Phones as Sheilds

    

Early winter morning at the train station in a seedy part of a city is depressing and lonely. A handful of people occupy a fraction of the plastic seats when I arrive. Fluorescent lights buzz, bouncing light off the worn linoleum floor. No one makes eye contact though everyone who enters is furtively sized up in quick glances. Then, eyes avert; heads bend to phones, thumbs swiping them rhythmically.

A weatherman on the t.v. in the corner looks slightly harried as he reports closed schools and roads, or accidents slowing traffic because of last night's snowfall. Scenes sent from viewers' phones of freshly-formed snowmen waving stick arms, or foot-deep snow mounding patio railings as the sun rises, are interspersed with commercials. The yay-no-school-today scenes are mute contrasts to those of downed trees, flashing patrol lights and reports of power outages.

One guy a few seats over looks like he must have spent the night here, maybe does so frequently. A waft of sour odor confirms the hunch as he hitches up his dirty backpack and moves outside for a smoke, then disappears.

This is going to be a long trip, I thought as I sought my own solitude to write or read without the distraction of the t.v., or conversations between new arrivals and the ticket agent. Since I don't have a smart phone, iridescent green earplugs signal my desire to be left alone. Would earbuds have been a more courteous gesture?

Earlier reports by the harried reporter prompted my host and me to head out early, fearing bad roads and traffic delays. We encountered neither, in fact much less traffic than usual, so had made it to the station in record time – a full hour before scheduled departure.

But the train arrived almost two hours later than scheduled. By then, the almost-full station waiting room was noisy with conversations among people dropping family or friends off, giving awkward last-minute instructions to have a safe trip, call when you get there. Most of those not in conversation were still staring at their phones or pacing outside, impatient for the train's arrival. The t.v. host with lists of closures had been replaced by cooking shows.

It was, as anticipated, a long trip with frequent delays to let other trains pass. Once we rolled out of the station and the conductors had everyone accounted for, I left the gloomy passenger car for the brightness of the observation car – always my favorite perch to watch the countryside glide by. If you pay attention, you'll likely see bald eagles, deer, even otters along the many riverways woven through Amtrak's Cascade route. Conversations seem more friendly in the observation car, the mood more lively. Is it because of the brighter, natural light?

I sat near a young man whose dress and demeanor suggested he could have flown, if he'd wanted to. Soon, we were in conversation and my suspicion was confirmed. He was headed all the way to southern California, over 24 hours of travel (if the train is on time – very unlikely). He'd been visiting a friend in Seattle. When planning the trip, he realized he'd always flown and had never seen the country in between, so booked the train instead. So far, he was glad he'd chosen the slower option. I would wonder about it early the next morning, when his train should be arriving at his home station.

Our conversation wandered through backgrounds, trips, professions. I learned about his favorite aunt who had purchased a house in Haight-Ashbury in the '60's. When she sold it (surely at a tidy profit in this historic district), she bought a triplex in downtown San Francisco, then rented that out and moved to a nice cabin in the Sierra Nevada mountains - her ideal combination of solitude and paradise. Such an interesting life. Wise and timely investments by this school teacher insured an enjoyable retirement. The young man had traveled quite a bit – still single and flexible, with friends in various parts of the world to visit. He'd recently been to the wedding of a British friend in Poland. Turned out we'd probably been in the same town in Nicaragua at the same time a decade ago. Our conversation moved on to South America and he wondered aloud about the cost of living in Ecuador. Well, it happened that a woman across the aisle had lived there, working as a teacher just a few years ago, so she joined the conversation. The father of a young family next to us was reading to his daughter in Spanish – more people to draw into the conversation. The teacher who'd lived in Ecuador noticed the book I was reading, Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, and said her book club had just finished it, so we compared our impressions. When I mentioned “Pawpaw,” Vance's grandfather, it drew the woman next to her into the conversation since she was from Louisiana and said that's what grandfathers are called there too. She and the teacher had been stranded at the Seattle airport by the snow storm and had finally decided the train was their best bet to get home: one to Portland, the other to Vancouver, Washington. Strangers less than 24 hours ago, flying in from different parts of the country and otherwise unlikely friends, they helped each other through a long, frustrating night and found moments of humor in it.

