Dec. 4, 2019

Liz Writes Life

Kindness, compassion and good deeds are alive and well. Yes, it warms the heart. In just my little sphere of life, I see so many folks helping others. Politics and different beliefs have certainly divided us, but here locally, I see those divides go out the window and be forgotten as people of all ages reach out to those in need.

This last week of snowstorms, high winds and temps into the teens saw numerous self-less and compassionate acts. Firefighters and EMT’s responded to many situations. Fort Jones firefighters even cleaned a pine tree top from the roof of my daughter-in-law’s trailer home and another volunteer firefighter covered the damaged roof with a huge tarp. Thank you!

Family and neighbors have checked older folks and called 911 for the ambulance, when needed. Pets and animals have been fed, snow shoveled or plowed and phone calls made. Cars have been jump-started, because batteries were dead and chains put on tires. Thank you!

Sincere words and prayers for those who recently lost loved ones or are experiencing family members with injuries, accidents or disease are abundant. Thank you!

Individuals and groups are donating, locally, to “Toys for Tots” and Salvation Army or Red Cross. Recently, several organizations donated homemade quilts, hygiene kits and pajamas to Siskiyou Domestic Violence. Individuals, groups and churches cook meals for senior citizens and others in need. The list is long and thankfully doesn’t end.

In counting my blessings this past week of “Thanksgiving,” I recognized there are so many giving folks, who provide service in lots of ways. It renews my hope in humanity to see the divides melt away and general respect and compassion win the day!

Garden

It took some gumption, but the day before the predicted storm, I finally planted the garlic. Yep, it didn’t look like any snow was headed our way on Monday, Nov. 25, 2019, but I did believe the weatherman -- for a change. Seemed like it really was time for a full-fledged snow event. The soil was soft, so digging a row for about 30 cloves wasn’t difficult. And, I even added a bag of steer manure to the soil.

Since I was on a manure-spreading spree, I emptied several more bags on each of the rhubarb plants and an old phlox that could use some umph next spring. I noticed about eight tiny volunteer onions growing. The green stems were about six-inches tall. They got a shot of manure too. And then, I decided to see how many potatoes I could find. The soil was soft. Again, digging was easy. I ended-up with about 10 pounds of Russets. That evening, I enjoyed mashed potatoes. Nope, didn’t want to wait until Thursday for Thanksgiving.

I still need to cut-back hollyhocks and get the huge morning glory vine, amaranth and cosmos plants pulled-out. Yet, I was pleased to get this much work done.

As the storm came in, only about two inches fell at my place near Callahan. I did hear that the county road crew reported four-foot snow drifts in the middle of the valley down on Island Road making it quite a job to get the roads cleared. Also, the power flickered, but stayed on at my place. Pacific Power had crews working all night. A big “thank you” goes to our road and power crews for working in difficult weather.

POW

This Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019, Scott Valley Protect Our Water will hold its last meeting of the year. Ray Haupt, Siskiyou Co. Supervisor for Dist. 5, will share about the day Mount St. Helens blew-up on May 18, 1980. He was working for the U.S. Forest Service up there, although Ray and his wife, Pat, were in the stages of moving back to the Shasta/Trinity Forest here in Siskiyou Co. This should be pretty interesting. Please bring a dessert to share and we will get the coffee made.

Recently, Ray told me there is good news regarding lawsuits in the Ninth District Court of Appeals that will aid Siskiyou Co. and forest harvesting. He will share that info as well.

Last month, Ray told the Protect Our Water group about a recent success regarding nano-cellular technology from wood biomass products. He and past Siskiyou Co. Dist. 4 Supervisor, Grace Bennett, have been working on this project. The county partnered with Purdue University, who has a patent on this product that starts from wood, but makes it into a much harder concrete type of product. Oregon State University is providing engineering expertise and $26,000 towards this local project; and Knife River Materials in Medford is making the parts that will be used to rebuild the Moffett Creek Bridge using this new product.

Ray said this new concrete will have a longer life and may be a “game changer” for both the use of wood biomass and concrete.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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