I had just started my interview with Lou Mayersky, my June “Sensational Seniors” candidate, when he had me look at several tall fir trees outside his dining room. “You know,” started, “too many people want to improve their view by cutting trees down. That is a terrible waste of the beauty […]
Shakespeare, we believe, was thinking of us, your humble critics, when he wrote these prophetic lines: “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”
With May hard upon us, and the submission deadline for this June column nigh, Will’s rough winds […]
“Eclectic” is the word that I used to describe the 2017 Britt Line-up at our April 6th Season Announcement party, where we had a record-breaking crowd of over 250 upper-level members, Business Partners, and press come together to celebrate the launch of another spectacular Britt season. We revealed many […]
The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt,
head in the sun, heart with nature.
To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body,
but the soul.
~ Alfred Austin
Gardening…I think it might mean something different to every person. To some it means hard work, to […]
If you hold a pencil in your hand for a few minutes, it will not have much of an impact on your arm. If you hold it for hours… your hand, your wrist, and your shoulder start to hurt and over time this little pencil feels like heavy concrete and can […]
For 15 years now we’ve lived in the same, sweet house, and for 15 years I’ve been walking our dogs along the same street. Yesterday as I leashed my companions I grumbled aloud how tired I was of walking this street every single day, twice a day. As we slowly made […]
Although some ignore the time-treasured brooch in favor of something trendier, the cameo has always been a fashion statement. (A brooch is defined as “an ornament fastened to clothing with a hinged pin and catch.) By “always,” I mean at least as far back as the Hellenistic period in the […]
They’ve been around for more than 100 million years. They’re most active at 80°F and unable to function below 50°F. They can sense the lactic acid and carbon dioxide from an animal’s breath up to 100 feet away. The females beat their wings 500 times per second producing a piercing […]
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine.
~ 19th century English ballad
Simon and Garfunkel did not write “Scarborough Fair,” although the folksy musical duo’s 1966 version of the song is most well known today. […]
Buying a home involves many steps and the type of financing you choose is one of the most important. Just as homes come in a variety of architectural styles and prices, so do the ways you can finance them. While it’s easy to tell if you prefer a […]
The North was losing the war to keep the Union. Robert E. Lee, a southern aristocrat, originally asked to lead the Union, chose the side of his beloved Virginia even though his personal belief was slavery to be a moral and political evil. Lee was a […]
We just got back from a week-long real estate conference in Las Vegas. We hadn’t been there in a while and I was quickly reminded of what man has built in the Nevada desert. It’s a strange combination of fantasy hotels, 5-Star restaurants or buffets, carnival rides, gambling, world-class […]
I’ve always wanted to “play” Walter Winchell in one of my columns. Walter would jump from topic to topic in almost every other sentence. So… with the forbearance of my publisher, here goes.
Greetings Mr. and Ms. Jacksonville wherever you are, in your home or in one of […]
If you have trouble getting your child to help with household chores, try asking them to imagine what it would have been like to be raised on a farm, let’s say during the late 1800s or early 1900s. With no modern plumbing system, how was water transported from the nearest creek? With no mechanized method […]
Adapted by Carolyn Kingsnorth from “A Lasting Impression: The Art and Life of Regina Dorland Robinson” by Dawna Curler, with the permission of the Southern Oregon Historical Society and the author.
For most of her brief life, Regina Dorland Robinson worked steadily toward one goal: to become an accomplished and successful artist. […]
Halfway through last winter, we began to feel antsy. We’d hike the Woodlands trail above the Britt Festival grounds—and pause to look longingly through the fence. We’d drive up Oregon Street—and inexplicably detour past the Britt Pavilion just to… just to…
Like we said: antsy.
Patience, it’s been noted, is not simply […]
In 2012, a college friend of mine from over 50 years ago co-authored a book on how men can achieve true friendship and set the tone in the introduction by penning, “Whereas women very naturally share themselves with friends through acceptance and self-revealing conversations, men shy away from intimacy.” For this […]
Jacksonville Mayor Paul Becker’s transition from New York City to our small village is a story of finding one’s place in the world and is replete with the usual ups and downs, triumphs, defeats, sadness and elation. Paul was born in 1929 on the upper West Side of New York City. […]
The power of intention is a phenomenon that has been scientifically measured in many studies, like the one Dr. Masaru Emoto did with water. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAvzsjcBtx8.)
