by Neal Lemery — (published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 7/26/2022 The old family picture showed up in my e-mail the other day, a discovery from a cousin. I could see the younger faces of my grandparents and an aunt, standing stiffly in front of a simple three-room shack on the Canadian prairie. It…

by Neal Lemery — (Published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 7/24/2022) Ranked choice voting (RCV) is the new popular trend in American politics these days. In August, Washington State primary voters will choose their candidates in their primary using this method. It is also now the method used statewide in Alaska and Maine. In…

by Neal Lemery published 7/13/2022 in the Tillamook County Pioneer Life has a way of reminding us to take care of ourselves and to do what is important in our lives. July seems to be a month of special events and celebrations. The reverberations of June graduations, and a catching…

by Neal Lemery (Published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 6/27/2022) In law school, there’s a famous, now century old, book about the study of legal reasoning and the study of law. The Bramblebush is a must read for law students, and digs into the why and how of how lawyers…

by Neal Lemery (Published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 6/19/2022) I’m always learning from my garden, even when I think I “know it all”, and expect that things will always go as planned, and that I’m old and wise, and there’s nothing left to learn. Well, I’m old, but wisdom…

None of us bear the full responsibility of another person’s choices in life, be it addiction, crime, or other destructive behavior. Your family may choose to practice a form of agriculture that produces and markets alcohol. That is your choice and is a historical and customary practice for farmers, brewers…

by Neal Lemery (published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 5/27/2022 I try to live an organized, purposeful life, with some guiding principles and an action plan. My “to do” list should be close at hand, current and relevant. If I don’t keep myself organized and on track, at the end…

by Neal Lemery (Published in the Tillamook County Pioneer, 4/17/2022 “We are collections of stories, we are vast houses in which stories come and go, and if we don’t listen for them, and savor them, and carry them in our pockets, and share them, then we have nothing, for stories…

Creating connections — One of the often uncelebrated benefits of living in a small town are the seemingly random and unplanned conversations that occur at the grocery store or the post office. A recent encounter at the post office turned into a deep and motivating conversation about how we help others by offering…