Caring for the Land and Serving People III

This week found me in a windowed conference room (but not much of a view) talking about the structure of our organization and what we might do in order to deliver the goods more effectively. In slow moments of meetings, I like to set my Coolpix L3 on the table and take pictures of the meeting--the long view. Here are a couple shots of colleagues, the agenda --the colorful paper in the first picture--flip chart sheets (what's a meeting without flip charts), and my Blackberry (serving as my clock in a clock-less room).

From time to time in meetings like these I think about science versus science management. Are we helping or hindering? Should science anarchy prevail? Should it be more tightly controlled? What's the right mix? Does it make any difference?

Sure would be nice to have a view...

Fun with Reflections, Stayton, Oregon, July 13, 2008

Nancy did a reading from her Oregon Book Awards-nominated
The Hours of Us today in Stayton.

I took some pictures and then headed off for some mundane tasks like finding someone to cut my hair and change the oil in the car. Not the same person, although I think it could have been. The price of oil changes has increased by about $50 per bbl (I love that abbreviation), but haircuts remain stable.













It was a perfect day for photographing Stayton, a formerly prosperous farming community that may become prosperous again when people discover it would be cheaper to pay fifteen bucks for a haircut than to drive to Salem and pay 10. Of course, some of us would have to accept not being able to get a haircut on the Lord's Day.



The guy at Oil Can Henry's told me 3 times what a great deal it was to come back within 500 miles of the due date on my sticker, and then proceeded to record a mileage that was at least 80,000 below my odometer, and didn't even end in the same numbers. Of course, I told him my name was John Flynn and I lived in Corvallis...



These snaps are from around town. In most of them you can see Sunday afternoon goings-on, or the lack of them, reflected in windows. This last one is a shot of a "Radio Service" sign inside an electronics store? filled with junk and smelling of must. Caught in the reflection is the Covered Bridge Cafe across the street.

No Parade, but still fun: The Mississippi Ave Street Fair

Saturday found thousands of Portlanders at the Mississippi Avenue street fair, eating, drinking, and shopping their way from Skidmore to Fremont. Mississippi Ave, the heart of the Boise-Eliot neighborhood, is a jumping spot. Over the past 5 or 6 years, all sorts of upscale specialty shops, restaurants, and bars have joined a handful of businesses that have been there for years. There's a lighting shop that I think has every light bulb known on earth and lots of other parts. The Rebuilding Center is there in the heart of things--you can get used stuff from someone else's remodel there--particularly good for people who are restoring rather than remodeling.







One new business creating a stir, is Starbucks. They may be closing like clams on a dry beach around the country, but come August 22, there will be a brand new one, right next door to The Fresh Pot, a great indy coffee joint that brews up Stumptown beans into some of the tastiest joe available on the planet. Locals have expressed their feelings about the newcomer (see photo to the left) and, if Sharpie on brown paper means anything, there won't be a line for Frappachinos. Of course, people who don't like coffee have to be able to get a "coffee drink" somewhere--maybe it will keep them out of Fresh Pot!

I snapped this shot of Nancy next to Obama--"He's not nearly as big as LeBron" was her take...and that's when LeBron was 18...Here he is now

It was a great day for sunflowers.

From Ashes, Beautiful Flowers Grow

I spent yesterday in the field--another day without glass between nature and me!

I was behind the camera so there aren't any actual pictures of me in nature. But here's one of the hillsides in the fire area.




I visited the School fire site on the Pomeroy Ranger District of the Umatilla National Forest. School started during a storm and spread on to the Umatilla, eventually burning about 35,000 acres of FS managed land and 15,000 acres of private and state land (640 acres per square mile, and 10 square chains per acre for those of you who don't think in acres). I was there to look at some experiments designed to test how best to control erosion on very steep slopes following intense wildfire. Now, controlling erosion is not always what one wants to do--the sediments that wash down hill are critical for stream habitats under many conditions. However, there are times when it's best not to let the soil, or the hillside, slide on down--like when people live down below..







One of the things I like about visiting sites after fires, or for that matter, visiting sites before fires, are the flowers that pop up this time of the year. Yesterday was particularly nice with blue and yellow lupins, gooseberries, and columbine.











After the field visit, I decided to drive on home instead of stopping for the night, in part because the Columbia Gorge is so beautiful as the sun begins to set. I suppose it's beautiful in the morning too--maybe next time I'll try that instead of driving until 10. Of course, to see the equivalent time of day, I'd have to be on the road by 5!

Farming Wheat, Farming Wind

I'm in Walla Walla, Washington tonite, on my way to Pomeroy, Washington tomorrow to have a look at a post-fire management project that's underway on the Umatilla National Forest. Going to work on Sunday afternoon of a holiday weekend isn't exactly what I prefer to do, but the drive up the Columbia Gorge today and then heading east in Washington, entering the Palouse wheat growing region is a beautiful drive. Along US 730 you get a great view of the Stateline and Nine Canyon Wind Farms--electrical generating facilities that we support (Nine Canyon) with our Blue Sky surcharge to Pacific Power. Coming around the corner on US 12, just west of Walla Walla was a beautiful view of wheat almost ready to harvest on the rolling hills.

