AUGUST 2021

We made it through August without getting burned out or catching COVID, which is spreading like wildfire around these parts, mostly with the unvaccinated.   The most excitement was the Dodge Creek Fire just down the road on August 2nd.  Definitely got the neighbors talking to each other.   

My son and his family live in Meyers, California which has been evacuated due to the Caldor Fire burning up Highway 50.   They spent last week in Fort Bragg, on the north coast, to escape the smoke, but now he has returned to work for the City of South Lake Tahoe in their emergency operations center coordinating bus service for those without cars that have to evacuate South Lake Tahoe.  His wife and two children are staying in Chico at her mother's place.  

Only a trace of rain fell here in August, the 30 year average is 0.58 of an inch.   Roseburg reported 0.04 of an inch at the airport for the month.  Last rainfall of any significant amount was June 13th with 0.71 of an inch.

 Remember it was about this time last year when the Archie Creek fire started raining ash down on us.   Hopefully September is uneventful, except for some rain sure would not hurt.

A NEW ANNIVERSERY

There are certain anniversaries we never forget--birthdates of our children, weddings and the death of a love one.   It was three months ago, May 28th, when Celia departed this world, seems like just yesterday, but much has happened over the last three months, actually more then what has happened in the last three years.   There were two anniversary dates that Celia and I always celebrated-- the day we met on November 1, 1997 and our wedding on October 7, 2000.    In many ways she is still here with her painted pictures on the walls, our wedding pictures, a picture of us on the wall, her house decorations and her gardens around the house.   The 28th of every month will always be in my memory.  

AFTER THE FIRES WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

 We know all the fires will end when the winter rains arrive, then what?   Think of all the reforestation and restoration work that needs to be done on all the burned over lands and forests.    There is not enough tree nurseries and planting stock or the people willing and able to plant it all in a year or two.    It could take five to ten years to have nursery stock ready to plant the millions of acres destroyed by wildfires just from this year, not to think of future fires.   With a warming climate it will take a diverse species of trees to survive  the longer and drier summers.   There will be some natural reforestation of some species along with native plants and invasive species way before any nursery stock is planted on many burned over areas.   The ecosystem will not be what is was prior to the fires on many of theses sites.  In many places, especially at lower elevations that have not burned yet the ecology is changing now due to climate change.   Many conifer forests at these lower elevations will become hardwood forests or oak woodlands in the future.  

One big threat after fire is the loss of  the soils vital to any kind of regrowth.   According to a soil scientist I knew when I worked on the Siskiyou National Forest, said it takes 100 years to produce one inch of top soil.   Aerial grass seeding is one options to prevent soil erosion if the seed germinates in a timely manner depending on needed rainfall.   If heavy rains come early much of the exposed top soil could wash away into the streams and rivers below from the steep slopes of many of the burned over areas.  There could be the potential for flooding in the low lands and valleys with rapid runoff during peak flows, not to speak of the damage to the fisheries resource.   The greatest threat will be to the watersheds that we all depend on for recreation, domestic use and our food. 

It may take us all, the young and the not so young to do what needs to be done for our survival in the near future.   

InciWeb-Incident Information System

 At least once a day I look at the InciWeb site to see the latest information on wildfires burning across the nation, mostly in the west.    Every year the fire situation only gets worse and I amazed some of these areas still have anything left to burn.   Most of the Mendocino National Forest in northern California burned up last year.  This year much of the Plumas, Lassen and Eldorado National Forests in California won't have much remaining green forests.    Even the Umpqua National Forest close to home is losing much of it forests to fires over the last five years.   

The primary cause to these increasing fires is the changing climate with longer and warmer summers, years of drought, over a hundred years of fire suppression letting forest fuels buildup and a decreasing number of initial attack fire crews stationed in the forests during the summer months.   My first summer job with the Forest Service in the summer of 1969 was on the Big Valley District of the Modoc National Forest in northern California.   There were six guard stations scattered over the district where seasonal fire crews were stationed for initial attack on fires, mostly caused by lightning.   Now a days there are very few of these guard stations and on many Forests there are none.  Even the logging crews working on the National Forest timber sales were required to respond to fires within 25 miles of their sale area.  Now there are very few logging operations on National Forests.  Once a fire is allowed to take off it soon forms its own weather pattern and depending on the forest fuels and terrain it can become a monsters in a matter of hours.   In my opinion there is a need for more controlled burning, more thinning of forests, and more people working in the forests during the summer months.  

