HALLOWEEN ON ASH STREET

One Halloween when Celia and I lived on Ash Street in Cottage Grove, we decided to make a basket of fruit and vegetables to hand out to the children that came to our door that night.    It was fascinating to watch the expressions on their faces when we offered the contents of the basket to them.   Many were stunned as they looked at what we had to offer.    We could see the disbelief in their eyes as they tried to decide on what to take.   Some of the younger children went back to their parents, who were standing back on the sidewalk to ask what they should do.  Most of the older children took some of the apples or carrots to be polite, but we could see the disappointment in their faces.   By the end of the night the basket still had much of its original content.    We were sure we were the talk of the neighborhood--the house of all tricks and no treats. 

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

From 1947 to 1952  my family lived on Villa Street on the westside of Willows, in northern California.  My dad worked for the Production Credit Association, a farm loan company.   Across the street to the west was a farm house with a barn behind it with horses and cattle in the field.     A block to the south was the Glenn County Road Department equipment yard and shop.    Us kids on the block would go down there and play on equipment until somebody would run us off.   From there we would go across Villa Street to where some houses were being constructed and proceed to get into more trouble.  The Sycamore grade school we attended was four blocks to the east and an easy walk or bike ride.   There was a play ground with the usual swing sets, a slide and other contraptions all on a base of sand.   The baseball field was all dirt and weeds.   It was a good place to scrape your knees and tear up your pants when sliding into home base or making a touch down over the next few years.   A block to the north of our house was the Glenn County General Hospital, where all five of my younger siblings were born over the next 11 years.

One boy in the neighborhood, named Jim, who was my age lived down a dirt road beyond the farm across the street in an old unpainted two story house surrounded by a couple of trees in a dirt field.  There was a milk cow tied to a tree in the back of the house, a few chickens running about and a clothes line with mostly diapers hanging from it.   What I remember of the inside the house were dirty dishes piled in the kitchen with an old wooden table and not much else.  There was a bedroom off from the kitchen with just an unmade bed.   I never went upstairs.  It was real poverty, which at the time I did not understand.   The mother was always carrying an infant as other small children ran around the place.  She never looked happy.   I learned later she was the daughter of the family with the farm house and her husband had a drinking problem, maybe from ill effects from the war.   Like many men in the community he probably worked as a farm laborer when he could.   To make some extra money for the family, Jim would go up town, and shine shoes outside some of the taverns after school.    The town had its fair share of drinking establishments and my dad spent some of his time after work in a few of them.

In 1952 my family moved a mile out of town to an adobe house my dad built on 10 acres along County Road H, where he had some cattle.   He also had a new job as a field representative for the California Rice Grower's Cooperative.   A few years later he got into to rice farming.    Just north of the 10 acres is a railroad line going east and west.    For entertainment some of my siblings would place pennies on the tracks to see how the train would flatten them.   A school bus would pick us up sometimes or my mother would drive us to school.    There were many days after school my younger sister and I walked home.   We would cut across a field to save time walking the roads and eventually wore a trail across that field.   After looking at Google Maps, I see that field is now occupied with an ARCO station, a Motel 6, Round Table pizza, a Dollar Store, CHP office and what looks like apartment buildings.  County Road H in now Humboldt Avenue and west of it is a Tractor Supply store,  headquarters of the Mendocino National Forest and a DMV office.   Beyond all this is Interstate 5 going north and south.  There was no Interstate when we lived there, it was all open fields with a view to the coastal mountains.   The 10 acres we lived on is now a housing subdivision, but the old adobe house is still there on one acre.    

It is all just memories now.  

LASSEN COLLEGE

Lassen Collège was established in 1925, in Susanville, California.     The main campus was next to the high school with a permanent building consisting of the administrative office, cafeteria and classrooms for general education classes.   Here I took English and Social Science my first year as part of the two year technical forestry curriculum from 1968 to 1970 under the GI Bill, which provided me with $130/month.  The forestry program was established in 1935, one of the oldest two year programs in the country.  On the southside of the high school were six temporary buildings for science classes, the gunsmithing and range management programs.   In two of these buildings I took botany and a mathematic class my first year.   

All the forestry classes and the log scaling program were located in an old grade school building on the south end of town.   Later I learned this was a condemned building.   Classes requiring field work, including forest mapping, timber cruising, photogrammetry and surveying were conducted in the woods of the Lassen National Forest.   A school bus was used to transport us twice a week no matter what the weather was.   In the winter snow shoes were required to get around on 3 to 6 feet of snow.  