10 PM, July 4, 2008, NE Portland

Our neighborhood likes fireworks. They started in the afternoon and reached a crescendo about 10 tonite, just as you could begin to hear the big guns going off in Vancouver and on the Portland waterfront. A pall of smoke and the smell of gunpowder has fallen over the neighborhood now as the explosions taper off into the evening. Who needs to fight the crowds when this goes on at home? Check out these movies for the sounds and sights...

My Trip Home ATCs

I entertained myself on the flight home from Europe by eating, drinking, watching old movies from British Air's very extensive movie library, and by taking pictures of the video display of our position from the plane's GPS navigation system. Here, in some less-than linear order, is the trip home--various forms of my entertainment with an inset of my global position at about the time of the activity...

Noontime, Portland, July 4, 2008

Today is our 10th anniversary and the 14th anniversary of the day I met Nancy at a backyard, 4th of July picnic at Denise's house. As Iris Dement puts it, "God bless the day that you came along and you tipped my apple cart, you made me hotter than Mojave in my heart." Still do!



We headed over to Vancouver (The 'Couv), Washington to Historic Ft. Vancouver to see the Maya Lin Confluence Project site. It's a neat idea to commemorate Lewis and Clark's expedition at a number of different sites along the route. The idea was advanced by Pacific Northwest Indian Tribes and other civic groups.
Vancouver Land Bridge--Designed by Seattle architect Johnpaul Jones, a 40-foot-wide, earth-covered pedestrian bridge, adorned with native plantings, arches over State Route 14. The bridge reconnects the land to the waterfront, where a "treaty table" artwork by Maya Lin will reside.

Unfortunately, Ft. Vancouver is also the site of Vancouver's big celebration, so people were streaming in, parking was at a premium with cars already claiming spots to view the fireworks at 10 PM, and it was no place for a quiet picnic. We tried a couple other spots on the way back across the river, but ended up with a backyard picnic. Seems appropriate!

Noontime, Portland, July 2, 2008

I went out for a walk at noon and went to the Portland Farmers market (I think it should be Farmers' as it seems to be their market versus a market that sells farmers, like the futures market sells futures). It has all the things I like in a Farmers' Market--things for sale that farmers grow or make: vegetables, fruits, cheese, baked things, and flowers--and none of the things I don't like--things that farmers don't grow or make for sale: strollers, bluegrass music, and dogs. It's a Farmers' Market, not entertainment. It's like a tiny version of the Rialto Market, previously featured on this page. It's all about people getting food to eat, well and maybe a few taking pictures, so they can live another day to eat and sleep again.

Then I stopped at the Portland Art Museum and looked at the Northwest Contemporary Art Awards show. Two artists caught my eye.

Images below are used by Fair Use Permission from the Portland Art Museum (http://www.portlandartmuseum.org) and may not be used for commercial purposes

Dan Attoe paints acrylics--a number of small paintings were on display--with pencil drawings on the white museum walls to add to the theme and subject of the painting itself. Some paintings have only a few wall drawings and some are quite extensive. Also on display was a large (maybe 20 feet tall) work in flashing neon light that made me wish for a room with a 40 foot ceiling at home.

Cat Clifford creates very cool films, some silent and some with sound, of her doing things. Some are in Super 8 (favorite medium of Bernard Shakey) that is then digitized. Some are directly in digital. Some installations feature two projectors, some only one. Some are projected on walls and some are shown on small LCD screens. I don't know exactly why I think they are cool, other than they remind me of being curious, playful, and free. Curious because I wonder what is going on in her head, playful because she seems to be having fun the way I had fun when I was a kid, and free, because it's like watching a kid play who doesn't know she's being watched.

All this within 3 blocks of the office...

Summertime!

And the living is easy...

The beautiful summer morning sun was shining in the dining room this morning, lighting up the sunflowers I bought over the weekend--they are one of Nancy's favorites and who doesn't like them? Saturday was like an August day in Oregon--100 F and dry as a bone. Laundry on the line dried in 15 minutes.

Sunday was supposed to be the same, but it clouded up early and afternoon and evening thunderstorms cooled things off--very unusual for us. Today was warm, sunny, and in the afternoon, smokey. Must be a forest fire, or more likely valley grass field burning.

Finally, after a long and very cool spring, I think summer is here. This is why we live in Oregon! Maybe it's why people stayed--that, or it was too much to turn around and go back, so make the most of what is here.

Sheryl's Voice

No wonder the Crow family is distraught. Listen to Sheryl. You won't be able to see her, but her caw is the one that sounds a bit like a duck that's crying. Of course, it is Oregon...

