A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT

Baker Brothers Land & Stock Company was a large family farming and ranching enterprise in Glenn County, California.   They raised rice, alfalfa, barley, sheep and cattle.   The three brothers that owned and operated the business were John, who was the general manager, Deak, the rice dryer and storage manager and Willis, who supervised the labor force of about 12 full-time and 10 seasonal employees.   John had two sons that managed the livestock, Deak had a son, who was the lead mechanic and Willis had a son, who was a pilot. 

In the summer of 1962 John Baker and his son Jack were returning from their sheep ranch in the western foothills of the Sacramento Valley.   John was in his Cadillac car and Jack was following in his pickup truck on their way back to the company headquarters east of the small community of Artois, north of Willows along Highway 99w.   They were traveling on County Road 35 going east and John stopped before crossing Highway 99w with Jack right behind him.   Just beyond the highway going north and south is the Southern Pacific rail road going parallel with the highway with no warning lights or cross arm to stop traffic.   There was only the railroad crossing X sign.   According to Jack, who saw it all, said his dad crossed the highway and looked away from the direction he was driving to wave at somebody he knew in a passing car and ran directly into a passing freight train killing him instantly.   His car was carried down the track a few hundred feet and was a total wreck.   I believe John Baker was 60 years old at the time of his death.   His son Jack eventually took over as general manger at the age of  33 or 34.   

In the summer of 1964 I worked seasonally for Baker Brothers under the direction of Willis Baker doing tractor work, harvesting barley and rice in the fall of 1965 before being drafted into the Army in February of 1966 at the age of 20.    

FIRE PLAN

With all this recent hot weather we are reminded of past fires in the state that burned many homes and how people had to cope afterwards.   Even though the fire danger is presently low it is just a matter of time before it jumps to High or Extreme.    Soon we will have to prepare that bag packed with our bare essentials and important papers to make our escape with if given notice to evacuate.   

Today I mowed my fire escape trail up through my upper neighbor's property if a fire prevents me from getting out below on our road to Highway 138.    It just boils down to how fast I can run up this trial to a big clearing on my neighbor's property.    After the fire and depending on what remains, I would be at the mercy of friends or living in a shed in my daughter's back yard in Portland until there is an insurance settlement.   Then what?   Rebuild if not a total scorched earth situation or live in a motor home in a park, or on some friends property or move to eastern Oregon on some cheap land?   Definitely would be a fast way to downsize and no longer would have to worry about upkeep and organizing.  Always something to think about this time of year.   

THOSE EARLY HIGH SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS

My thoughts drift back in time to kids I knew in grade school and wonder where they are now.   Linda was a class mate in grade school and it seemed most girls physically and emotionally matured faster than us boys by the 7th and 8th grades.   Some of these girls were developing relationships with older boys already in high school.   This was common in small town USA.   Linda had a boy friend by the name of Dave, who was  two or three years older and at some time while she was in high school became pregnant in the early1960's.   It wasn't until 1968, when I was living in Susanville going to Lassen College that I ran across Dave and Linda at the laundromat one night.    They had 4 little boys ranging in age from 2 to 6, hardly a year apart was my best guess.   They had a dirty white Studebaker Lark car with laundry piled in the back seat and every washer and dryer going in the place.    We got to talking and catching up about each others lives as the little boys ran around the place playing games.   Dave was working on a remote cattle ranch somewhere east of Susanville where they lived.    They seemed happy with what they had and I got the impression with not much money.    Linda said they only came to town once a month to do laundry and shop.  After all their laundry was washed and dried they stuffed it all in the back seat along with the boys and drove off in the night back to the ranch.   I never saw them again.   Wonder where they are today?

SUMMER 2022

After spending a long wet weekend with family in Portland my drive home yesterday was without any rain and more sunshine as I made my way south.   As I drove the back roads home through Green Valley farmers were out in their fields cutting hay in hopes that no more rain is in the forecast for awhile.  Everything is still green, the birds are singing under clear skies as the afternoons begin to warm up.  Most of the grass that has been cut will need to be cut again before it dries out and we are under the restrictions of fire season which starts June 24th.    Wonder if we will make through this summer without the threat of fires?  Summer has arrived, be prepared!

