HIGHER GROUND … thanks to the kind souls who agreed to occupy this space for the past several weeks, the Red-Headed Girl of My Dreams and our offspring were able to put Davis’ water woes in the rear-view mirror for a few days and head north for the Oregon Coast … the southernmost outpost on that coast is the delightful town of Brookings, which more or less sits on a cliff safely above the Pacific … we stayed right next door in Harbor, which is at sea level at the base of that same cliff … which means the pounding surf will do its best to keep you awake all night as it roars just outside your window at the Beachfront Inn …

Trying to be responsible, the folks at the Beachfront post a two-page “Tsunami Information” sheet in every room, which outlines evacuation routes up the cliff to safer ground … we decided it was better to tell the kids about the threat later, rather than have all four of them share a bed with us all night long … although the warning sheet is straightforward and factual, there’s no way it’s not just a bit terrifying …

The folks at the Beachfront seem to realize this … hence the concluding two lines, which say “If you are not comfortable staying with us, we understand and you are under no obligation to stay. Just let us know if you are checking out.” … fair enough …

IS A DOUGLAS FURRY? … Dave from Pacbell.net, commenting on our family’s recent adventure zipping from tree to tree in Cave Junction, Ore., writes to say “I noticed ‘Douglas fir’ is missing its hyphenation. Correctly: Douglas-fir.” … you don’t say … as a native Oregonian, I grew up with Doug firs, both in the forest and always as the family Christmas tree … never knew it to have a hyphen … adds Dave: “The hyphenation in the common name denotes the tree as not a true fir (Abies). The Latin name Pseudotsuga menziesii means ‘false hemlock.’ ” … what, the noble Douglas fir is an impostor? … “Therefore, the tree is neither a true fir nor a hemlock (both are conifers.) What really is the tree: simply a Douglas-fir.” …

Sure that Dave must be wrong, I looked it up … with mixed results … the Western Wood Products Association goes on for eight pages extolling the virtues of the Douglas fir and never once uses a hyphen … in fact, so much respect does the WWPA have for this stately tree that it even capitalizes “Fir” as well as “Douglas,” the last name of the Scottish botanist who identified the tree in the Pacific Northwest in 1826 …

Unfortunately for me, the National Christmas Tree Association, which should know a thing or two about this tree, uses a hyphen, as does the esteemed USDA … already I can hear my dad, the Oregon State forestry major, scolding me from his heavenly perch … in my favor, it should be noted that the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland —proud home of the half-pound Fir Burger — blissfully exists without a hyphen … I rest my case …

EVEN MORE FIR-BEARING READERS … Eastside Ed, upon reading of my zip line adventure, noted that it’s a “good thing you didn’t hit a Northern Spotted Owl on that zip line. That could have been a felony.” … amen … especially in Oregon … I’m sure the owls heard me coming and took proper precautions …

A MINOR ERROR IN JUDGMENT … Bill on the Bird Streets writes to say he was glad he “couldn’t find a line” on last Saturday’s Aggie-Hawaii game after I advised the whole town to “Take the Ags by 4.” … Hawaii won, 56-14, after leading 49-0 at halftime … but Bill, as I explained in detail in my scintillating college football blog, I actually wrote “Take the Ags by 4 in the second half,” but the last four words were deleted due to a tragic editing error … the Aggies won the second half, 14-7, and were about to run the Warriors out of their own stadium before the clock ran out …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected] Can’t get enough college football? Check out Bob’s new College Football Forecast under “Blogs” at davisenterprise.com or at dunningblog.blogspot.com

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