Springtime, and the trivia are in bloom.

Byline: Bob Welch / The Register-Guard

Contrary to popular belief, April showers do not bring May flowers; May's flowers popped up in February and are already wallowing in midlife crises. What April showers have brought is a new crop of trivia, to wit:

Q. Is there really an "Ike" of Ike's Lakeside Pizza near Leaburg Dam?

A. When the restaurant began in the mid-1970s, it was named "J's Pizza," but it became Ike's when Ray Isaacson bought it a few year later. He owned it for eight years and subsequent owners have kept the name.

Q. Lately, beaches on the central Oregon Coast have been covered with tons of little purplish-blue things the size of silver dollars - and with cellophanelike "sails" on them. What are they?

A. Technically, they're velella velellas, more commonly known as by-the-wind sailors, a relative of the Portuguese man-of-war.

The harmless-to-human creatures, related to jellyfish, traditionally wash ashore after the first strong southerly or westerly winds of the year, in late winter or early spring. They die, dry up, decompose and become part of the sand and ocean, but not without adding a wonderfully beachy smell to the scene.

Q. Heading north on the Northwest Expressway, there's a sign pointing to the looping onramp to westbound Belt Line Road that reads: "Beltline Rd. W, To 11th Ave., To Route F." What's Route F?

A. It's apparently another name for Oregon Highway 126, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. ODOT spokesman Lou Torres says a 1966 map shows the Eugene-to-Mapleton Highway as "Route F," but a 1973 map shows it as Oregon 126. Torres isn't sure why "Route F" has lived on.

Q. We see lots of sheep grazing in Oregon but have never seen Oregon lamb for sale in stores; it all seems to be from Australia. Do Oregon farmers ship their lamb out of state?

A. About 85 percent of Oregon lamb - the state ranks ninth nationally in production - goes out of state, according to the Oregon Sheep Growers Association.

Q. Now that Willamette Street is two-way between 13th Avenue and 18th Avenue, why is there no left turn permitted from eastbound 18th onto northbound Willamette? Eighteenth has a two-way center left-turn lane there, so there's room for a left-turn-only lane.

A. Because of the limits of existing right-of-way widths and volume of traffic, Eugene traffic engineer Tom Larsen says.

"The southbound Willamette Street right turn onto westbound 18th is very tight - so tight that trucks and buses would not be able to turn if there were cars queued up in the eastbound 18th left-turn pocket," he says. `Since it is a frequently traveled bus and truck route, we have eliminated the potential conflict by prohibiting the turn."

Q. Who was the first black University of Oregon football player to play pro football?

A. Joe Lillard, a running back for the UO, in 1931. He played for the Chicago Cardinals in 1932 and 1933, one of 11 blacks from the university to play in the pros since 1920 - and was the last black player left in the league before they were banned from 1934 through 1946.

Q. Does the city of Eugene limit the number of vehicles someone can own?

A. No, although Eric Jones, public affairs manager for the Eugene Public Works Department, points out that licensed vehicles on the street, without being moved for long periods of time, can be flagged as abandoned.

Parking Control in Planning & Development handles such complaints.

Q. What's with the trees being limbed and/or cut down along Oregon Route 126 in the Coast Range?

A. Normal highway maintenance, ODOT says, to remove hazardous trees and those blocking natural light.

Q. The brick fortress at 1398 Willamette St., across from the Chamber of Commerce: What is it?

A. The building houses AT&T equipment and offers no access to the public; if it looks uninviting, it's doing its job.

Bob Welch can be reached at 338-2354 or at [e-mail].