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Gardening
Let It Snow:
Now is the time to move and divide snowdrops.
Theater
Disease and Decay:
Uncle Vanya explores decline of rural Russia.
Morsels
Of Whales and Spice:
Mini-reviews of area dining spots.
PLUS: Booknotes.
Let It Snow
Now is the time to move
and divide snowdrops.
By Rachel
Foster
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Snowdrops push up
through soggy winter soil.
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Years ago, when I lived in the Midwest, I learned that a nice old
house I passed every day on my way to work was going to be demolished. It was surrounded
by a huge, shady lawn where snowdrops had spread by the thousands. Snouts of snowdrops
were already poking through the muddy ground when, one Friday evening in February,
I saw a bulldozer parked on the grass. I alerted a few gardening friends to the snowdrop
bonanza and set out next morning with a shovel. I came home with many dense clumps
of bulbs and planted them right away. Although the bulbs were so crowded they were
pushing each other out of the ground, I left most of my clumps undivided. I wanted
the gratification of mature snowdrop clumps in my garden that very season.
Twenty-four hours later, the temperature fell sharply and it snowed.
I don't remember how many weeks elapsed before the next thaw, but I do remember that
my new snowdrops appeared with it, bearing hundreds of undersized but perfect snow-white
flowers. They returned year after year, and were soon seeding about to enlarge the
little colonies. I never did get around to dividing them, until I dug some up and
brought them with me to Oregon. Every trowel-full contained about a hundred bulbs,
many of them extremely tiny. I planted as many as I had the patience for, with a
little bonemeal and cottonseed meal, in the humus-laden soil under our oak trees.
I was amazed at the size of the flowers that emerged the following year.
These are the common snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis, with four
to six inch stems and narrow, blue-green leaves. Years ago, common snowdrop bulbs
were cheap, but now that reputable dealers no longer sell bulbs dug from the wild
they are quite expensive. What's more, the bulbs suffer from being dried off for
market, so planting store-bought bulbs is not always successful. That's why, having
read that moving green and growing bulbs works better, I had waited patiently to
find a good and plentiful source. I wanted lots of snowdrops.
Not everyone can raid an abandoned garden. If you must start with
store-bought bulbs, plant them as soon as you buy them in fall. This will most likely
be September, because the bulbs sell out quickly. If you can beg some growing snowdrops
this spring, so much the better. Put them on the sunny side of a mossy rock or a
tree trunk, perhaps with a primrose plant or two, somewhere you will see them often.
They'll be up and blooming in January or early February, and the flowers last for
weeks. Unlike crocuses, which need sun to open their flowers, snowdrops will open
quite prettily on mild, gray afternoons, which makes them an ideal bulb for our often
gloomy climate.
The bulbs are also quite tolerant of wet soils. In the south of
England, where snowdrops have been naturalized for centuries, I have seen huge colonies
growing along meandering streams in meadows that often flood in winter. Many of the
bulbs we grow in gardens originate in the Mediterranean region and North Africa,
but the native haunts of the common snowdrop are in northern and eastern Europe,
where it is cold and damp. Galanthus nivalis does well in shade, and it prefers
moisture-retentive soils that stay cool and somewhat moist in summer.
Another, larger snowdrop you may see in the Eugene area has broader
leaves and flowers on eight-inch stems. The petals are marked with green at the base
as well as the tip, suggesting it is the giant snowdrop, Galanthus elwesii,
which comes from the mountains of western Turkey. It is less tolerant of winter wet
than G. nivalis. It seems to do particularly well against house walls, where
the drainage is good and the eaves provide protection from rain.
Two years after I arrived in Oregon I moved house again, and my
snowdrops came along. I planted them on a damp, east-facing slope right outside our
new front door, with Japanese maples for summer shade. Like other members of the
amaryllis family, snowdrops are not eaten by deer. Deer don't eat hellebores, either,
so Lenten roses (Helleborus hybridus) are mainstays of this front garden,
where small herds of deer are part of the scenery. By the end of January the hellebores
are blooming with the snowdrops, and there are primroses, early crocus and a few
winter-flowering cyclamen to brighten the mix. This is an ideal spot for a winter
garden, because we see it every day as we come and go.
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Disease and Decay
Uncle Vanya explores
decline of rural Russia.
