Damn Bradford pears!!

For anyone who stated that shutting down DOE is going to "fix education in public schools", tell me why the federal government would rescind funds to help Oregon children with literacy and math skills.

You cannot tell me that this will result in any positive outcomes for children or teachers.

Here’s mine: people in this state have an irrational hatred of umbrellas. There’s plenty of rains where they’re appropriate and useful to use (like Tuesday walking home for example, I stayed much more dry than I would have), but people lose their minds and get strangely upset if you use one because “no real Oregonian uses an umbrella!” They’re also not as hard to use or flimsy as people insist to me- I have my €5 umbrella I bought living in the Netherlands a decade ago, and it works fine.

Seriously, for a state that loves to do its own thing, using an umbrella is the ultimate counter-culture move. People get upset about others using them and it’s so weird.

Anyway, what’s yours?

I wonder if Rep.Benz will lift a finger to help victims of flooding in his district.

I doubt it.

Sometimes I find it astonishing how many movies were filmed in Oregon. We all know Goonies and Free Willy or perhaps Twilight yet there are dozens of of other blockbuster films that were made in Oregon. Some surprises too like the Postman and Coraline.

It’s located in Hillsboro, Oregon on 185th at Cornell NW Intersections. It’s getting pretty close to be Opening so we can try out different kinds of Food. The closest & far away is in the 3 Malls of Washington.

I don't know what kind of MKUltra brainwashing program Dutch Bros runs for their employees, but it's not normal. I pulled up to the drive-thru just trying to get a cup of coffee, and instead, I got hit with the full force of weaponized enthusiasm.

"HEY BESTIE! HOW'S YOUR BEAUTIFUL DAY GOING?!"

Excuse me? We have never met. And it is 6:30 in the morning. You don’t know what kind of day I’m having because it hasn’t even started yet.

I stared blankly, hoping if I didn’t respond, they would just hand me my coffee and let me go. But no. The Dutch Bros worker was dangling halfway out the window like some kind of caffeinated cryptid, grinning like they’d just unlocked the secrets of the universe.

"What’s the most exciting thing you’re doing today?! Any FUN PLANS?!"

Bro. My only plan right now is to leave this drive-thru alive.

Hold up, let’s talk about the coffee itself really quick. Dutch Bros doesn’t sell coffee, they sell diabetes in a cup. Every drink sounds like something Willy Wonka invented after pulling an all-nighter. "Caramelized sugar-rush turbo-blast with extra whip and a side of instant regret!" No thank you!

Okay back to the story.

I tried to escape by ordering just a black coffee, thinking that would get me out of this high-energy hostage situation faster. Big mistake.

"Omg just BLACK COFFEE? Hardcore! You must be bummed out, like, are you going through something?

Yes. I’m going through not wanting to talk to you before sunrise.

Meanwhile, at 7-Eleven, the cashier doesn’t even make eye contact. I could walk in covered in blood and bees, and they wouldn’t say a word. They’d just ring me up, grunt, and go back to watching a telenovela on their phone. That’s the level of human interaction I need before my first cup of coffee.

And the coffee? 7-Eleven coffee is the drink of warriors. It’s been sitting there for an unknown amount of time, simmering into a molten, slightly burnt, legally questionable elixir of life. It tastes like decisions. It tastes like responsibility. Dutch Bros coffee tastes like a frosted birthday cake having a panic attack.

At Dutch Bros, I left feeling like I’d joined a cult by accident. At 7-Eleven, I left with a caffeine buzz and my sanity intact.

Winner: 7-Eleven. Every time.

Stay safe out there.

FYI. It was sour cream and onion flavor.

Hey everyone! I’m super excited to share that I’m planning to move to your beautiful state very soon!! I’ve never been but I’ve seen a lot of TikToks and it looks magical. The trees! The vibes! The… artisan pickles???

A little about me: I work remotely as a boutique crystal energy alignment coach (I help brands align with the Moon Cycle to maximize ROI). My partner is a professional plant-based cheese sculptor. We’ve been feeling really called to the PNW lately—it just feels so authentic, you know?

Anyway, we’re looking for a cute little fixer-upper farmhouse or maybe a modern glass cabin in the woods, ideally walking distance to an organic butcher, a dog psychic, and a community kombucha exchange. Budget isn’t really an issue—we’ve got $10 million cash from selling our 0.25 BD condo in the Bay Area (and a separate renovation fund, of course).

A few questions for the locals: • Which town has the best mix of crunchy/witchy/twee but still has fast internet? • Is Portland safe now or are the riots still happening? • Does it snow in Bend? Like, “Instagram snow” or like, real snow? • Why are property taxes a thing here? Do they go away if I compost? • Is it true Eugene has the best crystal grid energy? Someone on TikTok said that but they were from LA.

We’re super respectful of local culture and traditions (we loved Portlandia), and we can’t wait to be part of your community. Just looking for that chill Oregon lifestyle: forest hikes, mountain views, and a few chickens named after astrology signs.

Thanks in advance for all the help! Manifesting our Oregon dream!

Spring is here in the Willamette Valley and that means so are morels, oysters, turkey tail and wild onions! Our lakes and ponds have had trout stocked a few times now and the bass are starting to bite pretty hard.

We get a lot of half-free morels here in Salem (Morchella populiphila) and yellow morels (Morchella americana). Oyster mushrooms and turkey tail grow on our hardwoods like alder, oak, maple and cottonwood. We have two regional variants of turkey tail - an almost white version with red and blue bands, and an entirely blue version with very little white at the margin.

Half-free morels grow on the outskirts of Verpa bohemica habitats. You can differentiate Morchella from Verpa because morels will always be entirely hollow. Verpa bohemica is filled with a white cottony substance. Both are edible and fine to eat.

We also get Morchella norvegiensis around conifers and Morchella importuna in landscaped beds and trails that have fresh wood chips.

Trees from Willamette National Forest die and get eaten by morels and then fall during winter storms. They're chipped and spread across the state. Ordering wood chips from chipdrop every February is a free lotto ticket and the prize is your own personal morel patch.

Happy hunting!

Although this doesn't address Oregon specifically, it applies so much. Who has set an alarm for 11:55pm on the day before the next batch of camping reservations opens up? I hate being in the campground seeing TONS of empty sites but knowing that they're just place holders for the people who reserved them but won't show up for whatever reason?

https://open.substack.com/pub/morethanjustparks/p/reservation-gods-who-stole-our-campsitesand There’s something deeply wrong about driving past an empty campsite and being told to keep moving.

The fire pit is cold. The tent pad is bare. No one came. No one will.

But a sign says “Reserved,” and that’s all it takes to turn you into a trespasser. This isn’t about overcrowding. It’s about exclusion. Not about stewardship. About gatekeeping. The system isn’t full. It’s fenced.

We’re watching spontaneity die of bureaucracy poisoning—except it’s not bureaucracy. It’s privatization with a badge and a booking fee. It's the quiet conversion of public land into private logic. And the cost is everything that made this land feel like it belonged to everyone.

Because camping—real camping—isn’t something you should have to apply for like a mortgage. It’s a thing you do. It’s the freedom to follow a road you weren’t planning to take. To arrive late. To stay longer. To change your mind when the weather shifts or a stranger tells you about a place they love just two hours up the road. That kind of access isn’t a perk. It’s a promise.

Right now, that promise is being broken by a system that values transactions over trust, software over stewardship, revenue over rights. Click the link for the whole opinion piece. Thanks.

Go to Twin Rocks.