THIS SONG SAYS IT ALL FOR ME--A GOOD WOMAN'S LOVE by Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms

THE ART OF HAPPINESS

Celia was a great reader of all kinds of books, everything from Shakespeare, novels, self improvement books, the arts and much more.   Since her passing, I have been taking inventory of books on our many shelves.   One book that got my attention was 'The Art of Happiness' by the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D.    The book looks like it is new and I never remember Celia reading it or talking about it with me, as she did at times about other books.    There is no writing in the book by Celia, as she often did in other books or evidence of  it ever being read.    Was this book placed on the self by divine intervention after her passing?   Nice to think that.  The book covers everything basic to human relations dealing with intimacy, connection to others, compassion, human suffering, change, anger, anxiety and building self-esteem.   It is truly 'A Handbook for Living' as stated on the front cover.  

A FULL HOUSE

This last week my son and daughter with their families, plus Celia's two daughters were here visiting.    There was enough food brought into this place to fill both the house refrigerator and the one in the shop.  There was enough frozen food to refill the freezers, that grandpa can enjoy when he gets tired of his own cooking.   Meals were scheduled according to whenever the grandkids wanted to eat, which was usually at any time.   The menu included fruit, sandwiches, crackers, cheeses, chili, muffins, cereal, assorted veggies, cold drinks and even a Costco pie was almost costumed in one setting.   More dishes were utilized than I can remember in a long time.  The dish washer had to be utilized for the first time in months.    

The grandkids kept busy by chasing lizards, picking blackberries, playing on grandpa's tractor and Sam, the youngest at two and half wearing grandpa's hard hat with ear and face protection.    It was the most action around here in a long time.  

THOSE SMOKY DAYS RETURN

What would summer be without the smoke?    For awhile, I thought we were going to miss out on those smoky days we all have experienced over the past few summers, along with the added thrill of a  persistent cough, irritated eyes and being confined to the indoors.    Now that masks are required again in public places, we can protect ourselves from the covid virus and the smoke.     We can go in the store and load up on comfort food and more beer and wine and not worry about our friends and neighbors recognizing us with our masks on and hats pulled down low.   Just think, this could be the new normal.

A TRIBUTE TO GREENVILLE

 The following is a short revised excerpt taken from my memoirs of my career with the Forest Service, while working on the Greenville Ranger District of the Plumas National Forest from 1977 to 1979.    It was one of the most pleasant small towns I ever lived in and associated with, including the friendly people, the scenic natural surroundings and historical values as an old gold mining community.    

There was the smell of wood smoke coming from the many house chimneys, the sound of the train bell ringing at the local saw mill and the howl of the coyotes during the late evenings.   Many of the buildings and old houses had steep tin roofs because winter here could be cold with snow a few inches  deep or a few feet deep.  Greenville was a small town of about 800 people at the north end of Indian Valley in the Sierra-Nevada Mountains.  Indian Valley to the south of Greenville is mostly cattle ranches with green meadows serving as summer pastures.  The towns of Taylorville and Crescent Mills are at the south end of the valley.   The many streams in the adjacent mountains drained in to Indian Creek, which flowed south out of the valley to the Feather River.   The main street of  Greenville off of highway 89, consisted of a coffee shop, an historic hotel with a restaurant, some gift shops, the ranger station and other small businesses.    There was a weekly news paper with its share of editorials on local issues.    One of the most frequent issue was how the Forest Service timber sale program favored the large lumber mills and was short changing the small operators.   There were a few cartoons in this local paper showing the Forest Service making secret deals with big mill owners.  Most people worked as merchants, mill workers, loggers, ranchers or for the Forest Service.   The largest employer was the Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) with a small log mill in Greenville and large log mill in Crescent Mills.   Some time in the 1980's the LP mills shut down, the Western Pacific trains no longer came in to the valley to take the lumber to market and the ranger station was closed after the Greenville District was combined with Quincy Ranger District.

Greenville was destroyed by the Dixie Fire in August of 2021.   Hopefully the coyotes continue to howl in the evenings and Greenville is rebuilt in the future.  

