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|  Organizing backups.
As I write this the whole world is dealing with and
addressing a worldwide pandemic called Coronavirus – COVID-19. This is a
serious situation that we all can affect. Social distancing and self-isolating
has become a part of our lives. Those who are able to work from home are doing
just that.
As photographers we can take this time to catch up with
certain chores that are usually left for more opportune times. If you find
yourself with some time on your hands during this odd time, I have a few
suggestions for you to consider that will help you in the long run. Let's just
call them chores – necessary chores that are easily put off for later. These
really don't have to be unenjoyable, especially if there's really no rush.
So here you go...
Seven Things a Photographer Can Do While Social Distancing
Clean your camera and sensor – Dust bunnies sound cute and
cuddly, but they're certainly no friend to the photographer. Most modern
cameras have a self-cleaning feature that one can use for most common dust
specks, but in time there will eventually accumulate more stubborn particles
that will need to be dealt with a direct cleaning of the surface of the sensor.
Sensor cleaning sounds scary. We've all been warned how we
could ruin our sensor if we do it wrong or have heard horror stories about how
a friend ruined their camera for good trying to clean their sensor. And, in
fact, the earlier methods of sensor cleaning could cause scratches if an
abrasive dust particle was dragged across the surface of the sensor. I was scared
for years to even try it until one day I decided to take an older camera that I
had replaced with an upgraded body and attempt to clean the sensor. This sensor
was terrible.
I had done some research into the different methods and kits
available for one to clean their own sensor. I decided upon one that had a
sticky pad that you would dab onto the surface of the sensor. It worked great
and at this time it's the type of sensor cleaner that I would recommend.
But if you still are unable to build up the nerve to try
this yourself you can still take some time to clean your camera body and
lenses. Once this situation is resolved and we're all able to mix and mingle
again, take your camera body to a camera shop and let them handle the sensor.
It doesn't usually cost a lot.
Clean your lenses – Purchase some good lens cleaner spray
and some soft cloths and take some time to carefully clean the front and back
elements (glass part) of your lenses. While you're at it pull out your filters
and do the same to them.
Clean and adjust your tripod – We don't think a lot about
our tripod until it breaks or quits working. And when it does it's usually
because we have neglected it. We've allowed the parts and pieces to corrode or
to become out of adjustment.
Most all tripods have some sort of metal parts, be it a
screw or the whole thing. Even carbon fiber tripods can have places where
corrosive or abrasive material can hide. Saltwater and sand are the worst and
it's recommended that you clean your tripod completely as soon as possible
after getting it wet with saltwater. Aluminum can corrode quickly and make
disassembly difficult. Rinse your tripod with fresh water right away and
disassemble and clean it as soon as you can.
Disassembling your tripod can be a bit intimidating at first
but once you do it once you'll remember the next time. Especially if you do it
with a certain amount of frequency. If you're unsure of your ability to
reassemble it, take photos as you disassemble it so that you have some
reference when you put it back together again. You can do one leg at a time so
that you have the others to reference.
Once it's apart wash and dry the pieces in fresh soapy water
and then rinse and dry completely. Never use oil or WD-40 on your tripod as it
will attract and adhere dirt particles which will hinder operation and wear the
tripod out prematurely.
Calibrate your monitor – I've heard so many people complain
that their photos, when viewed on a different computer or their phone, don't
look the same as they did when they processed it on their computer. Sometimes
the photo is darker or brighter than it looked or that the colors aren't right.
There are times when someone is printing their photo and it comes back from the
printer looking completely wrong.
Computer monitors need to be calibrated every so often. It's
not a difficult chore to do but you will need to invest in a monitor
calibration device. It's a good investment and once you buy one you will own it
and use it forever. I use a Spyder 5 Pro but most all are good.
Organize and backup files – It's easy to come in from a trip
out in the field and download all of your photos and then forget about them
until you have time to process one or two. They can all add up and then left
unattended, including backing them up. Redundancy isn't just a fun word to say,
it's something that's important to a photographer when it comes to keeping
their work secure for the future. Hard drives and memory cards fail. Accidents
happen.
If you're anything like me, you will have ten times more
unprocessed files than you will keepers. Create some hard drive space. Thin
them out and backup the keepers. In addition to any hard drive backups consider
uploading the master files for any photos that you process and finish to some
cloud space. Most of us have some free space available to us from our cell
phone providers, for instance. Secure some cloud space and create a folder in a
file that contains the raw file, the finished processed file in a high
resolution/non-lossy format such as PSD or TIFF and even your formatted jpegs
for sharing on social media, etc. If you do that you won't need to worry about
hours of uploading all of your files, good or bad, and you will have a secure
copy of your finished photos, the most important ones.
Clean cards/charge batteries – Don't wait until the night
before a shoot to clean your cards and check your battery charge. If you have
multiple batteries, consider getting some small round sticky tags to stick onto
the batteries that are charged so that you don't have to put the battery in the
camera to check the charge. Take it off of the charger, tag it on the end. Once
you use the battery take the sticker off of the end of the battery and stick it
on the side so you know that it's been used and needs to be charged once you
get back home.
Learn something new – What a great time to sit down in front
of YouTube and pull up a few processing videos. YouTube can be a good place to
learn something new or to completely run in the other direction, but you have
the power to know if someone there aligns with your vision or not. Whether they
have value in their video that you can use to make your photos better.
We have finally come to a place in photography where people
understand that digital photos can be shot in a format that allows the
photographer to decide how the finished photos will look. They are
understanding that many of the processes are similar to what was done back in
film days in the darkroom by artistic photographers like Ansel Adams. Talented
photographers are usually also expected to be talented in how they process
their photos in Lightroom, Photoshop or both. Find some videos that will push
your understanding of them.
Also, in this day and age, there are so many other options
for photographers than Lightroom or Photoshop. Give one of them a try, you may
like it better. Process some of your photos using the help of a tutorial video
using software such as one of my favorite alternatives to Adobe, On1. Give some
new software a try. You might like it. You can usually download and install a
program for free for 30 days to try it out.
These are all ideas for things to do, but in reality,
they're all things that we are doing or should be doing anyway. Zombie
apocalypse or not. This is just as short list of six things. I'm sure that
you'll discover more things that you've not had time to do because you had too
much time away from your desk. I didn't mention cleaning out Clif Bar wrappers
from your backpack. Now's the time. Make social distancing work in your favor.
Then once it's over you'll be raring to go. Your camera and sensor will be
clean, your tripod will be smooth and functioning properly, your monitor will
be calibrated, your files will be organized and backed up, your cards will be
clean and your batteries will be charged. And furthermore, you'll be smarter than
you were before because you've taken the time to learn something new in your
down time.
Now. Tell me how bored you are.
|
| Viewpoint – Salem: Facing the challenge together by Rep. Anna Williams on 04/01/2020
These are strange and uncertain times, but I remain
optimistic despite the challenges ahead. As I write this column (about a week
before the newspaper’s publication), I can’t predict what the coronavirus
outbreak will look like by the time you read it. Presently, there have been 209
confirmed cases and eight deaths. Sadly, those numbers will certainly have
increased significantly by April. However, it’s important that we look at this
crisis in terms of how things could have gone if we had not acted decisively,
if we had not come together (metaphorically, of course, given the importance of
physical isolation) and sacrificed our comfort for the welfare of our
communities.
Oregon is unique among the nation’s smaller states in how it
has responded to the crisis. We were one of the first to identify a positive
case as a result of community spread, but by that point we had already begun to
prepare for what seemed like an inevitable outbreak. Even as I write this, when
news on the pandemic is changing by the hour, the state government is
responding quickly to every development and sharing as much information as
possible with the public.
With regard to the legislature specifically, a Special Joint
Committee on Coronavirus Response was announced on March 12. It has since met
publicly for dozens of hours to discuss a huge number of proposed ideas for
economic relief, housing support, health care expansion and other issues. These
concepts will be drafted into bills for the legislature to pass during a
special session, probably sometime in early April. After that, help will be on
the way. I am hopeful that we will be able to keep Oregon’s thousands of small
businesses operational after this crisis is over. We will do everything we can
to keep renters from losing their housing due to financial hardship and we will
help small landlords avoid hardships of their own due to nonpayment of rent. We
will do everything in our power to help Oregon’s hospitals and health care
workers see us through the months to come and we will try to find relief for
every Oregonian struggling as a result of this outbreak.
But the legislature can’t do this without your help. We need
every Oregonian to remain vigilant in the face of this disease and hopeful in
the face of the economic struggles that await us. This means practicing
responsible social distancing to minimize the spread of the virus: stay home
unless you absolutely need to leave for groceries, health care or other
essentials, and keep six feet of distance from others if you do go out. It also,
importantly, means taking care of your mental health – minimize the amount of
time you spend reading dire news reports or scrolling through social media and
focus instead on what is within your control. Call your loved ones, call your
neighbors and give yourself space to process your worries, your fears and your
grief. Share your gratitude for the people who are keeping our communities
running: health care workers, grocery workers, farm workers and first
responders. Expressing this appreciation and strengthening your relationship
with your community will help you cope with the stress that we’re all feeling.
We will get through this. Our communities, our state, our
nation and all of humanity have been resilient throughout our history. There
will be significant challenges in the months to come, of course, but when we
act collectively to address these sorts of challenges, we not only survive them
– we emerge from them stronger than before. If you have thoughts on how to
strengthen our communities in the midst of this crisis, or if you have stories,
questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me at
Rep.AnnaWilliams@oregonlegislature.gov or 503-986-1452.
Anna Williams is the House District 52 Representative
|
| Viewpoints – Sandy: Weathering the COVID-19 storm by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 04/01/2020
I have been truly humbled by our community’s response to the
COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic currently facing us. Our wonderful city
employees, the Oregon Trail School District, our service organizations, local
small businesses or our fellow neighbors – everyone has stepped up to the plate
to lift our community during this trying time.
First, I’d like to just remind everyone that we have both
President Donald Trump and Governor Kate Brown saying this is an extremely
serious situation and when those two agree, I think we all should take note.
I agree with Governor Brown’s Stay-At-Home order and thank
her for listening to leaders from all over Oregon. These measures are vitally
important to flatten the curve and provide our hospital system with much needed
relief. When this pandemic is done, we need to have a nuanced conversation on
the cost/benefit analysis of whether shutting down our local economies has been
worth it.
At the city, we’ve had to take unprecedented steps to close
our public library and programs, senior center along with community
programming, City Hall, the business office of the police station and much of
our public parks system.
To help provide a helping hand to our neighbors, we’ve
suspended all shut-off’s and late fees for our public utilities and are
committed to ensuring seamless operations of SandyNet, which is incredibly
vital during this time.
So, what can we do with all of this newfound time on our
hands? First, let’s use this unique opportunity to spend much needed time in
our busy lives with our loved ones. I for one have really enjoyed this newfound
time with MacKensey and our girls.
Additionally, maybe use this opportunity to finally fix that
fence, improve your back yard or garden and finish up those home projects
you’ve been putting off.
Also, please help our local Sandy small businesses. I’m very
concerned for our local businesses and employees. I’d like to encourage
everyone to both dine and shop local. While we may be confined to our own
spaces and homes for the next several weeks, we all must still eat. Please
consider ordering food from one of our local favorites for pick up to eat at
home.
Additionally, if you’re unable to leave the house to pick up
groceries, Sandy’s Helping Hands and the City of Sandy Transit Department are
partnering to provide Clicklist delivery from Fred Meyer in Sandy. You can
visit the Sandy’s Helping Hands Facebook page for more details.
If you need groceries or supplies, please consider buying or
getting supplies along with a gift card from one of Sandy’s local businesses.
As many of you know, I grew up here in Sandy. I like to
believe that my core beliefs about giving back, putting your community first
and providing a helping hand to a neighbor are all a result of growing up in
this special place we call Sandy. Together, we will get through this difficult
time. Together, let’s keep Sandy wonderful.
Stan Pulliam is the Mayor of the City of Sandy
|
| The Woodsman: beyond toilet paper by on 04/01/2020
Toilet paper was, until recently, on the very bottom of my
list of article ideas for this column. However, at this writing, TP — and the
people buying it as they hunker down during the coronavirus pandemic — have
been in the news for weeks. Some folks have been accused of hoarding, of buying
years’ worth of TP, and there have even been reports of people fighting in
store aisles over the last package. Coming to blows over toilet paper? I can
see fighting over beer or bacon, or maybe a bottle of bourbon (which I would
use for medicinal purposes only, of course). But bathroom tissue?
At the risk of being accused of over-stocking up, I went to
Bi-Mart a couple of weeks ago and was relieved to see dozens of 12-roll
packages on the shelves, with a sign saying, “One per Household.” I bought my
one package. So did everyone else in the store that morning. No forest product
has ever been so popular.
As one who closely follows the forest-products industry, I
can tell you that there is no need to worry about a shortage of TP. In
mid-March, the American Forest & Paper Association issued a statement saying
that, “This situation is highly dynamic and changing daily, and the industry is
working diligently to respond to the spike in demand for tissue products due to
coronavirus (COVID-19) purchases. Rest assured, tissue products continue to be
produced and shipped — just as they are 52 weeks each year as part of a global
market.”
We Americans use paper every day: TP, paper towels,
newsprint, writing papers, sales receipts and paper grocery bags (which we now
have to pay five cents each for), to name a few. Newsprint production is
declining, as Americans read fewer newspapers (with the exception of The
Mountain Times and other local papers). Corrugated cardboard is increasing
along with the popularity of online shopping. Toilet paper production is
growing slowly along with the US population. One area of growth in the US paper
industry: adult diapers, which are made primarily of absorbent wood fibers,
also known as wood pulp or fluff pulp.
Aside from being a key ingredient in TP and Depends diapers,
wood pulp is a highly versatile product that can be used in making a
surprisingly wide range of products, from concrete to solar cells.
More than Paper
The pulp-making process starts with hardwood or softwood
logs that are debarked and chipped. The chips are broken down mechanically or
chemically to separate out the cellulose fibers needed for paper. In addition
to cellulose, wood also contains hemicellulose, which is a minor ingredient in
paper, as well as waxes, oleoresins and ethanol; and lignin, which is used for
making glues, biofuels and other chemicals. Together, these three elements of
wood are called lignocellulose or lignocellulosic biomass, which is the most
abundant organic substance on Earth.
In recent years, scientists have discovered some interesting
uses for cellulose, especially when the fibers are broken down to much smaller
particles, called nanocellullose or cellulose nanomaterials (CNs). I recently
interviewed Robert J. Moon, a materials research engineer at the U.S. Forest
Service’s Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in Wisconsin. Moon is an
internationally recognized CN researcher who works closely with scientists at
Purdue University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. According to Moon
and other scientists, the addition of CNs to cement may have a significant
impact on global climate change. Research by the FPL, Purdue, and Oregon State
University has shown that the addition of CNs to cement makes concrete
stronger. What’s more, because less concrete is required to provide the same
strength, less carbon dioxide is emitted during the production of cement, which
currently accounts for an estimated eight percent of global carbon-dioxide
emissions.
Another promising use of CNs is in producing flexible,
transparent films that serve as a platform for electronic circuits — flexible
electronics.
“The substrate [film] is fully recyclable, and you can put
electronic circuits on it,” Moon said. “You take regular pulp and disintegrate
it about 10,000 times. The particles are super small, and they don’t interact
with light in the same way, so instead of having an opaque substrate, you have
a transparent substrate. And because the particles are so small and they’re
packed together very tight, the surface roughness is much less. When you try to
print micron-size lines or smaller on regular paper, they get lost in the
roughness of the paper and you lose your connection. But on substrates made
from much smaller particles — cellulose nanocrystals — you can print circuits
on it and do a lot of other things to it.”
Nanocellulose films are strong, flexible and less prone to
thermal expansion — a critical property for electronic circuits. That makes CNs
useful in flexible cell phones and displays, and in solar panels that can bend.
Examples of other innovative uses for cellulose
nanomaterials include paper food packaging with a CN coating that serves as a
barrier to oxygen and is impenetrable to oils and grease. CN films also hold
great promise in biomedical uses, such as skin tissue engineering and wound
healing. As a covering for severe burns, CN dressings help promote new skin
growth, block germs that could cause infections, allow for the application of
medicines without removing the dressing and don’t stick to wounds when removed.
Say “forest products” and most people think of lumber,
plywood and paper, even toilet paper, but forest products are all around us and
will be in future products that we can only dream about. The great thing about
all of these products is that they come from a renewable natural resource:
trees.
Have a question about toilet paper or cellulose
nanomaterials? Want to buy some two-ply TP, cheap? Let me know. Email:
SWilent@gmail.com.
|
| A happy and healthy Earth makes us all happy and healthy by Victoria Larson on 04/01/2020
If we don’t “fix” the Earth, the Earth won’t take care of
us, we the people. We cannot have the economic success without the support of
our Earth. In the U.S., undesirable nutritional choices lead to diseases such
as cancer, chronic fatigue, diabetes, depression and heart disease. The inner
person reflects the outer environment. In Chinese medicine, we say, “The
microcosm is the macrocosm.”
That means we are responsible for the condition of our local
landscape and the earth as a whole. We can no longer hide our heads in the sand
and wait for our neighbors to make a change!
Yes, we are making some steps in the right direction: air
pollution in northern China has been reduced, for instance, and that was the
most polluted area I’d ever seen on Earth when I was there in 1996. But China
still had millions of plastic bags snagged in trees and clogging waterways
(which often were roadway ditches). So, we’ve made some steps in dealing with
pollution and the future of our Earth by banning plastic bags. Quit-cher
complaining – I’ve been using cloth bags since 1986 when I went to Europe where
they don’t provide shopping bags in stores. Easy change and I’m glad to see so
many doing it.
Ever notice how Mother Nature doesn’t like barren Earth, so
she fills in with what we call “weeds?” Another word for many of our weeds is
“edible food.” Author Bill Mollison coined the word “permaculture,” a
contraction of “permanent” and “agriculture.” He was not the first to espouse this
style of restoring the Earth, but he’s been around in our lifetime. Bill
Mollison worked for the Division of Wildlife, the Fisheries Commission and
universities in Australia. In the 1970s, the “green revolution” hit America and
Mollison and David Holmgren began the concept of permaculture, based on ethics
not greed.
If we don’t take care of the Earth, it won’t take care of
us. Hence, we had the back-to-the-land movement, the interest in herbal
medicine, vegetarianism and new ways of living. I moved to 100 acres and had a
radio program called “The Wildflower Farm Report.” I learned a lot but we’re
all still learning.
Now we have moved so far in the other direction, money
before people, that we are in danger of losing our global health. DDT once was
widely used until it was discovered that the bird population was declining.
Chemically resistant bugs proliferated. The National Pesticide Use Database
states the pesticide use in the 1940s was about zero. Post-World War II left us
with a lot of war chemicals and nowhere to get rid of them. Hence the growth of
the pesticide industry. Now we use half-a-billion pounds per year of
pesticides. A greed-based move in the wrong direction.
DDT is now banned but what about its half-life? Some farms
claim to be organic probably used DDT from 1950-70. RoundUp will be banned next
as it’s been proven to cause cancer in some. Yet, Monsanto claimed it to be a
“dream come true” herbicide (for Monsanto, maybe) and you can still buy it
over-the-counter. Start saving the Earth by not buying RoundUp, which is an
endocrine disrupter. And patients wonder why they have thyroid imbalances,
cancer, depression. Were you born before 1970, or even after?
Every one of us can start on the road to permaculture,
restoring the Earth to increased safety. Covering the Earth with green, growing
things is a start. Everyone can garden, whether on the windowsill or the “back
forty.” Before our industrial food system (which makes money for stores,
refrigeration specialists and packaging companies), how did people feed
themselves? We all need to eat. How about more money in your own back pocket?
Invest in yourself, your local economy, your local farmer. A natural ecosystem
is ethics-based – people before money. After all, you cannot eat money. In
study after study, it’s been shown that backyard gardening can produce more
food than large-scale, monoculture farming. Food security means “enough for
all,” not just the rich.
Personal food security makes you feel “rich.” A freezer
stocked with berries, a pantry filled with home-raised and canned tomato
products can decrease your food bill by up to (and sometimes more than) $1,000
per year. And you can save more if you dry beans, garlic, peppers and ferment
herbal vinegars, sauerkraut, pickles. Store foods in that pantry mentioned in
last month’s column. All this will create a feeling of abundance, the ability
to share in times of disaster, such as we’re all experiencing. Now, doesn’t
that just beat the “dog-eat-dog” culture of money?
This is the month to plant most anything, whether on your
apartment porch of in the back forty. Start with things that take the longest
to mature – your personal permaculture. Trees take longest to mature,
especially nut trees. Hazelnuts (also known as filberts) yield very high amounts
of food calories per year. A consortium of universities (including Oregon State
University), the Arbor Day Foundation and several state agencies are working to
come up with a hardy European hazelnut that is cold-hardy and more resistant to
previous species.
The devastation of hazelnut tree-shrubs that occurred
locally in 1988 did not include the stand of trees next to my (then) recently
purchased farm. I referred to that grove as “kittywoods” and vowed to leave the
farm if that grove was ever removed. It was cut down and I left the farm after
living there for 30 years, almost half of that on my own. I admonished my cats
to not go in there as sometimes they didn’t come out. Coyotes, don’t you know.
But, while I did lose a few animals, that grove continued to provide healthy
nuts for the 30 years I lived on that farm, as long as I got the nuts before
the jays did!
I’m reminded of the humbling experience I had while working
at Northwoods Nursery (now defunct), where we sold fruit trees. Elderly people,
some on crutches or in wheelchairs, came to purchase trees that wouldn’t even
begin to bear fruit for three to five years. What faith! What trust and care
these elderly people taught me – me being the naive whippersnapper who could
lift those potted or balled-root trees.
Now I, too, am of an age where lifting trees is more
difficult. But I have trust and faith. Permaculture will see us through, even
if I’m not around to see the results. I am no longer on that five-acre small
holding but a year and a half ago, I began permaculturing my land, which is now
less than an acre. I put in my “Victoria” rhubarb (of course) which I should
wait another year to harvest, lest I weaken the plant. The
one-fruit-tree-per-year that I plant will give me Anjou pears this year. My
only dilemma is where to put my next tree. Make that your dilemma, too. But
have faith and trust in your goals. Wendell Barry said it succinctly: “Nature
includes us, we are in it and part of it. If it does not survive, we cannot
thrive.” Be a part of nature’s permaculture!
|
| Time for some levity by Paula Walker on 04/01/2020
If there was ever a time for levity, this is certainly among
them. So, let’s take a look at some of the laughable, zany and strange in the
world of Wills & Testaments as we navigate our own often zany** and strange
time of COVID-19.
I’ll start with the top of the list pick approved by my two
feline owners. Yes… they have established clearly who “owns” who in this
household.
British pop singer Dusty Springfield who left us with
memorable ballads, among them “Son of a Preacher Man” and “You Don’t Have to
Say You Love Me,” put her elderly cat at a place of prominence in her will. Thirteen-year-old
Nicholas was to be fed baby food imported to the U.K. from the United States
and serenaded to sleep each night with her songs.
Leaving nothing unattended to for his care and happiness,
Dusty also arranged that Nicholas would sleep on a bed lined with Dusty’s
pillowcase and would be wed to the female cat of the caretaker Dusty had
appointed. A devoted animal rights activist all her life, Dusty Springfield,
born Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien, died in 1999 just two weeks
before being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but not before she
was awarded as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for “services to
popular music.”
Knowing of her advanced illness, the Queen gave permission
for Dusty to receive her medal of honor in the hospital, a few months before
her passing.
Next, there is Harry Houdini, in a tale of life’s
fabrication that will rival the creative talents of the best novelist in
piecing together events and circumstances for a sensational read. For starters,
Houdini died on Halloween. Now who could have arranged better than that?
Intrigued with the idea that communication was possible
between the living and the dead, he had created a ten digit secret code with
his wife Beth, which only she would know and by which she could be certain that
he was communicating to her. His will contained provisions of the pact with his
wife that she would hold a séance each year, for ten years, on the anniversary
of his death.
Beth held the last séance in 1936, however the tradition has
continued in various places, gaining in popularity over the years. Google
“Houdini séance 2020” as the time for this event approaches. Perhaps there is a
trip in store for you for next Halloween?
And then there’s Tom Shewbridge. You’ve not heard of him?!
Neither had I. A California prune rancher, his fame was little assured until
his will, in which he guaranteed that his two “Heinz 57” variety canine
companions, Mac and George, would continue to live a life of comfort after his
passing.
Tom’s estate, valued at $112,000 in 1958 (more than $1
million in today’s dollars), was invested, in the dogs’ names, in 29,000 shares
of stock in the local power and light company. The dogs were regular attendees
of the stockholders’ and board of directors’ meetings.
Finally, oscillating between stories framed by animal heirs,
and bequests with an occult shadow, the last story for this article regards
Nina Wang, who at the time of her passing in 2007 was reported to be the
richest woman in Asia. She left her entire $12.8 billion fortune to the charity
that she and her late husband founded. Her lover and former feng shui advisor,
Tony Chan, contested this, finally losing his battle of many years with the
courts. The judge described Chan as a fortune teller and “opportunist” who was
guilty of forging a fake will in his attempt to make his claim on Nina Wang’s
fortune.
Stories of the Stars… If Only
In this episode, I celebrate ‘US’. We are the Stars and the
creators of interesting tales and tellings.
**The zany… who knew peanut butter and toilet paper would
top the list of items to hoard as a bulwark against the flu and the top items
to have if you’re stuck at home for an extended period of time to minimize
exposure to the flu?! Who knew even a month ago that we’d be stuck at home for
such an extended amount of time?!
And the admirable… from the stories and accounts I hear
personally, in the news and through social media, the human spirit is
indomitable. We always find a way to play, to laugh, to pull together to help
each other to get through challenging times.
Dear Reader… we welcome your questions on matters related to
estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance the
potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
|
| Comfort Food by Taeler Butel on 04/01/2020
Take pleasure in the stirring, the aroma and the mouthfuls
of comforting dishes. These dishes are simple and frugal to make, have few ingredients
and will feed everyone.
