quarantine sharpie

I was upstairs preparing to install a shower shelf, when Ariel yelled for me to come downstairs.  This Sharp-shinned Hawk was sitting in the tree near the bird feeder.  For a minute I thought it might have caught somebody but alas, no dice.  He sat for awhile preening and I shot a video.  I need some kind of gimble to stabilize the camera next time but all in all it is pretty remarkable considering it's hand held and through the picture window glass.  Added some music and credits.

The past couple weeks have been some pretty high, highs and some super low lows.  The stay at home order hasn't been too difficult to follow.  It just takes some prioritizing and list making.  I managed to get a fair amount done last week, pruning weeding mowing etc.  Watched bluebirds prospect a nest box...and Violet-green Swallows harass them. Canada geese landing on the pond in the early dawn light while I watched the water and the bullfrogs. 

But there is still a bit of a a feeling of stuck-ness.  In this town that has little to offer.  Few people to interact with on even a normal day.  My weekly zoom call with a friend is the weekly high point, and is good, but not as good as actually having coffee. 

So I yoga in the morning, make the lists, keep nose to the grindstone and carry on.

Skunked.

Once again we are having chicken predator problems.  We lost 2 over the weekend.  Most likely something small (mink, etc) given it got past the electric wire, into the coop, killed two and ate some of one.  Leaving no prints.  This is a pretty common occurrence really. So you build new fences, tighten things up, add electric, use cameras, and set traps with the carcass that remain.  

The first night I caught nothing.   Last night I caught a skunk.  Now, given it didn't smell like skunk near the coop the prior day, and believing that there were no skunk sized holes i didn't figure this was the culprit.  I decided to let the skunk go, he was just in the wrong spot at the wrong time, and doing what he normally does as a meta-predator.  Skunks are good at cleaning up rotten stuff, even though they can cause trouble they are mostly beneficial.

But how to remove the little dude from the trap?  I got a line attached to the trap door so I could pull it open, and can manipulate the catches with bamboo sticks, but he is still pretty upset and staring at me doing a ground pounding little stomp, so I'm a bit concerned.  I think he needs to be covered with a tarp to calm down.

I went to the barn and retrieved a chunk of old ground cover plastic. Perfect...black, it should make a little cave over the trap and the guy can get out of there once the door is open.  As I'm about the toss the cover over the cage, he turns his backside toward me and I'm screwed.

You know these scenes in science fiction movies where the character dodges bullets and what not.  Think "The Matrix".  I swear I did that. I leapt away from that guy in full horizontal, only to see in very slow motion a glop of yellow waxy sticky stuff settle on the bottom of my glasses. Followed by a wad on my lip.  Dudes name is now "MutherF**cker".  Little droplets of more liquid stuff speckle my jacket.  I'm trying to deactivate my taste buds but the gunk is creeping through, as i head for the creek, fortunately flowing well, and stuff my head in it. 

Kind of relieved from the head washing i head back over put the tarp on the cage with the bamboo sticks. Get the door open and he swaggers off. I flip him the bird, he flips one back at me.  Then it's off to the shower with the big bottle of Technu. 

Monkey Puzzle First Blooming

The Monkey Puzzle tree bloomed this year.  First time since we've been here.  A total of 4 flowers have bloomed.  It looks to be a female tree.  Apparently these trees naturalize pretty well in Oregon especially in the coast range, but they are highly threatened in their native habitat of Chile.  Maybe I can find a male tree to pollinate this one....

Another Birthday

January 13, 2020

Yesterday I completed my 50^th lap around the sun.  Most likely half the total laps have been completed, or more.  That doesn’t bother me too much, I’ve always realized we are a finite.  A little troubling is the perception of speed at which the past 10 years went by.  We have owned this place since Feb 2009.  I passed my 40^th in this house, and now like a blink my 50^th has passed. Snap. Just like that.

I have been asking myself…is this all there is?  While I like putting in the garden every year, and usually the outcome is pretty good, I was telling a friend who also gardens, it starts to feel very repetitive. Hours to days to months to years all start blurring. Some of the perception might be due to lack of note taking. Thus, renewing this blog (and keeping more notebooks), but I also think that our perception of time likely changes with age.  

