Here we are: mid-winter. The armpit of the year. But, as the rest of the country has been (and is) enduring a literal deep-freeze experience, in western Oregon we’ve done rather well in recent weeks. Last Sunday the afternoon turned out to be sunny and rather balmy, reaching nearly 60 degrees. Wow! I took a little drive, north from Roseburg on Highway 99, and found the teeny-tiny burg of Oakland . I stopped for awhile and took a stroll around the “historic” downtown, just about the time locals were gathering to watch the Super Bowl at the Oakland Tavern.