Baked Orzo
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 t granulated garlic
¼ t each salt & ground black pepper
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces orzo pasta, cooked al dente and drained
2 T Italian seasoned dry breadcrumbs
1 cup Half & Half
1½ cups Mozzarella, leave a little for sprinkling on top
2 eggs
Heat oven to 350°F. Combine ricotta, 1¼ cups mozzarella,
Half & Half, garlic, eggs and pepper in bowl. Combine the hot pasta and
sauce in a separate large bowl. Stir in ricotta mixture. Spoon into 11x7-inch
baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup mozzarella, breadcrumbs and
Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, removing foil for the last
five minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden brown and cheese is melted.
Chocolate chip cookie pie
2 eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup chopped walnuts
Vanilla ice cream
Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs
on high speed until light and foamy. Add the softened butter, flour and both
sugars to the bowl and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts
and mix gingerly. Bake for 30 minutes until just set.
Serve with ice cream.
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall.
In all forms of art there are compositional rules that are
applied to its creation. Music, painting, sculpting - they all have standard
methods that are used to create them that have been observed to be pleasing to
those who enjoy it. These methods have been developed or discovered, documented
and taught through time to the students of the selected art. Understanding
these rules during the initial layout of the painting, for instance, helps to
establish a more compelling image, but the painter usually has creative freedom
to place elements into the scene or arrange them in a more pleasing way. They
are starting with a clean canvas, but a photographer doesn’t have that freedom.
We are handed an unmovable scene and then tasked with interpreting the scene in
an artful way.
Composition as it’s applied to photography, especially
landscape photography, doesn’t have the freedom to place or arrange elements
within the frame as we create our photo. Therefore, it’s critical for landscape
photographers to be aware and observant of the scenery that surrounds us. In
landscape photography it’s important to understand classical compositional
rules so that they can recognize them when they’re discovered in our
adventures.
So, what are these compositional rules? How strict are these
rules, and what happens when we break them? First of all, never be afraid to
break any compositional rule, and try your best to stretch the rules to fit
your situation. They are no more than a “rule of thumb.” There are no
consequences for breaking these rules other than creating a total failure, or
in many instances creating something unique. So, go for it.
Now that we know that there’s no consequences worth worrying
about, let’s try to understand the basic rules that I keep in mind as I’m
composing a photo. The first is the one that most all artists are aware of and
it’s most likely the one rule that’s considered universal. That’s the Rule of Thirds.
The second being the Fibonacci Curve or the Golden Ratio, and in cases where
I’m dealing with diagonal lines, the Golden Triangles.
The Rule of Thirds: The rule of thirds creates guidelines as
a grid of two horizontal lines and two vertical lines equally spaced to divide
the frame into nine different parts. Important components of the composition
are lined up along the lines or at their intersections.
The Fibonacci Curve: The Fibonacci Curve or The Golden Ratio
is a curve whose shape is created using the Fibonacci Sequence of numbers where
each number is the sum of the two preceding ones. Plotted out on paper it
creates a spiral similar to the spiral of a snail shell. This pattern can be
found in nature in many things besides the snail shell, such as the arrangement
of flower pistils and petals. It can even be seen in the rotation of a hurricane
as it’s observed from above.
The Golden Triangles: Diagonals in a scene can be used as
compositional elements. Not everything in the world lines up with the Rule of
Thirds. Hills, valleys and sometimes even chaotic elements can be organized
into a direction, usually in a diagonal.
There are more rules, but for the sake of simplicity, and
the lack of need for more rules, I feel that it’s important to learn these
three rules and to understand them in a way that they can be recognized when
you’re in the field. As I said before, we don’t have the freedom that a painter
has to move elements around on our canvas, so we have to observe and recognize
these harmonious arrangements when we come across them. Although we’re not able
to move the elements we are able to move our camera left, right, up, down,
forward or back to try to place them within our frame.
Besides a basic understanding of types of harmonious
arrangements of elements within our frame, there are other important elements
or components in a scene that can be used to make a more compelling
composition.
Lines: Lines within a scene are very important elements that
can be used to create separation of elements or even depth in a scene. Leading
lines are lines that typically start in the foreground and lead the viewer’s
eyes into the background of the scene. They can be most anything from a creek
or a canyon to a crack in the earth. Another important line is the horizon and
its placement between the bottom of the frame and the top of the frame, usually
depending on the importance of one area over the other to the image.
Shapes: The shapes of the elements in the scene and how they
interact with each other is an important part of composition. Let’s say that we
have a mountain peak in the background with trees in the foreground. You would
try to place the trees in a complimentary way to frame or emphasize the
mountain.
Color and Light: A lot of people don’t consider how color
can affect composition. Even the brightness or intensity of color can affect
how the scene is viewed. An example would be a darker cool color in shadows in
the foreground, with warm light in the back creating depth in the photograph.
Colors can also create mood in a photo. Brighter, more saturated colors are
typically viewed as more cheerful, whereas cooler or darker colors are more
solemn or moody.
Textures, Patterns and Space: Texture and patterns are
excellent components in a composition. They give the image a look or feeling
how it would be to the touch. It is also important to try to use textures and
patterns to replace negative space. Negative space being an area in your photo
with no subject, element or pattern. It could be a flat gray overcast sky, or
even a blue cloudless sky. There are times when negative space can be used as
an effect, but it’s typically avoided.
Simplify: When you’re composing your photograph, I feel that
it is important to leave out of the frame all that is not needed to create a
compelling photo. Take time to look at the scene, recognize subject elements
and zoom into it to solidify and simplify the scene. Position the frame of the
photo in a way that excludes clutter, distracting or hard to photograph areas.
Combining Elements: There are times when one can combine
characteristics of more than one element into their composition. You could line
up a complete scene with the rule of thirds, yet leave a distant mountain
centered on the horizon for instance.
“So many rules, how can I remember them all?” I hear you.
But remember what I said earlier. Understand these things but don’t dwell on
them. It’s best to understand that the scene that you’re photographing will
speak to you and tell you how it should be composed. You don’t know what
elements will face you when you arrive. You don’t know their placement or relationship
with each other. It’s our job as photographers to read the scene and try to
determine what elements are presented to us and how we can arrange them within
the frame of the photo. We can move left, right, forward or back. We can zoom
in or out to include or eliminate that which isn’t needed to tell the story
that you hope that your photo will tell. We can raise or lower our camera until
the scene fits comfortably and harmoniously within the frame of our photo.
I tell photographers that once you understand the rules of
composition to a point where you no longer think about them, your eye will
recognize these elements when they’re presented to you automatically. When you
have practiced enough, they become second nature. And when you get to a point
where you can take a photo without relying on using these grids and patterns,
and then apply the grid to the photos and it all lines up, then composition has
become second nature to you.
Learn composition and then forget it. Let the scene talk to
you. Most of the time it will tell you how it wants to be photographed.
Composition is, in most cases, the most important part of creating an
interesting and compelling photo. Become familiar with the rules, but don’t be
afraid to break them.
|
| Viewpoints – Salem: The broadband conundrum by Rep. Anna Williams on 03/01/2020
The science fiction writer Phillip K. Dick once said, “the
future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.” Anyone who has tried
to log on to the internet in rural Oregon knows exactly what he was talking
about. Over the last 20 years, the web has changed every aspect of our lives,
from how we make phone calls to how we shop and run our businesses. However,
across large portions of our state, internet access is spotty in some areas and
non-existent in others.
According to a recent report, 27.6 percent of people in our
state live in places - mostly rural - that are not “Future Ready,” meaning they
have internet speeds lower than 100mbps. This may seem fast to those of us who
remember the screech of dial-up modems, but in our tech-driven economy, high
speed internet is a necessity, not a luxury. More than 50 rural Oregon schools
don’t have access to broadband internet. In an age where healthcare is
undergoing a technological revolution, patients and providers in rural
communities are being left behind.
This is bad for Oregon on several fronts. Instead of staying
in the towns where they grow up, talented young people are relocating to bigger
cities, increasing housing scarcity and reducing the tax base in rural areas.
This deepens the ‘rural brain drain’ problem and contributes to a cycle of
decline. There are some high-tech industries setting up in places like Hood
River, Bend and Pendleton, but further growth in smaller communities is
inhibited by the lack of broadband infrastructure.
High-speed internet is perhaps our state’s most powerful
economic development tool, and every community deserves to have access to it.
However, the very thing that attracts so many people to our state - wide open
spaces - makes installing high speed internet incredibly expensive. Engineers
estimate that the total cost of providing broadband internet fiber to all
unconnected households in Oregon is about $1.3 billion. Providing broadband to
only Senate District 26, which includes the House district I serve, would cost
$18 million.
The state simply doesn’t have the funds to cover these
costs. What we can do, however, is provide meaningful assistance to help small
communities access partnerships with companies that could connect them, and
incentives for those companies to do so. In theory, small communities are
eligible for USDA grants to cover the massive costs of providing fiber
connectivity, but these grants require extensive administrative work and a 25
percent cash match (which many small communities can’t afford). Even if a
community does manage to secure a grant, they are still on the hook for ongoing
costs to provide the internet service.
As I write this, about ten days before publication, Senate
Republicans stand poised to walk out and the House is due to hear House Bill
4079 (the Rural Telecommunication Investment Act). If it passes, the RTIA will
allocate $5 million per year to expand broadband investment, including funding
to help rural communities apply for federal funds and secure private
partnerships. Despite widespread support, however, there is a strong chance it
won’t get to the floor for a vote.
If my Republican colleagues follow through on their
threatened walkout, it isn’t only the controversial cap-and-invest bill that
will die. While they claim to take a stand on behalf of their rural
constituents, they are also threatening legislation like HB 4079 that could
help transform education, healthcare and commerce throughout the rural parts of
our state.
It is difficult to write speculatively about the future –
I’m no Philip K. Dick, after all – so I hope that by the time you read this
column, there has been no walkout. One thing you can be certain of is that
whatever happens in the coming weeks, I will keep looking for ways to support
broadband expansion and other initiatives that help rural Oregon to build an
economy ready for the 21st Century.
Anna Williams is the House District 52 Representative
|
| Viewpoints – Sandy: Addressing childcare by on 03/01/2020
In a town full of young working families, Sandy is severely
lacking in providing enough quality childcare for residents. According to
recent data gathered by Clackamas Workforce Partnership, we currently only have
spots for six infants and toddlers in licensed childcare settings. There are
about 162 spots for preschool aged kids and 63 for school-age. To put this in
perspective, Sandy is estimated to have about 1,400 children under the age of
5.
What does this mean for our families? It means that we are
having to send our kids to childcare centers outside of our community. Families
have constant stress about finding and keeping quality childcare so they can
continue working. If you are lucky enough to secure a spot in a setting that
works for your family, you are then faced with the barrier of how to afford to
keep that spot while still paying the rest of your bills. According to data
from the Partnership, the average cost of providing infant care in the United
States is about $15,000. That amounts to around 20 percent of a typical
family’s income. We even see amounts much higher than that.
The flip side of this equation is that our childcare
providers are also struggling to pay the bills. Childcare standards for
facilities, education level of providers, child to teacher ratios and safety
standards mean that the people providing care for our children are making
barely over minimum wage in a lot of cases. As we know, it is very hard to
raise a family on $10-15 per hour. As a result, this is an industry with a lot
of turnover.
This conversation was started towards the end of 2019 when
Clackamas Workforce Partnership reached out to the City of Sandy to see if we
could come together to find solutions. I am so pleased with the leadership our
city has taken to explore this issue. We have had two formal convenings with
city staff, elected officials, Clackamas County ESD, local childcare providers
and more! House District 52 Representative Anna Williams was even in attendance
at our January gathering. She is especially interested in focusing on this
issue with us during the 2021 legislative session.
With so many voices and so much passion, I am feeling
confident that we will be able to address this childcare crisis in a way that
will meet the needs of both our families and our childcare providers. At a very
local, practical level, city staff is working towards changing some of our
codes to make childcare businesses more profitable. These include parking code
modifications, possible creation of a tenant improvement grant solely for
childcare businesses and grant programs for facade and public infrastructure.
This is a timely and important topic as we continue to see
more young families settle down in our wonderful city. The City of Sandy is a
leader in this conversation that is gaining momentum and being discussed all
across the county. We have made it an official goal of our Sandy City Council
for this year.
We will continue to have discussions and move toward
positive results to keep Sandy the most amazing place to live and raise a
family.
Bethany Shultz is a Sandy City Councilor
|
| The Emerald Season offers greens by Victoria Larson on 03/01/2020
Unless you are living in outer space eating entirely
chemical food, you no doubt realize that food does not come from grocery
stores. Food comes from your beautiful green Earth. Every ounce of food in any
grocery store has traveled using petroleum to get there! The average distance
your food has traveled is between 1,200 and 1,500 miles. That’s a lot of gas.
And doesn’t include the rest of it – like processing, packaging and
refrigeration.
It doesn’t have to be that way if you only use food from
your hundred-mile radius. Or better yet, grow your own food in your own
backyard, at least some of it. Or forage in your own yard if you are not using
cancer-causing chemicals (glyphosphate, otherwise known as Round-Up). Or learn
to do without some things. There are no strawberries growing in our area at
this time of the year. Soon though.
In fact, a hundred or so years ago there were NO grocery
stores as we know them. They were mostly called general stores, for you could
get cloth, thread and tools, as well as staples such as flour, coffee and tea.
But some of the general stores were few and far between so most everyone
outside of the cities grew most, if not all, of what they ate. Of course, they
didn’t eat packaged foods in those days. Our ancestors had a real sense of what
grew on their own land, when in was in season, what keeps through the winter
and how to preserve those foods.
Among rural people were many farms providing food for rather
large families. Most had a large garden, a cow, some chickens, an orchard. I’ve
now, in my brief lifetime, lived in two places that have had a free-standing
fruit room – one was a hundred-acre farm outside of Eugene, the other where I
live now.
A “fruit room” is a thick-walled building which allows cool
air in with just a small screen (about four inches) to allow for an exchange of
air. Sometimes they were root cellars or rooms in the back of a house. This was
in the era before refrigeration was everywhere. Most food was kept in these
cool rooms and not mechanically refrigerated like today.
Root crops such as beets, garlic, onions and potatoes were
kept there as well as home-canned goods and some orchard fruits. Even eggs and
milk may have been stored there if there was not a spring house on the land.
Where else would you put these things? A cooler perhaps? Think emergency. What
will you do if disaster strikes?
Our grandparents also knew from those who came before them,
what wild greens to look for in the spring and which mushrooms were safe to
eat. Few of us know this information anymore, though there are still foods out
there to be foraged, if you care to learn them. It takes years, so start now.
By March, fruits and produce in the fruit rooms were drying
up, literally. Not only had most of the home-grown and canned foods been used
up by then, but even the flour and coffee from the general stores were about
gone. We would then be approaching “the bottom of the barrel” by March. This
was known as “the hunger month” as new crops had yet to be planted and
harvested. Hence the reliance on neighbors and learning to forage for food. No
Cheetos for our ancestors.
As we wait for spring vegetables to come into season perhaps
it’s time to try some of those greens, known nowadays as weeds, while we wait
for asparagus, greens and eggs to come fully into season. If you are lucky
enough to have these foods in your backyard, you are truly lucky. You can have
beautiful, nourishing meals by using up the root veggies in your fruit room and
learning to forage in your own or your neighbors’ yards. With permission of
course.
But don’t do this at home if you are using cancer-causing
Round-Up chemicals in your yard. Do NOT forage near railroad tracks or golf
courses. There are deadly chemicals in the soils there. Also, some farms where
DDT (now outlawed) was used in the 1950s. But if you have a chemical-free lawn,
or back 40, it’s time to learn about foraging
I once asked a midwife I worked with if I could pick the
chickweed in her garden. She was astonished as I picked two black garbage bags
full of chickweed. I have chickens so I never have chickweed growing on my
property. It’s named “chickweed” for a reason!
In medical school there was a small, local restaurant we
went to almost daily. In fact, my best friend and I would go for both first
lunch and second lunch. In a terraced garden next to the restaurant Miner’s
lettuce grew. It tends to grow through our mild winters and it is very
distinctive, extremely nutritious and more delicious than spinach. I would take
a bag and some scissors and cut enough every day for the nightly dinner salad.
Even my fellow Naturopathic medical students thought I was a bit weird. But I
had spent years in advance herb classes taught by the woman instrumental in
starting the National Herbalist Guild.
A lot of people are now trying to get off the industrial
food train – not buying foods that are overly packaged or with ingredients that
are unpronounceable, reading labels, buying more local produce.
Only about one quarter of American households have
food-producing gardens. To keep our Earth green there needs to be more local
orientation. It’s the beginning of the Emerald Season. Soon we will be
inundated with greens from the Earth. Maybe even your own patch of earth. Enjoy
it all.
|
| State prefers you don’t die intestate by Paula Walker on 03/01/2020
These articles in the past have covered the concept of
“dying intestate,” i.e. without at minimum a will to direct the proper
disposition of your assets, and other estate planning vocabulary that amuses or
hangs in the air with a sense of the strange and arcane; remnants of legal
concepts born in medieval ages.
This month I’ll take a closer look at the term “intestate”
and its potential companion, “escheat.”
Dying intestate calls upon the state to undertake the search
to find the people in your family relations, that could legally inherit your
assets. Failing to find people who are qualified by law to inherit the value of
your estate, the state holds the proceeds from liquidating your estate, and in
some cases the tangible item itself, for a ten-year period as it continues to search
for rightful heirs and as a waiting period for rightful heirs to come forward.
Last October, Fox 12 reported that the State had holdings of approximately $600
million in unclaimed assets.
This is where “escheat” comes to play. Those unclaimed
assets having remained unclaimed for ten years escheat to the State. The word
having its origins in 13th and 14th century “old French” and Latin; literal
meaning “that which falls to one,” i.e. falls to the State.
In this month’s Stories of the Stars I present you a link to
an interview with a representative from the Oregon agency that deals with
intestate estates. Considering why people may not create a will, often people
think that really, they don’t have much and can’t afford to, but says the
representative straightforwardly, “you can’t afford not to.”
Stories of the Stars… If Only
Sometimes you discover allies and collaborators in the most
unexpected places at the most unexpected and often propitious times. Such was
the case with Fox 12 Portland News and the occasion of writing this article
this month. Instead of a celebrity gawking story of the mishaps of the very
wealthy, I invite you this month to consider an account of the “close to home.”
A tale of the every day person, like you and me, Fox 12’s recent airing on its
nightly news of why everyone should at least have a will, if not a complete
estate plan.
Interviewing Sally Wells, Estate Representative for Oregon’s
Department of State Lands, this broadcast walks us through several estates of
ordinary folks who died fairly recently without a will and shows how the state
must intervene to determine what must be done with everything they’ve left
behind. The proceeds, if no legal beneficiaries are discovered, eventually
allot to a worthy purpose, the State’s Common School Fund.
Nonetheless, the State of Oregon aired this news broadcast
to advise Oregonians: 1) to at minimum, create a will; 2) that the State would
prefer not to be called upon to find the legal beneficiaries for people’s
unappointed assets; 3) that the search is costly and time consuming; 4) that
this effort likely does not result in the outcome you’d prefer; 5) that the
cost to your estate for the State to do this search, many times spanning a
decade, robs the value of your hard work and life’s effort that could go to
people and causes that you would otherwise like to take care of and promote; 6)
that state assumed estates are on the rise. Since 2009 the state handled estate
cases have grown by a factor of seven.
Take a look. You’ll be interested to know, may be surprised,
may be appalled at the potential for your own situation.
Check out the embedded video of the interview.
https://www.kptv.com/news/fox-investigators-look-into-what-happens-to-oregon-estates-when/article_a27db22c-519b-11ea-847b-c7d2b7ed1d81.html
Dear Reader … We welcome your questions on matters related
to estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance
the potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
|
| Butter cookies by Taeler Butel on 03/01/2020
With half their weight in butter these simple cookies are
rich but not expensive. There are only a few steps and ingredients between you
and a plateful of happiness. Use the best organic butter you can find. European
butter really makes a difference.
Shortbread with chocolate chips
1 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour (unbleached if available)
1/2 t sea salt
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 t cornstarch
1 T vanilla
Heat oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with
parchment.
In an electric mixer beat butter with sugar for three
minutes until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla.
Mix salt, cornstarch and flour together, then add the flour
mixture to butter mixture and beat on medium until combined. Stir in the
chocolate chips.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap making a disc and chill for half
an hour. Roll out the cookies to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes and
bake for 11 minutes or just until the edges get color.
Pistachio wedding cookies
2 cups flour
3/4 cup chopped, shelled, unsalted pistachios
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 t vanilla
1 t almond extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 t salt
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place the powdered sugar in a bowl
and set aside. With a paddle attachment beat remaining ingredients on a slow
speed, scraping the bowl as needed just until well mixed. Shape dough into
one-inch balls and place the cookies on a baking sheet.
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until slightly golden. Remove
cookies from the oven and cool the cookies slightly before rolling in the
powdered sugar.
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall
Landscape photography has a reputation for being one that
includes travelling to epic corners of the earth to bring back photos of places
that are rarely seen by most people. Or places that we’ve seen in National
Geographic magazine or a TV documentary. But from my point of view, landscape
photography should include the photographer’s artistic touch. It should be
separate from documentary photography or marketing photos that are seen in
magazines. It shouldn’t always need to depend on a location to send a message.
I think that a beautiful landscape photo can be taken on the side of the road
in most any community, especially ours.
As an example, where we live the first subject that we’re
drawn to is Mount Hood in the distance. It’s iconic and known all around the
world. But we have so much more available to us that we could use to make our
photos, and many are along the side of our side roads. Don’t ignore our
mountain, but maybe consider taking a photo of a group of flowers that happen
to have a snow-capped volcano behind them. Be creative in choosing your
subjects and be creative in how you compose and photograph them.
A photographer can consider that landscape photography can
be reduced to two basic types, grand landscapes and intimate landscapes. A
grand landscape typically is a territorial view, or one where there’s a view
off into the distance that includes a lot within its frame, whereas an intimate
landscape is typically one that’s a smaller part of a larger scene. A grand
landscape is more apt to include a recognizable location, certainly a
photograph that includes Mount Hood in the distance is going to be considered a
grand landscape. It’s going to be location dependent and in a lot of cases
weather dependent. I feel that a landscape photographer really spreads their
wings when they embrace intimate landscapes.
Intimate landscapes can include a small part of or a detail
within a grander scene such as a small segment of a creek or maybe a section of
the scene that is affected by some atmospheric conditions, think fog and
sunlight as it filters through the forest, or maybe sunlight illuminating a
curtain of moss that is draped across the limbs of the trees. I also look for
designs and patterns within the scene. An intimate landscape can include a part
of the scene that, when extracted from the larger view and seen separate from
the context of the larger scene, stands alone and on its own merits. Put the
wide-angle lens away and use your zoom lens. Get closer to the scene.
It’s said, in painting as well as photography, that it’s not
what’s included within the frame but what’s excluded that strengthens a
composition. And this is very true in simplifying complex or generally
unappealing scenery, at first glance. Analyzing a scene and trying to find an
interesting composition for a photo allows us to look deeper into the scene and
to recognize what more that it has to offer. The first glance at a scene is
like looking at a book’s cover. Looking further into a scene is like reading
the book.
I tell my students that as artists we shouldn’t take the
scenery at its first impression. In most cases we will take all it has to offer
all at once. Instead take some time to stop and analyze the components of the
scene and separate these smaller scenes and abstracts. Be creative and I’m
confident that you will be able to stop along most any side road and find a
photograph within sight of your car.
|
| Viewpoints – Salem: What is missing in some data by Rep. Anna Williams on 01/31/2020
Sometimes, statistics hide as much as they reveal.
Inaccurate data may be worse than misleading; it may have real-world negative
impacts on people’s lives.
As an example, I recently learned that official state data
estimates that there is one homeless person in all of Sherman County. Just one.
This paints a rosy picture: you might guess that there are tons of housing
resources available to people in Sherman County. However, if you ask local
authorities about homelessness, they will tell you that there are well over a
dozen homeless camps throughout the county.
There are several reasons that state records drastically
under-report the number of homeless people in places like Sherman County. The
main one is because the methods used to collect that data rely on a voluntary
“point in time” count where agencies who provide services to people at risk of
homelessness counts the total number of homeless clients who come through their
doors on a single day. Lacking social service providers in rural areas to count
clients, the state could only verify that one person lacked housing. In fact,
the number may be closer to one hundred. Put simply: in areas where no services
exist, the people who most need those services become invisible within the
state’s official data.
This creates a vicious circle: if the state doesn’t allocate
enough funding to a particular rural area, then very few people in that area
can access needed services. When fewer and fewer people in the area are
recorded as accessing the services, the state interprets that as a reduced need
for funding.
When I took office, I sought to ensure that nobody is
invisible when it comes to the allocation of resources or the creation of new
policies. That’s why, as my colleagues in the legislature push for Oregon to declare
a “homelessness state of emergency,” I’m reminding them that the focus can’t
just be on the Portland metro area. Portland may have the highest concentration
of unhoused people in the state, but an estimated 75 percent of our homeless
population lives outside of the metro, many of them in rural areas like ours.
Furthermore, far too many rural Oregonians live paycheck-to-paycheck and could
be just one financial emergency away from losing their housing. If our state
government is going to address the homelessness crisis, its allocation of
resources must reflect the needs of the state as a whole, not just areas that
our imperfect data highlights as homelessness hotspots.
The dilemma of the invisible homelessness in Central and
Eastern Oregon is echoed in other areas of decision-making at the Capitol.
Despite having the best of intentions, Salem doesn’t always know the true
picture in Sandy, in our mountain towns or in other more distant communities.
This session, I’m presenting three bills that tackle state-wide problems in
ways that are sensitive to how rural Oregonians live, work and access services.
One of those bills is particularly relevant to the
relationship between statistics and services: HB 4112 will vastly improve the
way we gather data on the prevalence of child abuse in Oregon. Currently, the
legislature makes its policy decisions regarding child welfare based on the
number of abuse incidents that are reported to the Department of Human
Services. As a result, because abuse is less commonly reported in rural areas,
those regions lack sufficient funding for victim services or for specialized
law enforcement units. This is despite some experts’ estimates that abuse is
twice as prevalent in rural areas as in cities.