The house remodel/repair looks to have a tiny little light at the end of the tunnel, so the focus can shift soon to other things. But shift to what?  I’m wondering if I’m making the right impact on the world, and how to evaluate that and change what needs to be changed. I thought for a long time I would persist in the biology/conservation world.  But I choose to divert from that by my own volition and the request of others. I see the natural world burning up (literally and figuratively) and wonder if I can do more, but struggle with what that might be.

I’ve been reading some other works about time.  I’m realizing that the only thing we possess that is priceless is our time.  We trade that time for other stuff.  We trade it for experiences, love, companionship, stories, skills, joy, adventure, security, trinkets, money...and lots of other items of greater or lesser value.  Some of these trades are good ones, others are very backward equations.  So, part of the reflection that happens with age is about these trades.  I think most of my trades have been ok, especially when I think about the most positive ones.  But the perception of fleeting time that comes with these milestone markers makes it feel as if those trades need to be very high quality from this point on.

Now that we’ve moved past the black balloons, old person jokes and cake.  What should the next 50 years look like?  Immediately perhaps renewing my first aid and CPR certification just to be safe. Then focus on new skills.  More sailing, Celestial navigation, plotting and charting.  Actually learning the fretboard.  Getting my yoga practice back on track.  More breakfasts with friends as early as possible with eye contact, stories and too much caffeine. Expanding the mind, brain and soul into genuinely new experiences.  More letter writing and less “social media” Finding efficiencies to the work around here but remembering it will always be waiting until after the hike.  There is so much more and so much time.

The end of an era, a dog shaped hole in the heart.

Wiser people than I have ruminated on the unfair nature of things concerning the loss of pets.  Unless you have a Galapagos tortoise or naked mole rat as a companion there is a pretty high chance you are going to outlive them.  That still doesn’t really prepare you for it….

We official got Layla in March of 2011, likely she was about 4.5 months old. She was the softest, little nugget with a pot belly and comical half upright ears.  

The adoption agency claimed her derivation as Boxer/Mastiff we were expecting a large dog with lots of slobber.  Instead she maxed out at about 48 pounds of pure energy and only moderate slobber.  

We started basic training as early as possible at about 6 months of ages, Thursday nights in a cold barn in Rickreall, sitting, staying, calling, she did well but the prong collar was always needed to keep her attention.  She was a good sniffer, she could find the rock coated with truffle oil placed in the driveway, but we never went as far as truffle hunting. 

Being more likely a terrier she was a chaser. Layla would keep after deer until they managed to clear the fence, returning satisfied and spent.  Once I caught up with her to find the deer halfway over the fence with Layla clamped onto one rear leg getting flailed about.  I often thought she would get kicked in the head but never did.  She knew our cats but would occasionally encounter other cats on the property, she bled badly from those encounters, but never seemed to learn from it.  Her true nemesis was likely squirrels, she knew the word and would take off like a shot to roust them from the bird feeder and keep them tree bound.

For a dog who hated baths, she often found herself coated in mud, poop of various kinds, or occasionally rotten stuff. 

Layla liked slow boats; canoe trips on the Willamette, sailing with minimal heeling. Less enamored with motorboats she would tolerate it but give you the look (leading to the Boring Dog Video series).  Layla attended several boat classes (MOCC) roaming the classroom or field lectures, talking people out of their lunches and giving good cuddles to relieve stress. 

Unimpressed with your object recovery 

She loved the beach and always got the zoomies when she hit the sand, before settling in for a long walk along the wrack line.  Layla could swim but preferred not to her PFD was a great improvement.  She would fetch a ball until the end of time. Her preferred mode of travel was in the truck seat.

 Our vacations were a great time for Layla. She got to hang with the Corvallis Labrador Contingent and apparently had much more lax rules concerning furniture.  Fawn colored in a sea of black doggos, I’d often check social media while away to find that Layla was on some cool hike somewhere…often places I’d never been. 