Sheryl Crow the Survivor

Pictured left, Sheryl in the grass strip by the road, feeding on some sort of bug.

Well, I have no idea how she pulled it off, but there was Sheryl on our roof, then our neighbor's tree, then in his yard eating bugs, then across the street in the tree, etc., etc. I walked across the street to take Sheryl's picture while she was eating.





As I approached I thought I saw a faint glimmer of recognition in her eye, but, along came Russell and Mom, cawing and dive-bombing me, so Sheryl flapped up to a roof. Then she managed to fly all the way across the street--a good 35 feet and back into our neighbor's tree. It's easy to follow her now--she has a very distinctive sort of warbling and tentative caw...


Nancy thinks Sheryl is not exactly the brightest beak on the block if you get my drift.

Pictured to the left: Sheryl takes refuge on our neighbor's roof before flapping to a nearby tree. Ma and Russell Crow, watching over Sheryl's attempts to fly.

Survival of the Fit, or, What's a Mother to Do?

Pictured to the left, Sheryl just before she left our charge on Monday
A seemingly quiet Saturday afternoon until a sudden outburst of raucous cawing. Nancy looked out the window and there was Sheryl Crow in a branch of our neighbor's Douglas-fir. She flew down to the ground amid much cawing. Nancy figured, fine, she's learned to fly and everything is OK. Hmmm, she figured too soon. Sheryl, with parents cawing like crazy, took to the air and managed to get as far as the next neighbor's house where she landed in a clay flower pot...right in front of a cat! The parents went ballistic, zooming around and buzzing Nancy, who was on the sidewalk, and the cat, Wilbur/Too, whichever. I scared the cat away and scared Sheryl into a shrub. I think it's time for Darwin to take over...

Caring for the Land and Serving People II

It's been a good 10 days with 3 different field trips. Wednesday found me at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, just east of Blue River, Oregon on the McKenzie-Blue River Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest. The Andrews is a flagship forest of the Experimental Forest and Range System and I'm lucky enough to administer it from my program at work.


The other day was the annual open house--this year about 140 people showed up for a day of field tours and talks about the research and land management that goes on in and around the Andrews. Still lots of people talking at people, but in a spectacular old-growth setting.











I've experimented a lot with photos of hardhats in focus and out. Lots of people don't like them, but I think they are colorful and fun and they are a part of our safety program--PPE we call them. Can't do without acronyms or abbreviations, this time Personal Protective Equipment...

All's Well That Ends Well...

Sheryl survived the night, as we found out at about 4:45 this morning when she croaked (verbally) and her parents started cawing and urging her on. With much encouragement from her parents over the course of the day, Sheryl went from bush to the roof of our house where she spent, according to Nancy (reporter on the scene) most of the day wandering up and down trying to figure out what to do. Finally she flapped her way over to the garage roof and sat there for a while. Parents came and went, cawing and demonstrating how to move up in the tree over the garage. Finally, she flapped to the tree, moved up and then...Well, we don't know for sure. I went into the alley to check our garden, the parents went nuts, diving and cawing, and then Sheryl was gone. She isn't in the yard so we assume that she made it into a big Douglas-fir that we believe hosts the nest. The cawing has stopped. All is well. That's one lucky fledgling.

Help Me! Help Me!

Sheryl Crow came to visit today after deciding to please her father, Russell, by showing him, on Fathers' Day, how well she could fly. Unfortunately, Sheryl can't really fly yet so she spent the day in our bushes with her family circling overhead, calling instructions and encouragement. Crow families are pretty cool.





Nancy and I joined in on the encouragement side, hoping to convince her that she could fly so she would stop relieving herself on our steps. She spent part of the day on the window ledge, not a great place to be as our cats love to sit in the window. I helped her go back to the shrubs with the aid of a broom--she hopped on it when I thrust it at her--and with a little Outward Bound sort of encouragement.

At one point, Wilbur/Too, the cat from down the street (we don't know whether he is Wilbur or Too) came to visit and the Crow family rallied with Russell dive-bombing Wilbur/Too and driving him away. That Russell, always reprising his roles.

Sheryl is bedded down for the night in our camellia, but the family is still overhead. We will see what tomorrow brings--Sheryl reunited with her family, or ...

Caring for the Land and Serving People...

...the motto of the Forest Service. I spent two days outside this week instead of Caring for the Land and Serving People from Windowless Conference Rooms.





Wednesday was a field trip about Wild and Scenic rivers. We spent some time looking at the Outstanding Remarkable Values (ORV, that's what makes a Wild and Scenic River protected by law) of the White Salmon and Klickitat rivers. Condit dam, not one of the ORVs, is slated for removal next year. An osprey circled overhead at the reservoir behind the dam.











Then a day on the Wallowa Whitman National Forest, north of Enterprise, Oregon. The ponderosa pine stands make a great foreground for the Eagle Cap Wilderness and Wallowa Mountains in the distance. The wildflowers were out in all their glory.