Posted: Friday, October 27, 2006 12:00 am
ROSE (roz) n. One of the most beautiful of all flowers, a symbol of fragrance and loveliness. Often given as a sign of appreciation.
RASPBERRY (raz'ber'e) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.
We hereby deliver:
• ROSES to the "sharrows," which are raised white emblems in the roadway on Madison and Monroe avenues that are designed to remind drivers that they are sharing space on the road with bicyclists.
Yeah, we know … we shouldn't have to spend money on something that everyone should know. But all you have to do is sit and watch the traffic on those streets for a while to notice that both drivers and bicycle riders need to better learn to share the road.
Motorists need to be more mindful of bicycles, especially when turning corners, and opening car doors. They also need to stop encroaching on the bike lane by driving around vehicles stopped in the traffic lane, poised to turn left.
For their part, bicyclists need to remember that while we laud them for adopting this healthy, non-polluting method of travel, we still don't want to have to endure heart-pounding close calls with bicyclists who dart in and out of traffic as if they were surrounded by some kind of protective force field.
(Young woman in Goth gear with the skull-decorated backpack, dreamily biking down the middle of Jefferson Avenue last Tuesday afternoon toward OSU, we're talking about you.)
• RASPBERRIES to campaign tactics that make anything going on in our local races look like a love fest by comparison:
In Harts, W.Va., a write-in candidate for Lincoln County sheriff, Clayton Alford, is accused of hitting the local Democratic Party treasurer, Judy Johnson, in the face during a party rally.
Alford, 52, a retired state trooper, was arrested by his opponent, incumbent Sheriff Jerry Bowman, and charged with assault and battery. Sheriff Bowman may be the only candidate in the country this election to haul his opponent away from a political event in handcuffs.
In a spectacular show of election-era restraint, Bowman declined to discuss the arrest.
We have to give Alford points for the furious spin that followed: He is accusing Johnson of deliberately getting him all riled up by poking him in the face and chest. He said he only hit her on accident as he tried to ward off her relentless barrage of pokes.
Johnson said she never touched Alford.
A bit of well-intended advice to all candidates: Voters, when deciding who would make a good leader, value someone who can keep his cool, whether enduring jabs that are actual, verbal - or imaginary.
• ROSE-BERRIES to the mixed fortunes of a tiny sea lion pup.
The roses go to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, for successfully nursing back to health a wild 2-month-old seal pup that was found Sept. 17 - terrified and suffering from puncture wounds - in a van with a pit bull.
The razzies go to the 24-year-old man who told the Oregon State Police troopers who arrested him on a drunken driving charge that he was just trying to find a vet for the injured seal pup, which he said he'd rescued. The seal pup's wounds were inflicted by larger seals that were attacking it, he said.
Aquarium officials and the state police each said the seal pup's wounds were more consistent with those from a dog - a pit bull, perhaps.
People who find abandoned seal pups are not supposed to pick them up, but instead report them to OSP Northern Command Center dispatch at 800-452-7888 or notify their local OSP office. Unlawful possession of wildlife is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $6,250 and up to a year in jail.
Jim Burke, the aquarium's director of husbandry, said Wednesday that the little female seal is "doing pretty well." She's lonely, however; she eats about seven pounds of live fish in small quantities and has no contact with people. The aquarium hopes that, in this way, she can be returned to the wild.
• ROSES to Laura Nash of Philomath, whose sense of style is awakening a return to big-time, old-time and all-time fashion and style that we hope will sweep the nation.
Nash is one of eight Oregon State University students, faculty and alumni who showcased designs during Portland Fashion Week.
We love Nash's "modern vintage" look and are pleased that we were able to display a photograph that included a photo caption reference to her "roushed and beaded, asymmetrical mermaid-styled wedding gown."
OK, so the "we" that we refer to are mostly the women on the Gazette-Times news staff, but men, too, can appreciate that a return to the stylish glam of the 1940s and '50s.
Nash, a 46-year-old mother of four, is living proof that dreams can take root and thrive at any time in life. We hope we'll be seeing some of Nash's fashion on runway models in Milan some day soon.