Opinion / Columns
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 112
Places Warm & Creative
Not long ago, I sat on a beach. I was warm - too warm, actually, quite hot - so I took a dip in the wide, thunderous ocean. With my family, I navigated the cobbled streets of a beautiful... — Updated 4/9/2024 Full story
Introducing the Table Top Games Club
A couple weeks ago, I called up Rick Kroytz, counselor and mentorship facilitator at Sisters High School, and asked if he knew of any students I could interview about the local hobby-gaming... — Updated 4/2/2024 Full story
Going crazy to stay sane
I woke up Sunday morning on fire to fish the March Brown mayfly hatch on the lower McKenzie River - just a few miles from Springfield. Yes, this spot is about 100 miles from Sisters. Yes, it... — Updated 4/2/2024 Full story
Sisters Country birds
The most colorful of all our ducks, the Wood Duck [Aix sponsa], lives and breeds in swampy forested areas. Acorns are a favorite food along with other seeds, salamanders, aquatic insects,... — Updated 3/26/2024 Full story
Scottie-dog puppy love
We brought them home in a snowstorm. They were half wild. At 15 weeks, they were the last dogs for a Scottie breeding kennel to sell, of his 30 puppies bred in 2023. It was obvious that these two brindle boys were not popular with the... — Updated 3/26/2024 Full story
The trouble with STRs
Living in a place like Sisters, we can all appreciate how visitors are drawn to its natural beauty, recreational activities, and small town charm. And there’s no arguing that tourists provide a healthy livelihood for many local b... — Updated 3/26/2024 Full story
Stars over Sisters
Though currently on the wane, winter will hang around for another three weeks after March bursts on the scene before yielding to a brand-new season before month's end. To highlight this... — Updated 3/19/2024 Full story
Make better decisions
Buying a piece of custom furniture seems like one of those adult rites of passage. In the latter half of my 30s, I have decided to pursue my first custom piece — a couch. Throughout my n... — Updated 3/12/2024 Full story
Page by Paige
Are you looking for a nonfiction book to read in 2024? "Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming" by Ava Chin might suit you. What does one single building i... — Updated 3/12/2024 Full story
Dear Property Guy: Help… Tenant's dog trashed the carpet
Dear Property Guy: I recently had a tenant move out and need to know how to handle their security deposit. We had brand new carpet when they moved in, and their dog absolutely trashed it. We tried to clean it, but the stink is impossible to... — Updated 3/5/2024 Full story
Games are fun
In a previous article, I explained that games rely on both human and system factors, an observation I take from “Characteristics of Games,” an introduction to games by world-renowned designers Richard Garfield, Skaff Elias, and Robert Gut... — Updated 3/5/2024 Full story
Dark Mornings
When I was a little girl, I watched my older brother trudge up our driveway in the black of night. My mom was making breakfast; my brother carried a flashlight. Peering up over the kitchen... — Updated 2/27/2024 Full story
Please excuse the messes
People often ask me if winter is a slow season for the Forest Service. The days are often less urgent, without wildfire response, but there is always much to be done. Winter is when the bulk... — Updated 2/27/2024 Full story
The best we can do
Thank God. I’m not too old to run for president. Even though yesterday I had trouble remembering which seven pills I needed to take. The day before, I couldn’t find my car keys. A week ago, i... — Updated 2/20/2024 Full story
Tracking across Sisters Country
Oh, wow - what's that print? I'm sure you've had that same reaction numerous times when encountering animal tracks. "What is it?" is the most obvious question to ask upon seeing tracks in... — Updated 2/20/2024 Full story
9 Ways to Gain Media Coverage
“How do I get featured in the media?” It’s a question I hear a lot. Business owners, nonprofits, event producers, entrepreneurs, artists: they all ask. The answers reflect my exper... — Updated 2/20/2024 Full story
An introduction to hobby games
My last couple of articles covered a bit of game theory and theory of knowledge. While I expect those will be recurrent topics, my main goal with the column is to report on the local scene, and so I’ll limit my technical forays to a fraction... — Updated 2/13/2024 Full story
On Monday, Wade throws rock
Just what is a game? Before I fully launch into my article series covering local games, maybe we should get that straight. For the past six years or so, Wade and I have played Rock, Paper, Scissors at Sisters Athletic Club to see who buys... — Updated 2/6/2024 Full story
Stars over Sisters
Ancient skywatchers learned to recognize the night sky by associating certain arrangements of stars with objects familiar to them. These became the constellations. Cygnus the Swan, Orion the... — Updated 2/6/2024 Full story
What next?
After concluding three months as managing editor of the The Leader newspaper in Port Townsend, Washington, I’m confronted with an uncomfortable realization: I did the best I could, but c... — Updated 2/6/2024 Full story
Shedding some light on the heat of short-term rentals
This is part 2 of an ongoing series on the subject of short-term rentals. Part 1 ran in the January 17 edition of The Nugget. Click here to see Part 1. Last time we learned what a Short-Term Rental (STR) is and the local rules surrounding... — Updated 2/6/2024 Full story
Cold kindness
November and December of 2023 felt like April, warm, lots of sun, and all the plants were turning green. But January 2024 quickly blew in like a lion charging a mule deer buck. It could have... — Updated 2/6/2024 Full story
Sisters Country birds
The Red-winged Blackbird [Agelaius phoeniceus], is now arriving around Sisters and feeding until they head to mostly wetland areas to begin building nests. After two to six pale blue-green... — Updated 2/6/2024 Full story
Page by Paige - Favorite 2023 books
Do you have a favorite 2023 book? This year I curated my favorite books by themes, debut authors and favorite authors. My recommendations include creating a wife app, searching for a father, and books about books. I’ve been sharing piles a... — Updated 2/6/2024 Full story
For the Birds: Hummingbirds in winter
Remarkably, hummingbirds overwinter in Central Oregon. These toughies are Anna's hummingbirds and are amazingly stout for their 4- to 4.5-gram size. They have expanded their range into... — Updated 1/23/2024 Full story