Dr. Robert Michael Pyle

I

had real compunction about dispatching them in the depth of their passion. They were beautiful utterly merged—and they were stunning in their sheer physical exuberance. But letting them live would have serious consequences, as I had learned bitterly once before.

It was some 15 years ago that I came upon a courting pair of the great gray beasts, the first I’d ever seen. I recognized them from their handsomely spotted hides, and remembered what I had read about their astonishing sexual behavior. So I placed the creatures in a terrarium to watch them. But they escaped postcoitus, and our home precincts have been populated with their voracious offspring ever since.

I am speaking of Limax maximus, arguably the handsomest of the large, shell-less land mollusks.

Sleekly proportioned, kitten-gray, symmetrically mottled with dramatic black spots, and enormous— sometimes exceeding six inches— the leopard slug is an animal whose beauty must appeal to even the most fastidious slime-o-phobe. If only it were native! But, like the black and rusty Arion ater, which gobbles the garden in its teeming thousands, L. maximus originated in Europe. It is one of hundreds of alien species which, having co-evolved with humans over many thousands of years in the Old World, proved pre-adapted for disturbed habitats in North America.

So this striking animal is despised as the starling of the slugs, no more loved than the exotic zebra mussels that clog our waterways.

Slugs have a hard enough time with their public relations, but when they are as devastating on the garden as this large herbivore, they haven’t a chance at mercy, even from a sympathetic naturalist. Even still, Limax maximus practices one of the most dramatic sexual unions I know, thereby seducing our reluctant attention. Like other slugs, the species is hermaphroditic. Every adult both receives and donates spermatazoa, a lifestyle that might be considered highly progressive. But they do not gather in knots of two or three individuals to fuse gonads among the leaf litter as does A. ater. Nor do they engage in mutual penetration with mammoth penises as our indigenous banana slugs do. Instead, great gray garden slugs have contrived a copulatory routine so Byzantine as to raise the most jaded eyebrows.

And raise is the right verb, for these slugs begin their union by climbing a tree trunk or a wall to a high point, then circling for an hour or more, mutually caressing with their tentacles, nipping, and secreting copious gummy mucous. Then, gluing a sticky launching pad to the surface, they drop into the abyss on a shared bungee cord of congealed slime. (One of the greatest attributes of mollusk mucous is that it can be slick as greased glass one second, sticky as super glue the next—an engineering feat no laboratory has successfully duplicated.) There the lovers dangle, like two climbers moved to merge in mid-belay.

Such was what we beheld on a recent midnight, upon going out to the back porch to feed the cats. Ever since that first experiment in voyeurism and the subjects’ consequent escape, L. maximus has frequented our porch and the adjacent gardens.

To their detriment and the cats’ patent disgust, they come to the cat food more faithfully than to any slugbait but beer.

However, these two fine leopards were sliding up the wall of the house above the catfood dish, more intent on sex than kibbles. We decided to let them reach the ceiling and bungee away, certain we could contain them after witnessing the act.

Robert Michael Pyle is a naturalist and writer who has resided along Gray’s River in Wahkiakum County for many years. His 24 books include the Northwest classics Wintergreen, Sky Time in Gray’s River, and Where Bigfoot Walks (which inspired the feature film based on Pyle’s life, ‘The Dark Divide’ now available on video-on-demand streaming services). His newest book titles are The Tidewater Reach: Field Guide to the Lower Columbia River in Poems and Pictures (with Judy VanderMaten, recently published by CRRPress, see page 2 and 43) and Nature Matrix: New and Selected Essays. Photo by David Lee Myers

This is the 28th in a series of selected essays to appear in Columbia River Reader. These were originally published in Orion Afield or Orion Magazine in the author’s column, “The Tangled Bank” and, subsequently, in the book of the same name published by Oregon State University Press in 2012.

They made remarkable progress in their eagerness. When we checked a few minutes later, they were already slung and linked, their cables pasted to the clapboard wall, their embrace suspended just above the dish. And there stood Firkin the cat, peacefully munching, completely oblivious to the sex play unfurling inches above her head.

The strand hung some three feet, roping the lovers upside down. They wrapped around each other in a double helix so intertwined that we stiff bony vertebrates could only regard their full-body wrap with envy and awe. They dangled and spun, first this way, then that, as their soft exertions spiraled their gyre. And all the while their extruded milky penis sacs — half their total length — pushed out behind their heads, mingling in a clot of blending zygotes. First palm-like, then feathery, these creneled genitals pulsated and throbbed like sea jellies swimming together: stroking, dancing, fanning, swelling—finally forming a sheltering parasol as climax overcame them.

After an hour or so, we humans were exhausted. I’d have left matters there, but I remembered last time, and the ensuing years of heavy plant predation. So I took the copulating leopards by their magical harness, laid them gently in a bread bag, and placed them in the freezer alongside a few dozen Arion ater. Later they will enrich the compost, and their magnificence return to the garden of which it is made. Though they would have frozen naturally in a few weeks, making slugsicles now gave me no pleasure and some sharp misgivings. Yet allowing aggressive alien species to reproduce means giving up on native species, as well as the garden. So we make our choices: Limax or lettuce, leopards or bananas. I console myself with the thought that there are worse ways to go than entering the Big Sleep in a state of utter rapture.

•••

HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 27

Clatskanie, Ore. Fultano’s Pizza 770 E. Columbia River Hwy Family style with unique pizza offerings, hot grill items & more!

Take-out and Home Delivery. Visit Fultanos.com for streamlined menu.

503-728-2922

Ixtapa Fine Mexican Restaurant 640 E. Columbia River Hwy Fine Mexican cuisine. Daily specials.

The best margarita in town. Daily drink specials. Drive-by Pickup.

M-Th 11am–9:30pm; Fri & Sat 11am–11:30pm; Sun 11am–9pm. 503-728-3344

Rainier. Ore. Alston Pub & Grub

25196 Alston Rd., Rainier 503-556-4213 11 beers on tap, cocktails.

Open daily 11am.

503-556-9753 • Status unknown Conestoga Pub Cornerstone Café 102 East “A” Street Microbrews, wines & spirits Prime rib Friday & Sat. Open M-F 6am–8pm; Sat-Sun 7am–8pm.

503-556-8772 • Take-out only

Evergreen Pub & Café

115-117 East 1st Street Burgers, halibut, prime rib, full bar.

503-556-9935 • Status unknown

Goble Tavern

70255 Columbia River Hwy. (Milepost 31, Hwy. 30) Food, beer & wine + full bar, Live entertainment. 2–10pm M-T-W; 11am–10pm Th-F-Sat 503-556-4090 • Status unknown

Luigi’s Pizza

117 East 1st Street, Rainier 503-556-4213 Take-out & Delivery

COLUMBIA RIVER

dining guide

Kelso, Wash.

