Mt. Lassen: Amblu Kai

"Amblu Kai" means "mountain ripped apart" to the Native Americans who lived in the vicinity. Prior to the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Lassen was the most recently active volcano in the lower 48 states, The rocky dome stands 10,000 feet above the Sacramento River. The peak is the southernmost in the Cascade Range.

The closer you get to the mountain, the more attractive the landscape. The forests thicken, and more streams and lakes appear. The reawakening occurred in May, 1914 at the start of World War I. The mountain's ash covered an area about one mile wide, and a small lake occupied part of the crater floor.

When the mountain erupted, the first person to investigate the phenomenon at close range was -- who else? -- a wilderness ranger named Harvey Abbey who climbed the mountain's deep snow to reach the summit. Volcanic ash and sand covered an area about one mile wide, extending down the mountain's slopes.

By 1921, the volcanic activity had subsided. Today, Mt. Lassen is the easiest and safest of all the Cascade Peaks to climb. The summit trail begins at a parking lot near Sulpher Works thermal area. The summit trail is usually open about the Fourth of July and remains in use until the first heavy snows in October or November.

Covidious Conundrum

As promised in Corona, Corona, it's time to put the band back together to address a number of subjects related to the coronavirus.

We'll have team coverage featuring Helmut Vallindaklopf in Washington, D.C., Ramona Vallindaklopf in Genoa, Italy and Wolfgang Majoris in Bangkok, Thailand.

JM: "Helmut, let's start with you. You're at the ground level of this pandemic crisis, literally as well as figuratively, in your basement apartment on Connecticut Avenue."

HV: "True, JM. Herr Gropenfuhrer has claimed he was being sarcastic when he suggested the idea of injecting disinfectant. Tens of thousands of Americans die, and what does he do? He spreads bad information, reinvents history, concocts weird science and challenges anybody who questions his authority."

RV: "That is correct, brother. However bad things are here in Italy, it's hard not to feel sorry for Americans. The country he promised to make great again has never seemed so pitiful. Over the years, the U.S. has stirred a wide range of emotions, but never pity. They are stuck with a malignant narcissist."

WM: "Today, the lies are no longer about the size of his audience, or the fruits of sucking up to Korea and China. The bill has come due for his contempt of truth and competence. The U.S. has reacted like a country with shoddy infrastructure and a dysfunctional government whose leaders are too corrupt or stupid to avert mass suffering."

JM: "Some interesting perspectives here, to be sure. Herr Gropenfuhrer appears to be a master magician. He's lucky. But, it's a funny thing about luck; it eventually runs out. In any event, it will be a long time before America is great again. What a pity. We will reconvene our team as the conventions draw near."

Ducks Interrupted

A friend recently asked if, in my time associated with the University of Oregon, I have ever witnessed anything as strange as the recent effect of the coronavirus on the institution. My reply? "Well, I've seen some interesting times for sure, but nothing like this. "Like what kinds of things have you witnessed?" she asked.

"Well, most but not all, were in the 1970's," came my reply. "There was the time protesters stormed the ROTC storage area in Esslinger Hall and set fire to the place. More protesters marched from the Erb Memorial Union to Alton Baker Park in resistance of the Vietnam War." "What else?" she asked.

"Can't remember the exact year, but maybe the early 00s, my PR Writing class was disrupted by students protesting the Workers Rights Consortium controversy that caused a rift between Dave Frohnmayer and Phil Knight. And, of course, 9/11 was a bad deal. But this is unprecedented: a strange time to be a student."

Be that as it may, this season was unarguably the best athletic outing for University of Oregon athletics ever. Men's football, women's basketball and men's basketball all captured Pac-12 titles, and despite having their post-seasons cancelled due to COVID-19, the future looks bright for the Mighty Ducks.

The Plain Players

One of the many advantages of having lots of time? You can become pretty darn organized: you know, sorting through old files and notes and categorizing such things. As a result, I've stumbled upon an old news release I wrote to promote The Plain Players, a theatre group from my days as a wilderness ranger.

With a dateline of Plain, Washington, it begins: "Just plain folks? Well, not exactly. The Plain Players, a little theater group based in the Plain-Lake Wenatchee are, will present its third annual variety show on Friday and Saturday, May 25 and 26, and residents of the upper Wenatchee Valley are bustling in anticipation of the event."

"The show will present local talent from the upper valley and will include 'music dancing and laughter,' according to director Corky Broaddus. 'It's become a traditional event every Memorial Day,' said Broaddus, a theatre arts graduate from the University of Puget Sound working as fire dispatcher for the Forest Service at Lake Wenatchee."

"'It helps relieve all the cabin fever from the winter and gives us a chance to show tourists some of the local talent.' Last Memorial Day weekend, the variety show packed two full houses on consecutive nights with people coming all the way from Seattle to view the talent. This year, Broaddus promises a whole new repertoire."

"Grace Crandell, a former Wenatchee resident now living in Plain, will emcee the show. Grace and her husband, Carl, retired owner of the Crandell fruit company, will perform a singing duet accompanied as always by music maven Char Townley on piano."

"Linda and Gregg Harbury of Plain, will sing an original cowboy ballad and the George Reinhart family will perform two musical numbers."

"Gladys Krakora, Cindy Cram and Shirley Burkholm, a singing trio from the Plain Community Church, will harmonize on a medley of three tunes from the 1950s. The show will also include several comedy sketches and an original mime act featuring Meg Vollrath and Tony Moran, both from Plain, Washington."

"Admission to the show, which is produced by the Lake Wenatchee-Plain Community Club, is $1 for adults and 50 cents for children under 12. Proceeds from ticket sales go to the community club, which sponsors The Plain Players, as well as other special projects, including Halloween parties and films for children."

"The Plain Players, under the direction of Broaddus and Byron Newell, also present feature-length plays annually at the old Natapoc Grange. In 1977, the group performed the Children's Theatre Production of Cinderella and was well received locally. Broaddus also has plans for a three-act comedy 'sometime this fall.'"