The Porch

SEEN AND HEARD: Blackberries overtaking a hydrant in the back drive of Cascade Locks school ... server telling mask-defiant customer he has to leave ... “Esencial Gorge” signs all over the Gorge, honoring ag workers ... crane used to hoist large planters onto a second-story deck on Jewett in White Salmon ... at Tokki’s Art Supply, Janet O’Sullivan celebrates Klickitat County with stickers and magnets reading  “Slammin’ White Salmon,” “Take it EZ in BZ,” and “It’s Bitchin’ in Bingen,” among others (an Odell/Mosier/Parkdale set is next) ...

SIX seconds: One smoky morning, my friend Ivan Sova pulls up next to me at an intersection. Hadn’t seen the doctor in months; we met when our kids, now out of college, were in Little Feet Preschool. We roll down our car windows and Ivan calls out, “We should be closer. We’re farther than six feet apart!” You gotta find ways to laugh about all this.

FIVE Mile Idyll: By the road at a horse farm on Five Mile Road south of The Dalles, gardeners fill a metal garden chair with large, colorful zucchini.

TAJ MA Hollow: That’s just one of the “cottage names” people call their places in Pine Hollow. Others are Cathy’s Fault, Overlook, and 3 Stooges Place.

“PACK IT OUT”: Why does the principle not apply to park-using dog owners who, correctly, bag up Rex’s leavings but then, curiously, leave them next to a garbage can, or — as seen at Port of Hood River marina green — pile them up next to a fence? (Update: Last Friday morning, port workers removed the fence, so where will people drop those bags now?)

COOL MEMORIES: A pile of ice left on a Fourth Street curb on the hill next to Oak Street Pub brought back memories of “rail jam events” when Fourth between Oak and State was closed and snow trucked in, jumps and rails built on the sloping block for board riders to show their stuff. Quick check shows the last Timberline “Downtown Throwdown” was 2016. I miss events like that; things have gone downhill  since.

SIGN OF THE WEEK: “Reserved Parking: Pianist” at White Salmon United Methodist Church. Blessed are the music-makers.

— Kirby Neumann-Rea

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What is The Porch? An occasional set of reveries about the humorous, unexpected and offbeat pieces of community that don’t have to go unnoticed. Anywhere in the Gorge, seen or heard something to share? Set a spell on The Porch and send it to kirbyn@gorgenews.com.