Grant’s at the Monticello Hotel on Longview’s historic Civic

El Ranchero Kelso

1626 West Side Hwy Family Mexican restaurant. Full menu.

Daily specials. Liquor, beer & wine. Mention this listing for $5 off purchase of $30 or more. Open Mon–Sat 11am–9pm. 360423-3704. Take-out from Drive-up window

Longview, Wash.

1335 14th Avenue 18 rotating craft brews, pub fare.

M-W 12 Noon–9pm, Th–Sat 12 Noon– 11pm. Sun 12 Noon–8pm. Local music.

Follow us on Untappd.

See ad, page 13.

The Carriage

Circle. Casual upscale dining. Seafood, steaks, pasta, burgers. Happy Hour specials 3pm. M-Th 11-9, Fri-Sat 11-10.

Closed temporarily, until further notice.

Kalama, Wash.

360-442-8234.

215 N. Hendrickson Dr., Port of Kalama.

A Northwest pub and unique bars serving breakfast, lunch & dinner daily.

Handcrafted beer, wine & cocktails, burgers, specialties, incl Kamikaze Seared Ahi & more.. Info & reservations at mcmenamins.com. Bars hours vary; see website for details. Pub open M-Th 7am – midnight; Fri-Sun 7am– 1am.

Reservations required for dinner. 360673-9210. Covered outdoor seating.

Curbside take-out.

Creekside Café 1323 Commerce Ave. Soups, Salads, Burgers, Wraps.

Pick-up and Delivery. 11am–7pm.

360-425-7296. www.creeksidecafe.restaurant

The Original Pietrio’s Pizzeria

614 Commerce Ave., Longview. 18 varieties of pizza, prepared salads. Beer & wine. Open 11am every day. Inside seating by reservation only.

360-353-3512. Take-o, some local delivery.

Restaurant & Lounge

The Carriage Restaurant & Lounge 1334 12th Ave. Open from 6am to close. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Full bar, banquet room available for groups, parties, family reunions, etc. in lounge, open 6am. Three happy hours daily (8–10am, 12–2pm, 5–7pm). Group meeting room, free use with $150 food/drink purchases.

360-425-8545.

Porky’s Public House 561 Industrial Way, Longview Slow-roasted prime rib Fri & Sat, flat iron steaks, 1/3-lb burgers, fish & chips.

33 draft beers. Full bar. Family-friendly, weekly jazz and acoustic dinner hour sets on Weds. 360-636-1616.

Eclipse Café

In the Merk (1339 Commerce Ave., #113) 360-431-5552. Mon-Fri 8am–4pm.

Specialty coffees, teas, bubble teas and pastries....drinks with a smile. Takeout and delivery.

Roland Wines

1106 Florida St., Longview. Authentic Italian wood-fired pizza, wine, and beer.

Casual ambience. 5–9pm Wed-Fri, Sat. 11–3.

Cod, halibut & tuna fish and chips, oysters & clams, award-winning clam chowder.

Prime rib every Thurs. Sunday Brunch 9am–1pm. Beer and wine. M-Sat 10am– 8pm, Sunday 11am–8pm. Drive-thru, take-out. Outdoor seating.

1110 Commerce 360-414-3288.

See ad, page 4.

St. Helens, Ore.

Sunshine Pizza & Catering 2124 Columbia Blvd.

Hot pizza, cool salad bar. Beer & wine. Curbside pickup and delivery.503-397-3211 See ad, page 16. .

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. 503-5435100.

Ixtapa Fine Mexican Restaurant

Freddy’s Just for the Halibut.

Teri’s, 3225 Ocean Beach Hwy, Longview. Lunch and dinner.

Burgers, steak, seafood, pasta, specials, fresh NW cuisine. Happy Hour. Full bar.

360-577-0717. Free delivery 12–4pm.

Covered outdoor seating. Curbside pickup.

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. Curbside pickup and home delivery. 503-543-3017

Warren, Ore.

Castle Rock, Wash.

Pizza, spaghetti, burgers, beer & wine.

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

Vault Books & Brew 20 Cowlitz Street West, Castle Rock Coffee and specialty drinks, quick eats & sweet treats. See ad, page 31.

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. World-famous mac & cheese. 360-577-1541. Take-out only.

Call for hours.

28 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

Parker’s Restaurant & Brewery 1300 Mt. St. Helens Way. I-5 Exit 49.

Lunch, Dinner. Burgers, hand-cut steak; seafood and pasta. Restaurant opens 11am, Lounge 12 Noon. Closed Monday.

360-967-2333. Call for status/options.

Warren Country Inn 56575 Columbia River Hwy. Fine family dining. Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Fri Prime Rib special, Taco Tuesday. Full bar. M-Th 8am–9:30pm, Fri-Sat 8am–10:30pm, Sun 9am–9pm. Karaoke Fri & Sat.503-410-5479.

Closed until Dec. 2. Check Facebook for updates.

ME AND MY

COLUMBIA RIVER DINING GUIDE

PIANO*

An alternative to “Louie, Louie” for State song

*or other instrument “Me & My Piano” Reader Submissions Invited

During Covid-19 restrictions, restaurants’ operations may fluctuate.

Expect mask requirements and indoor/outdoor, seating /occupancy limits in accordance with State guidelines. Call first if in doubt. Please support local restaurants — they are vital in the economic and social life of our community!

Share your unique story of you and your relationship with a musical instrument in 500 words or less and mail to CRR, 1333 14th Ave., Longview, WA 98632, or email to publisher@ crreader.com. Note “Me and My Piano” in the subject line and if possible attach/include a current mugshot and/or a photo of you with your instrument.

Don’t worry about perfect spelling or syntax. If your story is chosen, we will provide editing services and will contact you for additional details or embellishments as needed.

By Raleigh Wyatt

Raleigh Wyatt with his Ibanez 12-string acoustic guitar

M

y wife and I were vacationing in Astoria, and coming home to Ephrata, Washington, we stopped at the Berry Patch in Westport where I picked up the Columbia River Reader.

I began playing the guitar with my Father when I was eight, and moved on to the mandolin and banjo. Later I began to play the piano and did so while in the Navy, playing at the small gedunks, or gathering places, on the

bases where I was stationed. I write lots of music, including country, easy listening, and even a rock and roll song way back in 1963. I wrote this song, “Washington,” in response to the Legislators thinking about using “Louie, Louie,” as our State song. I hope that you can use it for a good purpose such as telling people what a beautiful place we have as a state.