VISITING WITH AN OLD FRIEND

 An old friend from Cottage Grove came by yesterday on his way to Roseburg.  It has been a couple of years since he stopped by to see Celia and I.    He was a neighbor living around the corner when Celia and I lived in Cottage Grove from 2000 to 2006 and a co-worker when I worked for the Forest Service there from 1988 to 1995.  

With old friends you never know where the topic of conversation will take you, especially while drinking some beers and catching up on events in our lives, kind of like me writing about it in this blog and not knowing how it is going to end.   We reminisced about the good old days in the Forest Service, compared forest fires of those days to the wild fires of today, talked about life in Cottage Grove, how low Dorena and Cottage Grove reservoirs are due to very little spring runoff, local politics, our latest health issues and much more.    

Sometimes old friend pass along bad news, the passing away of old neighbors and another Forest Service co-worker we both knew.   Sometimes I fear seeing old friends not knowing what what kind of bad news they have to tell, but on the other hand you never know when you might see those old friends again at this stage of life.  

GREENVILLE

 This morning on the news I see most of the small town of Greenville burned down from the Dixie Fire in northern California.   Somewhere in this blog there is a story of my career with the Forest Service from 1977 to 79, when I worked on the Greenville Ranger District of the Plumas National Forest.    The ranger station office was in the center of town and the work center station was on the south end of town.    Some time in the 1980's the Greenville District was combined with the Quincy District and the office in Greenville was closed.   My first wife and I, along with our two young children lived in a rented ranch house seven miles out of Greenville on the eastside of Indian Valley.   

There are before the fire pictures and after the fire pictures of the center of Greenville.    From what I remember looking at the before pictures, the town had not changed much.    It had a population of 800, mostly merchants, ranchers, and retired folks.   The two Louisiana Pacific lumber mills closed down in the 1980's and much of the logging subsided after that.   It is all gone now, except the memories.  

HOW THE BIG DAY EVOLVED

 After three years of seeing each other I finally worked up enough nerve to say, "lets get a ring" in March of 2000.   It was not the most romantic proposal, but not bad for this old farm boy, who was reluctant to ever get married again after a failed first marriage.    Celia replied, "what kind of ring" and I suggested an engagement ring, we both had tears of joy.    She always had a twinkle in her eyes I could not resist, plus she would ask me occasionally, "when our we going to the next level in this relationship," which to me meant the forbidden "M" word.  

The day we went shopping for rings, I told myself that I must be patient and let Celia visit all the jewelry stores she wanted to go to.   I set my mind that this might involve every jewelry store in Eugene and Springfield.   We started at Valley River Center in Eugene where we entered a jewelry store, but nothing appealed to her.   Next we went to the JC Penny store and looked over what was available at their jewelry counter.   A small single diamond ring caught her eye and she asked to try it on.  It fit perfectly and she made up her mind right then and there that was the one she wanted.  I was stunned that it happened so fast and was spared from going to anymore stores.  

We had not set a date to get married until Celia called her younger daughter, Rosanne to inform her of our engagement.   Rosanne asked her mom when is the wedding date and Celia replied, "we had not settled on a date yet."   Rosanne said she needed a time frame to fit her schedule in fear it might conflict with some future commitment.   The date of October 7th of 2000 was agreed upon by all.   

The Big Day

 THE BIG DAY

OCTOBER 7, 2000

 This was written by Celia when we lived in Cottage Grove from 2000 to 2006.    I found it in our old Windows 98 files.   Janice and Kasey helped me get it on the blog.   Celia, a much better writer than me, so should be a change from my short dull essays.  There are some more I will try to get on the blog.  

 

 

    As Celia and Mike took the back roads to the little country chapel to get married, they were both silent as their minds filled with thoughts.  The weather could not be any better.  It was a warm, sunny afternoon about 3 o'clock; the air was soft, and the trees along the way showed their fall colors on the nearby hillsides.  It was a 20-minute ride from Cottage Grove to the Cloverdale Chapel.  Mike had decided to take the back roads instead of the freeway to avoid stress and to enjoy the pleasant fall scenery.  That morning and early afternoon had been busy with warming and packing food for the reception, and getting everyone (eight of us in all) presentable for the wedding ceremony.  Anxiety, at least on the part of the bride and groom, reached a peak.  All week prior to The Big Day, Mike's digestive system had rebelled, requiring a quick trip to the doctors in order to get things moving.  Celia's tension had surfaced in other ways…two early-morning 4 a.m. risings to bake breads and wedding cake were now taking their toll on her, and she had difficulty in remembering any fact for more than a nanosecond.  Fortunately, the children of this pathetic couple had it together and steered both safely out to the car; now, as they silently drove to the chapel, Mike wondered whether the guests would find it, whether all would happen in a timely manner, and what was on Celia's mind.