PX BURGERS

Thinking back on some of the worst food I ever had the opportunity to eat my thoughts drift back to the hamburgers at the Post Exchange (PX) at Fort Stewart, Georgia.  These were premade, packaged in foil and piled under a heat lamp at the deli section of the PX.   They came with a slice of pickle on the meat and the buns were good and soggy.   How long they had been under that heat lamp nobody knows and at the time nobody seem to care, plus they were cheap, maybe fifty cents and went down good with the cheap PX beer.   There was a condiment bar where we could apply mustard, catsup, mayonnaise and relish to go along with that slice of pickle.   No fresh slices of onions, tomatoes or lettuce in sight.    How many of those burgers I consumed I can't recall, but every day after returning from the field with our ambulance from helicopter pilot training exercises we headed to the PX for burgers and beer.   I don't even care to count those days and amazed that I survived this long.   

TICKS

One of the most worthless insects in this world are ticks along with mosquitos and they are both bad this year.   It must have something to do with the wet spring.  Over the last few weeks I have noticed a few very small ticks crawling over my decrepit old body.    Yesterday morning I discovered one burrowed into my upper left arm.   I tried the alcohol treatment to get it to back out with no success and in the process must have killed it buried under the skin.  This morning I went up to the Peacehealth walk-in clinic at Cottage Grove, where my doctor is located.    After an hour's wait I actually got in to see my doctor who proceeded to dig out some of the tick's body and prescribed some antibiotics.  

Be careful out there, these little b***ards are everywhere.  

THE MYSTERY HOUSE PLANT

 This house plant was given to us from an old neighbor when we lived in Cottage Grove.  It must be over 20 years old.    Every year I have to cut the taller stem as it will almost reach the ceiling and let the new stem take over.   Celia faithfully watered it.   Now I water it when I think about it and sometimes that is once a week or longer.   I don't know the name of this plant and just call it the "Jack in the Bean Stock" plant.  Anybody know what it is?   

THE BIRCH TREE

Celia planted this birch tree, maybe 8 or 9 years ago on the slope above the house.   The soil here is hard compacted clay, not ideal for birch trees which are not native to this region.   In the summer the soil is bone dry and hard as a rock, but she insisted it would grow here.   By popular demand over the dry summer months I faithfully watered it  thinking it would not make it.   During the winter of 2019 during the big wet snow storm, known as "snowmageddon" a big  madrone tree came down, roots and all smashing the birch tree.   After a week of cutting up the madrone the birch tree was released and popped back up.    Another big snow storm this last January bent the tree down again.   Today I used rope and a come-along to bring the tree upright in hopes it will make it a few more years.   This tree reminds me of Celia, a strong willed person, a survivor, who moved from southern California to Oregon in 1978 with her two young daughters, a car filled their personal belongings with only $600 to start a new life.   She succeeded the best she could with jobs at OSU, the Oregon State Archives, teaching at Chemeketa Community College in Salem and working at the Olum Child Development Center at the U of O in Eugene until she took up with me when we married in October of 2000.  

She was an inspiration and a shining light to many that knew her and always had a smile no matter the challenge.  

RAINFALL FOR MAY OF 2022

At my CoCoRaHS station (OR-DG-22) I recorded 4.58 inches of rain for May, normal is 2.58 inches.  Last May was 1.31 inches.   For this water year from 10/1/21 to 5/31/22 there is 35.33 inches recorded, normal for entire water year ending 9/30/22 is 42 inches.  Can we get 6.67 inches in the next four months?  

A BLACK CAT

 A black cat is hanging around the place taking advantage of my good nature.   Started putting food out for it and in return hope he or she is a good rat killer.  Unable to get close as it will run off.