•••

“Washington” NEW! Located at 107 E. 1st Street • Rainier, Oregon Proceeds benefit HOPE of Rainier Food Pantry

OPEN Mon-Wed-Fri 10 – 4 503-556-4159

Donations accepted during business hours, in need of winter clothing, children’s coats, hoodies, sweatshirts, men’s jeans, hats, gloves, scarves, linens and towels. Please no summer clothing.

With every $5 spent at HOPE Chest in Rainier or Turning Point in Clatskanie, receive a non-expiring coupon for $1 at the other thrift store.

by Raleigh Wyatt, c, 1984

Sailing through the waters of Seattle, Splashing in the waves of the sea Hiking in the mountains or walking o’er the plains All this beauty was made for you and me.

You can search around from Maine to California And remember all you do and what you see Just remember you can see it all in Washington It’s the beauty that was made for you and me.

From the coast to the inlands of Washington From the cascades to the fruitful apple trees There’s so much to do and see, and the beauty here is free

All this beauty was made for you and me.

In the cities the people are so friendly And the country beacons you to see It’s so beautiful living here in Washington It’s the beauty that was made for you and me From the coast to the inlands of Washington From the cascades to the fruitful apple trees There’s so much to do and see, and the beauty here is free All this beauty was made for you and me.

to hear the song, contact Raleigh via email, freetobeme3867@yahoo.com

HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 29

BESIDES COLUMBIA RIVER READER...

What are you reading?

Think Snow.

Monthly feature coordinated by Alan Rose

Virginia Dare and the Lost Colony of Roanoke

By Dennis Weber

W

hen my daughter gave me the book The Secret Token, written by Andrew Lawler, I knew I liked that a u t h o r r i g h t a w a y. H e had signed his name on the title page and added the inscription: “History Teachers Rock!”

The book’s subtitle “Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke” is an apt description of the book — not quite a bone fide history, but a fun story combining Native American and Elizabethan archeology and sociology, political intrigues, a secret map, Southern racism, phony artifacts, DNA testing, and Outer Banks pop culture. I also learned a lot about what we don’t know about those colonists left behind in 1586, including Virginia Dare, the first English settler born in America on an island near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

A secret message (the secret token) was apparently left behind to inform a resupply expedition of the colony’s move to a better site for farming, protection from hurricanes, and

security from Spanish military authorities seeking to destroy the English intruders.

Although the little girl disappeared, she was later romanticized as a Southern symbol of white womanhood during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Her supposed blond-haired, blue-eyed image eventually became a marketing tool for local liquor products!

Today the National Park Service operates a visitor center near where popular legend assumes the colony was built. And the local community puts on a play about the Lost Colony, one of the nation’s longest operating summer theaters.

••• D e n n i s We b e r is a retired high school history teacher and current Cowlitz County Commissioner. He lives in Longview, Wash.

ATTENTION, READERS Read a good book lately? To be mini-interviewed by CRR Book Reviewer Alan Rose for a future “What Are You Reading?” spotlight, please contact him at alan@alan-rose. com or the publisher/editor at publisher@crreader.com.

30 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

WordFest resumes on Zoom!

2nd Tuesdays, 7–8pm. No need for a Zoom account, but register at www. alan-rose.com to receive invitation link via email.

Cover to Cover

Top 10 Bestsellers PAPERBACK FICTION 1. Circe Madeline Miller, Back Bay, $16.99 2. Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver Mary Oliver, Penguin, $20 3. The Overstory Richard Powers, Norton 4. A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles, Penguin, $17 5. Olive, Again Elizabeth Strout, Random House, $18 6. The Topeka School Ben Lerner, Picador, $17 7. The Nickel Boys Colson Whitehead, Anchor, $15.95 8. Shuggie Bain Douglas Stuart, Grove Press, $17 9. Something Worth Doing Jane Kirkpatrick, Revell, $15.99 10. What Kind of Woman: Poems Kate Baer, Harper Perennial, $17

PAPERBACK NON-FICTION 1. The Truths We Hold Kamala Harris, Penguin, $18 2. Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer, Milkweed Editions, $18 3. My Own Words Ruth Bader Ginsburg, S&S, $18 4. Burnout Emily Nagoski, Amelia Nagoski, Ballantine, $17 5. rough house: a memoir Tina Ontiveros, Oregon State University Press, $18.95 6. All That the Rain Promises and More David Arora, Ten Speed Press, $17.99 7. Northwest Trees: Identifying and Understanding the Region’s Native Trees Stephen Arno, Ramona Hammerly (Illus.), Mountaineers Books, $19.95, 8. The Warmth of Other Suns Isabel Wilkerson, Vintage, $17.95 9. The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, Penguin, $19 10. White Fragility Robin DiAngelo, Beacon Press, $16

BOOK REVIEW

By Alan Rose The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book James Raven, editor

A

Oxford University Press $39.95

bibliophile is not just someone who loves books. A bibliophile is someone who, given the choice between surrendering one’s library and surrendering one’s spouse, needs time to consider. The Renaissance humanist Erasmus wrote, “When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.” Erasmus was a bibliophile.

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book is made for the true bibliophile, a breathtaking survey of how Alan Rose’s new novel, As If Death Summoned, will be released in December.

You can sign up for his monthly WordFest newsletter at www. alan-rose.com

HARDCOVER FICTION 1. The Cold Millions Jess Walter, Harper, $28.99 2. The Searcher Tana French, Viking, $27 3. The Law of Innocence Michael Connelly, Little, Brown, $29, 4. Anxious People Fredrik Backman, Atria, $28 5. The Vanishing Half Brit Bennett, Riverhead Books, $27 6. A Time for Mercy John Grisham, Doubleday, $29.95 7. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue V.E. Schwab, Tor, $26.99 8. The Lost Spells Robert MacFarlane, Jackie Morris (Illus.), Anansi International, $26 9. Dearly: New Poems Margaret Atwood, Ecco, $27.99 10. The Kingdom: A novel Jo Nesbø, Knopf, $28.95

HARDCOVER NON-FICTION 1. Caste Isabel Wilkerson, Random House, $32 2. The Best of Me David Sedaris, Little, Brown, $30 3. Untamed Glennon Doyle, The Dial Press, $28 4. One Life Megan Rapinoe, Penguin Press, $27 5. Greenlights Matthew McConaughey, Crown, $30 6. Solutions and Other Problems Allie Brosh, Gallery Books, $30 7. Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man Emmanuel Acho, Flatiron Books, $27.99 8. Is This Anything?

Jerry Seinfeld, S&S, $35 9. Douglas Fir: The Story of the West’s Most Remarkable Tree Stephen Arno, Carl Fiedler, Zoe Keller (Illus.), Mountaineers Books, $21.95 10. The Answer Is . . .