There was no dormitory for the college and students were at the mercy of finding cheap housing in the community.   My first year I lived in a one room shed behind a house with access to a bathroom through the back door of the main house for $50/month.   The landlord owned a book store and gave me a part-time job painting the interior, giving me a break on the rent for a couple of months.   Other students lived in motels for a discount rate for acting as managers at night.   One student was a volunteer fireman and was able to live in the city fire house for free.   The second year a friend and I shared an apartment for $150/month, if I remember correctly.   Most the students in the forestry program were military veterans in their twenties and some older men looking for a new career in forestry.   

Today Lassen Community College has a big campus with 39 buildings on 165 acres with a dormitory east of Susanville, with an enrollment of 2000 to 2500 students.  The forestry, log scaling and range management programs are no longer available.  The gunsmithing program is still there and is the oldest in the country, being established in 1945.    

GARRISON KEILLOR

How many of you remember Garrison Keillor and his stories of Lake Wobegon Days on his radio and TV show,  A Prairie Home Companion?    He would tell stories about life in a small Minnesota town out on the edge of the prairie.    For example, how the Lutheran church discouraged any excitement in life, small town gossip at the Chatter Box café, Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery store, the Side Track Tavern, tales of some of the town residents and the Norwegian bachelor farmers, who were pure mostly.   He describes how people are trained early in life not to complain about the long cold winters, going ice fishing on Lake Wobegon when it was 20 degrees below zero to escape all their worries and not to express any emotions.      

One of his Halloween stories is about how some the local boys from good Lutheran families would go around on Halloween night tipping over outhouses.   They would wait for a farmer to come out of his house with a lantern to use in the out house.   The boys would turnover it over from the back onto the door making the farmer having to escape from the hole he had sat on after the lantern caught fire, then falling in the pit.  

 I have been watching some of these old programs on YouTube during the recent wet days.  If you need a good laugh during these upcoming winter months this is the program to watch.    

DELIVERING THE WILLOWS DAILY JOURNAL

My first job was delivering the morning news paper on my bike to residents on the westside of the small farming town of Willows, in northern California.   I may have been seven years old during the years of 1951-52.

Early each morning a truck would come by our house on the edge of town and drop off a bundle of papers.   Each paper had to be rolled and wrapped with a rubber band.   The Sunday edition was triple in size with the comics and pages of advertisements.    I was provided with a pack holding the papers that hung over my shoulders as I peddled the streets in the early morning hours throwing papers on or near the front doors.    Carrying the Sunday edition made me feel top heavy and fearful of falling off my bike.  The big challenge was learning the route and the addresses of the subscribers.   There may have been 50 to 60 houses to deliver the papers to.   

 It took a good week to learn the route and if a customer did not get their paper they would call the news paper company that would in turn call me or my mom.  Some of these people were not happy.   Sometimes my mom would help me out, especially on rainy days by driving me around the route in the car.    There were a few days my mom did it all if I was sick.    Once a month I had to go around to each customer in the afternoon and collect the monthly subscription fee.   Some would pay, some were not home and some would not answer their door.   I could see them through their front screen doors on hot afternoons, but they would ignore me knowing I was there to collect money.   This required follow-up visits to collect from those that had not been at home and those that ignored me.  If I stopped delivering the paper they would complain to the company.   My pay was a percentage of what I collected and I don't remember it being much for all the troubles  my mom and I had to deal with.  Then there was the neighborhood dogs to contend with as some would chase me on my bike wanting to do me harm.   With time, I learned where to expect trouble and carried some rocks to throw at these dogs. 

After 7 or 8 months my mom and I decided to give this job to another carrier.  We had no regrets.  

RECORD RAINFALL IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

 After looking at the CoCoRaHS precipitation map today I see record rainfall all over northern California. 

One station in Nevada County reported 9.30 inches in a 24 hour period ending this morning.  One station near Meyers, in El Dorado County, where my son lives, reported 8.40 inches.   My son tells me they have received 8 inches of wet snow today on top of all that rainfall.   Definitely put an end to fire season there. 

No records set here with a total rainfall of 2.83 inches so far this month, beating the 30 average of 2.73 inches.  Rainfall for October 2020 was only 1.97 inches here.   Could be a wet winter.    