If you have other ideas about how I can correct the
provision of services in rural areas, I would love to hear from you. You can
contact me at Rep.AnnaWilliams@oregonlegislature.gov or by phone at
503-986-1452. Also, let me know if you have any questions or concerns about
upcoming bills and how they might impact the people in our community. I look
forward to hearing from you!
Anna Williams is the House District 52 Representative
|
| Viewpoints – Sandy: Building on the momentum by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 01/31/2020
Last spring, our Sandy City Council had to make the
difficult decision to temporarily close our community swimming pool because of
inherited budget deficits. During this process, several of our community
members said they’d be willing to pay more for increased recreational
opportunities, primarily for aquatics.
As a result, we conducted a survey to see if this opinion
was shared by the community of Sandy, as well as nearby communities of Estacada
and Boring, which could potentially broaden the proposed Parks and Recreation
District and tax base.
The goal of the survey was to gauge support for the pool, provide
options for possible future outcomes of the pool, ask additional questions
about what the community would like to see done with the Sandy Community
Campus, along with additional community parks, and seek community interest in
funding such proposals through the creation of a Parks and Recreation District.
The results we received from the survey show overall support
for this effort to the tune of 76 percent.
Next, we’ll conduct a phone survey and additional community
meetings to get direction on what the final proposal and boundaries of the
Parks and Recreation District may be, which will give us the best opportunity
for success in November.
I don’t love the idea of taxes going up, especially on my
watch. However, I feel the message is pretty clear from the community for our
council to develop a proposal for the voters to decide on. I prefer voters make
decisions for themselves when it comes to paying more for something they want.
That’s democracy.
Our City Council believes strongly that we must capitalize
on the momentum behind this effort and to do everything we can to place this
decision in front of our neighbors on the November ballot in 2020. Even if
successful, our community will still have to wait on construction for the
renovations and improvements to be made before re-opening the pool. This holds
true for all of the projects that will be funded within this proposal.
As a result, we feel the need to get this process moving.
All of this means reduced timelines so there with be limited time to flesh out
all of the details of this proposal for our citizens before the vote in
November.
There are some decisions in front of us that should be
relatively easy. For example, the boundaries of the district seem to be
self-apparent. The boundary lines will most likely go as far east as Firwood
Road, west to the METRO boundary in Boring and north to the Sandy River. We
will need to work with the leadership of Estacada to determine their interest
in participating, which will determine the southern boundary.
There are only so many people that live within that boundary
and as the result of something called “compression,” that limits the tax rate
for the district. This determines how much we’ll be able to raise on a yearly
basis. This result, and the fact that swimming pools are expensive, a large
portion of the budget will go towards the pool renovations in the first few
years.
As a result of these factors, our City Council is leaning
towards a plan that would create a new Parks and Recreation District governed
by a board of local community members representing zoned districts. They would
be responsible for managing the budget and deciding how to allocate the funds,
after first addressing the pool.
If this proposed Parks and Recreation District passes in
November, our City Council may potentially use some reserved funds to renovate
a portion of the old Cedar Ridge Middle School into a revamped community center
with community meeting spaces that will be a part of the new Sandy Community Campus.
I believe this to be a once in a lifetime opportunity for
our greater Sandy community. A Parks and Recreation District would be a
complete gamechanger in livability and recreation opportunities for all of us.
It would enable us to remain close to home to access amenities and recreational
opportunities after spending our weeks commuting to work. From that point
forward, on weekends – we’ll stay. This is for us and will help us keep Sandy
wonderful.
Stan Pulliam is the Mayor of the City of Sandy
|
| A will doesn’t make an estate plan by Paula Walker on 01/31/2020
Words to the wise drawn from one of the wisest… Aristotle.
Considering his turn of phrase, advice that one experience or thing does not
provide the whole — “One swallow does not the summer make.” (Aristotle’s Ethics)
So too, this advice applies to creating your estate plan, or considering
whether you have one, or examining whether what you have will do the job for
you when the time comes.
“When the time comes” is not only after your passing, but
during your life as well as after your death. An estate plan, whether based on
a Trust or a Will, should consist of a number of interrelated documents that
support you while you are alive, not only serve to distribute your assets when
your estate is to be administered upon your passing.
And those documents should contain language that covers
certain areas that can affect you, your estate and your beneficiaries; that
have are known to be areas of legal vulnerability leading to complications,
conflict, confusion and that unnecessarily prolong the ability for taking
action on your behalf or on behalf of your estate.
A comprehensive estate plan includes documents that provide
or convey: 1) Directions for distributing your estate according to your design,
i.e. a Trust and/or a Will. 2) Legal control of your assets to extend the
benefit for beneficiaries you know will need assistance in managing the assets
that you leave to them, i.e. a Trust. 3) Your decisions on managing your finances
in the event that you are unable to do so for yourself, that appoint the
persons you know you can depend on, i.e. a Durable Power of Attorney. 4)
Directions for your care if you cannot care for yourself; that appoint the
person(s) that you can rely upon to talk to your doctors, make critical medical
decisions, take care of your day to day affairs, i.e. a Healthcare Power of
Attorney and an Advance Directive. 5) The necessary authority and means to
access your digital assets, passwords to online accounts of photos and family
memories. 6) Those ideas and thoughts not contained in your Trust or Will; that
“speak” from your heart to your loved ones or carry information and
instructions that will help them in carrying out your directives, ideas that impart
your intent in creating your plan. 7) A list of those documents and their
location that will be necessary to administering your estate and/or that will
have meaning to your family’s history, such as life insurance policies, birth,
death and marriage certificates, real estate deeds, divorce records, bank and
other financial accounts.
A comprehensive estate plan is the solid compass you provide
to those you care about and support to navigate life’s transitions with you and
for you. It is the essence of the generosity and an act of love that you
undertake to leave those who will carry you in their memories as part of their
lives. It is the means by which you have confidence now that you will be well
taken care of should you face a time where you must rely on someone else to
make the decisions for you that you have always made for yourself.
Stories of the Stars… If Only
According to Wikipedia, Snoop Dogg carries a long list of
accomplishments and achievements, “American rapper, singer, songwriter,
producer, media personality, entrepreneur and actor…” Model for an approach to
estate planning that others should follow and aspire to is not among them.
When a Business Insider reporter in 2016 asked Snoop Dogg
after the sudden death of Prince, who left behind an estate estimated at $300
million and no will, whether he, unlike Prince, had a will, Snoop Dogg replied,
“ I don’t give a f--- when I’m dead. What am I gonna give a f--- about?” Adding that he hopes to be reincarnated as a
butterfly and watch the ruckus of fighting over his estate.
Well I can’t say about the butterfly, but with a net worth
of $124 million reported in 2017, his position promises to place his estate
among the annals of famous celebrity inheritance fights, with his accumulated
wealth pouring into the accounts of those hired to fight for the spoils, rather
than supporting people and causes Snoop Dogg may have championed or cared for
during his life.
|
| Simply delicious by Taeler Butel on 01/31/2020
Thinking of a special dinner for a valentine?
These dishes are simple yet elegant and most important,
scrumptious!
Browned Butter seared scallops
1 lb. sea scallops, dried on paper towels, room temperature.
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/2 t fresh cracked pepper
1/2 t sea salt
1 T olive oil
1 garlic clove, smashed
Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet on medium/high
heat. Sprinkle half the salt and pepper over the scallops. Swirl pan until the
butter is lightly browned, and using tongs, carefully place in the scallops
with the hot oil.
Sear for two minutes on one side, then turn the scallops,
salt and pepper the other side and cook two more minutes. Remove from the heat
and serve with fettuccine if you like.
Simple fettuccine Alfredo
The first recipe was said to be made by a husband for his
wife after the birth of their first son, now that’s amore!
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 lb. fettuccine cooked al dente
In a medium sized heavy bottomed saucepan heat the cream and
butter to steaming, whisking in the cheese, salt and pepper and stir until
thickened. Add in the noodles and remove from heat.
Chocolate pots de creme
These are individual, which means you don’t need to share.
They taste like a rich chocolate pudding with a custard like consistency.
4-6 Ramekins
1 1/2 cups half & half
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chopped
1 t vanilla
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
Whisk the yolks and sugar together until a ribbon
consistency. In a medium saucepan scald the cream and half & half. Slowly
stir the cream mixture into the egg mixture, pour back into the pan, whisking
slowly over medium heat until it just steams. Remove from heat, stir in the
chocolate and vanilla, divide into ramekins. Refrigerate for six hours.
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall
I love the diversity of landscape in Oregon. We have most
everything that a landscape photographer could want to photograph.
Oregon has a pretty awesome ocean coastline abutted against
forested mountains and hills, valleys, glacial peaked mountains, sage and
juniper high desert plains, low elevation desert mud playas and a canyon that’s
deeper than the Grand Canyon – Hells Canyon on the Idaho border.
We also have windswept sand dunes, not just along the
coastline, but right in the center of the state in Central Oregon.
Christmas Valley Sand Dunes in Central Oregon are some of
the remnants of the catastrophic volcanic explosion of Mount Mazama just 7,000
years ago that blew 1,600 meters (almost a mile in elevation) of the
3,700-meter (12,000-foot) mountain completely off and created a caldera that
contains the iconic 1,943-foot-deep Crater Lake that we know today.
The Christmas Valley sand is composed of ash and pumice that
was ejected during the eruption. Although the dunes are majestic on their own,
they’re only a small part of the evidence of an event that changed what we know
as Oregon forever, and greatly affected the people who lived there.
What’s thought-provoking to me is the fact that humans were
in the area and were witness to this event. Incredibly preserved reed sandals
have been unearthed in a cave near the little town of Fort Rock, not far from
Christmas Valley, and have been dated from 9,000 to 13,000 years old.
Life for the native Klamath people in the area changed
forever after the massive eruption. Their legends tell of an angry battle
between Llao, their “Chief of the Below World” who inhabited Mount Mazama
(Giiwas in the Native American Klamath language), and his rival Skell, their
“Chief of the Above World.”
Llao fell in love with a beautiful Klamath maiden but she
refused his offer of immortality if she would become his wife. This angered
Llao and he rained rocks and fire down from the sky onto the people below.
During the battle, Skell tried to protect the people from above while standing
atop Mount Shasta. The battle ended when Skell was able to force Llao back into
the mountain. All of this commotion formed the crater on Mount Mazama which
filled with torrential rains that followed the battle.
The mountain became sacred ground to the natives and the
people were forbidden from going there. Some shaman forbade them from looking
in the direction of the mountain. 7,000 years ago, all of this would make
perfect sense. The human catastrophe and the pure terror that they witnessed
must have been something that we as modern humans can hardly understand.
Today we can still witness the effects of the massive
geological battle that formed so much of the landscapes that we photograph. I
feel that understanding the science as well as the legend of these areas works
to enhance our appreciation for them and allows us to better translate their
meaning and message through our photos.
The winds in Central Oregon blow with some regularity in
this area and create dunes as well as ripples in the sand. The patterns that
they create are perfect for a photographic foreground. Unique conditions such
as a vivid sunrise or sunset can complete a breathtaking scene.
Christmas Lake, Christmas Valley and nearby Peter’s Sink and
Peter’s Creek were named for pioneer stockman Peter Christman, who grazed his
cattle there and had a house at Silver Lake, 18 miles to the southwest. The
name “Christmas” was an early corruption of the name Christman that became
entrenched in the vernacular by 1900.
The Christmas Valley Sand Dunes are administered by the
Bureau of Land Management, are easily accessible and are designated as a
recreational area for campers and wanderers as well as off-highway vehicle use.
Camping areas are available for extended camping stays. If you find yourself
wandering in Central Oregon, exploring our amazing public lands a trip to
Christmas Valley should be on your list of places to stop and experience.
|
| Viewpoints – Salem: Rural-urban partnerships by Rep. Anna Williams on 01/01/2020
In conversations about lawmaking for the entire state, I
often hear about the “rural-urban divide” in Oregon. I don’t use that phrase –
in fact I don’t even like hearing it – because I don’t think there is a divide.
On the contrary, I think the rural and urban parts of our state are more
connected than a lot of people realize. What Oregon needs is not some
metaphorical bridge between rural and urban communities. Instead, we need to
build a strong rural progressive movement that extends services into the communities
that need them most; and we need to have more frank conversations in large
population centers about how drastically underserved rural communities are.
I am proud to constantly voice these concerns in the House
Democratic Caucus (to the occasional irritation of my colleagues), and I think
it has won some hard-earned recognition for the people in this district and in
rural communities throughout the state. I have been working to build a
coalition of other progressive lawmakers who represent rural, frontier and
agriculturally focused districts, and I think we’re starting to make
significant headway in statewide policy. I worked hard to get historically
unprecedented funding to our state’s farm-to-schools program. I pressed my
colleagues to ensure that everyone in rural parts of the state, where car
travel is necessary for survival, had access to a driver’s license and car
insurance regardless of their citizenship status. The list goes on.
In conversations around the climate policy that will again
be a major focus in the 2020 legislative session, I have tried to bring
together the diverse voices in my district. Climate activists and farmers,
timber producers and farm workers, business owners and underrepresented
communities... all of these voices belong at the table, but many of them feel
their concerns are not being heard in Salem. I have listened to all of them and
urged my colleagues to consider the unintended consequences that may result
from sweeping statewide policies. Problems that impact our entire state need
solutions that meet the needs of our entire state. This includes (and maybe
should especially take into account) the parts of our state that are already
struggling the most.
That’s why I’m helping craft the Oregon House Democrats’
policy platform to better reflect rural communities’ interests. The lack of
affordable childcare affects every community in the state, but none more so
than small cities and towns like ours. Many communities are underserved by
social workers, healthcare providers and qualified caregivers, but many rural
areas effectively have no access to those services. The issue, as I see it, is
that progressive policies have often been crafted with urban centers in mind,
then implemented statewide in a uniform way. A truly progressive policy would
take into account the differences between rural and urban areas, and support
each of them in catering services for the most effective delivery.
I agree with most progressives in believing that the state
should set expected outcomes when implementing a new policy; I also agree that
the state should provide the financial means to reach those outcomes. But I
sometimes feel like an outsider in my party when I believe that the state
should refrain from prescribing the specific methods that rural communities
should undertake to reach expected outcomes. Each small community of Oregonians
has its own way of relating to one another, and oftentimes there is no way a
person without roots in one community could ever know the best way to address a
problem there. Where such a problem exists, the state government should not
command a fix; it should be a partner in finding one. I hope to use my position
to build those partnerships.
If you would like to share your thoughts on issues
confronting rural communities, please let me know. You can reach me at
Rep.AnnaWilliams@oregonlegislature.gov or 503-986-1452. Happy New Year!
Anna Williams is the House District 52 Representative
|
| Viewpoints - Sandy: A chance to go big by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 01/01/2020
Like many of our neighbors here in Sandy, the coming of the
new year gives us at City Hall the opportunity to reflect on the past year and
set goals for the year ahead.
2019 marked a year of transition and change for Sandy. In
January, I was sworn in as our Mayor. That meeting also marked the first day of
our new City Manager, Jordan Wheeler. Together, along with our City Council and
our dedicated and hardworking staff, we forged ahead on one of the most
ambitious agendas in our city’s history.
As a result, we didn’t just dream big in 2019, we
accomplished some big things. We were able to get the Oregon Department of
Transportation (ODOT) to agree on a joint venture to conduct a feasibility
study for a local bypass for our citizens. We secured funding and a timeline for
the 362nd to Bell Street connection. We kickstarted our master planning efforts
for transportation, transit and parks. We adopted our Wastewater Treatment
Facilities Plan that included $500,000 from the State Legislature for a green
alternative analysis which was our top 2019 legislative priority. We created an
Economic Development Committee and adopted a budget that included a dedicated
and stable source of funding for our police department. We also increased
funding for our economic tenant improvement program and invested more into a
reserve fund in case of a rainy day.
2019 was about laying the right foundation for Sandy to
build off in the future. And 2020 is about adopting that vision and beginning
our building process.
While our City Council is committed to continuing progress
on our successful projects from 2019, we are now transitioning our focus onto
the Sandy Community Campus project, Pleasant Street development and beginning
the process of updating our Master Plan for growth.
As I’ve discussed in previous columns, the Sandy Community
Campus is an exciting project that can serve as the starting point for a bright
future for all of us. This project could allow us to completely revitalize the
Pleasant Street neighborhood into a vibrant gathering place for our community
and allow us to not rely so heavily on a downtown core that has a state highway
running through it.
Recently in order to determine our vision and direction, we
commissioned a public opinion survey which asked neighbors to share their
opinion on what amenities they’d like to see in such a project as well as what
they’d be willing to pay for such amenities. The results of this survey will be
released to the public at our City Council meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 6, at
City Hall, 39250 Pioneer Blvd. Additionally, citizens will have the opportunity
to express what the City Council should do for next steps at our City Council
Open House held at 6 p.m. Jan. 13 at the Sandy Senior Center, 38348 Pioneer
Blvd.
If this public opinion survey comes back favorably, our
community will have an important decision in front of us. Will the community
decide to support a Parks & Recreation District that would provide our
community with new and ongoing recreational, athletic and aquatic opportunities
for all of us? In 2020, Sandy will have the opportunity to go big and not just
dream big.
Additionally, our City Council and urban renewal board will
be looking for opportunities to invest in Pleasant Street to help generate more
economic activity. A vibrant Pleasant Street that provides a walkable gathering
space for our neighbors with retail and entertainment-based business
establishments that interface with a new Sandy Community Campus is something to
get excited about.
Together, we can develop a vision for Sandy’s future that
provides a great sense of community for generations to come. Together, we can
Keep Sandy Wonderful. Stan Pulliam is the Mayor of City of Sandy
|
| The Season of Good Will(s) by Paula Walker on 01/01/2020
A time for conversations…
In this age of convenience and efficiencies of effort, many
products advertise “set it and forget it.” Sounds so good in our busy,
sometimes harried lifestyles with family, work and social obligations to
lighten the load of things to attend to with “do-it-for-you products.”
But estate planning is not one of those. Not set it and
forget it but set it and tend to it – over time.
One of the many advantages in creating an estate plan, Trust
or Will, is providing the basis for family harmony as part of your legacy. The
certainty and clear direction that you provide with a well-thought out and
executed estate plan is one of the greatest gifts to those who will support you
and fulfill your directives, as well as to the family and friends your plan
encompasses.
This is not something to wait for an “unveiling” after you
pass, or a plan to be discovered in a time of emergency. It is a plan whose
intended outcome is best assured if you talk with those involved about it now.
The holiday season is a prime opportunity to have such a
talk, with many/most of the family already gathered. Be thoughtful in planning
for and launching into such a talk, for your sake and theirs. Tell them in
advance that you want to have this discussion. Set aside a quiet time and
space, a brief spell apart from the flurry of festivities. Keep this first
foray short. Its purpose is to convey that you have a plan. Explain your
intentions i.e. to provide clear direction and guidance to help them help you
at some future date. Talk process and framework, not content which is your private
affair. Though discussions of death and incapacity can be awkward to initiate,
often such conversations serve to bring the family closer. As well, you provide
a model for your family to follow that can benefit them as they travel a
similar path.
Ask your estate planning attorney for guidance in preparing
for a family discussion.
Stories of the Stars… If Only
We’ll be back in the New Year with stories of the foibles,
follies and fantastic tales of prominent persons, celebrities—stunning stories
highlighting “things gone wrong” that you can avoid by doing things right in
your estate plan.
For this article I leave you with my wishes for a joyous
season of warm friendship and family sharing. As this year comes to a close and
you step forward into a new year, may your life grow in ways meaningful and
fulfilling.
Dear Reader… we welcome your questions on matters related
to estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance
the potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| Opportunities abound in the New Year by Victoria Larson on 01/01/2020
The play “Our Town” is a favorite of mine and my favorite
line is this: “Do any human beings ever realize every minute of life while they
live it?” Clearly, the answer is “no,” but we can try. Change is constant --
maybe the only constant. But change begets more change and one step in the
right direction can lead to more steps. Go slow, if possible, as sudden change
can be stressful.
This blessed year we actually have an extra day, it being a
leap year and all. A whole extra 24 hours! But we feel the tug to start as
early as January first, so let’s do it!
The cells of your body live 21 days. At the end of 21 days
all your cells will be new ones, though in a relative stage of “newness” as
they don’t all change at once. What an opportunity we all have here.
Interestingly people who live in developing nations have a much greater
diversity of healthful bacteria in their gastro-intestinal systems than most
Americans. Hmm, why is that? It’s because they eat a much wider diversity of
foods than we do, especially vegetables.
Maybe this partially explains why the United States has
sky-high healthcare costs, but a decreased life expectancy compared to those
developing nations. In America the choice of vegetables runs to corn, green
beans and potatoes. Lower fiber foods in general. And we have tons of packaged
foods available. And sugar. Tons and tons of sugar. Sugar kills the good
bacteria in your gut. Fermented foods feed the good bacteria in your gut.
Prebiotics like garlic, grains, onions and root vegetables and plant fibers in
general will ferment in your colon to increase the good bacteria. All from what
you choose to eat. We need the trillions (literally) of gut bacteria. Fermented
foods can be eaten to help the cause. Fermented foods include such foods as
aged cheeses, kefir, sourdough, yogurt, vinegar. Even three to four ounces of
aged wine is acceptable, but only one glass a day and not every day.
Eliminating white foods is a good opportunity to start your
health improvement. Eliminate or at least cut down on milk, potatoes, sugar and
white flour. But not cauliflower, Daikon or other radishes, or mushrooms! Tend
towards the Mediterranean lifestyle not just the nutritional aspects. Use good
quality fats like cold-pressed oils, flax oil, palm oil, olive oil and even
butter (but not margarine). Eat seeds -- sesame, fennel, even two Brazil nuts a
day can be enough. Eat organic as much as you can afford and remember that YOU
run the economy by what you choose to purchase. One to three times a week eat
beans (canned or dry beans are fine), lentils or peas. And eat as many whole
foods as possible, as they come from nature, not packaged foods. What an
opportunity!
After my frantic harvest of Bok Choy, lettuce and Swiss
chard before the freezing temperatures, I was still harvesting herbs almost
daily. Hundreds of years ago we humans paid close attention to the seasons, the
stars, the plants. Using herbs was our way of relating to the awesome universe.
Rosemary and pomegranate protect against Staph aureus (otherwise known as
methicillin resistant Staph aureus, or MRSA). The spices that appeal to us are
now readily available -- cinnamon, cloves and ginger for instance. I currently
am using a hefty dose of cardamom in my coffee, but you could make Golden Milk,
an ages old recipe of milk (any kind) with butter or ghee, a scant teaspoon of
both powdered ginger and turmeric. Add a pinch of nutmeg or pepper and you have
a very healing bedtime drink.
Most experts agree that lack of movement is a huge risk to
our health. Decreased movement leads to decreased muscle mass, a big risk
factor not only for elders but for all of us. Women lose muscle mass and gain
an average of five pounds of fat per decade, or maybe even per season. This is
not good for your bones or your heart. Moderate exercise -- walking, carrying
laundry, even walking to the end of the driveway -- it all helps. Try for some moderate
exercise of 30 minutes at least three times a week. At home get up and move
around after every chapter in that book or every commercial on TV. For those
who are more ambitious there are fitness classes, dance classes, running or
yoga. At my favorite health store in Eugene, The Kiva, the workers used to
dance while stocking the shelves. It put a smile on everyone’s face.
Winter in our area is the traditional time to slow down,
look inward, re-evaluate. Moderate alcohol intake. A study of Japanese and Americans
found increased mental well-being in those who abstained from alcohol.
Interestingly, women who had quit drinking were even better off. Alcohol can
interfere with sleep and you really need your sleep to de-stress in the winter.
Try cooking more with rosemary to enhance sleep and mood. But don’t go beyond
ten hours of sleep unless you are overworked, as this could lead to a higher
risk of heart disease.
Danish people live by the concept of Hygge (pronounced
hoo-guh). This is a call for simplicity and coziness. Being half Danish (don’t
ask about the spelling of my name, though it is a good story) coziness can
include just slowing down, lighting a candle and wrapping yourself in a cozy
blanket with cats on the bed. It could include a relaxing bath which includes
Epsom salts and a very few drops of your favorite essential oil. For the much
more adventurous it might mean taking the Polar Bear Plunge into cold water, or
simply turning your shower to cold for the last few minutes to invigorate you
and build your immunity.
Spend some time outdoors in green spaces. Fifteen to twenty
minutes in sunlight gives you enough Vitamin D for the day and decreases stress
hormones. Children who spend that amount of time outside are almost half as
likely to develop mental health issues. And our children clearly need our help.
Take the dog for a walk, check out the neighborhood, take that holiday popcorn
string out to feed the wild birds.
While outdoors look for the “good” all around you. Always be
aware of your blessings. Be grateful that you woke up this morning and say
“thank you” for everything. When you think there are no more possibilities,
there still are. Chances are good that the sun will come up tomorrow (though we
may not always see it) and February will be here in no time with that extra 24
hours. What an opportunity!
|
| More treats, less cheats! by Taeler Butel on 01/01/2020
If you’re eating for health this year check out a couple of
recipes that are as yummy as they are healthy. Tips:
*Remember to think of it as an eating plan not a diet.
*Eat for health, not weight loss, losing weight is a
byproduct.
*At a restaurant? Take half of your food home for later,
you’ll have a nice snack.
*Sugar cravings? Eat a piece of fruit and wait.
*Have a fiber rich soup – split pea, bean, vegetable soups
are all good for your body and soul!
Happy New Year!
Roasted veggie enchiladas
3 T olive oil
1 red pepper
1/2 small zucchini
1/2 small yellow squash
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup corn kernels fresh or frozen
1/2 cup black beans rinsed and drained
8 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
For sauce:
1/2 cup half & half
2 cans diced green chiles
1 1/2 t cumin
1/4 t salt
2 garlic cloves minced
2 T chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
Chop vegetables into 3/4-inch pieces, toss all vegetables
(omitting beans) with 3 T olive oil and spread on a large rimmed baking pan.