Ultimately, she settled in to be a farm dog.  Hanging around, chasing stuff, getting in trouble then coming to chill out in the shade while I weeded the garden, or watered trees.  Her head fur stayed soft and she liked to be scratched just below the ribs. 

Eclipse watching

The end came shockingly fast.  In retrospect there were signs, never much of a barker she started reacting with lots of barking in late July and early August.  August 10 brought a huge group of people for a potluck, she seemed to have a good time but was exhausted by nights end.  August 13 was a trip to the vet, but on the 14^th she began waking into walls, bumping into furniture, she couldn’t find her water dish without help, another vet visit… WBC counts and liver tests revealed nothing physical.  Faced with a neurological condition we put her on some meds but failed to fend off the symptoms and decline. 

 She still liked people but lost her over the top circle tail wag.  It seemed she lost a clear sense of who I was, shying away from affection. She’d pick up a tennis ball if prompted and chew it for a few minutes, then wander off with it tucked under her lip.  Her balance was reduced enough that she would fall off the stairs, wander into flowerpots and trip over objects.  On Aug 28, 2019 we tried to go to the coast for one last beach trip, but she couldn’t tolerate the motion of the car.   We decide to relieve her of all of it.  

She looked at me with her big brown eyes as the drugs took effect and slipped off into the ether. 

Godspeed pup I’m gonna miss you.

Sleeping bag...ends and beginnings.

This year for Christmas my wife, sisters and mom teamed up to get me most of the way to a new sleeping bag.  The old one had run its course.  But it got me thinking about the travel we'd seen.  I bought it new in 1995 as I graduated university and was outbound for my first field biology gig.  New Hampshire in the White Mountains where I slept in that bag nightly for several months.  From there more seasonal gigs, Northeast Oregon, Florida,  Alaska for a couple summers and onward.

A good sleeping bag is arguably the most important piece of gear for living "outdoors"  Your little cocoon of warmth and safety when you need it.  I'm not going to lie, I miss those days at times.  the relative simplicity of having pretty much just what you need when you need it.  Plus, space and time to see around you, take it in.

So hopefully this new bag will live up to the old one not only in performance (it's better) but also acting as a capsule into the woods and further adventures.

Dusting off the Blog

Instead of endless scrolling through Facebook posts, I've decided I need to spend that time on better pursuits. Primarily writing and playing guitar...some of the writing will take place here...stay tuned.

Sping is springing

So I found this today while preparing olive trees for fertilizer. Not sure what it is but it's kind of neat.

Olive trees finally in the ground

Today, finally, I got around to getting olives in the ground.  A wet spring and other vagaries of life pushed back enough to focus on a dedicated project.  Last week I tilled out 3 swaths of ground.  As fulfilling as running the tractor can be it is way more gratifying to quietly dig the ground and plant the trees.  The slice of the steel through the softened earth, quiet of the afternoon, sweat, makes for a good day.  At least 2 more plantings are planned but now to revel in the first.

3 rows all the trees are equidistant at 17 feet from any neighboring tree

Lots and lots of rain

So the past 48 hours has brought first several inches of wet snow, and now torrential rains.  December was record dry but this might catch it up pretty good.  Spent the day clearing gutters and down spouts to get it away from the house.  Just went down to check the creek.  The banks are overfull, the pond is at full pool and 1 of the concrete retaining walls of the spill way is partly collapsed.  I have a new leak in my garage roof.  Whew...fun had by all.

Frosty fog

It has been socked in for the last couple days with freezing fog.  Pretty but kind of chilly...its a wet cold ya know.

This is Layla

So It occurred to me that the last post was kind of a downer... I miss Jada but life moves on.   Here is the new pup for the farm.  This is Layla.  We are going on a year (in February) since we got her.  She came from a shelter that brings dogs from southern California where they put down a lot of animals.  We were told she was boxer mastiff mix-likely the boxer but probably not the mastiff.  The ears point toward American Staffordshire terrier.  But I guess we will never know.

This is her in the first month we had her around

The rest were taken today.

She is a lot "muscleier" now eh?

