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Business is blooming

2009-11-05T01:15:25+08:00

History is equal parts botanical and human at Gossler Farms Nursery. The family name first sprouted in the Deadmond Ferry area, north of what is now the PeaceHealth medical complex at RiverBend, 103 years ago, before being transplanted to the Thurston area northeast of Springfield in 1914. “We bought the …

Obstetrician delivers delightful memoir

2009-11-05T01:00:44+08:00

Charming: No other word sums up a mini-memoir written by retired physician Don Krohn quite as well. It’s a slight volume, just 69 pages long, and it consists of 30 short stories, ranging from a few paragraphs to a few pages — none more than four — mostly anecdotes from …

LOOKING FOR A HOME

2009-11-05T01:01:26+08:00

Molly is a beautiful, 4-year-old torbie (a mix between a tortoiseshell and tabby) who is not afraid of anything. This independent, adventure-seeker loves to explore her surroundings and never passes up the chance to play. However, she can be easily persuaded to settle down in order to have her long, …

Kiwi culture

2009-11-05T01:02:12+08:00

ROTORUA, New Zealand — As I tumbled down the mountainside in a gigantic beach ball filled with water, feeling somewhat like I was in a washing machine, it occurred to me that there had to be a better way to experience New Zealand. Actually, that didn’t occur to me until …

Seat reconfiguration could be bad omen for leisure travelers

2009-11-05T12:54:39+08:00

Add Air France to the small list of airlines that offer a class between regular economy and business. “Premium Voyageur” service started last week on one daily round-trip between New York and Paris, with a second to be added in early December. The upside is that you’ll be able to …

Bourbon Street may be losing its bark

2009-11-05T01:03:44+08:00

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans’ most famous street is a nightly swirl of bright neon and happy tourists strolling with a beverage in hand. A blend of jazz joints, strip clubs, bars and restaurants, Bourbon Street has everything from four-star dining to sex shows. And visitors can count on being …

Baby on board for a world of adventure

2009-11-05T01:04:28+08:00

Happy first birthday, world traveler. Alexander’s six teeth only number one more than the total of countries he’s rolled, crawled or walked in (including the United States). He’s logged nearly enough air miles to circle the globe. He’s been to mountains and the beach and sailed in the Caribbean. The …

Insurance just might ease a travel nightmare

2009-11-05T12:54:39+08:00

A muddy stoop and a bunch of chickens outside a makeshift hospital in Cancun, Mexico, was enough to convince Amanda Klimak of the value of travel insurance. It was the early 1990s, and Klimak, who had been dancing the night away, slipped and tore a ligament in her knee. “They …

BOOKS: Worlds apart

2009-11-05T03:18:29+08:00

LOS ANGELES — For much of their lives, Yona Sabar and his son Ariel were like warring countries with incompatible customs, languages and concerns. In those days, Ariel was, he says, “a very bratty, 1980s L.A. kid (who) bought into many of the superficial values of that era.” His father, …

John Grisham tries something new: short stories

2009-11-05T03:18:29+08:00

NEW YORK — It’s hard to sell a book of short stories. But not if you’re John Grisham. The author of “A Time to Kill,” “The Client” and other blockbusters has written his first collection of short fiction, “Ford County.” The seven stories average about 40 pages each. They include …

THE LOCAL SHELF: Roaming Portland’s gray ’burbs

2009-11-05T03:18:29+08:00

As a former bookseller, I’m often filled with the urge to press a book into someone’s hands and say, “Here, read this. You’ll love it.” Right now I’m going to do that with “Livability” by Portland’s Jon Raymond, which last month won the Oregon Book Award for fiction. Raymond may …

BRIEFLY TRAVEL NOTES

2009-11-05T12:54:39+08:00

Free admission day at Japanese Garden The Portland Japanese Garden will hold its fall free admission day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday. The Veterans Day event also will benefit Janus Youth Programs through the collection of donations at the admission gate. The Portland nonprofit organization provides two shelters …

BOOK NOTES: Readings, signings, etc.

2009-11-05T03:18:29+08:00

Veteran publishes book about Vietnam Portland photographer Don Unrau was a 21-year-old American soldier when he saw Vietnam the first time. For the last decade and a half he’s gone back to visit the country he once saw in war, and has published “Spring Visits: Photographs from Viet Nam,” a …

NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLERS

2009-11-05T03:18:29+08:00

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