Roast at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven, set aside. Add black
beans to roasted vegetables. Heat corn tortillas slightly to soften, then fill
each tortilla with approximately 1/3 cup roasted vegetable mixture. Roll
tightly and place seam-side down in 9x13 inch pan. Repeat until all the
tortillas are filled. Prepare the sauce by combining half & half, diced
green chiles, cumin, salt and garlic cloves. Pour sauce evenly over enchiladas.
Top with shredded cheese and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for
30 minutes or until cheese is fully melted. Top with cilantro.
Skinny apple crisp
3 lbs. Granny Smith or Fuji apples, 1-inch slices
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 T cornstarch
Topping:
1 cup oat or nut flour
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1/2 cup brown coconut sugar
1/2 cup coconut sugar
2 sticks butter chilled and diced into cubes
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t nutmeg
2 t cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel, core and slice apples.
Place them in a 9×12 baking dish and pour the rest of the filling ingredients
over the apples. Toss with a large spoon to coat evenly. This can be done in a
large mixing bowl if you prefer, I just like to save dishes. Combine all
streusel topping ingredients in a food processor with the ‘s’ blade, pulse
until crumbly and pour evenly over the fruit. Bake for approximately 40 minutes
or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Check with a
knife or fork to make sure apples are soft. Cool slightly and serve warm with
vanilla frozen yogurt.
Eat Cake
Can you even celebrate without cake. Confidence is key,
cakes can smell fear! Just prepare well, easy on mixing after the flour and
don’t open that oven door! Bake one of these up for your favorite mom or to
celebrate any day of the week. Remember... boxed mix is out. Here’s a couple of
my family’s favorite cakes.
Flourless chocolate cake
For the cake:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
1/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t espresso powder
For the glaze:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut a circle out of parchment
paper to fit the bottom of the cake pan and put inside the pan. Spray the
inside of the cake pan with a non-stick cooking spray. Put the butter and 1 cup
of chocolate chips in a small heat-safe bowl over a pan with an inch of boiling
water (make sure water doesn’t touch the bowl). Continue heating and stirring
until the butter and chocolate are melted and combined. Put the chocolate and
butter mixture in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and espresso. Add the eggs and
whisk until smooth. Add the cocoa powder and mix until well combined. Pour the
batter into the cake pan and bake 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and
let cool for 10 minutes. Run the knife around the edges of the cake to separate
it from the pan. Invert the cake onto a plate.
For the glaze:
Put the heavy cream and 1 cup of chocolate chips in a small
pot. Heat it over medium heat and stir until the cream is hot and the chocolate
chips are melted. Glaze the cake.
Confetti cake
Childhood goes by like confetti in the wind and I hope
you’ll remember all of its sweetness! This cake is so much fun, almond and
vanilla extract give it depth of flavor.
For the cake:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
3/4 soft unsalted butter
3 egg whites
1 t almond extract
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sprinkles
For the buttercream:
2 sticks unsalted soft butter
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 t milk
3 t vanilla extract
1 drop pink food coloring
1/3 cup sprinkles
Mix the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl. Pour the
batter into the buttered and floured pans. Cool layers while making
buttercream. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in the
sprinkles at the very end and mix at little as possible.
Bake at 340 degrees for about 30-35 minutes or until the
centers are springy to the touch. Whip butter with electric mixer until fluffy
while slowly adding sugar, add vanilla and food coloring, Frost and sprinkle
cake.
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall
There’s no other piece of equipment that a photographer
possesses that elevates the perception of skill and professionalism than a
tripod. Walk down a pathway or a trail with just a camera and you’ll blend in,
but put it on a tripod and walk down the trail and you’ll be noticed and
recognized as someone who must obviously be taking more than snapshots.
A tripod is usually the first accessory that photographers
will acquire after they buy their first fancy camera, but I have found that
it’s also the most misunderstood. A tripod doesn’t elevate a photographer’s
skill or professional ability. Sometimes it’s the photographer without a tripod
that knows when and how to use one, but understanding your tripod (as with any
other tool that you use) will certainly allow you to elevate the quality of
certain photos.
The purpose of a tripod can be to steady the camera to
prevent it from shaking during extended shutter speeds that are longer than is
practical by hand, such as for smooth water photographs of creeks and waterfalls.
It can also be used to simply allow for a brighter exposure or to give the
photographer a platform to rest their camera on while they compose their
photos. You can maintain the same position while you wait for conditions to
change for instance. The most practical purpose is that it’s used when the
shutter speed isn’t fast enough to hold the camera by hand for the photo that
you are trying to make.
The times where your tripod is indispensable is when light
is dim and the shutter speed needs to be extended, but the average photographer
isn’t taking photos during this time. Daytime lighting can typically allow
photographers to have a shutter speed that’s fast enough to eliminate motion
blur for a clear and focused photo while handheld. Making sure that you have a
shutter speed that’s quick enough is usually nothing more than choosing the
proper ISO or aperture setting, as both can allow increased exposure without
extending the shutter speed.
Taking photos without a tripod can be liberating, especially
while hiking. A tripod can be cumbersome, heavy and usually unnecessary.
Using a tripod can also limit creativity in composing a
shot. You must fiddle around with the tripod to get it positioned properly to
get the photo, when if you didn’t have it you can simply come up to the scene,
focus and frame the shot and snap it. A photographer is typically more apt to
wander around and find different compositions if not tethered to a planted
tripod.
A tripod comes in handiest to landscape photographers as
they tend to take their time composing, focusing, adjusting and reshooting the
scene. In that case it’s handy to set up on the tripod and take the time to
make sure that everything is perfect. It’s also used to maintain a composition
while conditions change. It’s most indispensable to a landscape photographer
than most other genres of photography. In the case where there’s a lot of
moving from one shot to the next, such as candid photos during an event, being
able to react quickly prohibits the use of one.
Tripods can come in varied levels of quality, sizes and
types and made, basically, from two kinds of material – aluminum or carbon
fiber. Weight is a very important consideration, especially while travelling,
hiking or in cases where the tripod is carried throughout the day, but weight
saving should never compromise stability. Make sure that it’s sturdy enough for
the camera that you use and the conditions that you plan to use it in. Remember
that we use tripods to steady our cameras, so having a steady tripod is a must.
When choosing a tripod, I’ve found that paying a bit more
for one that is of a higher quality, like most things in life, will pay
dividends in time.
When I first started in photography I used cheap tripods,
but after having a few break, typically with no way to repair them, usually at
the most inopportune times, or being frustrated by unstable versions that would
move in the slightest breeze, I decided to save my money and buy a sturdy
carbon fiber tripod that will last a lifetime. If I had done so in the
beginning it would have eventually paid for itself.
No tripod is complete without an accessory that attaches the
camera called a head. The more inexpensive versions may have a head that is
attached permanently, but most tripods will need a separate head.
There are typically two types that are most commonly used –
pan-tilt or ball head. My experience is that a ball head is the most versatile,
reliable and most simple to use. A ball head has a spherical joint that can be
easily positioned in many ways and then locked down with a single knob. A
pan-tilt head has two levers that are used to adjust the tilt, elevation and
direction separately. As with the tripod legs, buying a sturdy head will save
you a lot of frustration and will last longer.
Carbon fiber or aluminum? Carbon fiber is always preferred,
but carbon fiber tripods are usually more expensive. Carbon fiber is lighter
and will not oxidize or rust. There have been many times where I’ve been in
creeks or lakes or even worse, in the surf at the ocean with my old aluminum
tripods where I hadn’t gotten around to cleaning it before it started to seize
up due to the corrosive nature of saltwater. Saltwater is terrible for
aluminum. Carbon fiber and plastic parts will not corrode and will give you
more time to get around to rinsing or cleaning your tripod. Keeping your tripod
clean is an absolute must, so learn how to disassemble it and reassemble it.
I hope that this helps to better understand your tripod and
how and why it’s used. My advice is to learn your camera and the basic
principles of photography to allow you to know when a tripod is needed and when
it’s not.
As with any tool, using your tripod properly will enhance
not only your photography but your experience of creating photos.
|
| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: options beyond gift cards by Mary Soots on 12/01/2019
It’s the holidays! That wonderful time of the year when we
spend time with friends and loved ones, coming together to share expressions of
gratitude and love. We express our friendship and love through symbolic
gestures such as sharing food, spending time together engaged in seasonal
activities and in giving gifts. Whether Chanukah, Christmas or whatever your
religious or world view is, it is a time when the world seems to soften.
When we are exchanging gifts, something that we in the
social sciences refer to as reciprocity, we put much thought into what we would
like to gift to say. A new sportscar, for example, would have a very different
message if given to a spouse than if it was given to a member of the local
cleaning crew. Another example would be if you gave that same car to your
teenage offspring while giving your spouse a new power drill (may God take pity
on your soul!).
In a different time, holiday gift shopping was a special
event where one would contemplate what might please the recipient. The
objective of this is that you are demonstrating that you care enough about the
individual, are aware of their tastes and have spent both time and money in
finding just the right gift for them, wrapping it in a way that pleases the eye
and in general shows how much you care for that person. To illustrate this,
while working in a retail jewelry store once, a customer asked me to help him
select a gift for his mother that would “make her cry.” He later reported
success in his endeavor. Jewelry is marketed as equating cost to “show how much
you love her.”
In this day and age, we live in a virtual world where
shopping is as simple as the click of a computer keyboard, especially when
living in a remote location where shopping options are limited. Online shopping
gives the benefit of comparison shopping and access to a wider variety of
merchandise. At the time, the day of shopping in downtown Portland or at the
mall, window shopping, seeing the holiday décor in the hustle and bustle,
stopping for lunch or meeting with friends for dinner are gone. Shopping has
become more of a tedium than an adventure, coming across something unexpected
that will put a smile on Bobby’s face. The holidays have become more about the
merchandise than about the act of shopping. Stores start putting out their
holiday merchandise as soon as Halloween is over, hoping to entice people to
buy from them rather than waiting until the last minute to buy online.
The other aspect that has changed is that we no longer try
to find the “perfect” gift to express our care. The stigma of not choosing the
right color, size or item has resulted in our taking the easiest way out of
shopping – hence the gift card. It’s our way of saying, “I didn’t know what to
buy for you, so go buy something for yourself.” While it takes the guessing out
of the game, it also removes the element of surprise and delight, which in my
opinion is half the fun. And the recipient doesn’t remember who gave them the
card after it’s spent.
To be fair, prior to the advent of gift cards, gift
certificates were used when we wanted to give someone a gift of their choice at
their favorite store. Those have been replaced with plastic gift cards that can
be found in abundance in nearly every retail store. We asked what the
environmental impact of plastic gift cards is, and learned from giftbit.com
that “In 2013, physical gift cards have an estimated annual CO2 footprint of
585,300 tons. That’s more than all the daily air flights in Europe combined.
What’s worse is that 8%-19% of all gift cards go unused.”
What are the alternatives to plastic gift cards? As I’ve
stated previously, my favorite gift is a voucher made by someone with an
invitation to spend time together. Rather than a physical object, their time is
their gift. It’s always the right gift! A homemade gift (especially food) is
always a welcome expression of friendship. A wrapped gift with a gift receipt
for exchange if something is not the right one is another option. If a gift
card is still the preferred choice, there are many digital options for sending
a gift card. They have a significantly reduced footprint compared to physical
cards, so the environmental impact of gifting can be reduced.
Happy holidays to you from all of us at the Mt. Hood Green
Scene!
|
| Viewpoints – Sandy: The Holidays in Sandy by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 12/01/2019
Whether it be the holiday tree lighting at Centennial Plaza,
breakfast with Santa or the Sandy Light Show – our local businesses, service
organizations and talented neighbors are on display. It’s truly the most
wonderful time of year in our community of Sandy.
The holidays are all about family, community and giving, and
in Sandy we have no shortage of ways to get into the holiday spirit.
In Sandy, we kick off the holiday season with our annual
Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony held at Centennial Plaza. This year’s ceremony
is on Friday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. In addition to the lighting, Sandy area families
get to mingle with Santa, enjoy treats and hot cocoa from local Sandy
businesses, caroling by the SHH Choir, free trolley rides and more. My girls
Lucy and Olivia love the Sandy Historical Museum’s free kids craft projects
during the event inside the museum adjacent to the plaza. And I’ll be there
lighting the tree at 7 p.m.! The annual tree lighting is an event that our
family looks forward to every year. With this being the first year as Mayor
lighting the tree, my girls, MacKensey and I are incredibly excited.
Growing up in Sandy, no annual event had a bigger impact on
me as a person than the annual Sandy Community Christmas Basket Program
sponsored by the Sandy Kiwanis Club. Every year this program helps assist more
than 400 families within our community with baskets filled with food and toys to
make the holidays a little brighter to families who otherwise wouldn’t be able
to afford a special dinner or presents.
According to their website, Kiwanis purchases the fresh
food, meat and basic canned goods that are included in each box. The Oregon Trail
School District supplies additional canned food and non-perishable items
collected through their annual canned food drive as part of high school
Leadership and Key Club activities.
Last year, my wife, MacKensey, and I took our girls to
deliver baskets to locals, just like I did as a student at Sandy High School.
There’s nothing like looking into the eyes of your child as they give to
another in need and realize the impact they have on that individual. You can
find more information about this program by visiting the Sandy Kiwanis Facebook
page or their website at www.sandykiwanis.org.
Every year in early December, the city of Sandy’s Senior
Center puts on our “Breakfast with Santa.” This year’s breakfast will be held
at the Senior Center on Saturday, Dec. 7 from 7 a.m. to noon. In addition to
treats and getting to visit Santa, there are crafts and activities for kids,
and vendors for parents to shop. This is one of the most well attended and
highly anticipated local events of the year and all proceeds help benefit our
local Meals-on-Wheels programs. More details will be available soon on the
city’s Facebook page.
One of our favorite local traditions is to put the kids in
the car on Christmas Eve and head over to the Scenic Meadows neighborhood to
enjoy the Sandy Light Show. One of our local City Councilors, John Hamblin, and
his family put on this amazing light show each year for our community. We
greatly appreciate their efforts, as the holidays in our community wouldn’t be
the same without it!
The light show begins the evening of Saturday, Nov. 30 and
will run nightly from 5:30-8 p.m. This year we may need to make a trip over to
the Sandy Light Show a little earlier as Santa is coming to town! The Sandy
Light Show is teaming up with local area charitable nonprofit Sandy’s Helping
Hands on Dec. 20. Santa will be visiting the light show and Sandy’s Helping
Hands will be collecting canned food and non-perishables to help local
families. Make sure to check out the Facebook pages for both organizations for
future updates.
As a community leader, I tend to spend a majority of my time
thinking and focusing on our future. The holiday season allows all of us the
opportunity to take a moment, reflect and be reminded of what it is we’re
working so hard to preserve. This column only scratches the surface of local
activities and charitable efforts of Sandy’s local businesses, charitable
organizations, churches and neighbors that helps spread holiday cheer each
year. It is this reminder of why we must continue to work so hard together to
Keep Sandy Wonderful.
Stan Pulliam is the Mayor of the City of Sandy
|
| Viewpoints – Salem: Funding SAR by Rep. Anna Williams on 12/01/2019
Most people in our mountain communities are fans of outdoor
recreation and are aware of the risks that go along with it. Unfortunately,
some of the millions of people who come here from around the world are less
experienced on slopes and trails, and less aware of the dangers that Mount Hood
and its surrounding attractions pose. When tourists venture away from trails or
injure themselves in the wilderness, it falls on the people in our communities
to conduct Search and Rescue (SAR) operations.
Under state law, county sheriffs are responsible for SAR,
which makes sense. Sheriffs know the terrain of their counties better than just
about anyone. They are on the front lines when someone needs rescue: they know
all of the local resources available and they have relationships with groups
and individuals who can help effectively conduct SAR operations. Often, this
means that they rely on the generosity of volunteers and non-profit groups to
help find and rescue people in need.
Unfortunately, volunteers and non-profit groups are
necessary for this work to get done, because the financial cost for SAR
operations also falls on county sheriffs. In rural counties especially,
sheriffs’ offices are overwhelmed by these expenses. Yet some rural areas like
ours are points of pride for our state’s tourism industry; so the state works
hard to draw people to the mountain, but doesn’t provide adequate resources for
mountain communities to address the SAR needs that result from this booming
tourism.
During the short session, I will be co-sponsoring a bill
with Representative Paul Evans to create a voluntary outdoor recreation SAR
card program. Put simply, this will create a card that will be advertised and
sold to recreators at locations where fishing and hunting licenses, ATV permits,
and other outdoor recreation passes are available. The card will cost $10 for
an individual and $25 for a family, and the proceeds will go to the Office of
Emergency Management, who will distribute the funds to county sheriffs’ offices
as partial reimbursement for their SAR expenses.
This is nowhere near a complete solution to the massive
funding problem that SAR poses to our counties, but it is an excellent way to
highlight the issue for the public and to bring in some of the direly needed
funds. My hope is that this program will be a steppingstone to a more robust
SAR funding policy in the near future. In addition to pushing to pass this
bill, I will keep working with a coalition of sheriffs, business owners,
outdoor recreation groups, volunteer rescue units and government organizations
who developed this plan. I’m confident that, with this large group of diverse
voices that are as motivated as I am to solve Oregon’s SAR problem, we can find
the funding our sheriffs need to keep performing this essential function. They
deserve the state’s help in keeping our communities safe for everyone to enjoy.
If you have thoughts about SAR costs or ideas about how to
help counties cover them, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office at
Rep.AnnaWilliams@oregonlegislature.gov, or to call us at 503-986-1452.
Anna Williams is the House District 52 Representative
|
| The e-state of passwords by Paula Walker on 12/01/2019
Passwords, passwords, passwords. In our world steadily
moving to online everything from buying your daily groceries, to auto-pay for
all your utilities, to the family photo album… managing all those passwords
maybe challenging for you. But imagine the task of accessing, closing and/or
retrieving the data in those accounts after your death. Managing your accounts,
increasingly takes a prominent role in estate planning. Our various on-line
accounts, aka digital assets, demand attention if you want your accounts to be
settled, final bills paid and your mementos secured. Without the necessary
provisions in your estate plan, your electronic bill pays go unattended and
your auto pays continue to pay out months after your passing.
In short, you have a “digital legacy” to consider and
provide directives for. You may think that this information does not apply to
because you don’t have a Facebook account or don’t use social media, but your
digital assets are much broader than whether you have a social media account or
not. Our most every day dealings involve some form of cyber asset, PayPal,
frequent flyer miles, NetFlix, Flickr photos, email, Amazon subscription
orders, cloud storage like Google Drive and even cryptocurrency.
Cyber intestacy: dying without a will is called “intestacy”
and for digital assets there is a phenomena called “cyber intestacy,” dying
without a will (or Trust) and leaving your cyber assets unaddressed along with
all your other assets; or with a will that does not specifically authorize your
estate administrator access to your digital assets.
Consequences: without provisions in your estate plan
authorizing your estate administrator to access your digital assets, the
companies holding those assets, the “custodians” can (nay, most likely will)
refuse access. The TOSAs (terms of service agreements) that we say “yes” to —
clicking through without reading as we sign on to one of the many accounts with
which we conduct our every day affairs — result in our agreeing to the terms of
the custodian. Those terms often reserve the custodian’s right to refuse access
to those accounts by a third party. While that may be a valuable privacy
protection to you during life, it can pose significant challenges to the
persons you ask to act on your behalf when administering your estate.
What to do: if you do not have an estate plan, create at
minimum a will that includes provisions designating authority to the person you
trust to access your accounts when administering your estate. If you do have an
estate plan, check that it has those provisions. If it does not, take action to
create them. In addition to ensuring that you have the necessary digital assets
management provisions, create and store in a secured place an inventory of your
digital assets along with the detailed information necessary to access the associated
accounts. Include in that list links to the custodian’s detailed information on
how to make contact on behalf of the estate and what information to provide to
access and close your account(s). Tell your estate administrator where they can
access that information when the time comes. This information may be needed by
your Agent, acting as your fiduciary in a time of incapacity, so these
provisions should be part of your Durable Power of Attorney as well.
Examples of links to custodian websites detailing their
processes for handling the removal of a deceased members account include this
page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/1111566045566400 and this one
on Twitter:
https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/contact-twitter-about-a-deceased-family-members-account.
Stories of the Stars… If Only
John Ajemian – not a household name or a celebrity, but a
name that holds prominence in the struggle to create laws that both protect the
data privacy of the initial account holder, as well as dictating the rights of
the estate to access those accounts after that person’s passing where such is
the decedent’s intent. In the Massachusetts case Ajemian v. Yahoo!, Yahoo
denied access to Mr. Ajemian’s email accounts to the estate administrators
after Mr. Ajemian’s death in 2006 based on Yahoo’s terms of service agreement,
which denied third party access to accounts. In a court battle that yet ensues,
the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) concluded in fall 2017 that neither
state nor federal law prohibited the personal representative from acting on the
decedent’s behalf to give “lawful consent” to release the contents of the email
account.
The SJC however stopped short of requiring Yahoo to release
the emails to the family. It instead sent the case back to the lower court to
address particular fact issues regarding Yahoo’s terms of service. Yahoo
meanwhile petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. In 2018, the U.S.
Supreme Court denied Yahoo’s petition.
Dear Reader… we welcome your questions on matters related to
estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance the
potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| Trees are part of the holidays and nature by Victoria Larson on 12/01/2019
While many will indulge in holiday trees and honor them, we
must remember that ALL trees are sacred and honor them. It’s the season of
peace and love, of a need for light, a time for sharing.
The lunar month of the birch tree is Dec. 23 thru Jan. 20.
At the winter solstice we are smack in the middle of the darkest time of the
year. Heat and light become important to us. The burning of the Yule log
(traditionally birch) was more about the need for light and warmth around the
time of the solstice according to the ancient druids. It was not yet a
celebration of Christian beliefs, but more about the Yule log later in this
column.
In this season of peace and love we recognize the importance
of trees. Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza or some
Celtic ceremony, it’s more about peace and love than about war. War is not
healthy for children and other living things. The “real” things in life are
air, water, food, shelter and love or community.
Without a thriving ecology we will never really achieve a
thriving economy. We first need to revive our ecology. We are leaving an
inherited Earth to our children and grandchildren. Will it be a living, green
planet filled with lush trees and plants...or will it lead us into another ice
age. A restored and healthy landscape will give us more continued food,
medicine and resources than a planet of bare, exposed, cemented-over earth!
The National Science Foundation (NSF), which studies our
ecology, has had no funding increase in over ten years. The amount of funding
for non-defense research has been frozen for most scientific research. Since
1983, spending on government allocated scientific research has been just over
$7 billion per year. If that sounds like a lot, note that our government spends
over two times that much on defense, more than $18 billion per year. Yikes.
Looked at from outer space, which we’ve been able to do
since the startling Mother Earth News Catalog of 1970, it reveals that our
planet appears less green each year. With the health of our planet being
closely tied to human health, is it any wonder that we now have increased rates
of heart disease, diabetes and cancer pretty much worldwide. We are destroying
our ecosystem at a rate that is faster and greater than any other culture in
history. We’ve polluted water and air, degraded our soils and toxified the
Earth at a rate never known before. Certainly not known by our grandparents. We
no longer have enough trees to return oxygen to our living bodies. Increased carbon
dioxide from our destruction of our atmosphere has led to increased drought,
floods, heat, hurricanes and tornados. We might need to decide what’s more
important - the essences of life or big screen TVs and plastic grocery bags.
We’ve relied upon trees and green vegetation since the dawn
of civilization, approximately 10,000 years ago. One of the oldest trees on
earth is a chestnut tree growing on the rocks composing the side of Mount Etna
in Sicily. It is more than 4,000 years old. Another tree of the same age is the
Ginkgo tree found growing on the top of Mount Qingcheng in China. The ginkgo
tree was thought to be lost for years until discovered there in China. All
ginkgo trees now grown are descended from this one tree. I heard this historic
story in 1991 in a Biology 101 class so when I went to China, in 1996, I made a
special effort to visit that sacred tree. I laughed when I found its huge trunk
embedded in the earth around a pig sty!
Closer to home, I had on my small holding, Clackamas
County’s oldest living Gravenstein apple tree. Alas it was undocumented. It
grew next to an old cistern that seeped water even during the summer months.
When I got tired of canning applesauce and pie fillings, I simply threw the
fruit over the fence to my rescued donkeys and llamas. Next to the apple tree
was a pear tree of similar lineage and age though not girth. The pear tree once
gave me 96 quarts of pears before I realized that living alone, I’d probably
never finish all those home-canned pears. I should have thrown those over the
fence too! Needless to say, most everyone got quarts of pears or applesauce for
Christmas that year.
Wendall Berry said that nature include humans, we are part
of it. If nature does not thrive, we will not thrive. Whether you choose a real
tree or a fake tree to honor this season, think at least of the future. How
will you dispose of said tree when you are done with it? The real tree can
become firewood or mulch. How will you dispose of the fake tree? This is the
kind of forward-thinking we need to be doing.
Now back to that Yule log. Engage your family and friends in
locating a log that would be appropriate for honoring the season. One that will
give back heat and light for your fireplace, firepit or woodstove. Decorate
that log by gluing on things like berries, herbs, cinnamon sticks, moss or star
anise for ceremonial and fragrant burning. Sing carols around the fire, share
stories or pray silently in the tradition of honoring trees. Then save the
ashes to spread round trees in your yard and surely spring will come. Have a
peaceful, loving season.
|
| Gifts from the kitchen by Taeler Butel on 12/01/2019
This is the season for indoorsy fun and sharing calories.
Pie kits are fun to make and give!
Here’s what you’ll need:
– Decorative glass jars, medium size
– Crushed candy canes, mini M&Ms
– Double recipe pâte sucrée (store bought pie crust works
also)
– Wax and parchment paper
– Kitchen twine
– Gift tags, bows, etc.