We have had several sessions of training and she does pretty well.  Unfortunately she is a chicken chaser so doesn't have free run of the place just yet.  She does like chicken poop though...  She is much smaller than we thought she would get but in a way it works better.  She likes riding in the truck and is great at jumping in on her own.  She chases the deer but hasn't caught one yet.  At about 45 pounds she can really pack a wallop at times.

One year ago today...

Jada met her demise on the road in front of the house.  We got Jada while living in Albuquerque NM.  She was a nervous city dog moderately afraid of cars.  We taught her to swim in the Peralta river drain that was Ariel's study site.  She got to do some good hiking along the way.  When we got the farm she kind of was in her element.  She would swim circles in the pond by herself, roam the grounds and likely kept the coyote and deer to the edges, both became problems after she was gone.  She knew to leave the chickens alone, and the cats, but some how manged to find several possums to harass.  She was a good dog.

But she decided that part of her area was the road ditches, full of food wrappers, dead animals and all kinds of good stuff.  She would stop at the gate if we were around, but go on through if we weren't.  In the end she jumped out of the ditch at the wrong time.  She died quick.  The freaked out kid driver stopped and apologized. We buried her near the edge of the pond, possibly her favorite place.


Rest In Peace Jada

Some more chicklets on the ground

Well, Little Red stayed tight and hatched 6 of 7 eggs we gave her.  Nothing from the golf ball...

Cranky chicken gone broody

Little red went broody really fast, but was incubating a golf ball.  We gave her 7 eggs to sit on, but she still looks unhappy.  Check back in 21 days to see if they hatched.

A Day at Gold Beach

 
Ariel had to work for a day at gold beach putting a creel survey together, so I got to tag along.  Lindsay came up to dog sit (thanks Linds) and we left on Sunday.  I went to Otter rock beach and wandered there for most of the day.
It kind of secluded and pretty neat the tide was out so there was a lot of beach.

After the beach I looked around town a little, checked out the Mary B Hume historical site. Unfortunately the boat is rotting into the bay due to a unclear notion of ownership and a bunch of lawyers.

This western gull hung out on the rail of the hotel balcony.  We didn't feed him.

After Ariel was done we just kicked around the area a little and hung out for another night.  We had dinner from the Barnacle Bistro which was great.  All in all a nice little trip.

New crop of Norther Flickers almost ready for harvest

Flicker chick begging-its 2 siblings are still in the hole

We have a fir tree near the house that was gradually topped and is largely rotten.  Various birds have tried to use it.  I've seen black capped chickadees, sapsuckers and flickers investigating this tree.  The first year we lived here there were starlings in the hole...thus the chunk of plywood nailed to it.  The current residents are Northern Flickers and the 3 chicks are getting pretty close to fledging.  The adults have been busy at all hours keeping them provisioned.  Neat.

Trip to the east coast

Well, we decided to take a trip.  My niece Jade was graduating from high school, it had been at least 10 years since I visited the east coast.  I'd never met Savannah, my second niece.  Lots of reasons to travel it seems. In the past I would have had time to spend road tripping and making my way to a destination, but no longer. We booked a couple tickets on Delta Airlines and off we went.

After dinner of standard pub fair with Blair at the Alameda Brew house we boarded our plane on time for a 2248 departure. There isn't much to say about flying these days.  The planes are cramped, and full.  We kind of slept on and off but managed to see the eastern shore line of Lake Michigan as we approached Detroit for our plane change. Kind of neat. Perhaps it isn't fair to judge a city by its airport.  The funniest exchange after living in coffee land for a while was at the coffee kiosk that wouldn't take my coffee cup behind the counter..."You know health department" was the only retort.  We changed planes and arrived in Norfolk without any issues.  Our bags even arrived as well.  All in all a smooth uneventful series of flights.  Thanks Delta!  My sister Annmarie picked us up from the airport.  Since we arrived largely wonked out from lack of sleep, we mostly just hung out and took an actual nap for a few hours.  Lauren was at work, but we were deposited at her house to stay for the first couple days.

