Before I get back to the trip, some quick reactions to five days worth of newspapers, in not any particular order....

The Handwritten Source. Well, it made me look at the ads more, just because they were easier to look at. The rest gave me a headache.

Buried in all the ink were the news snippets that two art galleries are closing (or trying to sell.) Wild Women and Shelly Hall Gallery. I'm wondering if I should keep a time-line of when businesses open and close in downtown, but it seems a little morbid.

State's problem gamblers.....does anyone think the poker fad is going to end well? How many families will fall apart, how many bankruptcies, how many houses foreclosed and cars repo'd.? Why do we have to relearn the lessons of past generations? But it sure looks fun and easy on T.V. !

Higher fees for Redmond and Bend. Yeah, let's wait until most of the bustle is over, then charge more just when the bust begins.

Mt. Bachelor raising prices. Once you've cut your customer base to the rich and/or the fanatical, you can pretty much charge more every year, right?

Broken Top. I'd thought Brenneke was just a stalking horse for the 'family trust' who were just trying to get out of a bad situation. I was thinking that the residents could just call his bluff, since I figured he probably didn't have the money anyway. But if they can stampede the residents into buying the place, they're all out from under, with a profit even. But after reading Sunday's article, it appears that he just so arrogant he thinks he's just going to be able to 'out-will' everyone else. Sorry, but he looks like a rich fool, with daddie's money.

Just can't get worked up about the east/west thing.

Same reaction as last year to the picture of the folk waiting in line at Bend Film. The beautiful people. Bleccch.

Picture of Lily Lake reminded me of what I was thinking on my trip. Nature is messy, but after awhile it starts to seem inevitable that it look that way. The longer you're in nature, the more the messy starts to seem proper. Does that make any sense?

The BAT. If we can handle the traffic with the smaller buses, why did we buy those monstrosities in the first place? Admit defeat, apply for a federal grant, and start over.

The closings of Hans, and the turnover at Kasey's and Giuseppes, etc. Personally, I have always counted change of ownership as restarting the clock. That is, since Donner's Flowers has sold in the last 20 years, it is not longer a 20 year business. I realize that the public, the press and almost everyone else looks at it differently.... It's a question of profitability. I have a saying that a truly profitable business doesn't close, and usually doesn't sell. But if it does sell, it means a restart to the investment and profitability timeline.

National poverty rate down, local poverty rate up. Says it all.