– Pie tins
– Printed Recipe/Directions
Pâte Sucrée (sweet pie dough)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T cornstarch
1 egg yolk
1 t salt
2 T sugar
1 cup unsalted diced chilled butter
1/4 cup chilled water
Whisk together the dry ingredients. Using forks or a food
processor, cut in the butter until crumbly. Mix water with the egg yolk and
gently mix in. Make two disks, chill. Roll out on a floured surface and roll up
with a sheet of greased wax paper. Wrap in parchment and tie with kitchen
twine. Keep refrigerated.
Apple cherry pie filling
In a large saucepan add in four sliced and peeled Granny
Smith apples with:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 T lemon juice
1 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup cornstarch
Bring to a boil over medium/high heat then reduce the heat
to medium stirring often and cook for six minutes until the apples release
their juice and mixture thickens slightly. Allow to cool completely, spoon
ingredients into a pretty glass jar with a lid, secure lid, add a nice ribbon
to the pie dough and place in a nice pie tin.
Chocolate cream pie filling
In a saucepan over med heat whisk together:
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 T cornstarch
1/2 t salt
3 cups Half & Half
Increase the heat and bring to a boil whisking constantly.
Reduce heat and cook until thickened, then add in 2 t vanilla and 2 T butter.
Pour into a jar, cover with plastic on the surface and cool completely. Gift
with the pie dough, a pie tin and a bag of mini M&M candies and crushed
peppermint.
|
|  Rhododendron circa 1940.
Since photography was invented it has been an important part
of the preservation and interpretation of history. I have an enthusiastic
interest in the history of Mount Hood as well as photography and so it’s not
hard to imagine that I’d also be interested in historic photos of Mount Hood
and its surrounding areas.
It’s easy for those who live on or around Mount Hood today
to become familiar with how things are without having anything to compare how
it once was. We may think that this area hasn’t changed much in the last 100
years.
But buildings come and go. Forests grow and die. Flooded
rivers change landscapes. Fashions change and transportation methods improve.
The activities of the people who live on or visit Mount Hood change through
time as well. All of these things have changed through time but are captured in
their own moment with a photograph.
Most of the towns on Mount Hood were established and grew
during the age when the average tourist could own a Kodak camera and not need
the bulky cameras from the past that required a professional to operate.
Government Camp has been photographed by visitors since before it was a town.
Once it was a town, thousands of photographs were taken by tourists while they
hiked, climbed the summit or skied its slopes and relaxed afterwards.
Documented from these activities are photos of early Mount Hood scenes,
buildings and the people that made Government Camp a town.
Further down the south face of the mountain Samuel and Billy
Welch were creating their own situation in the Salmon River Valley, where Sam
homesteaded and built his ranch. A couple of decades later Billy turned the
ranch into a tourist destination and Welches was soon established, and with
that came more photographs by those who came to visit.
Not long after came the town of Rhododendron as an
attractant of folks from Portland that wanted to get away and relax in the
woods with their cameras. The old Rhododendron Inn was a popular destination
for out of towners.
During the golden age of postcards for those who didn’t have
a camera, professional photographers created what are called Real Photo
Postcards to be sold at the inns, resorts and tourist attractions. Many
depicted the places that the tourists visited including inns, hotels and
restaurants. Many also depicted the surrounding countryside, much of which has
changed over the last 100 years.
I’ve included several old photos of familiar locations that
have changed over time. These old photos are invaluable to understanding the
history of our home here on Mount Hood. I wonder if, in this day and age where
photographs aren’t printed, if the digital images that are being made will
still be around for those in the future to understand us and what Mount Hood is
to us today.
|
| Viewpoints – Sandy: Rate increase explained by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 11/01/2019
For the past year I have talked often about the issues with
our Wastewater Treatment process. In previous months, I’ve attempted to provide
background as well as updates on the what, when, where and why in this column.
Now, our community is faced with the reality of our first rate increase in
order to help pay for the project.
At the City Council meeting held in October, we were forced
to raise our wastewater rates by an average of $22.44 a month for our
ratepayers. Land and housing developers will see a hefty increase as well. New
commercial and residential development projects in Sandy pay a one-time System
Development Charge (SDC) to purchase wastewater system capacity. Sandy’s SDC
will increase from $1,834 to $4,889 for a single-family residence.
As you can imagine, this was absolutely gut wrenching for
our City Council. This is the result of years of deferred maintenance, not
budgeting for upgrades, a resistance to raising rates after the recent
recession, and basically ignoring a giant elephant in the room.
The truth of the matter is that we do not have a choice. As
a community, it’s not realistic to say we’ll stop running water or flushing
toilets. There is no possible future without a new plant. We are currently at
capacity. The Department of Environmental Quality will not allow us to legally
discharge any more water into the Clackamas River Basin and they are mandating
that we update our process by 2024.
City Council and I are doing everything we can to minimize
this impact on our community ratepayers. We’ve engaged with our state
legislative delegation and have successfully advocated for funds for additional
Sandy River water quality studies and green alternative analysis. Thoroughly
vetting these options are crucial. If one of these options is viable, it would
cost approximately half the price of the current plan and would be much better
for our environment.
We have also engaged with our federal delegation to advocate
for federal loans, grants and budget earmarks.
Despite these opportunities to decrease costs, we still must
increase the rate now to start saving funds for this massive project. If our
efforts are successful, we will be able to lower or eliminate planned future
increases.
The lack of strategic budgeting for this current project is
frustrating. For years, there were no wastewater rate increases and the
facility has continued to deteriorate. The first fines from DEQ began in 2003,
and we are just now taking substantial steps towards fixing our issues in 2019.
Small rate increases should’ve been planned for gradually over the past 16
years, but that never happened. We will need to do a better job of long-term
budgeting and rate forecasting in the future.
It should be noted that our wastewater rates are still on
the lower end compared to other Portland-area communities. The only communities
with rates lower than ours in the area are Gladstone and Estacada. I recently
had a chance to speak with the Mayors and staff of those cities and they’re
both under the same mandate from DEQ that we are and plan to raise rates
dramatically in the near future as well. My guess is that once they raise their
rates, we’ll be back at the bottom for the area again. Our project webpage has
the graphics that compares our current and future wastewater rates to other
Clackamas County cities for your reference:
https://www.ci.sandy.or.us/wastewater-system-improvements
Together, we will address the future needs for our community
while protecting the rivers and streams that run through our town. Together, we
can Keep Sandy Wonderful.
Stan Pulliam is the Mayor of the City of Sandy
|
| Viewpoints – Salem: Fixing a gap in the law by Rep. Anna Williams on 11/01/2019
Every now and then, an omission in the law is so glaring
that I’m amazed it hasn’t already been dealt with. For example, I was shocked
when I recently learned of a gap in our state’s child labor regulations: there
are currently no labor laws that keep child employees from coming into contact
with adult coworkers who are registered sex offenders. Even more shocking is
the fact that no other state in the country seems to have any law that provides
that protection!
In Oregon, employers that want to hire anyone younger than
eighteen need to apply for an employment certificate from the Bureau of Labor
and Industries (BOLI). In limited circumstances, even kids as young as nine
years old are eligible to be hired as long as their parents consent. The
application for a child labor certificate asks employers what sorts of duties
the minor employees might perform, where they will be working, and whether they
will be using any potentially dangerous machinery or other equipment.
These questions are all intended to protect kids from
hazardous workplace situations, but the laws that created this application
didn’t take one significant risk into account: there is nothing in the
application process to require employers to ensure that the minors they hire
won’t come into contact with registered sex offenders. Worse, there is no law
that gives BOLI the authority to look into whether an employee who will work
alongside those minors is a registered offender, or to deny an application on
those grounds.
When BOLI brought this issue to my attention, it was
immediately clear that something needed to be done. Since agricultural
districts like mine are the main employers of minors in Oregon, I decided that
correcting this disturbing gap in our labor laws would be one of my priorities
in the 2020 session. I plan on introducing a bill (the first of its kind in our
nation!) that will require employers to attest that none of its employees who
will likely come into contact with young workers is a registered sex offender.
It will also empower BOLI to perform background checks on applicants and their
employees.
Sometimes, the gears of government grind slowly. Here,
though, is a chance to fix a potentially serious problem quickly and
effectively within months of my having learned about it. Even better, Oregon
has the chance to be a national leader on this issue. There are a lot of good
life lessons and fundamental values that young Oregonians can learn from
part-time employment. I will see to it that they remain as safe as possible
while they do so.
Anna Williams is the House District 52 Representative
|
| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: bagging our pooch’s poop by Mary Soots on 11/01/2019
I love dogs. Over the past three decades, I have had at
least one dog in my household. My current dogs, Joe Cockerpoo (a Cockapoo) and
Dogma (a Rottweiler/German Shepherd mutt) keep me active, entertained,
protected and healthy. Dogs can have such wonderful health benefits. Among the
benefits are that they improve your heart health by keeping your blood pressure
and cholesterol levels low, so that dog owners are likely to have fewer heart
attacks.
Dogs have to exercise and guess who has to do it? If it
weren’t for my dogs, I don’t know if I would be hiking along the Salmon River
in the rain or traipsing all over Mt. Hood in all kinds of weather instead of
only on nice days. Research indicates that people with dogs are more fit and
active (even if reluctantly) and as a result require fewer doctor visits.
We used to think the opposite was true, but owning a pet can
help children become up to a third less likely to develop allergies to pets. In
fact, pets can help them develop their immune system.
Dogs, like children, are good for the social life. Dogma’s
predecessor was Karma (don’t judge me!), who loved to roam the neighborhood
around my cabin. The neighbors all knew the 120-pound gentle giant. After
spending some time in Portland, I once had a call from one mountain neighbor
asking if I was okay because she hadn’t wandered into their home to say hello.
In town, people tend to live more reclusive lifestyles, but those who own dogs
are forced to be outdoors at dog parks or walking in their neighborhood and
share a common bond.
There’s a good reason why dogs make great therapy animals.
Spend a few minutes with a dog to reduce stress, lower anxiety, increase levels
of serotonin and dopamine to calm and relax you. They’re good for easing
tension at work or at home. If my husband and I would ever argue, Karma would stoically
stand between us until we finished.
Retirees find that dogs give structure to the day and all
dog owners have a sense of not being alone or isolated when they have a best
friend with them. For that same reason, dog owners are less likely to suffer
from depression. Dog owners feel a sense of responsibility because their pets
depend on them and give them a sense of purpose.
Dogs do so much for us and we, in turn, treat them like
family. We want to protect them and make sure that they are getting the
healthiest nutrition possible. We take them to the vet for their vaccines and
check-ups. We should also be cautious of what types of toys they play with.
Plastic toys can be ingested, or plastic containers and even plastic-lined dog
food cans leach into their food. We already know how plastic can harm other
animals, and we’re slowly realizing the extent of damage it can have on our
beloved pets as well.
So as much as we love and care for our dogs, we must also be
aware that when we take our dogs for a walk where we need to collect the dog
waste, we need to think about how we’re doing it. I often wonder what some
archeologist of the future is going to think when they discover that I and the
other 60 million pet households have been collecting dog poop and encasing it
in plastic bags as though it were something to be treasured. Plastic bags that
don’t decompose and are packed tightly in a landfill will “mummify” the waste
rather than allowing it to break down.
Until recently, I had been using what were supposedly
“biodegradable” dog poop bags that were misrepresented. Apparently, there is
much controversy about what is authentically so. I’ve now discovered
compostable bags made of natural ingredients. If we lived in Portland, we could
avoid the hassle and subscribe to a low-cost service that will collect dog
waste from your yard and dispose of it in a composting site. Other people
choose to collect the waste and flush it down the toilet. Still others use
paper bags to avoid using plastic bags.
The best part of this is that people have realized that the
volume of dog poop being preserved in plastic bags is an environmental
catastrophe and that we are looking for solutions to the problem of how to
balance the needs of the environment with the needs of our best friend. We will
all be happier for it.
|
| A great trust – accept or not? by Paula Walker on 11/01/2019
Your friend, perhaps a member of your family, is preparing
their estate plan. One part of that plan is the healthcare document set that
contains two key documents, the Advance Directive and the Healthcare Power of
Attorney. You’ve been asked to be the healthcare representative, i.e. the
person appointed to perform responsibilities called out in those documents
should your friend face a time that they cannot make their own healthcare
decisions. It is a gesture of immeasurable trust. Still - should you accept or
decline?
Acting as someone’s healthcare representative, aka
healthcare proxy, in the event that they cannot make medical decisions on their
own behalf is a huge and potentially weighty responsibility. Here are things to
consider as you make your decision.
The Healthcare Power of Attorney conveys the fiduciary
responsibility for the day to day; that, for an indeterminate amount of time of
incapacity, you are seeing to that person’s daily affairs. It may mean that you
make sure that they have what they need for their medical care as well as daily
fundamentals such as groceries, heat and other utilities in their home; that
you or someone you’ve arranged for prepares meals and provides the fundamental
care needed, ensures transportation to doctors’ appointments and arranges
medical care as required by their condition.
The Advance Directive requires that you step into the narrow
margins of life and death decisions according to the document prepared and
person to person interactions that person may have, hopefully did have, with
you so that you have the intimate knowledge needed in a high intensity, often
emotionally charged circumstance to make decisions acting with the knowledge of
their preferences that may or may not be supported in writing. You may be,
likely will be called upon to make tough choices in tough circumstances
regarding medical treatment and life support.
The range of circumstances in which you will be called upon
to decide on another’s behalf will require you to be ready to make firm
decisions timely, at times within limited timeframes, i.e. you must make a
decision and make it now. It will require a strength of character, a backbone
in standing firm on behalf of the person you represent in the presence of
possible opposition from the medical staff with whom you are dealing and from
other friends or family members. It may require you to make one of the toughest
decisions you may ever be called upon to make, the decision to pull
life-support – or continue life support – according to what the person who
entrusted his or her care to you made clear as their desire should you be faced
with certain circumstances in their condition that present or limit the medical
options remaining.
Another consideration in accepting this awesome responsibility
is practical in its nature. Will you be around? If you travel often for various
reasons and it is reasonable to foresee that you may not be available in an
emergency or to provide that day to day oversight, this is not a role that you
could reasonably assume, regardless of how you might otherwise serve in this
role, i.e. understanding the intimate decisions of the person you’d represent
and possessing the strength to follow the course if ever called upon.
Another practical consideration involves who will be the
financial counterpart to you. Determine whether you are compatible with the
person who has been asked to manage your friend’s finances because acting as
healthcare proxy requires that you interface that person. You will be dependent
upon their support for the work that you could be called upon to perform and
the services and supplies you may need to provide.
And yet another fundamental examination of your fit for the
role is your ethical position on the treatments that may be required and/or the
continuation of life, or not, decisions that may present themselves. Do your
religious, spiritual or intellectual guideposts conflict with what you may be
called upon to support?
Saying yes to a person honoring you with their trust in you,
anticipating the most intimate decisions in a time when their life depends on
you, requires some careful and thorough introspection before yes should be your
answer.
Stories of the Stars… If Only
Equal to preparing the asset management components of your
estate plan is “end of life planning.” Joan Rivers may be a grand star shining
in the universe of ideas discussed in this month’s article when it comes to
knowing that and showing the way. Joan Rivers, who found material for her
comedy even in this topic, gave the responsibility for making the decision of
her continued life or its end to her daughter Melissa.
In Time Magazine’s tribute to Joan following her death,
calling Joan “the boundary busting comedian” carried the line Joan liked to
quote from Sally Marr: “I ain’t afraid of death, I’m in show business. I died a
million times,” in humorous recognition of the many rejections survived on the
way to fame.
Making her wishes known regarding the trust and confidence
she had place in her daughter, even publicly, with a spot in her reality show
in 2014 prior to her death in September of that year, Joan candidly advised her
daughter to be ready in case Joan did not recover from upcoming surgery;
assuring Melissa that she would be fine when the time came.
Not an “If Only” example of estate planning that could have
gone better, but instead a model to consider as you ask someone to support you
in this most profound undertaking and as you respond to taking such a mantle.
Dear Reader… we welcome your questions on matters related to
estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance the
potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| The fabulous flavors of the fall feast by Victoria Larson on 11/01/2019
Fall is the season where we harvest the fruition of what was
planted in spring and summer. We gather in the fruits, grains, nuts and seeds,
and all the abundance of fall vegetables. We turn to inward thoughts, our homes
and our families. We take quiet walks to enjoy the coloring of the leaves. We
rest more to keep that immune system in tip-top shape. The Days of Thanks
(which should actually be every day) are a good time to do a little fall
cleanse of our digestive system in which you might include the juices of beets,
celery, carrots, parsley, zucchini and such though always diluted with water or
apple, grape, or pear juices.
Chinese medicine states this is the season of the lungs and
the large intestine. After the mine-cleanse of juices you may be eating fewer
fruits than you did in the summer. We turn now more to the grains and
vegetables, which are especially nice roast in the oven or even over an open
fire or the grill. Those who eat meat may include more, while the vegetarians
may increase beans, nuts, seeds and even some eggs. Either way, the Instapot
and crockpot will play a greater role in the preparation of soups, stews and
bone broths. Fall is the start of the yin cycle, the inward turning cycle. It
is the time to finish those projects of spring and summer, and to put the
garden temporarily to bed. Thus, may we prepare for a day (or more) of
feasting.
There will be an abundance of recipes for stuffing, whether
you stuff a turkey, bell peppers, squash or cook the stuffing in a pan. We are
so scared of gluten that gluten-free is on most every menu in every restaurant
now. But the real problem may be in buying average bread from a big box store
or regular grocery store. Our bodies are not made to digest that amount of
gluten at one sitting. If you make an effort to locate organic, heirloom
grains, preferably sprouted or soured, you may digest better than most of
America’s quickly grown, high-gluten bread! In our country everything is all
about the money, so everything is fast, fast, fast. While there is currently no
genetically modified wheat in the United States (yet), it would be a good thing
to avoid. Pita bread has no yeast but should be avoided by anyone with a grain
allergy.
Broccoli is being harvested now and even the children learn
to love those “little trees.” It is very nutrient dense and easy to prepare. It
is high in vitamins C, B complex, calcium, potassium and chromium (which helps
to prevent diabetes). Broccoli is among the cruciferous vegetables which
include cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi and more. These cruciferous vegetables
are all anti-cancer foods, though you should try to avoid any vegetable grown
in high nitrate soils or where Round-Up is used. Opt for the freshest and
darkest broccoli you can find and roast in a hot oven or steam it just until
the color turns a very bright green.
Cranberries, that traditional accompaniment, are very high
in vitamin C, bioflavonoids and fiber. Also pretty on the plate and a nice
tangy side dish for the other rather salty and rich foods of the fall feast.
Most women are aware of the reputation that cranberries have for alleviating
urinary tract infections. But don’t stop just with the cranberry sauce, put the
dried ones in your green salad or bake a cranberry and pear pie.
Mushrooms are body-building and anti-aging foods that can be
eaten after your mini-cleanse and at any big feast. Use them when they are very
fresh or totally dried as a base for broths, gravies, soups and stews. Called
“fungus” in Asian cultures, they are very low in calories but high in minerals
and will boost your immune system, which is a good thing to do in the fall as
preparation for winter colds and flu. According to Paul Stamets, PhD, it is
best to not eat mushrooms raw (even the common white ones found in most grocery
stores). Though I can’t imagine that three or four in a salad would cause much
harm. Probably best to serve mushrooms on the side as one never knows who among
your guests might not enjoy mushrooms.
Olives are usually served as an appetizer or worn on the
fingers of any children present. Olives are a big part of the Mediterranean
diet as they are high in monosaturated fats which help control cholesterol
levels. Plus, they too are low in calories (for those who are still counting
them). My belief is there’s no need to count calories if you just eat healthy
foods and not many of the packaged, processed, junk foods on the supermarket
shelves. Olive oil is one great oil to use on your salad with just a little
fresh lemon juice and herbs of your choice added.
Onions, which can be so well used in the fall feast, are a
good source of trace minerals, especially germanium, which is also in mushrooms
and many herbs. Onions help decrease food allergies, fungal overgrowth, viruses
and cancer as well as being beneficial for the heart. I eat onions daily, both
cooked and raw, and have been told that my heart is two years younger than my
actual age! You can fill your onions with stuffing or nuts, make pickled onions
or even cook the small ones with your broccoli.
Mashed potatoes are known to be a big part of the fall
feast, but you can serve them in any form that appeals to you. Commercial
onions and potatoes have been treated with sprout inhibitors which have been
known to cause cellular changes in tests, so try to buy organic potatoes, or
better yet, grow your own potatoes. Try to harvest them before there are too
many rains as that can cause them to rot in the ground. Do not make the mistake
of thinking that potatoes should not be grown because they are so cheap to buy.
The flavor of a home-grown potato is superb! You can even use any potatoes you
have that may have sprouted to grow new ones next spring. The lifeforce is so
strong that they will grow even if coated in sprout inhibitors (which obviously
don’t work anyway). Potatoes are a staple in some of the Mexican cancer clinics
because of their potassium content. To make a high potassium broth, just cook
potatoes with carrots, celery and parsley. Strain out the broth and store it in
your refrigerator to be warmed up for recovery from illness.
Ahh pumpkin, the piece-de-resistance. Pumpkins are plentiful
and being harvested right now. Their lovely color makes them a rich source of
beta-carotene, as well as vitamins A, C and potassium. The seeds are a source
of iron, vitamins B, E and fiber. The seeds can be baked or roasted, used to
top soups or stews. You can roast the seeds for a snack and flavor them with
your favorite herbs. You can purchase them already shelled or roasted as well.
Try to buy them packaged rather than from open bins as the ones in the bins may
have been already oxidized. This is the opposite of my usual advice to not buy
packaged foods.
The Day-of-Thanks is a feast day in the United States and
many people serve turkey. Though I once had a friend who had a freezer full of
trout that her husband had caught and she decided that would make a perfect
Thanksgiving meal. So, you don’t have to serve turkey, but poultry is an
excellent source of protein. You could serve anything from game hens to
Tofurkey as they all have less saturated fat than any other meats. Turkey is
high in vitamins A, B and minerals. The latest studies say to not wash your
poultry as that leads to kitchen-wide contaminants. If you can afford a
free-range and organic turkey go for it as supermarket pre-packaged turkeys are
preserved with formaldehyde. Whether you cook your poultry in an oil-coated
paper bag or a deep-fryer, remember to be thankful for your food.
Last but not least, the pies if you are serving them.
Whether apple, berry, nut, pear, pumpkin, squash or Vegan be sure to enjoy!
It’s ok to treat yourself and your guests and they will be thankful.
|
| Thanksgiving for two by Taeler Butel on 11/01/2019
A Thanksgiving dinner using just a few ingredients. This
meal is casual and scrumptious. Great for Friendsgiving!
Mustard & cranberry turkey thighs
4 turkey thighs, skin on and pat dried with paper towels
1 T each olive oil and butter
1/2 t dried thyme
1 T sea salt
1 t cracked black pepper
1 t onion powder
1/4 cup flour
1 T baking powder
1 T stone ground mustard
1/2 cup prepared whole cranberry sauce
Heat the oil and butter on medium high heat in a large,
oven-safe skillet. Mix together flour, baking powder, onion powder, thyme, salt
and pepper. Dredge turkey thighs in mixture, place skin side down in hot oil.
Sauté skin side down for five minutes, flip and place in oven. Bake at 365
degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the juices run clear. Mix cranberry sauce
and mustard, pour over the thighs and place back in oven for ten minutes.
Roasted Brussels with Parmesan
1 lb Brussels sprouts
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 each t salt and pepper
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Trim bottoms of sprouts, peel off
any tough leaves and cut in half. Mix salt, pepper and parmesan cheese
together. Toss mixture with sprouts and roast for 30 minutes, turning once.
Butternut squash fries
1 med-sized butternut squash
1 each t salt and pepper
1 T olive oil
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel butternut squash and
slice into steak fries. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and
pepper. Spread the fries onto a large baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes
turning every so often.
Pie apples
Medium size peeled apples, any type, with bottom cored,
leaving the top intact
1/2 cup light brown sugar mixed with 1 T cinnamon
Cinnamon sticks
1 package thawed puff pastry
Egg wash
Caramel sauce
Heat the oven to 365 degrees. Push a cinnamon stick into the
top of each apple. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a dish and roll the peeled apple
in the sugar. Cut pastry into squares, and wrap around the apples using the
scraps to make leaves. Brush with egg wash. Bake for 30 minutes and serve warm
with caramel sauce.
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall.
It’s autumn once again and for many parents and
photographers it means senior portrait season.
There are many photographers to choose from these days when
it comes to creating portraiture, but what if you would like to attempt it
yourself? In this day and age, you have the tools to do it, even if you use
your smartphone camera. All you would need to provide would be your own
artistic touch, but there are a few tricks to learn and remember that could
help your success.
The first thing to keep in mind is composition. As in all
forms of visual art a strong and creative composition is imperative. A photo
can be technically imperfect, but if the subject is interesting and the
composition is strong then the photo will still be effective. Remembering the
basics of composition, especially the “Rule of Thirds” will help to create that
perfect composition. Avoid centering your subject or having them stand facing
directly at the camera. Turn their body in one direction and have them turn
their head toward the camera for instance. Take some time to research poses before
your go out with your subject.
Find an interesting location. The location should not be a
part of the subject of the photo but should enhance the experience of the
moment that you’re capturing. Places such as a garden or a park with
landscaping or features such as rock walls, interesting buildings or trees.
Allow your subject to be a part of the scene. Have them lean against or stand
in front of the feature. It’s autumn, so many times a location with some
beautiful fall leaves will be a great backdrop, especially if the leaves are
illuminated by warm morning or afternoon light from behind.
Second only to composition in importance is lighting.
Portraiture can be created outdoors in natural light without external lighting
in certain situations. Try to find filtered light or a shady spot for even
tones. I try to avoid direct sunlight on my subjects. This can be done by
standing in a shaded area or by blocking the light with a piece of cardboard or
matboard. If the subject is too dark in the area that you choose, then either a
soft flash or a reflector to direct ambient light onto the subject can
illuminate them. You can use a simple piece of white matboard, or something
similar, to reflect indirect sunlight onto your subject. This method also works
well when the subject is backlit.