Alex Trebek, S&S, $26

Brought to you by Book Sense and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Assn, for week ending Nov. 15 2020, 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 MASS MARKET 1. Dune Frank Herbert, Ace, $10.99 2. 1984 George Orwell, Signet, $9.99 3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou, Ballantine, $7.99 4. Mistborn: The Final Empire Brandon Sanderson, Tor, $8.99 5. Good Omens Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Morrow, $9.99 6. The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin, Ace, $9.99 7. Little Women Louisa May Alcott, Signet, $6.99 8. Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut, Laurel Leaf, $7.99 9. The Last Wish Andrzej Sapkowski, Orbit, $8.99 10. Go Tell It on the Mountain James Baldwin, Vintage, $7.99

EARLY & MIDDLE GRADE READERS 1. The Ickabog J K. Rowling, Scholastic, $26.99 2. A Wolf Called Wander Rosanne Parry, Monica Armino (Illus.), Greenwillow Books, $16.99 3. A Whale of the Wild Rosanne Parry, Lindsay Moore (Illus.), Greenwillow Books, $17.99 4. This Is Your Time Ruby Bridges, Delacorte Books for Young Readers, $15.99 5. Bob Wendy Mass, Rebecca Stead, Nicholas Gannon (Illus.), Square Fish, $7.99 6. Twins Varian Johnson, Shannon Wright (Illus.), Graphix, $12.99 7. Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure Jeff Kinney, Amulet, $14.99 8. The Kid’s Book of the Elements: An Awesome Introduction to Every Known Atom in the Universe Theodore Gray, Black Dog & Leventhal, $12.99 9. Ghost Boys Jewell Parker Rhodes, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $7.99 10. Pax Sara Pennypacker, Jon Klassen (Illus.), Balzer + Bray, $8.99

A Gift for the True Bibliophile humankind has attempted to record and remember itself through the millennia, from clay tablets to digital tablets.

The articles are academic (It is Oxford University Press, after all) and some sections are very technical and detailed and assume a good grasp of world history. If you aren’t familiar with Ashurbanipal or the Song Dynasty [960-1279 CE], this may not be for you.

But it is also eminently skim-able if, for example, you don’t want to know how the ancients made papyrus scrolls from the papyrus plant.

There are fascinating facts to expand our knowledge and appreciation of the writing experiment: Writing developed independently at least four different times in the world, in Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, and pre-conquest Mesoamerica. Likewise, paper was invented at least three different times in separate parts of the globe. The oldest surviving paper book is a copy of a Buddhist sutra from 256 CE (one of many beautiful photographs in this lavishly illustrated edition.)

Books in the Western tradition have the familiar rectangular style because parchment came from animal hides that are longer than wide (literally, “the flesh made Word.”) Gutenberg

Cultural conservatives of the late eighteenth century imagined a wide range of contemporary ills that they blamed on the malign influence of untutored reading: a wave of suicides, set off by the reading of Werther and the writings of the philosophes; an epidemic of masturbation, spread through the solitary reading of erotic literature … and, most ominously, a growing incapacity of women afflicted with ‘reading addiction’ to distinguish adequately between fact and fiction and to attend responsibly to their daily chores.

Separate chapters on books in the ancient world, the Islamic world, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and south Asian cultures help expand our provincial Western understanding, and together form a testament to how books have served “to transport community memory through time and space and have done so reasonably effectively in a multiplicity of physical forms for over 5,000 years.”

This is a worthy addition to one’s library, in place of one’s spouse.

•••

~ from The Oxford Illustrated

History of the Book invented printing with moveable type in 1452. But the Koreans were already printing with moveable type by 1234.

There is a helpful glossary if you’ve momentarily forgotten what xylography is (woodblock printing,) and a succinct timeline stretching from 3500 bce (when the earliest script-symbols were found in the Indus Valley, on clay tablets in Mesopotamia and on Egyptian papyrus rolls) to the modern day (Twitter increasing the Tweet limit to 280 characters.)

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32 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

Introspection

Not a real king, not very wise... he still embarked on the journey with hope

By the Rev. Kathleen Patton

Gaspar’s Journey

As told to the Rev. Kathleen Patton by one of the “three wise men.”

Originally portrayed at St. Stephen’s Church and published in CRR, Jan 2007.

T

he legend called us kings, but we were really just rich. We had enough wealth to enjoy leisure, to study, to learn of other lands, and to pay careful attention to the natural world. The legend called us magi — wise ones. Well, that might apply to Balthazar and Melchior, but me — I’m just, shall we say, curious.

Bored and restless I used to have a passion for work, but after I built up my business so that it was running itself, and my sons were well trained, and I was making more money than I could spend, it all became a bore to me. Everything, in fact, seemed boring. My town, my family, my whole life. I lost interest in it all. I felt useless, and restless. I began to spend my days wandering the bazaar, listening for news from beyond the walls of my city.

I met Balthazar and Melchior in the tea house. They were poring over charts and arguing passionately. When my curiosity became obvious, they invited me into their conversation. It was way over my head ­literally. They were talking about the stars.

The starts: orderly and mysterious Balthazar is in love with the sky. he has devoted a lifetime of study to plotting and studying the stars.

A spice merchant, he has traveled

widely collecting many books and learning from master astronomers.

He uses the stars to navigate, so that his interest is practical, but it goes far beyond that. He is obsessed with their wildness, their order, their beauty and their mystery.

Melchior sees something else entirely in the stars. He’s a little crazy, I think.

Some sort of mystic. He studies religions, collects holy books wherever he goes on his travels. He speaks half a dozen languages, and reads even more. From all this study of religion, he has come to believe that all things are connected by some magical web.

He thinks that even human beings and stars are connected, so that our stories are reflected in the sky, and he is always trying to crack the code, so that he can read the meaning of the heavens.

Something new rising in the west This day Melchior was trying to demonstrate a pattern he had discovered. He was excited to show Balthazar an omen in the stars, a sign that a new and auspicious kingdom was to arise in the West. Strangest of all, this new kingdom was to emerge from the pitiful little state of Palestine, the land of Israel, of all places.

Balthazar insisted there was nothing new in the sky, but Melchior could not be persuaded. He was sure he had at

last found the key to the meaning of the heavens. It was a crazy argument, but not boring. Before I knew it, I had proposed a foolish expedition to Jerusalem, to that distant backwater of the Roman Empire, to test Melchior’s theory.

Not that I believed a word of it, even of the little I understood. Nor do I have any use for kings and kingdoms.