Tuesday was another day of just kind of kicking around.  We started the day with pan cakes and enticed my Dad to go for the aerial flip of the last cake.  The dogs rejoiced with the end result....We saw Annmarie's house for the first time, and eventually made it to the beach at Sandbridge. The day was a bit brisk but the water was fine.We jumped waves, and splashed around for a while.  After a while everyone was a bit cold and very hungry so we left and went looking for lunch (it was bout 1530!).  We stopped at Sandbridge Island restaurant  The Oyster PO-boy was decent (get it without the fries on the sandwich).  Eventually we worked our way back to the house and settled in for the evening.  Tomorrow we had big plans.

 Wednesday morning Ariel, Me, TOG (my dad), Lauren, Vinny, and Paul Craze (Laurens neighbor) headed down to the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, near Roanoke Sound North Carolina.  We had scheduled a half day fishing trip on the Sea Era with Captain Dean Johnson and his mate Ladd Bayliss.  Ladd worked with me on the bird project here in Oregon but over the winter had migrated back to her natal waters along the east coast.  The trip was great, mildly rolling water, perfect temperature.  We were after bluefish and Spanish Mackerel and started fishing right out of the inlet.  We had 4 rods out and everyone was diligently watching for the tell tale twitching of the rods, looking off the stern of the boat.  Vinny caught the first fish. But everyone had to agree that my dad had the best form in bringing fish aboard.

  Eventually fishing slowed down in the inlet and we headed south in order to fish our way back.  The Sea Era is a very neat boat.  Steady and fast, and super efficient only using 15 gallons of diesel per hour. We cruised south for about 30 minutes trolled slowly back north with everyone taking a turn pulling in a Bluefish.  Eventually we picked up a few Mackerel with only the Battaglia's on the boat (TOG, Lauren and Me) catching the only 3 caught.  It was a nice chill day on the boat, a good day to be on the water.                  

 

After returning to dock with our catch, a total of 24 bluefish and 3 Mackerel, we handed them off to the efficient if not all together pleasant fish cleaning crew (who can blame them really...cleaning the fish of drunk tourist all day).  They made quick work of our catch, for the ending of a really great day on the water.  Lauren herded her drunk charges back to the car and got them safely home.  Ariel and I wandered around the docks looking at other catches, while waiting for mate Bayliss to finish her duties.  Ariel and I had decided to stick around and talked Ladd into taking a day off to show us the sites. Eventually we made our way to Ladd's house, up highway 12 from the fishing center and across the bridge to Roanoke island and the town of Manteo.  She rents a quaint little house along the western edge of the island that backs up to marsh land.  It is a sweet little pad, really nice and quiet. With black ducks out back and several species of flycatchers kicking around.  Wednesday evening we hung out made some linguine with pesto. Ladd's friend Dave came by and fried up some soft shell crabs, which are blue crabs that recently molted on the latest full moon.  Excellent!     
 After a pleasant and not too hot night we started Thursday with a hearty breakfast, of fried eggs.  Then headed out to see the local sites. We started at Ladd's parents place and met her mom, Hilda, and dogs. It is really neat spot under the trees along the water on the east side of Manns Harbor NC.  Straight across the bay from where Ladd lives this summer.

From here we went back across Highway 64 to and down cape Hatteras to Pea Island.  There we took a walk out into the wildlife area.  We saw royal terns, common terns, tricolored herons, little blue herons, least terns, peeps, eastern kingbirds. The temperatures were good and it was a really nice walk.  Of course we were hungry eventually and we headed north to Tortugas Lie.  I never intended that this be a food blog or entry, but is seems that while on vacation you tend to eat at lots of different places.  Safe to say this is likely the best place we ate on this trip.  I had the Blacked yellowfin tuna with mango salsa and goat cheese, along with a shared side of seasoned fries.  The food was stellar!  The fish was perfect, and critical here the bread was a decent hearty roll, not that typical gooey, white bread found at most American sandwich shops.  I highly recommend this place for the food.  Ladd had the same as I did, and Ariel had fish tacos, which too were excellent.  From here we did a little shopping and eventually made our way to Wanchese NC home of Bayliss Boat Works.