Phones appeared occasionally, but only to check a route, look up an author, or confirm a piece of information, never as a signal to say, “leave me be.” It was refreshing and heart-warming to realize all these strangers had quite a lot in common, something we'd never have discovered had we used phones, books or earplugs to discourage conversation.

Yes, it was a long trip. But a surprisingly enjoyable one that will overcome the initial dread of phone-obsessed strangers the next time I'm in a train station early of a dark, cold winter morning.

Winter Reading and Art

     I have admired 1859 magazine and the amazing people found within its pages since it first hit the newsstands. One year ago, I vowed I would add to their pages some of the interesting people and happenings in our community. It was a tumultuous year that took me away from writing much more than I'd have liked, but I do finally have an article in the January issue - exactly one year later. You can find it at the library or local newsstands, or read it on their website.

Photo by Joan Martelli

     My piece in this issue is on Bud Thomas, local horseshoe sculptor whom I wrote about in this blog in early 2016.  The magazine hired local professional photographer  Karl Maasdam to shoot photos to accompany the piece.
     My friend, neighbor and amateur photographer, Joan Martelli also took some cool shots of Bud's work on a perfect fall Saturday in a private yard that I really like. She is more into landscape photography and has a fetching display of some of her work at The Beanery by Market of Choice in Corvallis at the moment. She'll have more exhibits elsewhere later in the spring.

Photo by Joan Martelli

I also have two articles in the winter issue of Take Root Magazine. One is on Thompson's Mill Heritage Park, which I wrote a bit about here in the fall. The Take Root piece is called Of Grit and Grist. It's an amazing place that I highly recommend you  visit. The other article is on what farmers do in winter. Much more than you might think!  Look for copies of this magazine on newsstands and libraries throughout Oregon and Washington, just like 1859 magazine. Or, find pieces on the website. If you like the magazine, please consider subscribing or purchasing copies (four published per year - one each season). That's how writers and publishers survive! There are more articles in the works on other subjects and for other publications, so stay tuned...

   

Wallowing in Walnuts

     A few years ago, our neighbors invited us to share in a walnut glean. Now, it's an annual task we look forward to and don't mind the work involved, given the reward. This year's crop was surprisingly (given weather) bountiful.

     The walnut tree (yes, only one) is a few miles away, perched on a hill at a small cattle ranch owned by a retired dentist. Its probably a century old and shades a wood-frame farmhouse that hasn't aged as gracefully as the tree. Stately in stature, the shapely old tree still produces prodigious amounts of walnuts. Would that we all remained so productive in our later years.

Hands & Knees Harvest

     The harvest happens when the nuts start to fall to the ground, sometime in October or November.

This year they were early and fell during one of the wettest Octobers on record (19.6 ins. in our neighborhood), so it was a muddy job. Normally there are at least two, sometimes three, harvest days. Collecting them from the ground is tough on the knees and back – a reminder of how little certain muscles get used nowadays. Still, it's a pleasant few hours visiting and joking with our neighbors over the constant plunking sound of nuts landing in our 5-gallon plastic buckets. Plus a grunt and “ouff!”, here and there, as we straighten up to move to another spot or empty our buckets.

      We empty the buckets into large totes in the back of the tree owner's pick-up. He usually comes by when we're there, tending to his cattle. When the harvest is complete, he hauls the load to a commercial nut dryer where they're dried and cracked (well, most of them). Given how many hazelnuts are mixed in with the walnuts when they're returned, it's apparently a multi-nut facility. The owner lets us know when they're ready and our neighbor picks them up and gives us half. This year that was about 200 pounds!

      The deal is, we shell all the nuts and get half and the owner gets half. Most years, it's just enough for a year of baking and snacking. This year we're shoe-horning them into the freezer and combing cookbooks for recipes using walnuts, especially savory ones. In fall and spring when the spinach crop is at its peak, we enjoy at least one wilted spinach salad each week with garlic and walnuts sauteed in olive oil. Nuts are also part of the topping for crisps composed of apples, rhubarb, blueberries and raspberries from our garden. Some swirl through carrot bread. More are roasted and ground into walnut butter for morning toast. Some are roasted and kept at hand for a healthful snack. I've read that eating a few before bed will help you sleep.