By Aria
Seligmann
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Yelena (Susan Tate)
is unswayed by Vanya's (Stephen Speidel) advances.
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Anton Chekhov began his career by writing humorous columns in a St.
Petersburg newspaper, then tried his hand at plays. He also went to medical school
and treated people suffering from disease and hunger in Russia's rural areas. The
writing, the humor and the medical background all come into play in his 1899 work,
Uncle Vanya, now showing at Lord Leebrick Theatre.
Chekhov's works emphasize internal drama, characterization and
mood while finding humor amidst the suffering of his characters. In many of his works,
alcoholism figures prominently -- both the turning to it to alleviate pain as well
as the subsequent unraveling of one's mental faculties because of it.
It seems Chekhov's characters turn to drink and religion to cover
up the boredom and misery of impoverished rural existence, which he seems to understand
well. In Vanya, the bleakness is even starker because many of the characters
are not abjectly poor, just stagnant. The hopeless monotony of their lives has created
a spiritual bereftness for which the only escape seems death. The next life will
be better. "We will rest," says Sonya.
Sonya (Kathryn Muller-Lorish) is the daughter of retired Professor
Serebryakov (Lester B. Hanson). Sonya's mother is dead and the professor has remarried
beautiful, 27-year-old Yelena (Susan Tate). Serebryakov has returned with his new
wife to his rural estate from the city to get treatment for his ailments. On the
estate live Sonya, her mother's brother, Vanya (Stephen Speidel), her mother's mother,
Maria (Ariel Pearlson), her nanny, Maryina (Thyra Boyd), an impoverished landowner,
Telyegin (James Aday) and an estate worker, Yefim (Stan Boyd). Visiting to attend
the sick professor is Dr. Astrov (Dan Pegoda).
Uncle Vanya has been caretaking the estate and all who reside there,
with the help of Sonya, his niece. He has sacrificed his own happiness to serve his
brother-in-law and family, like a serf to a lord, and has spiraled into spiritual
decay and drink. Telyegin joins Vanya in his disillusionment, though Telyegin finds
humor in life. Indeed, there are many humorous moments in this play.
Astrov is also bored and burned out from working so hard treating
typhoid patients, and saving trees along with people. He finds creative outlet in
his sketches of landscaping plans.
When the professor comes to visit with his new wife, Vanya and
Astrov are delighted to have a break in their routine, and they quickly fall in love
with the enchanting Yelena, while she finds rural life hopelessly boring. Although
they love her, they end up scorning her, for her inertia is infectious and soon everyone
on the estate becomes idle while attending to her and the professor.
This production is well-polished and tight. Director Hans Christofferson
has paid attention to every detail, and it shows. The production values are all there:
lighting, excellent sound design and magnificent set design with appropriate props.
The costuming is also top-notch.
Stephen Speidel turns in a studied, multi-dimensional Vanya. From
his speech to his mannerisms, loose and drunk to angry and tense, from pitiful lover
to cynical brother-in-law, he is believable, and his performance is one of the best
I've seen on a Eugene stage.
Lester B. Hanson is a great foil to Vanya. Self-centered, grumpy,
unaware, his every movement adds tension to the story. Dan Pegoda is a believable
and thoughtful Astrov and James Aday, with his magnificent voice, is a charming and
funny Telyegin.
The women are well cast and show remarkable bonding. Challenging
yet sincere monologues are turned in by Kathryn Muller-Lorish and Susan Tate. Ariel
Pearlson as Maria and Thyra Boyd as Maryina do a remarkable job of showing the difference
in their classes by their carriage and mannerisms.
The chemistry among the entire cast works. Chekhov is always challenging
and this play and these parts are no exception. LLTC is to be commended for its daring
in raising the bar of difficulty. A show this tight on opening night is only going
to get better as the run continues.
Note: there is no Vanya performance on Thursday Feb. 14.
Instead, Wymprov is performing a special Valentines' show in the space. See calendar
for details.
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Of Whales and Spice
Mini-reviews of area
dining spots.
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Tasty Thai Kitchen.
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Tasty Thai
Kitchen
East 29th at Willamette. 302-6444.
