THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER

My dad was friends with an older man, probably in his 60's at the time, who owned a large ranch west of Willows where he had raised dry land barley and sheep.    He had a teenage daughter, by the name of Mary Ann that was 15 or 16 when I first met her, while visiting with my parents at their house in Willows.  She was a nice looking young blond girl.  Like me, we both were attending Catholic high schools, me in Sacramento and she in San Rafael.    We got to know each other during family visits either to our place or their home.   One evening at our place I walked her around the property we lived on showing her the field behind the house.  While walking along the fence line back toward the house as it was getting dark, we passed by a shed on the neighbor's property.   She asked if we could climb over the fence and go in the shed?   I informed her the shed was locked and thinking back on it that probably saved us from getting in trouble.   During the school year she wrote me some letters telling how she and some other girls would sneak out of their dormitory at night giving me the impression she was a wild young woman.   The next summer she asked me out to a dance at a relative's house in the town of Corning, about 30 miles north of Willows.   This would be my first real date.   Her mother drove us up to Corning and was probably acting as a chaperone in order to prevent any mishaps,  knowing her daughter.   Mary Ann was wearing a white strapless dress that would drive a young boy mad with all kinds of lusty thoughts.   We made it home without any trouble.  In the years that followed Mary Ann  got involved with a couple of boys in town that I knew.   Once when I was doing farm work one summer, I was informed by the foreman Mary Ann and another girl had driven out to this farm in search of me, but unable to find me.  The last time I saw her was when I was attending Chico State College in the Fall of 1964.    

MY INTRODUCTION TO BEER(S)

How many remember these beers--Burgermeister, Lucky Lager, Falstaff, Schlitz and Olympia?  These were some of the beers my dad enjoyed back in the 1950's and 60's.    I did have a chance to sample some of them, usually when no body was looking.  Six months after I entered the Army in 1966 I turned 21 at Fort Hood, Texas and the beer of choice was Lone Star and a few others I don't remember.    When I was transferred to Fort Stewart, Georgia Old Milwaukee was my choice and cheap.    During my two years at Lassen College in Susanville, California Hamm's beer was within my budget living on the GI Bill.   Later in life during the 1970's into the 90's there were a variety of beers both in cans, bottles and what ever came out of the tap at the local taverns.  Most of these were made by the big three brewing companies--Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Pabst.   Back in those days it was all just plain beer and I had no idea that there were ales, porters, stouts or pilsners.    Today there are so many beers from the international, national and local levels.   The big three have bought out many smaller breweries and Bud Light is the favorite of many.  In the world of craft beers Sierra Nevada tops the other national craft beers.    A the local level there are more craft beer breweries than anybody can imagine.   So many beers now to sample and so little time.

FALL 2022

Fall has finally arrived.   There is the sound of crickets all night, the cool morning air with the earthy smells associated with the recent fall rains and best of all the low fire danger.   It always seems like such a great milestone has been reached after making it through another dry, hot summer, especially in August, which seems to be the longest month of the year to get through.   With the extended spring rains this year summer was not as bad as the last few that started in May with temperatures in the 90's.    

Now to prepare for winter by getting the firewood under cover, finish up some exterior painting that is long overdue, clean out rain gutters, pick apples before the deer eat them all and much more.   Don't have to worry about putting the vegetable garden to bed, critters did that for me by eating it all by the end of August.  Sometimes I wonder why I bother with it, but I'm sure by the time next spring arrives next year I will do it all again.  

DANGERIOUS WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS

My only encounter with any dangerous wildlife in the years I worked for the Forest Service was my first summer of 1969 on the Modoc National Forest.    A badger ran along side my pickup truck trying to bite the front tire as I was driving slowly on a forest road.   In all my remaining years until my retirement in 1995 nothing, not even with the bears of Alaska.   

Since living on this forested property for the last 16 years, I've had a close encounter with a cougar and a mad mother hen turkey.   

Sep 22, 2022

WILDFIRES ON REBURNED AREAS

 Do you ever wonder if there is anything left out there to burn after all the fires over the last decade(s)?   

A few weeks ago I drove up to Oakridge to inquire about camping at Waldo Lake.   I was informed by the Forest Service that Waldo Lake was closed to the public due to the Cedar Creek Fire as it was spreading around the north end of the lake.   Knowing this area north of the lake burned 10 years ago, I asked what the fuel load was on the old burned over area.    Looking at a map on the wall at the Middle Fork Ranger Station I was told that the regrowth of under brush and old burned trees had fallen to the ground adding to the fuel load creating another catastrophic fire that eventually burned into the many campgrounds on the east side of the lake.    I'm not sure what the answer is on how to manage these burned over areas.   It might depend on site specific conditions, such as protection of communities, recreation facilities, road systems and other improvements.  My son informs me the Forest Service is removing many of the dead trees from the Caldor Fire that burned into the forests near South Lake Tahoe as a prevention measure to future fires in an urban area.    Highway 50 leading up to South Lake Tahoe from Sacramento is having all burned trees that are a hazard removed by Caltrans.    This is also true along I-5 going through the mountains of northern California from recent fires.    Locally we can see it up the North Umpqua Highway.

Fire has always been part of the ecosystem and may become more frequent on burned over areas with time, especially with a warming climate.    Will these burned over areas ever recover to what they once were? 

QUEEN ELIZABETH

Today Queen Elizabeth died at the age of 96.   For some unexplainable reason I found this upsetting and felt a sense of loss.   She always impressed me as a steady, solid, non emotional person no matter the circumstances.   Over her life time she was a witness  to World War II, the decline of the British Empire, family scandals' and dysfunctions.    After getting out of the Army In 1968 I accompanied my grandmother to Canada to visit some family members.    We spent a night or two in a hotel in Edmonton, Alberta.   While riding in a hotel elevator I over heard two men talking about how Canada was attached to the Queen and comparing how the United States had no such attachment or anchor.   Back then the Dominion of Canada was a commonwealth nation to Great Britain when the Union Jack was part of its flag.   The Queen did not rule Canada as they had their own prime minister and parliament.    I think it was the tradition of being connected to the Queen and sense of belonging to a family, a royal family at that those men in the elevator were talking about.    Is this tradition still important in a changing world of political division, environmental disasters and economic instability?    Was it a loss of tradition I felt today?

THE END OF AUGUST 2022

We have finally come to the end of another forgetful August feeling neglected that the annual tradition of smoke filled skies would pass us by.   But, last night the haze and smoke moved into the valleys of the Umpqua making our summer complete.    How long it will last is anybody's guess depending on when the Fall rains return.