News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sorted by date Results 176 - 200 of 280
Visiting musicians from around the world brought their cultures, instruments and diverse perspectives to Sisters last week. On Saturday night, OneBeat, comprised of 25 musicians from 17 countries, played music to an appreciative crowd. The Belfry was their first live performance after arriving at Caldera a week ago. Artists from countries like South Africa, Russia, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Zimbabwe played on unfamiliar instruments and brought new musical styles to... Full story
This summer, I took a class taught by John Calderazzo at the High Desert Museum. It was a part of the Waterston Desert Writing Award ceremony. Calderazzo, a writer and professor of English, emeritus at Colorado State University, asked us to bring a memento we had with us and put it on a table in front of the class. There were wedding rings, a note and photographs of loved ones kept tucked inside wallets. After a class discussion, Calderazzo asked us to write about a memento... Full story
After a tough retail season, business owners in Sisters have taken a significant hit. To succeed in such an environment takes business savvy, a great product and a proven track record. For Chris Nelson and Wendy Rickards, the seed of their idea was to create a studio where they could both make art and sell it directly to their customers. "We didn't want to be a gallery," explained Nelson, "we're a workspace studio." Their new business, "Wildflower Studio," is a place for them... Full story
It sure seems like things are falling apart. Hurricanes, fires and crushing snow have left so many feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. Our brothers and sisters in arms have been fighting wars that never seem to end. Our first-responders have been stretched to breaking trying to deal with it all. Firefighters are getting pulled from disaster to disaster as the emergencies shift like the wind. "Act of God," has often been used to describe the mayhem. I'm sorry, but I just don't accept that. I know there are religious leaders who... Full story
This spring, I read Willa Cather's novel "Death Comes for the Archbishop." I first read it in college and loved her writing, but the subject matter and message didn't hit home the way it does now. When I chose that book many months ago, I had no idea how relevant the title would be in my life. I didn't make the connection until 3:33 a.m. in the morning, when I woke up and had to write about this often-avoided topic. Willa Cather describes the lives of several characters, the blessings they gave and the pain they caused. Some... Full story
10 has not been easy. From the get-go it's been rough. Regardless of your politics, the presidential transition has been anything but smooth. It's been unsettling - and motivating. I've gotten more involved in politics; more interested in what's happening. The stakes seem higher and more fraught with potential disaster than ever before. When I feel out of control I don't always choose the healthiest ways to cope. All I have to do is look in the mirror to know that's been the case this year. Instead of choosing meditation... Full story
Comfort food has been a source of contentment and, yes, comfort my whole life. My mom's creamed tuna on toast was a childhood favorite. I'd watch that buttery sauce bubbling in the pan and my mouth would start watering. It was warm, salty and felt like a hug in my tummy. Then there was the secret stash of chocolate eclairs my great-grandmother kept in her "china closet." We cousins knew what those pink boxes meant ... sugar, chocolate and a high that had our heads buzzing. It made Oma happy watching us devour them and we knew... Full story
Kerani Mitchell was honored at the Accomplished Under 40 awards ceremony at the High Desert Museum last week. Sponsored by Cascade Business News, the evening featured 24 young achievers from the education, social service and corporate realm. The recipients were recognized for their work in community service and professional accomplishments in Central Oregon. Mitchell graduated from Sister High School in 2004 and went on to receive a Sullivan Leadership Award which covered her... Full story
July marks the third anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. When I look back through my journal entries I feel myself sliding back to those days of terror, exhaustion and defiance. Until I opened my journal and began reading, I'd forgotten so much. Like the day at Central Oregon Radiology Associates when I began hearing words like, "irregular mammogram, suspicious, core sample, more tests." I chastised myself, "It's all coming to a head - overeating, stress, fear, being... Full story
Cancer is a powerful motivator for change. Sometimes it takes the realization that death is closer than we think to finally wake up and live. There are parts of my life that I chose to ignore. When I look back, I see myself walking around like a zombie, eyes dull and my body moving without much direction. Sometimes I would wake up and realize I wasn't living my life to its fullest. I'd make a meager attempt at change but soon lapsed back into sleepwalking through my days. Why are our addictions stronger than our will to... Full story
Losing weight sure isn't for wimps. Since I began slimming down, I've had three anxiety attacks and multiple sleep terrors that cause me to wake up screaming ... not an easy thing for my poor husband to handle! I'd never had anxiety attacks before, but the sleep terror disorder has plagued me since childhood. I knew I was uncomfortable when I lost weight in the past but the feelings were elusive, striking with no warning and then disappearing into the uncharted territory of my subconscious. I never stopped to consider why I... Full story
Where I am today has a direct correlation to what I thought and did yesterday. My health, my relationships and my state of mind are the sum of past decisions. What does that say about getting cancer? Sometimes I wonder what I could have done differently to avoid the cancer catastrophe. How far would I have to go to undo the damage? Maybe it started all the way back in childhood? Were there chemicals in our food, the grass we rolled around in or the paint on our walls? I grew up in a rural environment with vegetable gardens an... Full story
