Since “Culture” reflects our beliefs, values and identities, events have a way of jarring our reality – instantly creating a collective cultural marker. Each generation has these markers; some, like December 7, 1941, are so strong that its “memory” is handed down to those not...
Read MoreIn Central Oregon, ancient and dormant volcanoes dominate the horizon, and the churning rivers created in the troughs are the arteries of this dry climate. Another set of great hikes lie in the mountainous namesake of the town of Sisters. The Three Sisters Wilderness boasts dozens...
Read MoreCentral Oregon is know for its rugged beauty, lush forests, teeming rivers and recreational activities. For a hiker like me, a trip to central Oregon is as awe inspiring as a child’s first glimpse of Cinderella’s castle. This area is only about three hours drive...
Read MoreIn 1846, Jesse Applegate began leading emigrants through Ashland via a southern route of the Oregon Trail. For the group of farmers, Oregon represented the land of idyllic, pastoral opportunity. A lush valley lies along the Rouge River, just west of Ashland. Some stayed never...
Read MoreIn my discussions of how land shapes culture and how culture in America reflects the landscape, I can’t help but start with Lewis and Clark. Their diaries, stories and illustrations, were fueled by the artists who traveled with them and, afterward, sealed the 19th century...
Read MoreThe images of Big Sur are so iconic that one expects no surprises – like attending a performance of Beethoven’s ninth. The joy of actually BEING there is discovering that the reality of its landscape is so much more expansive that the few pictures one...
Read MoreIn the argument of how land shapes culture, one only has to look at the areas of extremes, such as the arctic or the desert. Personally, I love the desert. That’s not to say I’d prefer death by frying than freezing, but that the desert...
Read MoreTorry Pines is a Natural Reserve within the city limits of San Diego. The city exudes culture, both the high arts and natural culture of its place. It encompasses the fusion of ethnicities, a unique landscape and an intrinsic relationship with the sea. Art, music...
Read MoreVisiting and experiencing a place is not the same thing. Just like a tourist and a traveler is not the same kind of person. We’re a country of regionalists. In Texas, we think of Californians and shake our heads – the earthquakes! the housing costs!...
Read MoreHiking through a place enables observation on a level which is eclipsed by car. For the purpose of these blogs, I use the noun “hike” rather loosely. It can mean anything from a one mile paved pathway to an eight mile mountain slope. But always...
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