Choosing a camera is less important these days, especially
considering the resolution that modern smartphones possess. It’s completely
practical to use a smartphone for your photos. Today’s phones are capable of
taking excellent images and there are apps that will allow you to artfully edit
the photos. The only limitation may be the size of which that you’re capable of
printing the photos, but in most all cases it’s not an issue. Most smartphones
can allow you to set certain settings manually and to save the image as a raw
file which enables the photo to be edited more extensively, including creating
a shallow depth of field to blur the background. The phone app will also give
you editing options for your photos. Take out your phone and give it a whirl.
If you own a digital single lens reflex camera, or a similar
solid body camera, with interchangeable lenses, make sure that your shutter
speed is fast enough so as not to have any kind of motion blur from movement of
your hand or the subject. An open aperture, smaller f/stop number will help by
allowing more light into the camera while also creating a shallow depth of
field, blurring the background while keeping the subject sharp. This will also
help to separate your subject from the background.
Post processing, or developing, your photos can be fairly
easy with some of the apps for smartphones or programs for desktop computers
that are available. Many are similar to Instagram filters where you have a list
of effects that you can click on to preview to see what your photo would look
like. Just click until you find one that works or is close, you can do fine
tuning in most cases, and then save the high-resolution file.
In most cases there’s no substitute for a professional with
experience in working with composition and light who uses professional level
equipment. But if you’re wanting to try it yourself first, go for it. What do
you have to lose but a little time? It’s fun to photograph your children or
your grandchildren and will give you some quality time with them, and you’ll
gain some valuable photography experience and, perhaps, some beautiful senior
portraits.
|
| Viewpoints – Sandy: Community Campus update by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 10/01/2019
The Sandy Community Campus is an exciting project that can
help our community grow into the future. This project would allow us to
revitalize the Pleasant Street neighborhood into a vibrant gathering place for
our community. It would also allow us to create a more business and community
friendly area for businesses off of our downtown core that has a state highway
running through it.
To make this project a reality, our community must first go
through a process that engages our citizens, local business leaders,
neighborhood advocates and taxpayers to create something that we all want.
First a little background. The City of Sandy purchased the
former Cedar Ridge Middle School Campus and neighboring aquatic center in 2017
for about $3 million. Included in this purchase was two parcels of land to the
north of the old Cedar Ridge Middle School: the existing football field and the
adjacent wooded areas. This gives the city 35.08 acres of land to work with.
This purchase allows our community to control the plans for
nearly 40 acres of land that sits just adjacent to our downtown core. Rarely
are communities afforded an opportunity to dream so big. That said, as is
usually the case with big dreams – there are also significant challenges.
Our City Council is embarking on a process that will begin
with community feedback. We are commissioning a public opinion survey that will
gather the opinions of our neighbors regarding what amenities they’d like to
see in such a project, as well as what they’d be willing to pay for them.
Additionally, there will be a large amount of community feedback gathered
through our Parks Master Planning process that our Parks Committee is embarking
on over the next several months.
This information will help determine if we move forward with
a proposal to put in front of voters.
In the past, leaders have simply decided to pay to keep the
aquatic center open. The recent result of this decision was the draining of our
city’s general and contingency (rainy day) funds to the tune of nearly $500,000
a year. This put our city budget into a very precarious situation. To move
forward, both the pool and the community campus will need proper and stable
funding. Taxpayers need to be the ones to decide the future of the project
since they will be the ones funding it.
If this public opinion survey comes back favorably, our
council would look to support the consideration of a ballot measure for our
community to decide whether they’d like to fund such a project in the form of
an Oregon Trail Recreation District. Not only would this district provide a
long-term and stable funding source for the Community Campus Project, but it
could additionally provide funding to improve Sandy’s current parks and trails.
Additionally, our Council is looking at alternative solutions
that can help us reach and/or enhance these same collective goals through
public/private partnerships in a more efficient and cost-effective way
utilizing the skills and entrepreneurial spirit of America’s private sector.
The idea would be to provide a service to our community from the private sector
that could stimulate commercial retail activity along Pleasant Street. It would
also provide our community with a plethora of greatly enhanced recreational
activity choices and parkland on the back portion of the property.
Together, we will develop a vision for Sandy’s future that
provides a great sense of community for generations to come. Together, we can
Keep Sandy Wonderful.
|
| Viewpoints - Salem: Supporting Child Welfare by Rep. Anna Williams on 10/01/2019
Last month, the legislature gathered in Salem for September
Legislative Days, a time for the House and Senate to check in, set priorities
for the next session and hear how the bills we passed in previous sessions are
being implemented. During Legislative Days, I was honored to sit as Vice-Chair
of the House Committee on Human Services and Housing for the first time. The
committee held an informational hearing on a wide variety of topics, and I took
in a huge amount of information. The two issues that most stuck with me,
though, were child welfare oversight and children’s advocacy center funding.
It’s no secret that Oregon has struggled with our Child
Welfare agency in recent years. That’s why Governor Kate Brown instituted the
Child Welfare Oversight Board, which provided our committee with an update on
its progress. Child Welfare is in the process of hiring more than 300 new
caseworkers, which should end the current backlog of reports of abuse and
neglect. As a social worker, I know that massive caseloads are a primary reason
people can’t access needed services, as well as the main reason for high
turnover at agencies like the Department of Human Services. I worked hard to
ensure the legislature would fund these new caseworker positions, and I will
continue to push for strong oversight of our state’s child welfare programs as
the new caseworkers and managers get to work.
Unfortunately, no matter how effective our child welfare
programs become, some children will still be subject to abuse. That’s why
funding for our state’s children’s advocacy centers (CAC) is a top priority for
me. By working with law enforcement officers, mental health counselors and
forensic interviewers, CACs are critically important to our state’s response to
violence against children. They expertly investigate reports of abuse, which
allows law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable, but most importantly
they help children heal from the trauma of abuse. By all accounts, communities
that have access to CACs have vastly better outcomes in terms of offender
accountability, and also in terms of children and their families having access
to the supports needed to overcome these traumatic experiences.
CACs, like many other services, are disproportionately
underfunded in rural areas. The Columbia Gorge CAC, for example, serves five
sprawling, rural and frontier counties, and only has a single part-time medical
provider to see patients. Some patients have to drive for more than two hours
just to get to the facility, and if the medical provider is unavailable for any
reason, they are sometimes referred to a similar facility in Portland. The
Columbia Gorge CAC and other facilities facing similar struggles deserve
assistance from the state government.
This investment would pay for itself: in over ten years of
operating, only three cases investigated by the Columbia Gorge CAC have gone to
a jury trial, because the quality of evidence produced there almost always
leads to a guilty plea.
That’s not to mention the future health care costs that may
be avoided when children receive specialized counseling and begin the process
of recovery as soon as possible. While abuse can impact a child’s life forever,
effective treatment can drastically reduce those impacts and empower victims to
thrive.
Until the state improves our funding model for these
programs, CACs are forced to do their own fundraising to pay for the services
they provide. It’s a travesty that Oregon isn’t doing a better job to support
facilities like the Columbia Gorge CAC, and I pledge to work for state funding
during the upcoming legislative session. Still, in the meantime, fundraisers
are essential for these organizations, so I encourage you to join me and the
Columbia Gorge CAC at its annual fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 26 at The Ruins
in Hood River. The Children’s Center (serving Clackamas County) is also holding
a fundraiser on Friday, Oct. 25 at the Embassy Suites Washington Square in
Tigard.
If you would like information about either of these events,
or want to reach me for any other reason, please email me at
Rep.AnnaWilliams@oregonlegislature.gov, or call my office at 503-986-1452.
I am committed to addressing these challenging issues and
would love to hear your feedback as I do so.
|
| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: Library of Things opens by Mary Soots on 10/01/2019
In May I wrote a column about toy-sharing programs and I’m
giddy with excitement about something that is happening in our community – a
Library of Things! “What is a Library of Things,” you ask? Well, according to
the Clackamas County Library website, “A Library of Things is a collection of
items such as kitchenware, musical instruments and games hosted at a library
that library patrons can check out with their Libraries in Clackamas County
(LINCC) library card.” Imagine that you are hosting friends for the weekend and
would like to have games for their kids to use, and maybe you want to make an
extra special meal that you haven’t made because you don’t have the equipment
you need. You can just go down to the library and check them out. When you’re
finished, you return them. There’s no expense of purchasing equipment that
you’ll rarely use again. And the best part of all is that you don’t have to
find space to store things you won’t need again.
Ours is a material culture that embraces the idea of owning
more and more things. If you’ve never watched the classic video by comedian
George Carlin on our accumulation of “stuff,” I highly recommend it. He states
that when we run out of room in our houses to store our stuff, we need to get a
bigger house to place it in. Or we need to avail ourselves of the one of the
fastest-growing industries – personal storage space. According to the website
Curbed, one in 11 Americans pays for space to store our overflow, making it a
$38 billion industry. They cite that “The volume of self-storage units in the
country could fill the Hoover Dam with old clothing, skis and keepsakes more
than 26 times.” This is due to people relocating, young people being forced to
live in tiny urban residences, and retirees who have downsized into a home
where their accumulated stuff doesn’t fit.
I’ve had occasion to check out a piece of equipment from a
library in Portland. It was a VHS to DVD converter. I had a favorite exercise
video (from the 1980s) that I had held on to just in case I ever had a VHS
player again. Alas, I didn’t, but I was loathe to part with the video, so it
languished in a drawer for years. Until I learned of the lending library. There
was a waiting list, but eventually I got the email telling me that the
converter was mine for two weeks. I laughed uproariously when I saw the big
hair and the shimmery leotards, but I was happy to have my video again.
One of the best parts of having a Library of Things is that
you can experiment with something before you decide to invest in one of your
own. Let’s say you’ve always wanted to learn to play the bass guitar. You can
try it out and see if you actually have the time and patience to develop
musical mastery. If you decide that it was a passing fancy, you won’t feel
guilty about having invested heavily in it.
Of course, another benefit to the community is that a
Library of Things promotes sustainability. If each household purchased the same
baking mold, it would require the use of more resources and eventually the
disposal of those molds. However, if we as a community shared those molds, the
demand for resources would be diminished and waste would be reduced.
The Library of Things became available on Monday, Sept. 23
at eight Clackamas County libraries including the Hoodland and the Sandy libraries.
The funding for this innovative program is through Clackamas County
Sustainability and Solid Waste (SSW). Please check the website for updates on
what types of things are available. As the program grows in popularity, so will
the number of things that are available.
Although there will be all types of stuff available to
borrow, you won’t find any power tools at the library at this time. My guess is
that would create a liability if some novice hurt themselves misusing one of
the library’s power saws. Nonetheless, there will be plenty of other things
that you can borrow. Please share this information with others and make this
exciting community program a huge success!
|
| Is your diet beneficial to your brain? by Victoria Larson on 10/01/2019
Last month’s column brought up more questions that we may
need to address – like why is increasing fats in your diet a better idea for
our brains and why we should avoid the current Standard American Diet (SAD) of
high carbohydrates and sugar and prepackaged foods?
Some of the interesting things to note are that we all
should know that doing the same thing over and over while getting the same
results just doesn’t get us anywhere. The Federal Drug Association (FDA)
currently lists five drugs to help with Alzheimer’s and dementia symptoms. None
of these drugs is a cure. The cost of this drug development has been more than
five billion dollars, and that is approximately twice the cost of research and
development for every other drug on the market! Yearly deaths from heart
disease, HIV and strokes are going down while deaths from Alzheimer’s have gone
up by 89 percent over the last 20 years. One in two people over the age of 85
gets Alzheimer’s. Death occurs because the central nervous system of the brain
no longer signals the body to function, like breathing or heart rate. We are no
closer to a cure than we were twenty years ago.
The cost of taking care of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients
was almost $300 billion in 1918. The cost of healthcare in the US is expected
to be more than $20 trillion between 2018 and 2050. Somebody is watching these
numbers. Yet in the past year, a half a dozen drugs have gone away due to
failures. The debate continues to focus on whether the amyloid plaques or some
other biomarker for the disease. Drugs from companies like Astra Zenica, Ely
Lilly, Johnson and Johnson, Merck and Takena are rarely advertised now as they
didn’t really work and were very expensive, as are most drugs in the US. So,
the ads have been quietly removed.
Amyloid plaques are the biomarkers currently found in the
brains of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. These are the neurofibrillary
tangles of proteins, also called tau. These markers usually show up in people
who get brain scans and are over 65 years of age. They show up in even younger
people now. They also show up in ALS.
Paul Cox, a 65-year-old with a PhD in biology from Harvard,
wanted to know more before it was too late. His in-depth studies led him to
Guam where citizens were 100 times more likely to get Alzheimer’s/dementia than
people anywhere else in the world. What was going on? It seemed like a good
place to start his research, but it gets complicated from here on.
It turns out that cycad tree seeds with a certain blue-green
alga contain the toxic substance called BMAA, which interferes with amino acids
crucial to brain health. Then bats ate the seeds and the toxin accumulated in
their fat store. Now I know you’re not eating bat stew like the people of Guam
were, but it was a delicacy to the people of Guam. So much so that the bats
were actually hunted to extinction. Good, right? But there’s more. The increase
in the concentration of the toxins have been found in Africa and Asia. Also, in
some lakes in Arizona, Lake Erie, New England and Utah. Blue crabs, a delicacy
I’ve always wanted to try off the coast of Florida, have a concentration of the
toxin as high as the bats in Guam. Some toxins are now getting into the crabs,
shrimp and other marine life off Florida. Talk about “bats in the belfry…”
It turns out that the toxin replaces serine (an amino acid)
in the brain by getting into the protein chains in the amino acids. This
triggers a misfolding that can kill the neurons (but serine is safe for humans
as it is neuroprotective against the protein folding). There’s a lot of protein
in bacon… or do you think you should go out and buy a lot of expensive
supplements? I don’t think that’s the answer, especially if you have a
compromised digestive system as most people over 65 years of age do. My
experience can tell you that most people over 45 years of age have compromised
digestive systems.
Now let’s go back to Okinawa, the subject of my May 2019
column. The small area of the north side of the island of Japan is known as the
Village of Longevity (though hardly a “village” as 4,000 people life there).
Many have now studied the area, including the researcher of the Blue Zones.
They have decided that reasons for such longevity are multifactorial. They
include a diet high in tofu (locally made and without GMO materials), diet,
intimate communities, matriarchal societies (women live particularly long
there) and years of exercise. These are people who do not eat bread, eggs or
milk. A typical breakfast is seaweed and miso soup with a small amount of rice
and mushrooms, which is what I was served in my month-long stay in China. While
an unfamiliar taste, I was told that the greens had been collected at dawn and
the mushrooms (known as fungi there) were also freshly picked. Other meals in
“the Village of Longevity” were stir-fried greens with burdock (like a cross
between a carrot and a parsnip), mushrooms (fungi) and other vegetables over
rice and a small amount of fish or meat.
The people of this Okinawa are consuming three to four times
more serine that Americans get. But we do have these foods available, it’s just
that few people are eating them. While you probably cannot get locally made
tofu unless you are making it yourself, many places like healthy markets
provide burdock and dried seaweed (kids love it and it makes a great snack),
and sweet potatoes.
We can all decrease meat, have fish two to three times a
week and small amounts of rice. Keep trying and keep trying different recipes.
Don’t you want to live to be over 100? Many of my friends are in their 90s and
even Rose Kennedy lived to be 106. Maybe we can too?
|
| Revoking a will, let me count the ways by Paula Walker on 10/01/2019
You’ve completed your will and now life’s changes bring you
to the point that it no longer serves your purposes, what can you do in Oregon
to revoke that will.
Slash and burn: starting with the possibly more dramatic
approaches, you can completely or partially destroy your existing will — burn,
tear, cut, otherwise mutilate. Physical destruction or damage to the will
invalidates the entire will. You can also have another person take those
destructive actions for you, however, for that to be determined as your willful
and intentional act that person must destroy the will in your presence with two
witnesses, and you must make it clear to each that it is your intention to
revoke your will by this destroying it, whether the destruction is complete or
partial in its damage.
Physically alter: you can write ‘VOID’ on each of the pages,
or X out your signature to invalidate your entire will.
Replacement: a bit less dramatic and a whole lot more
effective is to create another will to replace the prior version; the replacement
stating your intent to “revoke all prior wills.” Not only more effective in
conveying your clear intent, replacing with a new will does not leave your
estate to the consequences of dying “intestate,” i.e. without a will, without
any direction of your intent for who should receive what, leaving instead to
the state and the court system to decide.
Revoke in full or in part (i.e. change it in part or fully
change it): the replacement approach above, constitutes revoke in full.
Revoking in part requires other methods. The ‘slash and burn’ tactics mentioned
above do not serve to change specific portions of your will and leave the
remaining provisions serviceable; neither does physically altering only
portions or certain provisions of your will. In Oregon those techniques are all
inclusive, the entire will is invalidated. To revoke in part under Oregon law
you must create a codicil, which is a written amendment to your will. Like the
original will, a codicil requires two witness signatures to be legally valid.
Legal presumption: in Oregon, if the will is lost the
presumption is that it was intentionally destroyed or never existed and hence
the estate falls to the Oregon’s rules of intestacy.
The do it yourself approach of physically destroying or
altering a will, its disappearance, especially without credible evidence in
writing of some sort that it was your intent to completely invalidate the will
you had prior, leaves your family in a limbo regarding your intent and can
cause timely, costly legal proceedings to try to uncover your true intent, the
rightful administrator of your estate and the rightful recipients of what
you’ve left behind. The rules of intestacy identify the legally “rightful”
recipients according to those rules; however, they may not be your intended
recipients.
Stories of the Stars, If only…
This September, a year since her death, finds Michigan
courts and the potential beneficiaries of Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul,”
embroiled in the effort to determine whether of three hand written documents
found in her Michigan home there exists a valid will. These include one found
under her couch cushions.
About the family “in limbo,” Aretha’s four sons, Clarence,
Jordan, Ted and Kecalf had filed for probate in Michigan court shortly after
her death simply as “interested persons.” Most recently, the discovery of the
handwritten documents has upended the agreement by the four sons to accept
Sabrina Owens as the executor of the estate. Court proceedings have begun on
petitions to appoint instead Kecalf, Aretha’s youngest, based on information
found in those documents.
And the legal wrangling continues. . .
Dear reader, we welcome your questions on matters related to
estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance the
potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| Preserving the summer by Taeler Butel on 10/01/2019
Summer is gone, but these late crop recipes can help the
sunshine linger longer. Store and eat within a week or can for the winter, when
you need a sunny day.
Zucchini relish
So good on hamburgers, hot dogs and spoons!
3 medium size zucchinis, shredded
1 bell pepper, sliced thin
1 onion, sliced thin
1 t caraway seeds
1 t celery salt
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup organic or raw sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 T pink peppercorns
Mix squash, onion, salt and pepper and place in a large
covered glass bowl overnight.
Drain water the next day, combine with the other ingredients
and place in jars. Process or refrigerate.
Summer Succotash
This veggie-filled side is making a comeback!
3-4 ears of corn or 2 cups frozen
2 cups frozen lima beans
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 T olive oil
1 T heavy cream (optional)
1 T red wine vinegar
1 t each black pepper and kosher salt
Chopped basil or parsley
Cut the kernels off the corn cobs over a bowl. Heat a large
skillet to medium heat and heat the olive oil in the skillet. Add the corn, red
onion and red bell pepper. Add salt and pepper. Sauté for about six to eight
minutes. Everything should be soft but not mushy. Add in the lima beans, heavy
cream, red wine vinegar and pinch of salt. Stir and let the flavors come
together for a couple minutes. Finish with some chopped herbs.
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall.
It’s summer here in Oregon but it won’t be long before the
leaves start to turn to their autumn colors. The viney-maples up Lolo Pass are
turning red, particularly those that are in direct sunlight most of the day, so
once the process starts the leaves will change quickly. I love summertime and,
considering the approach of the long stretch of wet grey winter weather, never
really want it to leave, but I love the colors of autumn for photos.
I don’t make my most beautiful photos in the warm, clear,
long summer days. It’s the spring or autumn days that I wait for each year to
make the photos that I like the best, especially autumn. I even dare to say
that I like photographing these landscapes in the rain. The rain creates a
lush, rich feel to the photos. I like the rain because it dampens and cleans
the forest. A wet forest allows me to use my circular polarizer filter to
remove the glare and reflections of the sky from the forest foliage and allows
the lush, bright color to come through in the photograph. It’s not the same with
dry leaves, but wet leaves polarized make the colors pop in the photo.
It’s not like summertime is devoid of photography
opportunities, I can take some nice photos in the summertime, but at that time
of the year the bulk of the photos that I make are sunrises or sunsets which
require a little sacrifice of sleep at times, and then once the sky is filled
with bright sunlight I’m done until the light changes again. And winter is
fine, but the trees are stark and bare, and the best photos are made in the
fresh snow so timing can be critical. And besides, it’s cold outside.
I enjoy photographing the forests, creeks and waterfalls of
our area a lot. We have so many little creeks or views into the forest from the
edge of our local side roads that I don’t even need to hike to create a
beautiful photo, which really makes it handy if it’s raining. The creeks are
full in the fall and are usually lined with bright yellow viney-maples and
devil’s club, with broad leaf maples arching overhead and backed by columns of
Douglas fir trees. And when there’s a mist in the trees, especially with soft
light sifting through, it creates an ethereal scene. Add the colors of the
autumn leaves and these scenes take on a new life of warm light. And when the
sun does shine into the wet forest, some amazing misty conditions can be
created. Shafts of light cut through soft mists as they filter through the
trees.
It’s natural to think that the best time of the year for
photos is during the dry weather of summertime, but don’t discount the wet
weather of autumn. Instead of dreading the end of summer, embrace it as it’s
inevitable and have a great time taking photos.
|
| Viewpoints – Salem: Better support for survivors of violence by Rep. Anna Williams on 08/31/2019
As I consider my priorities for the short session in 2020,
one topic keeps coming back to me: our state needs to do better at providing
accessible and appropriate services for domestic violence and sexual assault
survivors.
As a social worker, I spent more than a decade working
directly with these survivors, finding them support, counseling and basic needs
like food and housing.
Survivors face struggles well beyond the direct physical
impacts of the violence inflicted upon them. As their injuries heal, their
trauma can accumulate and cause long-term emotional harm. Their children and
loved ones also suffer as a result, which in turn impacts educational
attainment, housing security, health outcomes and financial well-being. In this
way, an act of domestic or sexual violence can impact a family for generations
after the violence takes place.
I am proud to say that Oregon does a great job of helping
survivors in some very specific circumstances: when a victim reports abuse to
law enforcement or to emergency medical providers. Some areas of our state have
robust violence prevention programs in their schools, taking advantage of the
excellent work done by the Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force and the
Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
However, in many parts of our state, particularly the rural
areas, the only points of intervention the state provides exist in law
enforcement and hospital settings. These are crisis response services, and
they’re critical, but if this is all we provide we are addressing the problem
far too late. Many of the struggles survivors face are indirectly caused by the
fact that they lack access to health care (physical and mental) as well as
supportive services like child care until they are faced with a medical
emergency.
In addition to the personal impacts of abuse, the fact that
so many survivors receive no assistance until they check into an emergency room
results in massive, unnecessary costs to the state. In the coming legislative
session, I will propose that Oregon should use its public healthcare funding to
provide qualified domestic and sexual violence advocates to survivors. These
advocates will connect survivors with the care that they need before their
situations become medical emergencies, which is better for survivors, their
children and our communities as a whole.
It is incredibly difficult for a survivor to tell their
doctor, “I’m coming to you because I am a victim of domestic violence, which is
impacting my health, my parenting, my job and my connections to my community.”
With an advocate to help them articulate these struggles to service providers
before a crisis takes place, survivors can get the help they need when it can
do the most good.
The benefits of such a system would be widespread: it could
bring about reduced health care costs, improved housing outcomes, increased
high school graduation rates and higher economic prosperity in communities
where abuse has disproportionately negative impacts.
Domestic and sexual violence are not only criminal justice
issues: they are health care issues, educational issues, economic issues and
fundamental societal issues. It’s time that we started treating them that way,
and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Oregon Legislature to
continue to improve our services for survivors of violence across the state. Anna Williams is the House District 52 Representative.
|
| Viewpoints - Sandy: Traffic update by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 08/31/2019
I’m thrilled to announce that at this past month’s City
Council Meeting, we directed our city staff to advance forward with a proposed
timeline for the SE 362nd to Bell St. Extension Project. This project is
critical to improving the bottleneck that is created every morning and
afternoon during the school year as a result of most of our schools’ single
access point of Bluff Road.
As someone who commutes to work and has two young daughters
enrolled in Oregon Trail Schools, we drive to and from school each day, I can
attest to the frustration! This extension of 362nd Ave to Bell St. (the street
which Sandy High School is on) will provide another access point, giving
parents and neighbors the alternative route to and from schools off of Bluff
Road.
The following is the approved timeline:
– January, 2020: solicit qualifications statements for
design and construction management services and shortlist consultants (three
maximum)
– February, 2020: negotiate scope of work and fee
– March, 2020: begin survey, design and environmental
– August, 2020: define right-of-way requirements, perform
appraisals
– September, 2020: submit offers to property owners, submit
removal - fill permit application
– October, 2020: February, 2021 - complete right-of-way
acquisition, design and permitting process
– January, 2021: set up project financing in conjunction
with budget adoption process
– March, 2021: advertise for bids
In addition to City Council approving this timeline, it was
announced that our efforts in advocating for more funds out of Oregon
Department of Transportation (ODOT) for the Vista Loop – Ten Eyck Pedestrian
Sidewalk Project was successful. The Oregon Transportation Commission approved
an additional $1.1 million of funding for the project last week. This project
and funding is critical for the safety of our neighbors and young families that
continually walk that stretch of highway.
This is hot on the heels of our recent announcement of ODOT
agreeing to conduct and fund a feasibility study on a local bypass and their
willingness to install signal timers for our lights through town in the next
year.
