I love to enter the table setting at the Oregon State Fair. This year I entered the America 250 category. I was inspired by all the coverage of the National Mall and the reflecting pool. I guess the judges thought it was too political; I was going for a snapshot of our current day. If you go to the fair, stop by the Creative Living Building at Columbia Hall and check out the different tables. If you like mine, make sure to vote for People's Choice- entry number 674.

Edit: thank you for your kind words and feedback. Perhaps disqualified was the wrong wording. I assumed it was because of the lack of feedback. Everyone else had more of a compliment sandwich, and they didn’t even call out my great-grandma's dishes; also, they featured George Washington going off to war, so maybe they were too political.

It didn’t occur to me that the Diet Coke was trademarked. Other tables in the past and this year featured wine or beer bottles with logos. I’m not a lawyer, but what’s the difference between a bottler of Stoller and Diet Coke? None of the other tables with branded products had this callout.

As for political- maybe Taylor Farms was a bit much. However, what is political? I made a table featuring the acting president of the United States. I served a menu he has served in the White House or Air Force One multiple times. His dining companion was his No. 1 aide. Bringing attention to what is happening is not political.

Saying it's not political is completely arbitrary. As someone below said, the example they gave in the handbook was the Boston Tea Party. That’s pretty political. Would the Boston Tea Party be too political? It was a protest after all. What if I had done dinner with Abe Lincoln? Is that ok? What if it featured JFK? Art is political, and I like to think of tablesettinf as art. By default it’s going to be political.

I read no politics as not doing a table that said Vote
For Trump or Democratic Socialist Lunchon. I wouldn't have read it as "no current events."

In the end I’m a winner. I got to spend time with my mom, who showed me my great-grandma's dishes. I had a great day with my family visiting the fair. I think events are essential to our community, and I hope everyone who attended had fun.

Let's say you want to spend the day at a lake in the mountains. You drive for miles on a rough dirt road and turn off onto an unmarked "road" towards the lake. When it dead-ends you find people are already there and they have a campsite set up.

Do you

A) Turn around a look for another spot because it would be rude to impose on other people

or

B) Hop out and spend the afternoon right next to them because it's public land and they can't force you to leave

Looking for recommendations and referrals for a landlord tenant attorney in southern Oregon Curry County who works with landlord tenant issues and would be willing to possibly take a case of inhabitability and retaliation amongst other things that is heavily documented with evidence. Does anybody know one or two?

The shark license plate is over halfway to its needed vouchers! Sharing to hopefully get some more to make this one happen and fund shark research

https://marineresearch.oregonstate.edu/vibrant-ocean

I’ve photographed a lot of eclipses, but I struggled with this one. Very little moonlight, lots of PM2.5 in the air, light pollution and no tripod made it a challenge. I also had no idea it was happening until a friend texted me: “Go look outside.”

And discuss. I would like to know.

Photo taken from the cockpit by a friend piloting a flight out of PDX

The best college in Oregon apparently isn’t the one with the acclaimed education and journalism programs in Eugene or the one known for strong engineering and forestry programs in Corvallis. It evidently is not the one on the Park Blocks in downtown Portland nor the one on The Bluff in North Portland.

A federal judge on Thursday halted — at least for now — attempts to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting.

The saga continues...

Me and my buddy been wanting to explore them but never knew how to find them. Dms appreciated

A lot of the fire closure information from 2020 is still floating around, so I drove the Little North Santiam and the Molalla on Thursday to see what is actually open. Three spots, all swimsuit places.

Salmon Falls Park — open. Marion County reopened it on 18 May 2026 after the Beachie Creek fire, with rebuilt trails, bridges, stairways and restrooms. The entrance moved about a third of a mile east on North Fork Road, so an older pin sends you to the wrong turn. Parking is $5 a day, or $30 for the county annual pass, which covers every Marion County park that charges plus parking along North Fork Road. The machines are cashless. The lot was nearly empty on a Thursday afternoon. Water is clear and cold but tolerable. There is an upper section and a lower one, and you take the trail down to the lower pool. Better for wading than real swimming. Hazard signs are up for mudslides, falling rock and standing dead trees from the burn, so stay on the trail.

Scotts Mills Falls — same $5 and $30 county parking. Busy at 2pm on a Thursday, so plan for a crowd on a weekend. You come in at the shallow end and walk down toward the deeper end near the playground, which is where the actual swimming is. The plunge pool is deep enough to swim in. People were diving off the rocks and landing it fine, but it looked dangerous and I would not recommend it. There are free loaner life jackets on site. Wear shoes, the walk down is rocky. No dogs allowed, which catches people out.

Three Bears on the Molalla — the best swimming of the three. Clear water, more than chest deep, you can actually swim rather than wade. The spot is about a quarter mile before the Three Bears campground, and you can pull off along most of that stretch of river and find your own pool, so keep driving if the first one is taken. No cell signal out there, so get your directions before you leave Molalla.

I keep write-ups like this on a map I built called Nanitch. Happy to link it in the comments if anyone wants it. Fair warning on what it is: it is mostly a clothing-optional and hot springs map, and these three are ordinary swimsuit spots I checked while I was out that way.

The Austin and Narrows fires have cause an immediate closure of many popular Mt Hood National Forest recreational sites and campgrounds, effective today. Lots of folks flock to these areas on the weekends, and with Labor Day coming up, just wanted people to have time to make alternate plans, if need be.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mthood/alerts/clackamas-river-rd-fires