Our king has done me no good. He just collects more and more of my income for taxes. But I was hungry for a real adventure. I thought if I could see other lands in the company of such wise men I might find the joy in life again.

But I was quickly disappointed. I had no idea how tedious and difficult such travel can be. Try as I might to learn from my companions, my mind quickly glazed over every time they tried to explain their charts or their philosophies.

Injustice and poverty Far from being stimulating, most of travel was exhausting, and our encounters with the many peoples we met along the way filled me with confusion and sadness. I had never seen poverty so closely, so vividly. In

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My small regard for kings and kingdoms was turned to contempt. I had no interest in meeting a new king.

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Why do the powerful use their might to do such great harm?” If he had an answer, it was not one I could grasp.

When we got to Jerusalem, Herod was a perfect example. So greedy, so vain, so transparent in his hunger for power and control. His silly religious scribes talked about a Messiah — some son of David who was going to take over and deal with the Romans — who was to be born in David’s city of Bethlehem I could tell the idea of a Messiah made old Herod nervous, though

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the countryside I saw so many people barely able to survive on their lands for the tribute and taxes required of them by their lords and kings. I saw families unable to harvest their crops because the fathers and sons were forced into the king’s armies, or killed outright in the king’s wars.

And for those who resisted, or even complained, brutal punishment was their reward.

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Garpar’s Journey from page 33

he pretended he was interested. He claimed to want to find the prince himself, so he could “worship.” I could see through that. But since Melchior was eager to return to Jerusalem to study with the scholars, Balthazar promised to bring news on our way home.

A new regime?

On the journey to Bethlehem my spirits were at their lowest. By now Balthazar had been infected with Melchior’s weird enthusiasm. He had come to hope that all the clues in the sky and in the Jewish scriptures added up to an important birth, a powerful new king, the advent of a new regime to rival or even end the Roman Empire.

I didn’t see the point in that. Bigger empires, bigger taxes, bigger wars. So? And even when a comet appeared in the sky over Bethlehem, I felt no great joy following a star that led to another so-called king.

But I was surprised. The star led us to the home of a humble carpenter.

And his wife, the mother, amazed me.

She welcomed us into her shack like royalty, as surprised and full of wonder

at our arrival as Melchior had been by the star above us. She plied us with questions about their little son. They claimed to have received messages from angels, and strange dreams. They were in a state of shock, and joy, all at once. It was as though they had suddenly found themselves at the very center of Melchior’s great invisible web, as though heaven and earth had been joined in their simple home.

She had the grace and peace of one who has given herself over to something much larger than herself.

I recognized in her something I hungered for. I asked her, “How can this baby be a king? What good is it to build empires and make war, to cause so much suffering? How can that be God’s plan?”

Not “that kind” of king She shook her head. “Not that kind of king, Gaspar,” she said. “A king of hearts; a prince of peace; one who lifts up the lowly and brings down the proud; one who unites us in love and humility.”

But Mary,” I said, “he’s only one, and even if he is good, even if he is great, he will die.”

“Yes, he will die,” she answered sadly.

“I don’t know how it is, but his death

is part of it, part of the healing, part of why his kingdom will be so different.”

Then she asked me, “Can you hope in a king like that, Gaspar?”

“I don’t believe in much, my lady,” I stammered. “I’m not at all good at believing.”

Choosing to hope “Yes, I see,” she said. “But I did not ask you to believe. Some of us find it easy and natural to believe. I suppose I always have. Others, like you, must choose to hope, that will take you far, as far on this journey as you need to go.”

When we parted she took my hand, and blessed me. She said, “I have a feeling that you are almost in the kingdom already, Gaspar, though the king is yet a baby. You have come so very close to it, with your compassion and hunger for justice and peace.

Maybe the kingdom has been born

in you. Your journey is well begun.

Keep choosing hope, and God will bless you.”

So you, dear reader — if you follow this king — where has your journey brought you? Are you like Mary, easily believing, easily offering your heart?

Or are you one who must choose each day to hope, to continue the journey?

As long as I’ve traveled this road, the kingdom’s sweetness calls mer forward, and I go on choosing the path. Though I’ve never seen the king since that day in Bethlehem, I choose to follow him, and I do think Mary is right that the kingdom has grown inside me, though I am still restless.

I am no king, and I am not very wise.

But I gave my gift that day to the little king, and I will give what gift I have for his kingdom, as long as I have power to do it.

••• Longview resident Kathleen Patton is Vicar at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Washougal, where you can join virtual worship on Sandays: www.stannewa.com

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Amy L. Schwartz, L.Ac, LMP 208 Church Street Kelso, WA

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the Lower Columbia

Informer

by Perry Piper

Remembering My Grandparents

M

y grandparents all passed away around the time I was in middle school, or years prior in the case of my father’s side. My mother, my maternal grandmother, and I had a final adventure together in Paris in her last days. I have some treasured memories with my grandparents, but was too young to converse about much in depth while they were alive.

I do have a few favorite times that readers might be able to relate to.

My grandfather, George Perry, would often have me sit on his lap while we watched science documentaries on TV or read similarly themed, large-format picture books. He seemed serious and straight to the point, completely the opposite of my grandmother, June Perry. She was very kind and was always smiling while crocheting something in her swivel rocking chair.

Left to right: Perry Piper’s grandmother, June Perry; grandfather, George Perry; parents Sue and Ned Piper; cousin, Stephen Perry; Perry (making a face); his uncle and aunt, Michael and Marilyn Perry.

Nobody in the family remembers the names of the couple, top right, their friendly tablemates during the Caribbean Christmas cruise enjoyed in 1994.

Grandma would occasionally make sugar cookies with me, letting me eat some of the raw dough, perhaps my favorite part even more so than the baked treats themselves! She had a toy cabinet next to the hallway, filled with old wood and plastic trinkets from the 20th century.

Grandpa had a very interesting old watch that I would roll around the coffee table as a tank, because of how its treads moved. He

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also had a metallic dirigible coin bank that required quite a bit of strength to crank back and slingshot quarters into its chamber. I’ve, in fact, kept this contraption in my room to this very day!

I’m glad I had what time I did with my grandparents, as well as these memories. I hope everyone has a great time at home this winter with their “household family” or extended family members online or around a heater in the windy outdoors!

Let’s spend valuable time with our loved ones this holiday season while we’re still lucky enough to have them.

••• Perry Piper keeps his “electric thumbs” on the pulse of emerging technologies.

He is CRR’s IT manager and graphic designer. He is also available to assist with computer and technology needs.

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Outings & Events

Market swings making you uneasy?

Let’s talk.