 

     She was beginning to realize the full implications of this trip.  It wasn't just a Saturday drive.  A wonderful commitment would shortly be made with this man she dearly loved, and she looked forward to it with all her heart.  She felt tears trying to surface…oh, no!  Then she calmed herself.  The little chapel at the corner of Rogers and Danstrom Roads appeared, a charming little building of yesteryear in a setting of trees and flowers.  The door was opened invitingly, and the sun shone down upon all with a golden light.  Soon the wedding supplies and children emerged from cars and things began to hum.  Celia found the wedding bouquet, still in water…she didn't know how to hold it or where its ribbon was, and so the flower lady had to show her.  Amid this conversation, friends Helen and Trulene came from the front of the church to the backroom to ooh and ah and gush with happiness.  More conversation and time was fleeting.  Celia still had to change into her wedding attire!  Mike was suffering greatly, being the timely person he is. At last, Rosanne rose to the challenge. She steered her mother in the back of the modesty screen that served as a dressing room and helped her change.  Then, it was one minute past four o'clock.  Time to go into the church and tremblingly stand before Kirk, the one who would marry them.  He began to welcome the guests, and all conversation ceased quickly as the ceremony began.  He went on to read the story of how Mike and Celia met on Mt. Pisgah, and in a few short minutes (and after a gratifying amount of laughter from those observing), it was time for the couple to read each other the vows of love.  Celia went first; she had hardly gotten the first two words out then those tears she'd choked back earlier won out.  Mike feared her emotional state would delay the progress of this event.  He firmly gripped her hand in hopes she could control herself.  It worked!!  The ceremony was done in 12 minutes, 2 minutes over what Mike had carefully planned for.  Although not accomplished in the perfectly timely manner his orderly mind had anticipated, Mike regrouped quickly and managed quite a respectable kiss to seal the deal!

 

     The reception followed in the back of the chapel.  Here 30 plus people gathered for food, congratulations, and conversation.  There were many different personality types in this group:  professionals, non-professionals, marrieds, singles, young and old alike.  Many did not know each other and various topics floated on the autumn air.  For example, one young woman, obsessed with composting, traveled from group to group extolling the virtues of a new compost which developed from gooey green matter to magnificent plant benefiter in only 14 days.  Many eyes were glazed over as she preached the Word of Compost, and some early departures of guests were noted.  This did not deter her, however, for she stayed until the sun began to set, having cornered Mike, Celia, and one other guest as they were locking up the outhouse and preparing to leave.  Mike's sense of timeliness had gone out the window at this point.  He took it all in stride, however.  He had earlier weathered a crisis at the reception when Celia had gotten sidetracked several times on her way to cut the cake.  That, on top of several other failed attempts to keep his bride on a strict schedule, gave Mike a new perspective.  Life, after all, is too short.  All in all, both bride and groom had a wonderful Big Day.

 

 

FIRE IN DODGE CREEK CANYON 8/2/2021

 At 7 am this morning, while looking off the back deck I noticed fog down hill in the Dodge Creek Canyon along Highway 138, which was strange for this time of year, then I realized it was smoke.   About this time a plane was flying overhead that must have been observing the fire.   Out of curiosity I drove down to to see what was happening.   About a mile down the highway there were fire trucks from the Sutherlin Fire department and Douglas Forest Protection Association (DFPA) parked along the highway. The fire was south of the highway uphill across from Dodge Creek.    Helicopter with water bucket on it now.   No wind at this time.

Standby 

JULY 2021

 We made it through July.   Total rainfall at my CoCoRaHs station (OR-DG-22) for July was a trace, average for the last 5 years is 0.24, the PRISM 30 year average for July is 0.50 inches.    Now, can we make it through August?   Looking back, most of the big fires of last years flared up in September, including the Archie Creek Fire that put many of us living on the edge.   August could be a long month.