This particular study took water samples infused with spoken and written intentions like peace, love, truth, etc. The frozen water revealed beautiful, symmetrical […]
We’ve been having an interesting adventure these past few weeks. Having sold our ginormous SUV, we are hunting for a second car. Brand new is not an option, so we’re hunting for a used something. The problem is, all the cars we really like are new, or close to it. In […]
The earliest known door keys were large wooden shafts designed to lift a pin tumbler lock that held a crossbar across a door. The shaft, or key, would push the beam in or out of position from the door frame. This crude Egyptian design was replaced by a Roman invention […]
For licensed massage therapist and clinical aromatherapist, Laura Jarrell, using a multi-disciplinary approach with her clients is standard practice.
In practice since 1989, Laura notes that, “Recently, the use of essential oils has exploded in popularity and for good reason—they are wonderful gifts from nature, capable of treating both physical complaints and mental-emotional distress.”
Essential oils are […]
We pull them, mow them, dig them, stomp them, spray them, shout at them, and lament how they are a nuisance in our lives.
Dandelions.
An underappreciated and underutilized plant in our society, the dandelion in the Asteraceae (aster or sunflower) family, is one of the most nutrient-packed foods on earth and […]
The use of technology in everyday life has sky rocketed. We have our “smart” house, “smart” phone, so how about our “smart” landscape? Even though technology impacts us all differently, we probably all agree that the use of technology to help make our life simpler and save us time is […]
My heart is smit
With love so strong
I must declare,
But have no tongue.
Come to my aid, Thou Tulip Red,
Go and declare
My love instead.
~ Mandy Kirby, A Victorian Flower Dictionary, 2011
Before beginning to write about tulips, I checked my own plants to find small, green fingertips—fledgling flowers—still nestled cozily within the protective […]
Editor’s Note: After learning about a proposed restaurant meals tax, (which the City Council has since axed) Michael served-up his thoughts on the matter…just in case the topic comes up again.
Once upon a time there was a community of neighborly animals living deep in the northwest Woods, far removed […]
We just posted four articles to our blog, (expertprops.com/blog) from major publications—all focused on Southern Oregon. One article has Ashland listed, and another has Jacksonville listed, as the top towns in the US to visit. The other two both talk about our wine industry—one noting the awards we received […]
As a seller, nothing is more frustrating than having your property sit on the market without selling while other homes around yours proudly display a “Sold” sign! Here are several reasons homes don’t sell, and how to go about addressing this issue.
Price—Pricing your home properly from the start […]
In my years as Mayor, the two questions I get most often are, “Will we have a museum again?” and “What are the chances of having a live theater in town?” In case you didn’t know, Jacksonville once had a permanent melodrama theater in the old Pioneer […]
Although hotel proprietress Jeanne DeRoboam Laugier Guilfoyle Holt (see Pioneer Profiles, March 2017) was the most prominent of the DeRoboams to settle in early Jacksonville, her brother, Jean St. Luc DeRoboam, also left his mark on the town.
Jean St. Luc DeRoboam was born in France in 1829, but potentially conflicting stories […]
April is a special month for the Southern Oregon Historical Society and Hanley Farm. SOHS is proud to be the Grand Marshal for the 64th Annual Pear Blossom Parade, April 8. To celebrate the Pear Blossom Festival, Pear Blossom Posters for the past ten years, created by artist Debby Elder, are on display in the […]
Hollywood’s movie business is exactly that: a business, dedicated to the creation of art that (hopefully) will bring in enough money to cover the cast, crew, and dozens of others whose names you read in the end credits, while still garnering a sizable bottom line for the studios. The studios, […]
It is always tough for me to decide what to write about in Britt’s April column. You see, the problem is that I know about all of these great performers that are coming to Britt, but I am sworn to secrecy due to the timing of our April season announcement and the Jacksonville Reviews’ publishing […]
Family: Rutacea
Origin: Italy, Reggio de Calabria has the best due to their soil and climate, Morocco, Guinea, Southern France and Côte d’Ivoire, Turkey (for making marmalade).