Nutritious Nuts

     Most nuts are good sources of protein, unsaturated fats, fiber and vitamin E. Walnuts are

especially rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Apparently, it's the amino acid tryptophan (think sluggishness after Thanksgiving turkey) in walnuts that induces sleep by nudging the body's serotonin and melatonin hormones into action. All in all, the good news is how many positives are packed into the oddly-shaped little nuts. The not-so-good news is the high-calorie fat (albeit unsaturated, it's still fat) in them. So, it's best to nibble, rather than grab handfuls, tasty and nutritious as they are.

Food Web

      I love the fact that a tree just a few miles away gives us another reason to be grateful for—and aware of—our local bounty for healthful daily sustenance. The walnuts it produces perfectly complement other local ingredients, such the wheat, triticale and rye grains I get from another local farmer to grind and make bread for toast. And there's plenty of jam wanting to join the party, made with rhubarb and gooseberries from the garden.

      It's proof again that we live in food nirvana!
P.S. (Piles of Shells)
     Wondering where all those shells go? They make great filler for garden paths!

Thompson's Mill (once Boston Mill)

     Last week I had an early-morning interview scheduled with the park ranger at Thompson's Mill State Heritage Site near Shedd . It was one of the first really chilly fall mornings and a foggy drive through beautiful farmland set the sepia-photo mood for delve into a chapter of Willamette Valley history.

     The gate was closed when I arrived so I parked and made notes while admiring the gorgeous fall colors surrounding this site on the Calapooia River. After a few minutes, I looked up to see a young woman approaching the gate, then opening it. What was most striking about that simple act was the crowd that followed her: a huge flock of chickens in lock-step with her every move. They knew exactly what her next chore was: breakfast! Sure enough, by the time I grabbed the camera and followed them, the menagerie had expanded to include ducks and turkeys and they were noshing away in the nearby field, just this side of the garden fence.

     I was soon to learn this is part of the park's plan to bring this flour mill and its history to life. The original founders, and later the Thompson family, lived on the property, as did some of the mill workers in the late 1800s and early 20th century. Many took meals in the big family home. Gardens and animals were what fed everyone, along with baked goods made with flour from the mill.

     There is  rich history to discover here and the more you dig, the more you think about what life

must have been like back then and how much easier our lives are today. The mill was founded in 1858. Bread wasn't purchased in supermarkets back then., people made their own. And since this was wheat-growing country, the grain came straight from the fields to this mill in heavy bags on wagons. Almost a century later, when bigger mills and big-name bakeries came on the scene, people didn't make their own bread as much. Eventually, Thompson's Mill couldn't compete and had to move on to milling animal feed. The flocks that roam the grounds today must be channeling that history.

     Before this mill was built, there were thousands of little ones on streams and smaller rivers in the foothills throughout the valley, grinding grain, carding wool and carrying logs. In fact, the main "highway" was the Willamette River, which carried goods and people from the valley north towards Portland.

     While Thompson's Mill was cutting-edge for many decades, eventually it could no longer keep up with the changes in production and commerce. Besides milling flour and later animal feed, it also produced electricity. In fact, the house and mill had electricity well before the rest of rural Oregon because the mill, already using hydro-power to operate the grist stone, produced its own.

     Today we think of rivers more for sports and pleasure, but there was a time when they were key to economic survival. I learned a lot from Ranger Tom Parsons and look forward to returning to learn more. I'll share some of it in the winter issue of Take Root Magazine but I encourage you to explore it yourself too. I highly recommend the Peoria Road/Fayetteville Road route. You can ponder all the horse-drawn wagons that travelled dirt roads from these very farm sites to the mill. Imagine the fragrance of  bread baking in wood-burning ovens wafting through the countryside, made from wheat grown right there and milled just up the road.
       "Slow food" and "locavore" weren't in vocabularies back then, they were just the way of life.

The Winning Locavore

     Fall fell with a heavy curtain of rain on October 1^st. The summer play is over, folks. Gather your toys and dig out the sweaters. Within the week, Smokey Bear, who stands vigil over his sign at the Forest Service indicating the level of fire danger spring through fall, packed it in. The sign is in the shed and he's fluffing his pillows, prepping for hibernation. Looks like this could be a longer one than we've seen in recent years.

     Usually we gardeners have a lovely October in which to gradually say goodbye to another productive season. Not this year. Summer crops are pulled, tender winter crops covered against excessive rain and cover crops planted between storms and in soggy soil. Not good. But, you take what Mother Nature gives you. It's better than no rain and high fire danger.