Nick Lemiere CFP®

Performing & Fine Arts, Music Art, Theatre, Literary Recreation, Outdoors Gardening, History, Pets, Self-Help I miss the days of dropping in to visit my old and new friends.

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

See you in 2021.

During COVID-19 closures and as we re-open please submit info (deadlines below), and watch these pages for Outings & Events details!

WISHING YOU MAGICAL HOLIDAYS & JOY

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BROADWAY GALLERY Original • Local Celebrating the good life Spreading good cheer

Submission Guidelines

Exploring our world

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.

Lifelong learning / thinking is a good thing!

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.

Businesses and organizations wishing to promote their particular products or services are invited to purchase advertising..

It’s great to be alive!

1418 Commerce Avenue , Longview, Wash • Tues-Sat 11–4 Social Distancing will be observed, Gallery Members will wear masks & Cleaning procedures followed according to state mandates. We will require our customers to wear masks. Keep updated on our website. See new work on our FaceBook and Instagram Page: the-broadway-gallery. com , Broadway Gallery on Facebook, and broadway_ gallery_longview on Instagram.

Featured artists:

December: Gallery member Jane Gerdon, fiber art; Guest artist Ian Harrington, pencil drawings.

January: Guest artists Donata Vantrongren, assemblage/dolls and Laurie Michaels, 2-D art.

First Thursdays and classes are canceled until further notice, due to Pandemic.

We have Artisan Masks $7

Voted one of top 3 Galleries in SW Washington! Free Gift wrapping plus Layaway!

HOW TO PUBLICIZE YOUR NON-PROFIT EVENT IN CRR Send your non-commercial community event basic 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: Jan 15 – Feb. 20:

by Dec. 26 for Jan 15 issue Feb. 15 – March 20:

by Jan. 25 for Feb 15 issue.

Calendar submissions are considered for inclusion, subject to lead time, general relevance to readers, and space limitations. See Submission Guidelines, at left.

36 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

Local Culture

Hold It Close Retiring Columbia Theatre G P M Director bids adieu ian

aul

orelli

A

s I prepare to turn over the reins of the Columbia Theatre on December 31, I want to pause for a moment of gratitude to all of you who have kept the dream of live performing arts flourishing for more than 37 years. And to those of you who may be just realizing the specialness of what this community has in its midst, I hope you will grasp the challenge and carry the dream forward into the next generation.

Arts and cultural organizations are delicately balanced in the communities in which they thrive. If taken for granted (and the Columbia has been at times), they can lose the hard-won gains they’ve made over the years, or even evaporate altogether. Yet, as challenging as these times are, …I have to be gone for a season or so. that will not happen during this pandemic. The Columbia’s near My business awhile is with different trees, term has been secured. Its longer term outlook is up to you.

“

”

Less carefully nourished, less fruitful than these…

When allowed to re-open, it will be back stronger than ever thanks to your continuing belief in its value.

The miracle that is the Columbia Theatre (and the association that operates it for the benefit of all) would not be possible without the embrace of our entire community. So, I would like to acknowledge the many who have lent their unwavering support over the years. For brevity I will stop short of naming the many individuals who have figured prominently and given generously of their time and treasure. You know who you are.

~ ROBERT FROST “Good-bye, and Keep Cold”

First and foremost: the Columbia Theatre Guild, a group who has selflessly run our concessions for 30+ years raising more than $340,000 to support the theatre and arts education; Our volunteer usher corps—ready and willing for upwards of 80 events annually—we couldn’t open the doors without them.

The many generations of Columbia Theatre Association Board members who found a way to continue the work; The Public Facilities District board of governors and the many

Gian Paul Morelli and his wife, Mary Kay Morelli, with Ed Asner after his 2012 performance in “ FDR” Top: Morelli confers with artists from Portland’s Indian community in one of the Columbia Theatre’s cultural immersion programs. At right: Morelli welcomes the audience pre-show.

Introducing Books One and Two in the series ...Dusted with faerie magic, this richly woven saga, set in the Highlands of Scotland during the mid-1740s, is a riveting tale of one woman’s struggle to take back her life, and to keep her family from being torn apart by a power-hungry Fey Queen.

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citizens who worked tirelessly to secure funding to renovate this “Crown Jewel of Southwest Washington.”

The Longview city managers and city council members who had the vision to see the intrinsic value in saving and then rehabilitating the Columbia; The many Friends of the Theatre, who have sustained the programming that brought joy to our community; Likewise our program sponsors who realize their annual support is not transactional but a bedrock, ongoing commitment—an expression of what makes our community different than others in the region. Our audience.

There are the many foundations who have supported us: Apex, Evans-Kelly, J & S, Murdoch, the Wollenberg family and the Wollenberg Foundation. The estate of E. Kenneth Henderson; the estate of Dee Whyte, and Alona and Carl Forsberg.

And finally, to my Columbia Theatre colleagues--the most dedicated group of professionals with whom I have ever associated.

For nearly 14 years I have had the privilege of leading the Columbia Theatre Association and remain especially grateful for the trust you placed in me to steward it.

It is a particularly strange time to be bidding farewell. After all, theatres are meant to dazzle you with live performances. So, as a last act, I will take a seat in the dark, empty, and comfortable space I called home for these many years. Sit there quietly and feel the echo of the ghosts of history on the walls.

And I will remember that it is and has always been your Columbia Theatre— our Columbia Theatre. Hold it close.

••• Editor’s note: We wish Gian Paul Morelli every happiness in the next chapter of his life and thank him for his incredible, creative, energetic and tireless work on behalf of the Columbia Theatre and our community.

HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 37

Astronomy

Was the Christmas Star ‘real’?

W

as the Christmas star a real astronomical event or a miraculous, one-time event? As to the miraculous event I cannot say. However, there was a series of astronomical events that Middle Eastern astrologers would have seen and interpreted as a major portent of historical significance.

There was a grouping of the planets in one section of the sky, all visible at one time. There was the incredible event of the retrograde motion of Jupiter (which happens every time Earth comes into alignment with Jupiter in their two orbits) just above the bright star Regulus in the constellation Leo. Jupiter was known as the King of

By Greg Smith

the Planets, and Regulus was known as the King of the stars.

This was a very major astrological event announcing the birth of a King.

Why did the three Astrologers go to Israel and not Rome?

Rome was most likely celebrating this event as a confirmation of the greatness of Caesar Augustus. The ‘Chief Astrologer’ in Babylon just a couple of hundred years before this was Daniel.

The apportioning of constellation to nations was very likely set up by him. So the Babylonians saw Leo as defining Israel.

They must have gone to Jerusalem to see the new king of Israel.