11 am -- 9:30 pm TU--F, 4--9:30 pm SA, noon--9:30 SU. $$. --
LS
Restaurants come and go, are born and die, often in the same space
over long periods of time. They arise (and vanish) in dreams of perfect demographics
and shared passions for certain foods, plus imagined profits that will surely result
from the willingness of the owner to work impossibly long hours in torturous conditions.
Tasty Thai Kitchen used to be Dragon Gate; before that, the building went through
so many incarnations even close neighbors can't recall all the names (Lighter Brown,
Darker Brown the most catchy). To morph this space Thai, all that changed were some
plants, paper-globe lights, a few art pieces, and the ingredients coming through
the kitchen to the tables. Yet the place got much better. Only open a month now,
TTK is still finding its rhythm, but business is booming. Menu is familiar Thai preparations,
emphasis on flavors from spices and fresh herbs (esp. cilantro, lemon grass, mint),
light-handed use of peppers (some slightly hot dishes), respect for noodles and soups.
Entree prices range from $9-$13, increases altered by choices from tofu, chicken,
beef, prawns. Service by friendly amateurs. Very nice little wine list at very good
prices, several Eugene Wine Cellars wines by the glass, plus usual sodas, tea, beer,
etc. Available limited menu for kids. Buddha bless.
Hole
in the Wall
3200 W. 11th Ave. 683-7378.
11 am-- 8 pm TU-SA. $. -- LS
Consistent EW Readers' Choice as #1 for barbecue, Hole in
the Wall earns its marks for downhome service, food with honest flavor; lives down
to its name for decor -- tiny but tidy, a tight little niche amid an eyesore sea
of highway junk, funky neon, trashy billboards. Little joint's hard to spot at night;
daytime, watch for their big red catering trucks (along with take-out, the source
for much of their business). Lunches jump, a brisk biz in sandwiches ($5.25) made
from smoked brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey breast, hot links, smoked meatloaf;
sides of creamy dill potato salad, coleslaw, BBQ beans; options on ribs and chicken
Q (half-rack, $10.25; full rack, $17.50). Ribs cooked to peak of Q: meat firm but
almost falling off the bone, sauces mild to middlin' fiery. Beverage options include
bottled micros, wine, sodas. Nice folks, home-style eats.
The
Whale's Tale
452 SW Bay Blvd., Newport. 541-265-8660.
8 am-9 pm M-F, 9 am-9 pm SA-SU. $$-$$$. --
OI
Serving breakfast through dinner, the 26-year-old Whale's Tale
on Newport's bayfront is where underemployed Newport residents go when their parents
are in town. What you're getting for your money here isn't particularly unique preparations,
it's the quality of the ingredients. The freshest seafood doesn't smell like fish,
and that's exactly what you'll find here. The Whale's Tale also offers excellent
breakfast and lunches for non-fish eaters. Its signature offering, however, is the
"mousse in a bag" -- white chocolate mousse in a thin-walled, dark chocolate
box. People come out just for dessert.
Leftovers:
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The former Chez Ray's
North Beach.
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It's all about the revolving door in the last few weeks. Goodbye one
more time to Chez Ray, thanks for the good eats and the great times. Final
goodbye to Hilda's, thanks for the first and most perfect flan I ever ate.
Looks like Tobosco's Family Mexican Restaurant is taking over the little house.
Goodbye to downtown Bellizi's, though you can still order take-out in the
evenings, call 686-9996.
Tuscany's Ristorante e Pizzaria, which once was Spencer's
Brewhouse, unexpectedly closed it's doors last Tuesday.
Hello to the Cheerful Tortoise, new proprietors of the building
that was Izzy's near campus. There's even some live music coming out of there in
the evenings now. Is Eugene coming back to life now that the crocuses are blooming? --MT
Morsels tries to capture the atmosphere as well as the cuisine
of some of our favorite places to eat in and around Eugene, along with food news.
Suggestions? Call Ben or Marina at 484-0519 or e-mail cal@eugeneweekly.com
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Booknotes
Through Feb. 28
Poet Doug Spangle and writer Larry Brooks (Darkness Bound)
will speak at 7 pm on Feb. 16 at the Performing Arts Center in Newport. (541) 574-7708...Ashland
poets Jonah Bornstein and Steve Dieffenbacher and Keiser short fiction
writer Gina Ochsner will read at 7 pm on Feb. 19 upstairs at the Eugene Public
Library.
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