Plant Description: A small Tree that blossoms during the winter and has fragrant fruit the size of an orange and the color of […]
Family: Asteraceae
Origin: Germany, England, Hungary, France, (all over Europe) Egypt, South America, North America, Asia, India
Plant Description: An annual herb, Matricaria recutita has a branched, erect and smooth stem with daisy white flowers. Plants grow to a height of 6 to 24 inches. Blooms in early to midsummer and […]
When you need to make an important life decision, how do you know if the feeling in the pit of your stomach is an emotional response that comes from fear of the unknown, or if it’s your intuition kicking-in to help you avoid a painful and/or expensive mistake. Our emotions are […]
A few years ago I spent many weeks overtaken by pain, the result of a bike accident. The pain in my neck and shoulder was intense. I couldn’t find a peaceful placement of the head to relieve it. Sleep nearly disappeared. The simple act of being alive meant that I was […]
In the 1860’s, German immigrants settled along the Mississippi River in a town called Red Wing, Minnesota. Fortune smiled on them, as they were skilled potters and the clay soil was perfect for producing stoneware crocks, jugs, pottery for food storage, and other household items.
At first I thought they were flies. Tiny, black, wings. Two of them I found legs-up in the windowsill. They were swept away with nary a thought. Until I saw another one on the floor. The dustbuster was poised to devour this third creature when something caught my eye. Movement. […]
With wet weather having soaked Southern Oregon for a couple of months now, the topic of proper drainage should be on everyone’s mind. Many of my neighbors in Jacksonville ended-up buying sump pumps and extra hoses, in an effort to keep way too much rain water at […]
“Everything in the forest has its season. Where one thing falls, another grows.
Maybe not what was there before, but something new and wonderful all the same.”
~Felix Salten, Bambi, A Life in the Woods, 1923
Twenty years before Walt Disney produced what has become a classic animated film, […]
Being a real estate broker is not easy. I will be the first to admit, before I became a broker, I didn’t have a real grasp of how much behind-the-scenes work good brokers really do. And considering how brokers are depicted on some reality TV shows, it’s understandable. […]
Did you wake up angry this morning? A great many people do, judging by the news reports every day. I’ve never seen so many people this angry since Pearl Harbor was bombed, when I was twelve-years-old. By then I knew all the bad words children weren’t supposed […]
160 years ago, Michael Hanley purchased what is now known as Hanley Farm. Originally the farm was called “The Willows,” a name taken from a weeping willow planted in the 1860s, a tree that has “…toppled twice, in 1940 and again in 1986.” But, “…in each instance it regenerated […]
The small, relatively plain, headstone in the Catholic section of the Jacksonville Cemetery simply reads Jane Holt—an ironic “grand finale” for Madame Jeanne DeRoboam Laugier Guilfoyle Holt, one of the larger-than-life characters in 19th Century Jacksonville.
Born in Bordeaux, France around 1820, some stories portray Jeanne with an aristocratic heritage. Other tales […]
According to a 2014 survey by the National Association of Realtors, 83% of people view their home as a good financial investment. Not only is their home the biggest single asset they own, it’s also filled with family memories—the average seller has lived in his house for a decade, […]
Marge Wall, the owner of Country Quilts here in Jacksonville, decided to take it a little easier this January and close on Sundays. So now, instead of operating her quilt store seven days a week, she cut back to six. And this is a woman who will turn 83 this April. […]
Recently a movie named A Dog’s Purpose flickered through the multiplexes. It hasn’t fared well. Critics across the country panned it. The New York Times’ reviewer got right to the point: “You can skip it because it’s clumsily manipulative dreck.”
We suspect that’s not the reaction the filmmakers hoped for. But […]
At your Britt Orchestra’s February 11th Valentine Gala, Music Director Teddy Abrams revealed the 2017 Season to an enthusiastic crowd of over 200 music lovers. Since beginning his tenure as Britt’s Music Director in 2013, Teddy’s programs have both delighted and challenged our audiences through a skillful blend of […]
While this is the Year of the Rooster, I’m thinking about other birds of late: ducks and swans to be precise. You might recall the story of The Ugly Duckling, in which a signet is born amongst a brood of ducklings. Being so different, he is persecuted and ostracized by his […]