When was Jesus born? If we read Revelations 12:1, “And there was a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet.” This actually happened. In September, the zodiac sign of Virgo (the Virgin) was being filled by the Sun, and the new moon was under the ‘feet’ of Virgo. ) This happened to be the day of the Jewish New Year, and the year of Jubilee. Could there be a better time for the new King to come?

The new moon under the feet of Virgo only happened on one day of that year and for many, many years to come in either direction of September 11, 3 BC. The shepherds came when Jesus was an infant in September. They were most likely tending their herds for the New Year celebrations.

We actually celebrate Christmas at the time of year when Israel was celebrating Hanukah. At that time, Hanukah was late December of 2 BC. The high

point of the celebration was around December 25th by our calendar. The Magi were in Jerusalem at this time. and brought gifts to the new king.

The bright “star” (planet) Jupiter was visible in the south right over the location of Bethlehem. The scriptures also say that the Wise Men came to see the king when he was a toddler, not an infant as we all assume.

For more detailed information on the Star of Bethlehem, visit www.askelm.com/star/ The information here has been gathered from many reliable astronomical and historical sources.

••• 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.

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About the Solar System Walk at the Lake In 2001, Friends of Galileo Astronomy Club designed and presented — with financial help from Gibbs & Olson engineering firm and other generous donors — a gift to the City of Longview: A model solar system. It includes10 granite markers along 1.64 miles on the west side of Lake Sacajawea.

The markers show the relative sizes and distances of the Sun and planets.

It’s a great way for residents and visitors to enjoy Lake Sacajawea Park while experiencing the astonishing scale of our solar system ... they can begin to grasp (and gasp at) its magnitude, walking along and realizing how far apart the planets are, even if our solar system is scaled to length of the Lake.

SKY REPORT

Astronomy

Looking UP Nov 25, 2020 –Jan 15, 2021

Evening Sky In late December, Jupiter and Saturn will be having a very rare conjunction Dec 21st in which the two planets will be only one tenth of a degree apart. A telescope will show them in the same field of view. The moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn should be a beautiful sight. This conjunction will be visible low in the southwestern sky at around 5:30pm, an hour after sunset. This coming together of the two planets may be the closest since 1226.

Of course, viewing this conjunction depends on the weather, and late December is not known for its clear skies. Perchance this year will be an exception. An unobstructed view to the southwest horizon is also a must.

Mars is visible in the southeastern sky by sunset and very high in the sky by 8:30pm. It is still quite bright and reddish in color and is not mistakable for that reason.

Morning Sky Venus is still bright in the eastern sky by 6:30 am in early December and will remain visible until disappearing in the morning sunlight. By the end of December Venus will not be visible as its orbit travels away from the Earth around the sun.

Night Sky Spectacle: The rising of the Winter Hexagon.

This an unofficial asterism made up of the six brightest stars in six constellations in the winter sky.

Sirius (Canis Major), Procyon (Canis Minor), Castor (Gemini), Capella (Auriga), Aldebaran (Taurus), and Rigel (Orion). Finding these six stars covers a large area of the sky. The full Winter Hexagon won’t be visible till January and then it commands the winter sky.

In the middle of this circle of stars lies the constellation of Orion and its famous belt and the star forming region the Orion Nebula (M42). It was last year when the star Betelgeuse dimmed. Some thought it was getting ready to go nova on us. Fortunately, astronomers figured out the star had blasted off a huge cloud of material in our direction causing the dimming.

The galaxy in the constellation Andromeda (M31) is very high in the sky, getting to be almost overhead. If you have a very dark night sky, you can make it out with just your eyes, binoculars make it more obvious, and a telescope will show the elongation of the spiral.

Good, dark-adapted vision is essential to seeing it in all three manners.

Are we alone?

Don’t forget M45, the Pleiades, is still riding high in the southeastern sky. It is one of the finest small open clusters of stars in our night sky. Use your binoculars to give yourself a treat for the eyes.

End of twilight when stars begin to appear:

•••

By Greg Smith

A

s astronomers have been finding planets around other stars by watching them cross in front of their stars; so, too, can other planets see us cross in front of our sun.

Moon Phases: New Nov 15 1st Quarter Nov 22 Full Nov 30 3rd Quarter Dec 8 New Dec 14 1st Quarter Dec 21 Full Dec 30 3rd Quarter Jan 8 New Jan 12.

Nov 25 – 5:03pm Dec 1 – 5:01pm Dec 8-13 – 5:00pm; Dec 21 – 5:03pm; Dec 31 – 5:11pm Jan 15 – 5:27pm

Better Hide! ...

‘They’ may be watching us!

Recent reports in astronomy scientific journals stated astronomers were looking for stars in the plane of view that would allow possible civilization on another planet to observe Earth crossing in front of the sun.

They found 1000+ star systems in a radius of some 326 light years from us, which could actually see us cross the sun and figure out our size, orbit, and analyze our atmosphere. This is what we are going to be doing with the James Webb telescope after it gets in orbit sometime soon.

The hope is to analyze the atmospheres of “rocky” planets that orbit these nearby stars and find planets with atmospheres somewhat similar to ours, where life as we know it could survive.

If we are lucky, we will find some. They cont page 40

5 GREAT ASTRONOMY GIFTS Recommended by Greg

Planisphere The Night Sky 40°- 50° (Large; North Latitude). Here is your map to the night sky. This is the absolute most basic thing a star gazer MUST have. You can’t be without this. $12 on Amazon. A smaller version for $7.50.

Binoculars The best way to start learning the objects of the night sky. You probably already have a pair, so use those. 7X35 and 7X50 are great. 10X50 is probably best, but you will have to brace yourself to stop the shaking of your hands when holding them. Anything bigger will need a tripod to hold them steady

mic. ue to the pande d d le e c n a C !

Y SORR page o ... see facing g ill st n a c u o y But

Star Gazing for Everyone with Binoculars by Greg Babcock, who does most of his viewing here in Washington and Oregon, so he knows the problems with local viewing. This book is clear and easy to read and follow, with three uncluttered sky maps for each season. One looking south, one overhead and one looking north.

He does recommend 10 X 50 binoculars, but lower sizes can also be used. Use the binoculars that you have. $25 on his website. www.stargazingnow.com Sky & Telescopes Binocular Highlights: 99 Celestial Sights for Binocular Users by Gary Seronik. Published by Sky and Telescope Magazine, this is an easy way to see some very interesting deeper sky objects that a telescope might overpower. If you already have binoculars, this is the book to start your journey to the stars. Check Amazon or Sky and Telescope for current prices.

Sky & Telescopes Pocket Sky Atlas by Roger W Sinnott. Published by Sky and Telescope Magazine. This is an excellent and handy star atlas at 6.5 X 9 inches.