     I've been focusing on compost, sifting the last of what was stuffed into my compost “bin” last fall. Life's circumstances prevented me from finishing it in late spring, so the remainder was especially nice, rich compost. We're well set for next season.

 

"Yuck!," said the woman, "Yum!" said the worms.

My rather “institutional” looking compost bin was built from concrete blocks, many left from our first year here when we built a lean-to shed of them behind the tacky trailer we lived in while building our house. It works pretty well. The “lid” is part of the old metal roof from the Community Center down the road. It intensifies the heat during summer. Snakes love it.

     It occurred to me the other day that the compost pile is an even better locavore than any of us humans because it continues the cycle ad infinitum. Its diet is seasonal, just like ours, but a step ahead. Right now is its Thanksgiving as it gorges on huge piles leafy plants, vines (hops, beans, porcelain berry, etc.), and what remains of flowers, fallen, wormy apples and shriveled veggies. Doesn't sound like much of a feast to us, but the worms love it and are at the top of their game right now. When you get right down to it, all that rich humus we sift is worm poop. And it, in turn, is the soil's favorite food.

     The compost's seasonal diet starts in spring when lots of freshly-cut perennial grass heats things up after a cold, slow winter. Throughout the summer fresh produce trimmings from the garden and kitchen compost bucket are layered in. By mid to late summer most of the contributions are brown and dry, except for the kitchen buckets bringing “wetter stuff.” It all perks up when the gardens are ripped out at the end of summer.

     The bulk of this feast is trimmings from our gardens (flower, vegetable and greenhouse) or from what we bring home from summer and winter farmers' markets. Some of it spends its entire life cycling through an area of less than a quarter acre, year after year, year-round (thanks to my husband's winter garden). Now that takes the locavore prize. No Hundred-Mile Diet challenge for the compost pile; how about 100 feet, garden to house with the compost pile smack dab in between.

     We humans may beat our chests about being locavores, but compost quietly wins the contest – over and over and over again.

Loss and Nature

     It's been a rough year. The roughest part was losing our mother to a surprise illness, rather than helping her move to a retirement center, as planned. The “good” part was we had a final month to be with her. Still, you're never quite prepared for the loss. Then you're thrown into dealing with the estate, another journey without a clear map. It's confusing, exhausting, and hard on families, but can also bring them closer together.

     It's almost cliché but if there's ever a season that reminds you of the cycles of life, it's the one we're in: one foot in the overwhelming bounty of summer produce while dry leaves, morning chill and shorter days announce fall - the death of it all. You're especially aware of the change if you garden or spend a lot of time outdoors. I've spent far less time working outdoors this spring and summer. Fortunately, my husband more than took up the slack. But the pull is inevitable when you have big gardens and acres of property right outside your door. They're demanding and comforting at the same time. You're forced to get out and do physical work, which helps process the mental and emotional aspects of change and grief. And it reminds you that life marches on. Our parents lost their parents and our grandparents lost theirs, they lost children and siblings, all the way up the family tree to the highest branches – or is it deepest roots? Some of them likely found solace in nature too.

Breakfast in the Garden

     They say never go grocery shopping when you're hungry. You could say the same about harvesting your garden. But, why not? You'll never find fresher, more nutritious food than right off the vine or branch.

     I was harvesting raspberries the other morning, then discovered some overlooked plums, and just a

Wait! There's more on the tree

few feet away, shipovas (like small pears). We've never gotten much of a crop so usually half the harvest is consumed right in the garden. Yum!    Blueberries were a few short steps away; by now, only the smaller, intensely flavored ones remain. I even took the cover off to let the birds enjoy the last few too. Then, a red strawberry caught my eye. There's often a bonus smaller crop in fall – a nice farewell to the season

First crop of quince 

     Quince are weighing down their branches and the rhubarb is still producing – pretty amazing, given the recent heat. And that's just the fruit. There are plenty of vegetables to nosh on while harvesting. The super-rich couldn't possibly have better mornings.

     Though you can smell and see summer dying, a few things are just hitting their stride, such as the porcelain berry and scarlet runner beans that provide walls of shade that enclose our patio.