 I'll let the boat works web page tell the story http://www.baylissboatworks.com, but suffice to say it is impressive and a bit hard to fathom.  These boats are built for people with more money than I can really imagine, but John Bayliss clearly takes pride in building the best boat possible.  The attention to detail is incredible, and the boats are rather epic. There is a disconnect though in the fact that the folks building the boat take pride in the craft of building the boat, while the eventual owner simply takes pride in the fact he has the cash to commission the boat.  One is clearly a higher quality position, but the two are inextricably linked.

After a whirlwind tour of the shop we tried to go for a boat ride in one of the first boats built by the works and recently restored.  Ironically engine trouble (air in the fuel line) sidelined the whole thing.  Oh well, next time perhaps.  Instead we went back to Ladd's house and finished the day with more food, hard crab, salad, and beer.  Full again.

On Friday Ladd had to work a morning trip so Ariel and I wondered to downtown Manteo. We found coffee and a bagel.  Kicked around for a while, birding etc.  Eventually we stopped into the Outer Banks History Center.   Turns out that Ariel is relative royalty on the outer banks.  Her great grandfather   (on pops side) was Robert L. Wescott, a very well known name in the region.  It turns out that he apparently owned the Kill Devil hills where the Wright brothers worked on their aircraft, and made their first powered flights. We have only scratched the surface, but it seems that Ariel has some pretty neat links to some very important history.



Ladd got back from the trip around noon and we again went out to eat. This time to a place in Manteo called Ortegaz.   While the chips and guacamole were good.  The Tuna sandwich I had was pretty lame, especially considered against yesterdays fare.  Remember that gooey white bread...find that here. After lunch we were going to go to the beach, but Ladd got called in for a random drug test that the Coast Guard does of captains and mates.  So Ariel and I went to the beach and got caught in a thunderstorm.  Ladd made it back and we went up to Kill devil hills for the final hour of operation where we got to see where the Wright brothers made it all happen.  After absorbing the history of the Kill Devil Hills site we headed back to  Manteo.  Chilled out for a bit, got some Lemonade, and Walked around down town.  We need to get back to Chesapeake to help out with party prep etc and attend the actual graduation party.  We bid our farewells to Ladd and Dave and headed North.  We were navigating a bit by feel but managed to make our way back.  It is really interesting to note how flat the region is...in sharp contrast to the Willamette valley.

Saturday started with lots of prep.  Running errands to pick up food and supplies etc.  Vinny and Paul had most of the tents, tables, and games set up.  It was all pretty smooth.  The DJ showed up, the music got loud.  Jade was the center of attention as it should be.  We drank and ate and chilled. It was a good, fine time.  Lauren handled the logistics well and everything was pretty smooth.  I think that this party was also for Lauren and Vinny as well.  Jade will be off to college in the fall and while only 2 hours away, it will be nice for them to have a bit of a life change.  Jade seems to be a pretty thoughtful, intelligent kid (for her tender 18 years) so her parents have little to worry about.


Sunday, was another down day.  Ariel and I went to the beach early. It was quiet and chill with only the metal detector guys walking the beach. We looked for breakfast but found nothing but starbucks in the vast urban sprawl of the region.  It really takes leaving to realize how homogenized this country has become...and searching that much harder for the little differences and unique experiences that are still around.  Later in the day TOG and I went to a small private Airplane museum, we looked at planes, talked about stuff.  It was a nice chill day.  For dinner we went to Annmarie's house for one last family affair. A good ending of the day and trip.

Monday June 20 we flew out after a morning of chilling with Lauren.  We got a final ride in her fancy new convertible on the way to the airport.  Now I have to note here that Lauren LOVES her convertibles.  For years she had my Dad's old 72 Skylark, which has largely gone beyond serviceability. Recently she acquired a VW EOS, which is a fancy hard top convertible.  It is pretty slick with all the bells and whistles.  If you want to see Lauren grin BIG just ask for a demo and she'll take you for a ride. Anyway she dropped the top after leaving us at the Airport and we headed home. This time through Minneapolis, again largely uneventful, except for getting a good view of hood and other southern mountains of the Cascades as we arrived.  With this view we knew we were back.