 

FIDDLING GRANNY'S

 This picture was taken in October of 2015, while the Fiddling Granny's were practicing at our house.   The group leader was Lois Eagleton, who started the Friends of Mildred Kanipe Memorial Park.   Except for Lois, all others have passed away.    

A PRODUCTIVE AFTERNOON

Rita and I went through the shop sorting out all kinds of stuff yesterday afternoon.   This included broken items, things from days gone by and much more that no longer serve a purpose.   There were items found that date back to the days of living in Gold Beach from 1979-88.   It was satisfying to have filled her truck.   

Yes, that is my favorite old chair you see in the back of the truck.  Celia bought it from the Cottage Grove Goodwill for $20 when we lived in the Ash Street house.   After moving to Douglas County in 2006 and much wear and tear over the years, mostly from cats, Celia wanted me to trade it in for a new one.   Last year I purchased a new chair making Celia happy, but was unable to trade it in or give it away.   Maybe the people at the dump will want it in their shed where they eat lunch and take breaks.  
 

BIOCHAR

 With the end of fire season it is time to make biochar.   A pickup load of debris went into the 4 x 4 kiln and produced a good amount of char as shown in the picture.   Most of this goes to the neighbor for their greenhouse and in return I get more veggies than I can eat.    Any body need some biochar?

More information at:  ubetbiochar.blogspot.com

THE HOMELESS PEOPLE OF PORTLAND

 Last weekend I drove up to Portland to visit with family.   Saturday afternoon we drove to Oak Park, an amusement center near the Willamette River to ride on the Oregon Pacific Railroad excursion train.  The first thing that got my attention as we drove into the park were all the homeless camps along the road leading into the park.   While on the train, there were homeless camps every where, including the riparian area of the river and the steep slopes leading up to highway 99E above the river going north and south through the city.   These camps consisted of tents, all kinds of wooden structures, tarps and piles of debris, mostly garbage I suspect.   

On Sunday we drove to the Portland Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary in Forest Park, one of the largest city parks in the country.   As we drove through the downtown section of Portland there were homeless camps along sidewalks, parking lots and any available open space.    Once in the park I did not notice any homeless camps.    

This lead me to do some research on the reasons for all the homeless camps in Portland and indeed for the country, where there is an estimated 760,000 homeless people nationwide.   The number one cause is the lack of affordable housing in Portland, where the average rent for an apartment is $1633/month.   Next, I learned the living expense in Portland is 34% higher than the national average.    There may be 14,000 homeless people in Portland and 70% of them are individuals and the remaining 30% are families or single women with children.   Many suffer from mental illness and substance abuse.   Some homeless people do work, but unable to afford housing.   In 2020 the average cost of  a house was $344,200 and to live comfortably you need to make at least $60,000.

If I had to live in a Portland rental on my fixed retirement income, I would would have very little money left over for food, utilities and probably could not afford a vehicle.   Having a mortgage there is out of the question.   

HOUSE CALLS

 Anyone remember the days when doctors made house calls?   It was common in small town America before the 1960's.    Doctor Henning (not sure about the spelling of his name) was our family doctor in the small farming town of Willows in northern California.   He always had a suit on when he came to the house and carried his black bag of medical instruments.  The one instrument that always stood out in our memories was his glass syringe and the needle that he would attach to it.   It looked so long.  There were no disposal needles and syringes in those days.  After use they were sterilized for the next unlucky young child dreading the doctor coming to their house.   With six siblings in the house, usually when one of us got sick others became ill shortly thereafter, so the doctor was well prepared with a few other sterilized needles and syringes.  

After taking our temperature, looking down our throats' and listening with a stethoscope, he would say a shot of penicillin was required.    We would look on in horror as he would attached that needle to the syringe, then fill it from a vile and usually give us a shot in the rear.    We would imagine the needle hitting a bone as he pushed it into us as our parents tried to give comfort during the procedure.   Afterwards we were so happy to see the doctor leave.

Doctor Henning had a small one room office on the ground floor of the Willows Hotel.    My mother made an appointment for me once when she discovered a growth on my chest that was bleeding.   When I entered his office he took a look at it and said he needed to cut it off and have it sent to a lab for an examination.   He took a scalpel and cut it off, then placed a bandage over the would.   Later we were told it was a collection of blood vessels that formed outside my body.  The growth never returned as I hoped the doctor would not return to our house in the future.   