Porcelain berries are aptly named

They, too, will be gone in a flash, but for now they're crowding each other with lush vegetation and glorious color. The porcelain berry colors don't show up until the very end and are messy between flowers and berries, but their water-color pastels are worth the hassle and wait. During the summer they're a bee magnet and their wall comes alive with the hum of thousands of bees once the sun hits them. It's somehow comforting to hear so much hard work in progress.

     A big crop of figs nearby will absorb the last days of sun to store in their delicate fruits. Another all-too-brief crop.

    Last come the apples, just when we're exhausted from preserving everything else, like the last guest showing up after the party starts to wane. They were the first fruit trees we planted 35 years ago and wear the ravages of time, weather, pests and increasing shade as the fir trees nearby

grew taller. Each year, I think it might be their last hurrah, but (so far) they've come back with more than we can use every fall. Would that we all could be so hardy and productive in our golden years.

In a Matter of Minutes

     Recently, I was reminded--forcefully--how little we know about our food sources and what the farmers who grow or raise it face. You can do everything right: till, plant, fertilize, cultivate and the weather can cooperate perfectly, then BOOM! In a matter of minutes it's all wiped out by a hail storm.
     That's exactly what happened in the small farming community I was visiting. Late afternoon thunderstorms aren't unusual and often bring needed moisture. That was the predicted potential this particular evening when all of a sudden it sounded like a large crowd was pelting the house with stones. For several minutes the sound was deafening and I braced for broken windows as large hail bounced hard off the neighbor's roof onto upper story windows and yards turned white as though it were a blizzard. In minutes the basement flooded with torrents of water entering through windows and the old coal entrance as the hail hit what had been hot cement and hard rain joined the wild dance. The sights and sounds were awesome and terrifying. I had sudden empathy for people who go through tornadoes, earthquakes or other disasters where you are totally helpless and can only watch as nature takes control.
     I remembered, as a child, watching my grandfather who had a grain elevator and his own farmland, pace the same living room floor during summer storms. He'd seen it numerous times - a freak storm wiping out farmers' fields in a matter of minutes. One watches, helpless, as a year's work is destroyed.
     When it was over the town was a mess. Birds that weren't killed by the storm, staggered or sat, stunned. Cars were pocked like golf balls, windshields broken, house windows shattered, fences down, siding damaged, home gardens totally wiped out, flowers and trees stripped. By morning, the whole neighborhood would be out with rakes and shovels to clean up the debris, swapping details. Soon, swarms of roofing companies from across the state would be knocking on doors. Insurance agents would be busy for weeks. Stories will reference the storm for decades.
     While roofs, windows, siding and fences can be replaced and dents removed from car bodies, annual crops were lost for good. There's no time to start again and make harvest before winter. Anyone who gardens in that town could empathize. The few starts left at local nurseries were snapped up and planted with great hope. A summer without fresh homegrown tomatoes or corn on the cob is a sad one indeed.
  

Corn field after the storm

Photo by Bobbi Topjoj

The town is surrounded by fields of corn and wheat. Or was. The corn, most of which feeds animals, took the biggest hit. You could see the size and path of the storm's swath by what fields survived. None directly around the town did. Wheat fared a bit better. Some, though not all, was salvageable. And this in a year when wheat prices are at record lows anyway. One wonders why or how farmers do it. Gamblers in Las Vegas have nothing on them or the risk they live with every single day. We don't see it in the price of bread or meat but, trust me, they feel it.
     But it's not just the farmers who suffer. In a farming community, everyone does, just like a mill town or factory town. When a major employer is hit, the whole town is. It's a temporary boon for the lumber yard when plywood, windows and shingles are needed, but the manager of the nearest one said his eyes filled with tears as he travelled home through the wreckage that night. He wasn't the least bit happy, even as he hauled plywood home in response to frantic calls at closing time.. These were his friends and neighbors who were hit. It's going to mean a lean year. Another major employer in the area is in the crosshairs of a hostile takeover. Folks were already nervous about job security. This just adds to the soup of worries.

Wheat harvest in full swing

Photo by Bobbi Tohoj

  


But, a couple of weeks later, those whose crops did survive were deep in harvest. For some, it willbe an ok year, though not as good as when prices per bushel are where they should be.

Most who lost crops had crop insurance and some had fields elsewhere that weren't hit. And, as any one of them will tell you, "We'll hope for better next year."

Think about them the next time you eat bread or meat. I sure do.