There is also a jumbo edition some say is extremely useful for serious star gazing with a 4-inch-plus size telescope. They both are spiral bound, so the pages lie flat. Check Amazon for current prices.

HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 39

Are We Alone?

from page 39

may be also looking for the signs of “pollution” that a technological civilization may produce.

We definitely have the pollution that could be detected. If we can clean up our act, we may be able to hide.

Along that subject, astronomers have also found about two dozen planets that may actually be as good or better than the Earth for life as we know it. They’ve found planets half the size of the Earth to 1.5 times larger within its star’s habitable zone.

This would mean that it is large enough to hold its atmosphere and maintain a molten core to have a protective magnetic field to shield it from cosmic rays and radiation from its host star. With a habitable planet 1.5 times the size of earth, your Weight Watchers diet wound be shot to … well, let’s just say your overweight fines would be quite large.

They are looking at slightly smaller stars than our own (an orange dwarf vs a yellow dwarf), because they have longer life spans, almost double our sun’s life span ... meaning more time for life to develop.

Astronomers, in a soon to be published article in The Astronomical Journal, are estimating there are some 300 million earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of their sun-like star. There is no way to know if any of them have any life on them, but these planets reside in a zone that would allow water to exist in liquid form.

In an article on the Sky and Telescope website, the authors of the study say, “It is important to note that this new estimate does not tell us where to find an exoEarth, or what fraction of those above mentioned 300 million worlds actually has life. But the result does suggest, based on an analysis of a large amount of astronomical data and with a high degree of confidence, that potentially habitable Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars are common.”

The number of planets with life as shown in the many Star Trek and Star Wars movies is not unreasonable. Remember, they have found at least one planet orbiting a double star system similar to the planet Tatooine in Star Wars, which is not included in the above search criterion.

•••

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40 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 41

the spectator

PLUGGED IN TO

COWLITZ PUD

by ned piper

Winter Is Coming

Holiday Toasts...and here’s to books!

C

hristmas 2020 may be the least fulfilling from a family gathering point of view of any in modern times. We all know why. In more “normal” times, we load up gifts and goodies into the car and drive to the home of the friend or relative hosting Christmas dinner. It may be a short drive across town, or a drive of several hours, but we all look forward to spending time with them, to dine and share gifts and raise a glass or two to health, happiness and a future filled with success.

Some will continue with past traditions in spite of warnings from the governors and the CDC to avoid large gatherings. The more cautious of us will hunker down in small groups, cook a smaller turkey and, if contact is made with relatives at all, it will be via Zoom on our laptops or cell phones.

Under more normal times as the family fills their plates with mashed potatoes, slices of roasted turkey and dressing, a swash of gravy and perhaps a dollop of cranberry sauce or sauerkraut, one member of the family, in our case my younger brother Joe, will stand with a glass of wine in his hand and propose a toast. This year, Joe will remain seated to be in view of the camera, but his toast will resonate hope and wit, all the same. I have researched toasts for those of you who may be at a loss for what to say when it’s your turn.

• “Here’s wishing you more happiness than all my words can tell. Not just alone for Christmas, but for all the year as well.”

• “I know I’ve wished you this before, but every year I wish it more. Merry Christmas, one and all.”

Here’s a toast once raised by Mark Twain: • “To eat is human, to digest divine.”

And on the lighter side: •“I wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

A pocket full of money and a cooler filled with beer.”

Raise your glass to this Christmas wish: •“May you never forget what is worth remembering, or remember what is best forgotten.”

And finally, •“Here’s to the alchemy that turns groceries into feasts.”

If you are a regular reader of the Reader, you will likely recognize the name Lee Quarnstrom, who writes the occasional Letter to the Editor, has been mentioned in my column more than once and contributed articles from time to time. Well, I’d like to suggest a new book of poetry by Lee’s wife, Christine Quarnstrom.

The title is I Knew I Was a Girl, A Memoir in Poetry, 100 poems charting Chris’s life from a young girl growing up on the banks of Lake Michigan, to her eventual move to the West Coast to join my good friend Lee in a wonderful marriage.

We have a few copies available for purchase in CRR’s office.

Editor’s note: And don’t forget the new Dispatches from the Discovery Trail, The Tidewater Reach, and the Lewis & Clark books

by Rex Ziak, please see page 2, 25 and 43.

All these make wonderful gifts, too!

••• Longview native Ned Piper assists with CRR and still finds time to read, write, walk the neighborhood and putz in the yard.

Call or Text

W

hile we have never claimed to be meteorologists, word on the street is we could experience a colder than average winter. Following a handful of fairly mild winters, this one may present a number of challenges not working in our high heating season’s favor.

With the increase of remote learning and stay-at-home orders, there will be higher electrical consumption. So why are electric bills higher in the winter?

1. Cold weather tends to mean staying home more and use of electronics, televisions, lights and heat are at an all-time high. Especially during the increase in working from home and remote learning.

2. The coldest days of the year are around mid-December to late January, which results in more work for heating systems. The larger the gap between the outside and inside temperatures, the harder your system has to work to keep the temperature inside warm, even if you keep your thermostat at the same temperature.

3. Keep in mind the extra consumption that can result from holiday lighting and decorations, which increase your electricity usage.

And even in this age of Amazon, you can also order the book through Longview’s Paperbacks Galore, Time Enough Books in Ilwaco, and other local bookstores.

Please support them. I Knew I Was a Girl is a terrific Christmas gift for the book lover on your list.

Gutters mucked up?

By Alice Dietz

There are many no-cost options to lower your energy use and reduce your energy bill. Here are a few ideas to give you a jump start on saving energy now (for a full list visit https://www.cowlitzpud.org/efficiency/energy-saving-tips/).

• Lower your thermostat when you go to bed or when you’re not home. Use a programmable thermostat, so it’s automatic. Every degree lowered can decrease the heating portion of your energy bill by 2 percent.

•Make it a habit to shut off lights, computers and other devices when you’re not using them.

•Close your fireplace damper when there’s no fire. Leaving it open is like having a 48-inch-square hole in your house.

••• Alice Dietz is Communications/Public Relations Manager at Cowlitz PUD. Reach her at adietz@cowlitzpud.org, or 360501-9146.

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All other widths available, including flat grain Douglas-fir.

Jared

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Mucking gutters in Washington since 2009 • www.washwinwash.com 42 / Columbia River Reader / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / HOLIDAY 2020

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...with magical pictures & poems HOLIDAY 2020 / November 25, 2020 – January 15, 2021 / Columbia River Reader / 43

44 / Columbia River Reader / October 15, 2020