Our Council and I are committed to working to improve our
traffic conditions in town, as well as work towards a more citizen-friendly and
walkable community. As you can see in our proposed timeline for the SE 362nd to
Bell St. Extension Project, these things take time. That said, we’re moving at
a rapid pace for a local government in order to reach our overarching goal to
keep Sandy wonderful! Stan Pulliam is the Mayor of the City of Sandy
|
| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: sustainability on the run by Mary Soots on 08/31/2019
My favorite grocery store is a local Portland-based chain
that features local, organic and fair-trade items. When in their area, I like
to cruise the bulk snacks to restock the snack jar in the car. It comes in
handy when I have no time for lunch or just want some road food. I also get
prepared food from the deli department to eat on the run or take home and
reheat. As a conscientious consumer, I carry a reusable covered container
similar to a three-section plate so that I can put everything in one container.
Voila! Lunch on the go with zero waste. Just wash the dish when I get home and
toss it back in the car. It also comes in handy to take leftovers from
restaurants.
Then I learned about a service that allows individuals to
subscribe to a lunch box to-go program. When you go to the grocery counter, or
into a growing number of delis and restaurants, you can ask for food to go in a
nice reusable plastic box, and then return the box to any vendor and it will be
cleaned and re-used. Kind of like when we used to refill glass pop bottles
rather than recycling them.
One of the benefits of using “to go” boxes is the idea of no
packaging and no food waste, of course. Another is that after you’ve consumed
the food, you won’t dispose of the container. You purchase a subscription for
the number of containers you want. When you return the ones you’ve taken,
you’re eligible for new ones.
I love the current movement to cut down on the amount of
waste produced by food and beverage containers. One group that has espoused the
idea are the promoters of the Hood to Coast Relay, held on Aug. 23-24 this
year. Although the event is good for local economies, it is also a mixed
blessing, in part because of the debris left in its wake. This year, they
partnered with a sustainability event organizer, Elysium Events. They began
with sending information to participants about sustainability. It included a
recycling sorting guide (via app to avoid printing) so that recyclable goods
are not sent to landfills due to contamination from non-recyclable materials.
According to a recent article in the Seaside Signal
newspaper, “Elysium has a strategy for helping in this area by providing
back-of-house sorting to remove contaminated items. Groups of students from
Glencoe High School and Roosevelt High School have volunteered to help with
sorting in exchange for bottles and cans that can be deposited for money at the
Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative.” This program allows money from bottles
and cans collected to be diverted to the organization of their choice.
Another campaign asked participants to sign a pledge to use
refillable containers. According to the Hood to Coast website, “If every team
pledges to use a refillable water jug and bottles, we can collectively avoid
over 150,000 single-use plastic bottles!” Similarly, they asked people to make
home-made snacks or purchase snacks in bulk rather than individually wrapped
items.
As this is the first year that sustainability measures were
taken for Hood to Coast, it will set a baseline that will inform how efforts can
be improved upon in the future.
While the Hood to Coast is working to decrease its footprint
on the mountain, there are other marathons and other events and sports that
have yet to follow in their footsteps in thinking about their environmental
impact. We all understand that when hiking, skiing, snowshoeing or bicycling,
we need nourishment and hydration to keep us going. Whether you’re running
errands or running a marathon, it is not so difficult to think outside the box
and to plan ahead. The choices are much more appealing, healthier and a lot
less expensive.
|
| Don’t be a pirate with an estate plan by Paula Walker on 08/31/2019
In equal importance to leaving your affairs neat and tidy
with a well-drafted Trust or Will is the comprehensive checklist that supports
this instrument. The biggest gift you can give to those you leave behind, is to
make it easy for the person you’ve appointed to administer your estate to
identify and access your numerous assets. Make the contents, location and means
of access to your entire treasure trove — those many things that constitute
your estate and your legacy — easy and straight forward to locate and manage
according to your plan. Do not make the transition a search for buried
treasure.
Provide a map: a single point of information that provides
the all-in-one guide to what you have and who to contact for the assistance
your administrator will need to wrap things up, close things out and properly
maintain them until that occurs. Help them, help you fulfill your objective for
a smooth, orderly and efficient accounting and transfer of your assets. Your
comprehensive Trust or Will serves the purpose of clearly stating to whom and
how to distribute your estate, but it does not identify, in needed detail, the
complete listing of all assets, where they are and the means to access them.
This “one stop” source of information is truly the key. This
comprehensive list must include not only each asset or type of asset but the
means of accessing it; the code, if you will, to the treasure chest. Internet
accounts, including social media accounts, email and online banking to name a
few, require passwords and possibly other coded information, such as your first
car, your favorite first grade teacher, your mother’s maiden name and more,
while financial institutions and banks require personal identification
information.
What should you list? Everything. Financial accounts: list
the financial institutions, the accounts, the account purpose if relevant to
managing their closure, such as the payments need to be made from them or
payments received in them. Retirement accounts. Credit Cards. Internet
accounts, including social media, email, photo repository. Real Estate holdings
and the location of deeds. Key Advisors, including your attorney, financial
planner, accountant, insurance agent and your spiritual/religious advisor. For
all of these provide the contact information and location if, for instance, you
deal with a particular branch and representative; and access information, user
IDs and passwords. Property maintenance: in the interim between your passing
and selling your real estate, list the person(s) to call if that property needs
maintenance. Property Security, including how to access your home, keep it
secure, not trigger alarms. Personal relationships: add to this a list of
personal relationships. These are just a few ideas for the many and varied list
of assets that you may have that belong on “your map.”
After creating it, maintain it. Equal in importance to creating
your map is maintaining it. As you know, this critical information is always in
flux; changes of bank accounts, new investments, changes of passwords. Review
this information annually. Set a date that makes it easy to remember this
important task; New Year’s or another date that is key to you and is a
convenient time to attend to this. It is a bit of a chore to create your first
edition, but revisions can be fairly quick and take reasonably little time to
accomplish.
And remember to safeguard this highly sensitive information,
such as keeping your map in a safe deposit box, a locked safe or a securely
password protected file. Give only your administrator the information necessary
to access this map, so that they have it when the time comes.
A treasure trove it is. This information is literally gold,
the key to the realm for your administrator who will be grateful that you left
them everything needed to do the job you’ve asked of them, straightforwardly
and efficiently. Good for them, and good for those you intend to benefit from
your life.
Stories of the Stars
If Only...
Billionaire Matthew Mellon II, heir to a banking dynasty,
died suddenly of a heart attack in Cancun, Mexico on April 16, 2018, reportedly
leaving behind him cryptocurrency, XRP, that had risen to $1 billion at its
peak in January 2018 from his initial $2 million investment and placing him on
Forbes’ “First-Ever List Of Cryptocurrency’s Richest People.” This asset may
never be recovered due to Mr. Mellon keeping his digital keys to this currency
in different cold storage locations across the U.S., rented under different
names. Ingenious. Interesting. Inaccessible.
Taking a clue from this intriguing tale of the most
contemporary of asset types: remember to provide the map; the administration of
your estate plan should not be an Easter egg hunt or search for Spanish
doubloons.
Dear Reader, we welcome your questions on matters related to
estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance the
potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you. Please submit
your questions to Garth Guibord, at garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| The Ketogenic Plan: food for thought and focus by Victoria Larson on 08/31/2019
With school starting, we want to help our kids and grandkids
focus. For that matter, many of us adults could use some help in this matter.
Though changing what you eat, or what your kids eat, may not be easy it’s
certainly worth the effort. Especially if you want them to focus and think.
I’ve been writing these columns for nearly twenty years now
(!), so longtime readers know that I don’t like the word “diet.” So, let me
start with calling it the Ketogenic Food Plan. The Ketogenic Plan has grown out
of the Paleo style of eating which is what our ancestors did -- from early
humans up to about 100 years ago. Then things changed. Face it, our
grandparents ate simple, home-grown, home-prepared food. Not the overly
preserved, packaged stuff that dazzles the eye in modern supermarkets and big
box stores.
What we eat today is responsible for our health tomorrow...
or next year. Approximately three percent of chronic disease is caused by
genetics. The rest is caused by lifestyle choices. Most chronic disease today,
from diabetes to heart disease, is caused by those choices. The generation
behind me may not live as long as I will, and the generation after them may
live even less. When money and the economy are people’s biggest concerns, we’ve
lost perspective. What does it matter if you are rich if you don’t feel well or
our Earth is gasping it’s last breath?
Each of you must make your own choices regarding what you
eat, but you may have some control over what the kids eat. All – repeat, all -
modern food plans stress the need to avoid packaged, sugared food. Yet stores,
which are money-making enterprises, continually include more packaged foods,
leaving the poor oranges and avocadoes to languish. The simple truth is that
low- or no- sugar foods, high good-fat foods and less-packaged foods, like our
ancestors lived on, are the way things should be.
The Ketogenic Plan has lots of good fats, protein and less
than 5 percent carbohydrates. The healthy fats include fish (two to three times
per week), nuts (a handful per day), full-fat dairy, eggs, nuts and even butter.
Some say the brain needs glucose to function, but sugar has compromised out
health. The brain is composed of 90 percent fat and functions better with good
quality fat, but not the manipulated fats found in many of today’s foodstuffs.
The good fats include avocadoes, unprocessed full-fat cheese, sardines and
other foods, but not cakes, French fries, etc.
When food enters your stomach, it triggers receptors to
signal the hypothalamus to register that feeling of satiety (being full
enough). Good fats do this readily but manipulated fats and carbohydrates make
you want to eat more and more to achieve that state. Eating carbs makes you
want to eat more carbs as you’ve no doubt discovered. Eggs have been given a
bad rap for years. Yet dementia and heart disease continue to rise. Eggs are a
very good source of good fat. And for the record, the yolk contains lecithin,
which keeps cholesterol under control. Most cholesterol is made by your body
anyway.
The Ketogenic Food Plan means fewer grains, sugars and legumes.
You, and your kids, will do better with a breakfast of eggs, avocadoes and nuts
than an expensive bowl of over-processed grains known as cold cereal. Today’s
children (and many adults) cannot think straight on just air and that is most
of what’s being eaten. They, and we, become befuddled, confused and sluggish.
The Ketogenic Plan encourages a very low carbohydrate intake in order to cause
your body to use ketones from healthy fats to fuel your brain instead of
glucose. Very low manipulated fats mean bread, grains and legumes, as well as
starchy vegetables are restricted.
The Ketogenic food plan was researched to help those who had
seizures. I have a friend who asked about his seven-year-old granddaughter who
was having dozens of seizures every month. I’m retired now and not practicing
so couldn’t treat her, but I could tell him what I know or learn. Just like
this column does every month. My advice was the Ketogenic Plan. His kids put
their daughter on the plan and within one day her teachers noticed she was
calmer and more focused with fewer seizures.
Aim for 70 percent of your calories coming from the good
fats (again that’s eggs, avocadoes, full fat dairy, nuts, seafood, etc.) and
less than 50 grams of carbs. That’s still plenty, so you can occasionally give
the kids tortillas or rice or beans. While the Ketogenic food plan is also
touted as a weight loss program, I think that ANY plan that decreases junk
food, packaged food and simple sugars will go a long ways towards weight loss.
Give it a trial but realize it may take a few days for the
body to switch from burning glucose (sugars) for energy to burning ketones
(fats) for energy so a few days of tiredness could ensue. Vegans and
vegetarians will need to find sources of proteins that do not include manipulated
soy products (most of which are genetically modified) unless they include some
fish, eggs and dairy. Increased protein may cause some constipation so be sure
to drink two quarts to one gallon of water per day, depending on weather and
activity level. If a little more fiber is needed increase whole grain foods and
vegetables. Check with your doctor if you have kidney problems as the high
protein can be irritating to kidneys.
Now just watch those brains focus. You’ll see changes in
yourself and your kids and your grandkids. Focus! Think!
|
| Fabulous Labor Day menu by Taeler Butel on 08/31/2019
Peach Brined Pork chops
3 lbs. 1-inch thick sirloin pork chops (5-6 chops)
3 fresh yellow peaches
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese (optional)
vegetable oil
Brine:
1 T chopped fresh rosemary
2 cups peach nectar or peach juice
1 T black peppercorns
3 bay leaves
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
1 T fresh thyme.
6 cups boiling water
Place brine ingredients in a large bowl and stir to dissolve
the sugar and salt. Cool brining liquid to room temperature, add pork chops to
the brine and chill two to four hours. Heat outdoor grill or grill pan and
place pork on grill for five minutes each side until cooked through. Cut
peaches in half, discard pits then brush cut sides with oil. Grill cut side
down for two minutes or until grill marks form, top with a dollop of mascarpone
cheese if you like. Serve with the pork chops.
Grilled corn on the cob with herb butter
6 ears yellow or white corn
Herb butter:
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 T chopped fresh basil
1 T chopped fresh tarragon
1 t fresh thyme leaves
1 t chopped fresh rosemary
1 t fresh oregano
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t ground black pepper
Heat grill to 350. Grill the corn in husks for five minutes
on each side until tender. Place ingredients for herb butter in food processor
and pulse until combined. Husk the corn and spread 2 T of the butter on each
ear. Leftover herb butter can be served over noodles, in soups, on hot crusty
bread.
Roasted Potato salad
3 lbs small red potatoes cut into one-inch pieces
1 small red onion cut into wedges
6 cloves minced garlic
2 t olive oil
2 T cider vinegar
1 1-oz envelope dry ranch dressing mix
1 cup mayo
4 slices crisp cooked bacon, crumbled
3 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 green onion, sliced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 avocado, chopped
Salt, pepper, fresh chopped parsley
On a large baking sheet toss together potatoes, onion,
garlic and olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 425 uncovered for 15-20
minutes. Stir, and continue to roast 10-15 minutes or until all vegetables are
tender and browned. In a large bowl whisk together mayo, vinegar and ranch
dressing, toss in roasted vegetables and celery, eggs, bacon, onion and
avocado. Salt and pepper to taste and top with chopped fresh parsley.
Blueberry panna cotta with lime mint syrup
3 cups heavy cream
3 cups whole milk
1 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut and scraped or 2 T vanilla extract
2 cups sour cream or crème fraiche
2 envelopes unflavored powdered gelatin
4 strips lemon peel (yellow only)
1-pint blueberries picked over
For the syrup:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 T chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup water
Zest from 2 limes
“Bloom” the gelatin by sprinkling over two tablespoons cold
water, set aside.
Place the cream, milk, sugar, lemon peel and vanilla bean
with seeds in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, bring to just a simmer, turn
off heat and add the sour cream or crème fraiche. Take out the vanilla bean pod
and lemon peel and discard. Stir in the bloomed gelatin until dissolved, then
add blueberries. Carefully pour mixture into eight one-cup ramekins or into
muffin tins that have been sprayed lightly with cooking spray. Let chill in
refrigerator three hours or overnight. To loosen the panna cotta run a thin
clean knife around edges and invert onto serving plate.
To make syrup bring water and sugar to a boil and stir
constantly until sugar dissolves, then add lime zest and fresh mint. Cool completely
and serve over panna cotta.
(Taeler Butel shares her culinary gifts exclusively with The
Mountain Times.)
|
|  Family photo.
My family has always valued our photo albums. When I was a
boy, I enjoyed looking at the photos that were passed down through generations:
my great grandparents, when they were young through to their senior years; my
grandfather, from his childhood through his time in the military, including
World War II. My own family photos, mom and dad as children, fascinated me, as
did seeing photos of places that the family had lived through the years. As
time passed the album started holding my own memories: my childhood through
high school, Navy days, as well as photos of my own children.
Many old photos were made to remember places as well as
family members. Since the advent of the portable Kodak camera at the turn of
the 20th century, a camera accompanied family vacations. This was also the era
of picture postcards. A lot of locations that attracted tourists usually had a
postcard stand that included views that would have been photographed by
visitors if they would have had a camera. These location photos have become
valuable documentations of change through time.
Although we have more options for printing and collecting
photographs, digital photography has made printing photos and photo albums
almost obsolete. A lot of people don’t associate printing their photos with
digital photography but there are a lot of companies that will print your
digital photos in the same manner as film photos. The motivation to take a
photo these days has little to do with documenting moments that would be
valuable to others in the future, but are usually motivated by bragging about a
passing moment in time that will be forgotten by the time the next photo is
made and shared on social media. These are mostly never printed and with the
chances for hard drive crashes or computer failure, these photos are prone to
loss or deletion. I know that many people who make these photos these days probably
won’t be proud of them in the future. In most cases they will document the
person but not really the experience or the place, and certainly not in a way
that would be valuable to historians or curious people or family in the future.
On the other hand, digital photos have made documenting our children as they
grow much easier, but printing them and putting them in an album is rarely
done.
As a photographer and a local history fanatic I am so
thankful for the people in the past who had taken the time to capture important
moments and places in their more primitive form. If photographers such as
Carlton Watkins had not photographed the Columbia River Gorge prior to the loss
of the native culture or the commercial development and the damming of the
river we would have little idea of just what it was actually like back then.
Once photography was practical for the average hobby photographer, more and
more images were made of these areas as they evolved into what they are today.
For those of us who live on or are in love with Mount Hood
and its history, we’re fortunate to have many photos that were made by those
who came here to recreate. The early days of climbing are well documented and
as skiing became popular, photographs followed. Mount Hood’s only town, Government
Camp, was the launching place for most of these activities and coincided with
the boom of photography. Because of that there are a lot of great old images
from that era available for collecting, research or just the enjoyment of
seeing the changes that have happened through the years.
Government Camp has changed a lot in the last 120 years.
It’s a great place to show examples of the changes that have been documented
with photographs. I’m thankful that those who made the photos of their times on
Mount Hood back in its early days and wonder if the photos made today will be
available to those curious in the future.
Besides providing strangers a glimpse into the past,
printing photos today for family in the future will be a more reliable way to
preserve those memories. I urge everyone to do it and to save these photos in
an old-fashioned photo album. Put it on your coffee table to share with friends
and family. Make it an heirloom for future generations.
|
| Viewpoints – Salem: Less heralded legislation by Rep. Anna Williams on 08/01/2019
With the 2019 session behind us, plenty has been written
about the major accomplishments of the legislature this year. We passed a Paid
Family and Medical Leave Insurance program (which I’ve written about in this
paper before), we raised $1 billion per year for education funding (also the
subject of a past column) and stabilized funding for Oregon’s Medicaid system,
which provides care for about 400,000 children in the state. I want to take
this opportunity to highlight some of the less headline-grabbing accomplishments
from the session – legislation and action that was every bit as important to
people in our mountain community.
One thing I was especially proud to help make happen this
session was bringing home $4.6 million that will be directly invested into
cities in House District 52. This includes $1.7 million of state funding for
storm line repairs in Hood River, $2.4 million for economic development in
Cascade Locks and $500,000 for the first phase of wastewater treatment
improvements in Sandy. These vital public works will help our growing cities
continue to thrive.
One piece of legislation we passed that hasn’t gotten much
press is a bill I chief-sponsored that will expand the Office of the Long-Term
Care Ombudsman. Volunteer ombudsmen from that office are charged with extremely
important work: visiting long-term care facilities to build relationships with
staff and residents and addressing their questions and concerns about the
quality of care. However, some of the long-term care facilities in our state
(especially in rural areas) receive only one to two visits a year from these
volunteers because the staff that oversees them did not have funding to
adequately supervise enough volunteers to ensure full coverage. House Bill 3413
adds three paid staff to the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsmen, which in
turn will allow them to recruit and oversee more than 100 new volunteers. This
funding increase will improve quality of life as well as health and safety for
Oregonians living in long-term care facilities in communities like ours.
Finally, I want to highlight some behind-the-scenes work
that I did on behalf of our communities’ natural resource protection efforts.
When the Sandy River Watershed Council sought a permit to begin work on their
annual floodplain reconnection project, which helps native salmon in both their
migration and rearing, they struggled to get timely approval. Because it was
crucial that they be allowed to begin their work as soon as possible (so they
could finish in time for the salmon spawning season), they reached out to me
for any help I could offer. I reached out to the offices involved with
permitting and was able to help coordinate with all parties to ensure that the
process was completed in a timely manner, saving the state money and protecting
critical salmon spawning habitat.
My efforts to help these environmental advocates achieve
their goals highlights the fact that not all of the work I do as a legislator
necessarily involves legislating. We don’t always need new laws to solve
problems in our state; we just need to figure out ways to more efficiently
administer the laws already in place. I hope to continue working toward this
type of solution – the type that doesn’t involve unrolling additional red tape
– whenever possible. I would love to hear from the people in my district about
similar issues they’ve been having in their daily lives. You can contact me at
Rep.AnnaWilliams@oregonlegislature.gov, or by phone at 503-986-1452.
Anna Williams is the House District 52 Representative.
|
| Viewpoints - Sandy: Wastewater updates by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 08/01/2019
As many of you are aware, the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ) is requiring that the City of Sandy update our
Wastewater Treatment Process. This venture has an extremely expensive price tag
of $60-80 million. We are hoping to explore other options that are more
environmentally-friendly and cost-effective, and we are in luck. When the
Oregon Legislature convened last week, they approved a budget that included an
earmarked $500,000 for additional Sandy River water quality studies and green
alternative analysis.
In the last few months, our council and staff have toured
other communities’ water treatment facilities. We all came away excited about
the possibilities of treatment alternatives after visiting the more than
700-acre Fernhill facility in Forest Grove. Fernhill is owned by Clean Water
Services and uses natural treatment systems, or wetlands, to improve water
quality by removing nutrients, cooling and naturalizing the water after
conventional treatment. Fernhill is designated as an important bird area and is
also home to beavers, frogs, coyote and other wildlife.
Thoroughly vetting alternative options is crucial for our
community. If one of these options is viable, it would cut the cost of the
current plan in half and would be much better for our environment.
I’d like to thank our state legislative delegation of State
Representative Anna Williams and State Senator Chuck Thomsen for their
leadership in making this happen. Between this and our Oregon Department of
Transportation negotiations, this past legislative session had some of the most
successful outcomes for the City of Sandy in our community’s history. Their
bipartisan and cooperative efforts on our behalf are greatly appreciated.
Additionally, we have exciting news regarding our city’s
application process to obtain a $25 million Water Infrastructure and Financing
Act (WIFIA) loan administered by the federal government. Our congressional
delegation of Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Greg Walden and Senator Jeff
Merkley have agreed to co-sign a letter to help us get this crucial financing.
In addition to a competitive interest rate, the first
payment on WIFA loans can be deferred up to five years after completion of the
project with a maximum term of 35 years. This allows us the time to continue to
advocate for additional state and federal dollars for this project. It also
helps reduce the impact on ratepayers by allowing us to make small gradual
increases in rates, rather than a large initial increase. WIFIA financing can only
be used for up to 49 percent of the project so we will have to seek out other
financing sources for the remainder of the costs. Our financial consultant has
determined that ratepayers in Sandy would save just over $800,000 per year with
WIFIA financing as opposed to a conventional revenue bond, or about $16 million
over the 20-year term of a revenue bond.
I’d like to thank our federal delegation for their critical
assistance in working to make this a reality. Our community of Sandy faces a
huge monetary challenge with meeting DEQ requirements. I have been humbled by
the willingness of both our state and federal lawmakers to set partisan
politics to the side and work side by side with others to go to work for our
community. This is both a critical and special time in Sandy’s wonderful story.
Stan Pulliam is the Mayor of the City of Sandy.
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| The journey to happiness can start with slowing down by Victoria Larson on 08/01/2019
“Living well is the best revenge” was always on the back
page of a regional newspaper in Marin County, in the San Francisco Bay Area 50
years ago! A nice reminder that always made me smile. While “revenge” is not
necessarily a goal it could be restated as “living well is the best revenge
against aging and unhappiness!” The Blue Zones represent not only the
healthiest areas on Earth, but also the happiest places. Social scientists have
been studying almost 100 countries for happiness levels since the early 1980s.
Health and happiness go hand in hand. Face it, it’s harder to be happy when
you’re unhealthy.
But what can you do to “get happier” and “healthier?” People
often ask this saying they want a simpler lifestyle or more happiness in their
lives. You can do this, but it means lifestyle changes, attitudinal changes.
Studies of the happiest places on Earth have shown lots of consistencies. And
surprisingly the areas where the rich live are not the happiest areas!
The happiest areas are Denmark, Mexico, and even the city of
San Luis Obispo, Calif. Singapore comes in fourth but it’s more of a
manufactured happiness than a lifestyle. For the record, the United States came
in 20th on the list of happiest nations! The least stressed states in the U.S.
are those with the most space – Alaska, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Maybe you have no intention of moving to these slower, roomier states but you
can change your lifestyle and become happier and healthier.
The Danish people cultivate “hygge” which translates as the
“art of relaxing in a warm and cozy environment.” This could mean anything from
candles to street vendors selling herring instead of sweets! A relaxed attitude
means slowing down – better to arrive late than to not arrive at all. In 1988, I
made my move to this area. I’d spent the previous months packing up our small
800 square-foot house and was spending the weekend on an herbal retreat. I was
late and stressed about meeting a friend of mine on time. Though dusk was fast
approaching, the greeters to the retreat sat in the parking lot waiting for the
last-minute arrivals. While apologizing for my lateness profusely they let me
know it was no problem and pointed me in the direction of the cabins, assuring
that my pickup full of household goods would be perfectly safe there. We had
touched on the happiness factor.
The Monterey area of Mexico also has a laid-back attitude
when it comes to stress. Let’s face it, less stress is going to be better for
your health all around. The Mexican people are much more family oriented than
most U.S. citizens. They spend six to seven hours a day in social time, which
includes helping each other accomplish tasks, long Sunday dinners with lots of
laughter and church activities. Laugh therapy (for it is therapy) does not mean
putting down others, but instead humor is aimed at corrupt government
(otherwise ignoring it), poverty (most are considered very poor) and even death
(the only guarantee in life).
San Luis Obispo, Calif. took it upon itself to make this
university town livable and lovable. In 1990 they were the first city in the
world to ban smoking in workplaces! This town limits growth to a mere one
percent a year. They discourage distracting signage and fast food restaurants.
The nearest fast food location is in a city twenty minutes away. They encourage
bicycle and pedestrian lanes, encourage tolerance and support the arts. Is it
any wonder this city of decreased stress is considered the healthiest city in
the United States?
