Blogs from Rainier, Oregon, United States, North America

Transition Time We had a 26 day gap between the end of our house rental in NE Portland and our younger son Lucien's flight back to Australia. During this time we luckily hunkered down in an A-frame chalet on a large property on a ridge in Deer Island, about an hour north of Portland—yes, there is life beyond Scappoose and St Helens. After all these years, we finally got ot live in an A-frame. We had a majestic view down across the Columbia River Valley and on the rare days unsheathed by clouds, mists, rain or smoke we could see Mt. Hood, with its ever-shrinking snow patches. For the first week I was very busy checking the proofs of the last chapters of my book on video production, then we began in earnest with the field ... read more

In the early morning hours of 21 May 2006, the cooling tower of the Trojan Nuclear Plant is scheduled to be demolished by Controlled Demolition, Inc. This is the same company that imploded the Seattle Superdome in 2000. I write about this impending event not to spark any sort of environmental debate, but rather to reflect on the role Trojan had as a symbol associated with the small town I grew up in: Rainier, Oregon. Last fall, when I first heard that PGE was planning on having the tower demolished, I was surprised. Trojan had closed nearly 20 years early in January 1993. I graduated from high school a few months later and left Oregon so attend college in another state. Five years later, my parents retired and relocated to Idaho, so I hadn’t realized that ... read more