When you hear you have cancer, it's a shock for everyone to absorb. There are treatment plans to figure out, doctors to see and big adjustments to make. After the initial shock has subsided, if you choose to reach out and join a support group most would prefer it to be optimistic, informative and relevant to your experience. Support Our Sisters (SOS) was created to help women through their cancer ordeal and hopefully beyond. Some members dealt with cancer many years ago but st... Full story
On December 25, I completed a two-month cleanse. For 60 days I lived without gluten, dairy, sugar, alcohol, caffeine and most fruits and meats. When Christmas morning finally arrived I found myself less excited about my food-freedom than I'd expected. Sugar and "heavy" foods had lost their allure. I liked the way I was feeling and didn't want to return to my former state. I did have a few sips of a Bloody Mary, complete with a splash of vodka. It didn't take much to make me fe... Full story
The record plays the same song over and over, it has become part of me, crooning uninvited in my head. It isn't until it skips that I realize I am caught in the grooves, in a trance, unable to move. Cancer caused the skip that woke me up, revealing this way of being does not serve me. A new song has arrived. It repeats the need for meditation, exercise, clean eating and healthy thoughts. Since October 25, my sister and I have been doing a dietary cleanse that removed dairy, gluten, sugar, alcohol, caffeine and most fruits... Full story
It's not often a woman from Sisters receives an invitation to meet with members of Parliament, let alone the President and first lady of an African nation. Last year, Janet Storton got that call from Uganda. Leading up to the trip, Storton had one thing on her mind: planning the meetings to discuss a life-changing topic dear to her heart. It turned out that this journey would face greater obstacles and have implications far different than any previous one. Since 2007, when Sto... Full story
Last February, I reflected on the challenges of a woman walking around with a bald head and no eyelashes or eyebrows. Back then, I told myself, I too would soon grow back a thick cover of hair, hopefully not completely gray! Since that time, I've become way less particular ... any color will do, just give me a full head of hair! As the weeks and months passed it was painfully clear that my hair was not growing in like most of my fellow chemo-warriors. I compared myself to cancer survivors recovering in the same time period an... Full story
Mosaic artist Joanie Keast learned a lot from her career in the Silicon Valley - but not in the way you'd think. She didn't work for a high-tech company like Apple, instead she followed her life-long dream of being a mortician. One of her final clients was Steve Jobs and she was part of the team that prepared the visionary for the hereafter. "I'm grateful for the 25 years as a mortician because so much of who I am comes from that," said Keast. "The job deals with the sadder... Full story
Cancer is a big, unrelenting reality check. It's one thing to consider the deaths of one's parents and quite another to face the possibility of not being there to see our children grow up. Having my daughter has been the most profound, rewarding and challenging decision I made in this lifetime. Her presence offered me the opportunity to focus on the needs of another and made the future so much more important. In all honesty, I allowed parenting to overtake my own needs to the point that I let myself go. Everything was... Full story
I had an extremely painful visit to the dentist recently. I'm a little worried that I may have done some permanent damage to the assistant's arm when I grabbed her. I had no idea it was coming. In my mind, I was just going in for a quick fix to a little problem in my mouth. What happened next was anything but routine. I left the office feeling wobbly, stunned and close to another round of tears. I tried to compare the pain to my surgeries I had during cancer treatments but the experience was just too different. I had no time... Full story
Recently, a friend shared that she was in a dreadful holding pattern waiting to hear if a pain she's having in her ribs is bone cancer. She is terror with a calm exterior. Hearing her talk reminded me of my own fears about cancer coming back. How do cancer survivors handle the fear of reoccurrence? I believe what we focus on can manifest, so it's important to be aware of the underlying thoughts I'm harboring that could do me harm. The fear lies in wait, submerged in my psyche, just below the surface, waiting to burst through... Full story
As May approaches, I can't believe I'm coming up on the one-year anniversary of finishing cancer treatments. I don't go back to see my oncologist until July, when he'll do more labs and see how I'm doing. These landmarks appear and recede from memory, making time move deceptively fast. During recovery from my surgery and starting chemo, fellow cancer warrior Bill Valenti told me about an idea he had for a benefit concert called, "So Grateful I'm Not Dead." Being always the optimist, Bill wanted to have a group of... Full story
I struggle sometimes when I'm told one story after another about people who are suffering or who have lost their battle with cancer. It brings back memories and it reminds me that there's a chance I might have a reoccurrence and have to go through it again. Not to mention the chance I might die from it. Enough time has passed for me to reflect on the difference between being the cancer patient and the cancer caregiver. From my early 20s on, several family members were diagnosed and for each person, I played a different role... Full story
Part of my recovery has been healing the relationship I have with my body. I didn't realize it was an issue until I started exercising again. Walking with friends was good medicine on so many levels. I began to feel stronger, which encouraged me to do more. Gentle paddles in a kayak, hikes to places I'd always wanted to see and easy rides on my horse all invigorated me. As the summer came to a close, I was walking around three miles per day. I had plans to do my first 5K with a cancer survivor's group I walked with once a... Full story
Adam Bronstein has two passions: fly-fishing and woodworking. He moved to Sisters from New Hampshire back in July; his reason for choosing Sisters is simple-Trout. Bronstein took some time away from shop production work to talk about his craft and the business he is building in Central Oregon. "I've traveled all around the country fishing," he said from his shop on Ash Street, "but I always seemed to come back here." A regular along the Metolius River, Bronstein is sinking roo... Full story
