Have you noticed the condition of the vegetation and wildlife around your property lately? The maple trees are dropping their leaves already and it is not even Fall yet. Some blackberries are wilting and most the poison oak is red with their leaves falling off the vines. Many of the Douglas-fir trees have died over the last few years due to drought at lower elevations and are starting to fall down, especially in the mixed hardwood stands where they can not compete for whatever moisture that is available. Many are so rotten they don't make for good firewood. Some of the song birds that usually migrate from here during the summer months seem to hang around year around now, could be for the water and sunflower seeds I provide. I have never seen chipmunks around here before, but this summer they have showed up. The neighbor has them too, and we came to the conclusion that it could be all the fires over the last few years that have caused them to relocate. Maybe they know it is safer where us humans live.
A collection of stories from the life of Michael Burke. He worked for the Forest Service in Alaska, California, and Oregon. He lives in Oakland, OR. His wonderful wife, Celia, passed in May of 2021
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FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY
It is four years today when Celia left this word, something I think about every day. It is not all sorrow as I think back on her humor, w...
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It is four years today when Celia left this word, something I think about every day. It is not all sorrow as I think back on her humor, w...
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In my early days with the Forest Service we were called upon to fight fires with little choice in the matter, especially on our days off or ...
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One of my most memorable Thanksgivings was when I lived in Eugene from 1991 to 2000. My two children were with me on Thanksgiving of 1992...
Yes, to all of the above. We have red, and falling, maple and poison oak leaves. The stellar jays are already hanging around. We too have firs, which quickly turned rust this summer while dying from drought. And yet, I am always amazed at how much of a forest appears to be dead and dying, and how other life thrives on the decay, including our flickers and pileated woodpeckers.
ReplyDeleteThanks for keeping the birds well fed and watered, Mike. Every time they chirp, they're saying, "Thanks man for the seed!" Kathy keeps the hummers very well supplied year-round with sugar water ... and the finches love thistle (niger). Against my advice, Kathy even spreads a few oats for the deer about once a month. Love seeing those little fawns. The turkeys have many polts too. Oh well, they all hang around but haven't become pests yet. During the last several months, we've had a pair of jackrabbits romping around, and our neighbor saw a bobcat the other day. And we occasionally smell the skunks at night. Yesterday, my friendly visitor (in the house) was a little tree frog. Nature is wonderful, esp. when we can live in harmony with wildlife. Unfortunately, wildlife suffer when humans encroach on or destroy their habitat.
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