December 10, 2025
by Lucky
Thoughts on the Atmospheric River
Recently, we had a Pineapple Express event here in western Oregon. While it rains a lot here in the winter, heavy rain is pretty uncommon. There was some flooding in certain areas from what I understand (Washington State got it bad, and the Oregon Coast got clobbered too).
It's definitely a different feeling from the regular drizzle. More heavy, like it's starting a new chapter - not background.
Pineapple Express is a fitting name because the vibe is almost tropical.
November 20, 2025
by Lucky
Common trees of Oregon
Here in Northwestern Oregon, the Douglas Fir and Bigleaf Maple are very widespread. In drier areas east of the Cascade crest, ponderosa pine and juniper are very widespread, and Southern Oregon has many oak and madrone trees.
Sadly, wildfires have devastated many, many acres of Oregon forest in recent years, though signs of renewal are already appearing in places like Opal Creek Wilderness Area.
References:
November 14, 2025
by Lucky
Oregon is a wonderland - from rugged coastal cliffs, to ancient rainforests, to volcanoes, to barren desert dry lakes, Oregon is 98,381 square miles of wilderness, managed semi-natural land, farmland, pasture, lakes, streams and urban areas in the northwestern United States - about 2,100 times the size of San Francisco in area but with only five times the population.
It's a place where people live in proximity to deer, cougars, and coyotes, populated by both urban progressive folk and rural traditionalists (and everything in between). A place where the climate is usually mild (at least in lower elevations fairly close to the sea), but often dark and not sunny.
You can travel a couple hours and be in a totally different world in many parts of the state. Although Oregon is often thought of as "rootless", people have an insatiable hunger for connection to the land and each other here.
To learn more about Oregon I suggest Geography King's primer here.