THE ROW RIVER TRAIL

This is a 14 mile trail from Cottage Grove to Culp Creek administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).    The trail follows much of the Row River and Dorena Reservoir.

It used to be the Oregon Pacific & Eastern rail line used to haul lumber and plywood from the big Bohemia mill that operated near the small community of Culp Creek, until it closed down in 1989-90.  The lumber cars were brought into the Southern Pacific rail yard in Cottage Grove where they were taken to the big yard in Eugene by Southern Pacific trains and disbursed from there.  

This old rail line was turned into a trail back in the 1990's.    From 1901 to the 1920's the line extended all the way into the Umpqua National Forest to take out logs in the Layng Creek watershed.     In 1926 the silent movie The General, with Buster Keaton was filmed on this rail line.    Two other movies were filmed here, including Emperor of the North in 1972 and Stand By Me in 1986.   From 1971 to 1988 an excursion steam train called the Blue Goose operated on the line, along with the train hauling lumber from the Bohemia mill.   

Yesterday, October 7th, I had my annual doctor visit at the Cottage Grove Peace Health clinic and afterwards walked the trail as Celia and I did many times when we lived in Cottage Grove from 2000 to 2006.   October 7th was our wedding anniversary.  

THE CASCADIA SUBDUCTION ZONE

Watching programs on YouTube has become a daily routine with my iPhone, whenever I take a break from the business of the day.   Some programs include farming, world travels and one that got my attention is called The Earth Master, a man who gives a daily report on earth quake activity around the world.     Lately he has been seeing many tremors in northern California and Washington that he believes could be the start of a big quake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which is 70 to 100 miles off the Pacific coast and runs from northern California up to British Columbia.   The last major quake reported was in January of 1700 when many coastal communities in Japan where washed away by a tsunami originating from a magnitude 9 earth quake off the coast of the Pacific Northwest.    Not sure how magnitude 9 was recorded, since there was no USGS back in those days, but it was recorded in Japan as a major disaster.    Experts claim another big quake is due in the next 50 years and could happen anytime.   There is not much we can do, except prepare for a few weeks of no aid by the government by stocking up on water, food and other basic essentials, since many major highways and the rail line could suffer damage cutting off food and fuel deliveries, in addition to a loss of power.    Those that survive coastal flooding will try to make it inland, mostly by foot, since many coastal mountain roads will be impassable from high water, rock slides or damaged bridges.   Neighbors will depend on neighbors and some of us may have to open our doors to help others until outside aid arrives.   

Sounds like it is not a matter of if it will happen, but a matter of when it will happen and are we prepared for it?   

    

BI-MART Rx

 I had to make a trip into the Sutherlin Bi-Mart pharmacy this morning to pick up a Rx refill and learned they have sold their pharmacy business to Walgreens.  All Bi-Mart customer records will be sent to Walgreens after October 20th.   The nearest Walgreens is in Roseburg.   There were a few older folks at the pharmacy section of the Sutherlin Bi Mart when I was there that were not very happy about having to go into Roseburg for their prescription drugs in the future.   One lady asked if Walgreens will open a store in Sutherlin?    Over the last 30+ years I have got all my prescriptions filled at a Bi-Mart pharmacy, including in Eugene, Cottage Grove and Sutherlin.  Can you imagine how many people will be standing in line at the Roseburg Walgreens pharmacy after October 20th when the Bi-Mart pharmacies close in Roseburg, Sutherlin and Winston?   

DEER SEASON

 Opening day of deer season in Oregon and these guys have been hanging around here most of the day.   They may be smarter than we think.  

MADRONE TREES

This year the Madrone trees produced a bumper crop of berries.   It varies on the years they produce berries and not all Madrones produce in the same year according to my observations, but this year they all seemed to produce.   This could be a sign of stress related to drought, which is evident by the various fungal pathogens that have been slowly killing many of the Madrones.

In past years the American Robins always showed up to feasts on the berries.   One year there were so many Robins all over the trees it sounded like a riot in the afternoons.  At the end of the day many could not fly either from eating too many berries or intoxicated from the fermented pulp of the berries.  We could see some staggering around on the ground as if they were drunk and unable to fly.   There were Robins here in the spring of this year going after the worms, but no Robins this Fall going after the Madrone berries.   Where are the Robins?