Americans (U.S. citizens) tend to think more is better. They
work more than 40 hours a week to earn money for the gym, a bigger car or
refrigerator or just to buy more stuff, most of which ends up in thrift stores
and landfills. Where’s the satisfaction in that? Americans take six to eight
days of vacation a year. Europeans are required to take six weeks of vacation.
If you’re on vacation right now, enjoy it! You will go back to work renewed.
Extend your vacation if you can.
There are plenty of things you can do to increase your
happiness level, and thereby your health level:
– pay off your house (no matter what catastrophe you’ll have
a roof over your head).
– then pay off your car and try to have only one car per
household, or at least per person.
– have not more than one credit card (if any). I was
recently writing a check in a store and the man in line explained to his
daughter what I was doing. I told her that no credit cards means no debt.
– decrease screen time. One TV per household is plenty. If
you want interaction with your kids, take the TVs out of their rooms. Set a
good example and turn the TV OFF!
– invest in experiences instead of stuff. You only get one
life, and this is it. Play games, read books, cook, sew, garden, work on the
car, take a walk.
– get outside more. Most Americans in the U.S. do not get
enough Vitamin D. 15 minutes in direct sunlight will give as much vitamin D as
a gallon of milk! Take a walk or a bike ride, garden, socialize more outside,
go on a picnic.
– just socialize more, with people of all ages (it teaches
tolerance). It might be hard to get six or seven hours of socializing in each
day, but you could do it.
Few will make these changes in their lives. Even getting rid
of the alarm clock and getting a smaller refrigerator is probably not going to
happen. Start small -- take your own bags to reuse at the grocery store, take
your own containers to restaurants for bringing home leftovers. Use bars of
soap instead of expensive plastic containers of mostly water with a little soap
that become non-recyclable garbage.
Put family before friends and make time for socializing.
Chat with the people you meet. Facebook and Twitter are not real face-to-face
socializing. Don’t get a fancier phone or a bigger TV or more clothes. You
don’t need them. Strive for decreased use of electronics, less garbage, more
time for pleasurable activities. You can be happier!
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| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: perfecting your portions by Mary Soots on 08/01/2019
I had a wonderful surprise at a restaurant recently. While
browsing through the menu, I noticed that each entrée had a large and a small
option, with corresponding differences in prices.
This was something I have only come across on rare
occasions, yet serving size is something that I struggle with each time I go to
a restaurant to eat. In a world where we believe that anything “bigger is
better,” many restaurants have a mindset that everyone wants to be served a
portion suitable for a 19-year old football player. But the reality is that a
petite middle-aged woman whose body does not need a huge amount of calories is
going to be overserved. So will a younger person.
The assumption, of course, is that we will take our leftover
meal home and eat it later. Personally, sometimes I do, and there have been
times that there’s enough food for three meals. But I am sorry to confess that
despite my best intentions of eating re-heated leftovers from last night’s
meal, it gets less appealing each day until I can be forgiven for throwing it
away when it is no longer edible.
The point of this was driven home over the past month while
traveling. I visited family in the Midwest where we went out to breakfast. My
dining companion’s chicken fried steak arrived on a separate platter from the
eggs because it was nearly the size of a pizza! The next time I was invited out
to breakfast, I was so afraid of what might be placed in front of me that I
limited my order to a couple of side dishes.
On another recent trip where my sisters and I celebrated one
of their birthdays in Las Vegas, we quickly learned that rather than ordering
individual entrees, we had more than plenty of food by ordering and sharing
fewer entrees. Not only did we have enough by eating family style, but we could
each have a broader selection of food.
In retrospect, perhaps this propensity for oversized
portions that overwhelm me is what has driven me to enjoy Happy Hour as my
preferred meal when I go out with friends. Not only can I order food that comes
in smaller portions, but we can order and share a wider variety of food.
Restaurants are also becoming aware that the “Supersize Me”
model is not ideal. Americans are beginning to demand changes. According to the
website MenuCal.com, “With portions of many food items exceeding the USDA
recommended serving size by up to 700 percent and obesity rates skyrocketing,
Americans are well aware that something needs to change with respect to their
food. And given that over one-third of the calories the average American consumes
is eaten outside the home, the public wants more choice when it comes to
restaurant food.” Offering healthy options with smaller portions will be what
creates a strong repeat clientele, will reduce food costs for the restaurants
and will also avoid food waste.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that Americans
waste approximately 30-40 percent of the food we produce, or about half of the
world’s supply of food. In 2010, that was the equivalent of 133 billion pounds
(218.9 pounds per person a year), worth $161 billion. According to their
website, “This amount of waste has far-reaching impacts on food security,
resource conservation and climate change…The land, water, labor, energy and
other inputs used in producing, processing, transporting, preparing, storing,
and disposing of discarded food are pulled away from uses that may have been
more beneficial to society – and generate impacts on the environment that may
endanger the long-run health of the planet. Food waste, which is the single
largest component going into municipal landfills quickly generates methane,
helping to make landfills the third largest source of methane in the United
States.” Not only are large portions unhealthy for our bodies, but they also
impact our environment.
Taking all of that into consideration, you can imagine my
delight when I sat down at the aforementioned restaurant and saw that I could
order a “small” meal and be served an entrée with a portion suitable for
enjoying at that time without the inevitable to-go box haunting me afterward
(Don’t make me take that Styrofoam box!). I look forward to going back there
again. Bon appetit!
|
| Got to get a witness by Paula Walker on 08/01/2019
Marvin Gaye sang, “Can I get a witness.” Don’t know if he
ever got one, but to have a valid will, you’ll need one; in fact, you’ll need
two.
To be valid, a will must not only be in writing and signed
and dated by the person creating the will, it must also be signed by two
competent witnesses.
Why?
The main purpose is to protect against fraud or forgery. But
why does a will, in particular, need this safeguard? Why not require witnesses
to the signing of all contracts or other legally binding documents dealing with
finances and assets? The main reason is that simply, when the will is submitted
to the probate court the person who created it is no longer living — cannot
validate to the court that this is their will, their true last and final will.
Disputes, if they arise, generally take aim at the validity
of the will. It is the witnesses, one or both, who are in the position to
testify to the validity or lack should such disputes arise.
What is the role/purpose of the witnesses?
First let’s say what it is not — it is not the witnesses’
role to know the content of the will.
Their purpose is strictly to know that the document being
signed is a will and that at the time of the signing the following conditions
are true: the person creating and signing the will is an adult or allowed by
law to create a will; understands the task they are undertaking; is not under
duress; and has the mental capacity to create the will (“is of sound mind”)
i.e. has “testamentary capacity,” the ability to make rational decisions about
giving their assets.
Who can be a witness, i.e. what is a “competent” witness?
A “competent witness” is a legal adult over 18. It is best
that the witness is a “disinterested” person, not a beneficiary of the will. In
Oregon, having a beneficiary as a witness does not invalidate the will per se,
but because it can be a weak point in a challenge to the will it gives support
by circumstance to a claim of undue influence. In general, estate planners
advise clients to select a “disinterested person” as witness.
The witness may be a “stranger,” however, be sure to get
their address and if possible, their phone number so they can be found to
testify to the validity of your will if ever needed.
What is the process of witnessing a will?
During the will signing, the attorney presiding or the
person creating the will — testatrix (female) or testator (male) — states to
the witnesses that they are about to watch the signing of the will. The
testatrix/testator signs the will. Then the witnesses sign the will. In Oregon,
the witnesses must be in the presence of the testatrix/testator. In addition to
witnessing and signing the will itself, witnesses may sign an affidavit
attesting to their witnessing the signing of the will and the capacity of person
whose will it is. An affidavit is an oath-in-writing, thus lending legal weight
to the witnesses’ validations for the document when it is eventually submitted
to the probate court.
Stories of the Stars, If Only...
Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, who died in August of last
year at the age of 76, as it turns out, needed a witness. It was initially
thought that she had died intestate — without a will. In May of this year
reports surfaced that she had not only one will, but three wills including one
discovered (that was the most recently dated and nearly illegible due to cross
outs and margin notes) under couch cushions in her living room. Two wills were
dated 2010. The most recent dated March 2014. It is reported that her attorney
had been advising her to create a will and it appears perhaps she did so but
without involving or informing him. As of this July, reports are that three of
Aretha’s sons, Teddy Jr., Kecalf and Edward are engaging in court battles over
the control of her estate and seeking a restraining order from the court
against Franklin’s niece, Sabrina Owens, the estate’s current acting
representative — perhaps self-appointed — from further actions and decisions on
distributions from Franklin’s estate until the court decides who has authority as
representative. Seems Owens has been self-serving in a number of distributions,
creating a mess that perhaps the presence and evidence of two witnesses may
have helped to minimize.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
|  Lolo Pass
We’re focusing on focusing this month. “How do I focus my
photos?” is one of the most asked questions of me by other photographers. It’s
a great question and one would think would be pretty basic and simple to
answer. It’s usually the last skill that a beginning photographer considers
when starting out but seems to be the toughest to master.
I mean it seems that it would be pretty basic, what with the
sophistication of the auto focus features in modern digital cameras, but once
one takes a few photos and is let down by the auto focus mode it’s easy to see
why in many cases, especially landscape and portraiture, you will want to
manually focus your photo.
There are several things that will affect the focus or
clarity of our photos including a completely out of focus image, one where the
focus is so far off that nothing is clear or in focus. That issue is obvious,
of course, so we won’t discuss this in depth.
We will assume that we are focusing but want to refine the
clarity and focus of the shot. I’m going to try to proceed without citing
mathematics or terms and theories such as Hyperfocal Distance, Circle of
Confusion etc. The purpose of this article is to just understand the basics
enough to understand how to overcome a common problem with focusing. Trust that
this could become so lengthy that it would require another ten pages of the
Mountain Times to cover it. Sometimes when someone is learning something new
more information beyond what it takes to understand the concept causes confusion
and discouragement. Once the basics are learned the understanding can be
broadened in the future. I always tell people that if it requires mathematics
to take photos, I’d be a C-minus photographer.
First let’s consider blurring caused by the camera moving or
objects in the scene moving. This is not a focus issue, but it can affect the
clarity and areas of focus in the photo as you affect it. If movement is
causing problems, then your shutter speed is too slow. You’ll need to make sure
that your shutter speed is sufficiently fast to freeze the movement. There are
times where a slow shutter blur effect is desirable such as in creeks or
waterfalls. This typically requires one to make an aperture adjustment to vary
the shutter speed. Opened more to make it quicker and closed more to make it
slower, but the depth of field will change with each aperture change.
So, what’s this depth of field, you ask? The depth of field
is how deep the area that will be in focus is from front to back. The wider
your aperture the shallower or narrower your depth of field will be and then
when you stop down, or close the aperture down, the depth of field becomes
deeper. Remember that the larger the aperture opening the smaller the f/stop
number and the smaller the aperture opening is the larger the f/stop number.
Something to consider when you’re trying to maximize your focus is that the
closer you are to the subject or foreground, the narrower your depth of field
will be. If you’re having trouble getting everything in the scene within
acceptable focus stand back a little. The same with portraiture. if you’re
shooting with a wide aperture to blur the background intentionally, you may
have trouble getting the person’s whole face in focus. There’s not a lot worse
in portrait photography than having the eyes in focus but the nose out of focus
or vice-versa. Either stop down (close the aperture) or stand back a little
further or both. This works best with a zoom lens so you can recompose as you
move away.
Hyperfocal distance - I know. I said that I was going to try
not to mention this, but I think that curiosity will eventually lead a
photographer to wonder. Simply and basically, the hyperfocal distance is the
point where you will focus to allow everything from the foreground to the background
to be in “acceptable focus.”
There’s a mystical mathematical formula to determine what
the hyperfocal distance is, but if you remember this advice you will get by
like I have been for a long time without taking a calculator into the field
with me. Here goes – I remember that I want to be in my lens’s sweet spot,
which is the upper and lower limit of the aperture’s clearest settings.
Each lens is different, but the average lens is
approximately f/8 to f/14. Compose your shot but try not to get too close to
the foreground unless you don’t mind the background to be soft (remember the
closer to your foreground the less likely the object in the background will be
in focus), and then focus to infinity on your lens focus ring and focus back
until the foreground just comes into focus. Then you will usually have the
depth of field maximized and pushed out as far as possible while still
maintaining a focused foreground. It’s easy to understand once you try it.
That may have been a long road to a short conclusion but
just a basic understanding of how your aperture and depth of field affects
focus allows you to take control of exactly how you will focus your photo. I
hope that I made that as clear as possible.
|
| Viewpoints – Salem: Putting a bow on the bills by Rep. Anna Williams on 07/01/2019
The legislature is almost ready to adjourn, but there are a
few things I hope to get done before we head home. A few of my priorities
include Family and Medical Leave Insurance (or FAMLI), The Equal Access to
Roads Act, The Clean Energy Jobs bill and a bill I brought forward, House Bill
3413. So, I have plenty to do as we wrap up the session.
One of the main reasons I ran for office was to advocate for
state-wide family and medical leave insurance. If Oregon creates a FAMLI
program, workers won’t have to worry about financial hardship when taking time
away from work to care for a loved one or to welcome a new child to their home.
I was personally affected by the lack of a FAMLI program in our state when I
was fired for taking maternity leave after I had my youngest son. The small
company where I worked could not afford to keep the person who replaced me and
also rehire me. Because every family deserves to be able to care for one
another and make a living, I am working hard to ensure that House Bill 2005
passes this session.
Another bill I’m excited to support is House Bill 2015, The
Equal Access to Roads Act, which ensures every Oregonian who can pass a
driver’s test can get a driver’s license. This bill will ensure that our roads
are safe, and that our neighbors are able to drive their kids to school, get to
work and take care of their families. In states with similar policies, the
rates of drivers who are insured have risen significantly, making roads safer
and saving drivers millions through reduced insurance rates. To be clear, this
program does not provide citizenship or voting rights to anyone who is not
eligible. The House passed HB 2015 this week, and it’s on its way to the
Senate.
Of course, I am excited about Clean Energy Jobs, or House
Bill 2020. Throughout the legislative session, I have heard the concerns of
many farmers who are nervous about how this bill may hurt their businesses.
I’ve also heard from hundreds of supporters who want to see Oregon lead the way
for other states to create carbon-reduction programs that can have a real
impact on climate change. I worked to help these two sides communicate with one
another, find compromises and understand one another’s perspectives. I passed
their concerns along to my colleagues who were working on HB 2020, and the
final version is stronger as a result.
Finally, House Bill 3413 is a bill that will expand the
Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, or OLTCO, by adding three full-time
employees. That office’s function is to address complaints about the care and
treatment of Oregonians who reside in long term care facilities. Currently,
there are seven deputy ombudsmen, each of whom manages about 35 volunteers who
serve at facilities across the state. The addition of three deputies will add
critical support for seniors and people with disabilities in rural communities
like ours. This bill passed unanimously on the House floor and I am optimistic
it will pass in the Senate before the end of session.
If you have questions, concerns, or ideas for the future,
reach out to my office at Rep.AnnaWilliams@oregonlegislature.gov, or visit me
in the Capitol. We will be opening an office in Sandy soon, so you will have
another way to connect with me. I’m looking forward to some rest in July, and
to getting out to see you in your communities this summer. Anna Williams is the House District 52 Representative
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| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: a ‘step’ for greener shoes by Mary Soots on 07/01/2019
I went shoe shopping a couple of weeks ago. Who doesn’t love
shoe shopping? I try to limit the amount of clothes shopping I do in order to
lessen my carbon footprint, so to speak. Once or twice a year, I allow myself
the luxury of shopping for a pair of shoes that I will wear over and over again
that season, and hopefully for many seasons to come. I try to purchase good
quality shoes that will endure. One of my guilty secrets is that I still have a
pair of black suede heels that I purchased in the early 1980s that still get
tons of compliments because they are chic but classic.
So, on this particular shopping trip, I set out to find a
pair of comfortable flats that would not go out of style next year when the
manufacturers would try to convince us that the shoes they are all raving about
this season are now outdated. All in an effort to try and get us to part with
our hard-earned cash and buy more shoes.
I ventured into a couple of different stores at the large
mall complex and I was surprised (but not really) to see how many shoes are now
made of “Man-made materials.” This means plastic, of course. Plastic shoes are
inexpensive to produce, yet if manufacturers can convince a designer to put
their name on it, the price goes up into the hundreds of dollars. Personally, I
prefer leather shoes because they’re waterproof, breathable, and over time,
they conform to the shape of your foot, making them much more comfortable.
Plastic, on the other hand, while also waterproof, is not breathable, and there
is less flexibility in the shape. But leather shoes are harder and harder to
find because they’re more expensive to produce.
I finally found the right pair of loafers, stylish enough
that I could wear them for to a nice restaurant, yet comfortable enough to wear
for a full day of business. A little spendier than shopping at the discount
shoe mart, but worth it. When we purchase quality over quantity, we may be
spending a little more for the better pair of shoes, but in the end, we won’t
be replacing them over and over again, so the cost will actually be less over
time.
One of the reasons that I spend so much time thinking about
what to purchase is because unlike in my youth, I take a longer range look at
each purchase. What will happen with the shoes that I bought nearly a decade
ago that are still in good enough shape because they weren’t worn much, but
they sit in the closet gathering dust? I can donate them to the local
non-profit, of course. That will make me feel less guilty than tossing them in
the trash, headed for the landfill. But let’s be realistic. The amount of clothing
that doesn’t get re-sold and re-used is staggering. Although those shoes might
take a more circuitous route, they will likely still end up in the landfill.
There are a few non-profits around the country that collect shoes and donate
them to those in poverty around the world. But the cost of shipping can be its
own problem.
According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, each year
we produce about 20 billion pairs of shoes. And Americans throw away at least
300 million pairs of shoes each year. Those shoes end up in landfills, where
they can take 30 to 40 years to decompose. In the case of athletic shoes, the
Ethylene Vinyl Acetate, which usually makes up the midsole of most running
shoes, can last for as long as 1,000 years in a landfill. Some companies are
trying to address the problem. Nike will collect unusable used shoes so the
materials can be converted to athletic equipment and surfaces. Nike, Adidas,
and New Balance are using manufacturing methods to curb the amount of waste
during the production process. And Adidas is working on producing a shoe that
uses recycled gill nets that have been abandoned in the ocean and are
responsible for killing large amounts of marine life.
Athletic shoes and dress shoes aren’t the only problem. I
remember those expensive snow boots I bought with the polyurethane soles. I put
them back on one winter and as I began to walk around Sandy, the soles started
to disintegrate. Apparently, this disintegration process, called hydrolysis, is
a result of our damp environment after they’ve been stored for a while. Learn
to store your boots in a dry place, away from the heat, and put newspaper and
silica packs in them to keep them dry. It will help your expensive boots last
longer.
We can help also by being mindful of the shoes we buy and
what type of materials they’re made of. Also, taking good care of our footwear
will give them a longer life and save us some money in replacing them. It’s a
small step toward solving the problems that we have with waste and excess.
|
| To trust a trust, you must fund it by Paula Walker on 07/01/2019
Getting your estate organized for a smooth transition when
the time comes was important to you. Furthermore, for many factors, one of the
main ones being avoiding probate, you elected to create a revocable living
trust. You expended time, energy and money to accomplish this. The document is
done. The plan is in place. All is taken care of. Right? Yes and no… depending
on whether you complete that final step called “funding” your trust.
For your trust to do one of the primary jobs for which you
created it — avoiding the complexity, cost and lengthy process of probate — you
must fund it. This is often a well-intended but not attended to task. Some
estate planning practices incorporate the funding phase into the development
and delivery of a trust. Others leave it to the client to undertake. In either
case, the responsibility eventually falls to you, the owner of the trust, to
keep the funding current. Even if you walk out of your attorney’s office with a
fully funded trust you must remember to fund newly acquired assets to the trust
as your life moves forward. Nothing is static. Life is dynamic. You open a new
investment account. You sell your home, buy a condo, purchase a rental, etc.
These new acquisitions must be funded to your trust. Assets of value (e.g. bank
accounts, real estate, investment accounts) that are not funded to your trust
could be subject to probate. What a headache for your trust administrator and
beneficiaries; and after you so diligently attended to making this process as
simple as possible for them.
Funding involves re titling assets from your individual name
to the name of your trust or designating the trust as a beneficiary. Your
attorney will guide you in determining which type of asset requires which
funding approach.
With your revocable living trust, you are the trustee,
meaning that you manage the trust and the assets funded. You can add or remove
assets. Keeping your funding current is a task that you can perform
independently. In creating your trust, with guidance from your attorney, you
learn what to fund to your trust and how to do it so that you can stay current
as you acquire and release assets.
So, remember, in order to trust your trust to do the job of
avoiding the public, costly, time consuming court processes of probate, you
must fund it and keep that funding current.
Stories of the Stars - If only…
Superstar Michael Jackson who died untimely in June 2009 at
age 50, unlike many superstars whose legacy of intestacy abound, had the
foresight to create a revocable living trust, but not the follow through to
fund it. As a result, his estate — currently valued by some estimates at
approximately $600 million — fell to probate. Court disputes continue to this
day. His estate is still open. His beneficiaries wait. All assets are held
until, by court approval, the probate process is completed.
Dear Reader … We welcome your questions on matters related
to estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance
the potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
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| Recapping the Blue Zones: lessons learned to live longer by Victoria Larson on 07/01/2019
The columns of the past few months have all been about the
Blue Zones. Those areas on Earth where many citizens live longer, healthier
lives than most people in the United States. Greece, Japan, Sardinia and Costa
Rica all qualify as Blue Zones. Even Loma Linda, Calif. where most people are
vegetarians and live an average lifespan of ten years longer than the rest of
the United States as a whole.
First of all, almost all of the Blue Zones are in areas that
Americans tend to think of as “underdeveloped” and cut off by water. When I
look at the Blue Zone areas (with the possible exception of Loma Linda) I
sometimes think that just living in such a beautiful area, surrounded by
gorgeous, blue unpolluted water would be enough to lead to a better life. And these
places have plenty of natural sunlight without smog. And few roads. I’m
reminded of the couple (he was a doctor and she was a judge) on my Costa Rica
trip who wanted “the roads fixed.” That would of course bring in a bigger
population and totally changed the character of Costa Rica. I was there twenty
years ago. Maybe it’s already happened. Maybe our worldwide population is
already growing that rapidly.
The average person in the United States eats about 80 lbs.
of fat per year and most of it from vegetable oils used in fast food cooking!
The Blue Zone areas use mostly olive oil and lard, natural sources of brain
reviving fats. And there are no fast food places in “underdeveloped” places.
Most Americans consume 8,000 teaspoons of sugar a year, most of it hidden in
breakfast cereals and packaged foods. And then there are the 60 gallons of
sodas consumed per year. Yikes. And we wonder what’s wrong?
A couple of generations ago our grandparents and great
grandparents burned at least five times more calories than we do now. There was
no Internet, TV, cellphones, microwaves or dishwashers, among other so-called
“timesavers” that sometimes aren’t “saving” any time at all. Blue Zones rarely
have those “helps.” Food is kneaded or blended by hand, cast iron pots are lifted
into brick ovens or open fires, dishes are washed by hand and sometimes in
community troughs. I loved the sight of the children washing doll clothes in
those community troughs during the day. In one month spent in the outlying
areas of China I saw exactly one TV and it was black and white. Most areas only
had electricity for two hours per day.
In America most of us live a life of abundance and ease –
can openers, microwaves, computers, fast food. Yet it is entirely possible that
this is part of our downfall. Because we are NOT the healthiest nation on the
planet, nor are we the happiest. We do, however, spend the most on healthcare!
Here we rush through our frazzle-dazzle lives to get to the next thing, never
savoring where we are now. We stress about health yet spend the most on
healthcare, yet we suffer more cancer, diabetes and heart disease than people
in the Blue Zones. We put value on money but not on lifestyle.
In order to spend less money, we cut food costs in general.
Americans spend less on food than most other industrial countries. In the Blue
Zone area, most food consumed is grown in backyard gardens and what markets
there are, are used mostly for cleaning supplies and staples like flour. In the
United States we buy packaged food with all its extra packaging and wonder why
we have a garbage problem. But we worry that it might not be organic or
gluten-free. Maybe it’s time we open our eyes.
We seem to have lost perspective on reality. Most food from
the supermarket tastes like the cardboard it’s packaged in! And why not, it’s
packaged and has been on the shelves for weeks longer than it would take to
pick it from your trees and gardens. Do you really think food comes (delivered
mind you) only from grocery stores? We get little enjoyment from most of what
we eat.
We also get little energy from what we eat. All areas of
Blue Zones rely most heavily on fresh (and I do mean fresh) fruits and vegetables.
Maybe meat or fish one to three times a week. Eggs, if home raised. A little
wine, but no more than one or two glasses per day. Lots of slow-cooked beans,
soups and stews. Now that’s inexpensive food. Also, some hand-kneaded,
home-baked sourdough bread, mostly. Handmade cheeses.
Rates of dementia in Greece are half what they are in the
United States. Half of their diet is vegetables. Women live a long time in
Okinawa, where seaweed,sea veggies, beans (pulses) and vegetables make up close
to 50 percent of the diet. Sardinia, Italy and Costa Rica boast the
longest-lived men on Earth, where vegetables and grains make up 50 percent of
the diet. And in Loma Linda, a very Biblical and unprocessed diet of a whopping
72 percent is beans (pulses), vegetables and fruits.
There are lessons to be gleaned here. We need to stress
less. Maybe garden more, sing and dance. Move every hour and put down the
phone, turn off the TV. Instead, slow down and commit to what really matters in
life – family first, friends next, community as well. And make a global
commitment to create less garbage, less technological use, less consumerism.
Perhaps consider more yoga, more foreign meals and less Facebook and Twitter
time.
Make it fun. Go slow and enjoy more. Try one new food a week
(but not packaged), reduce your garbage by buying in bulk and at farmers’
markets, not so much in the dollar-oriented grocery store. Drive less. Take up
music, sewing, reading. Play with the kids – outside. And remember to always be
grateful.
|
| The View Finder - Moss by Gary Randall on 06/01/2019
“Only farmers and summer guests walk on the moss. What they
don’t know – and it cannot be repeated too often – is that moss is terribly
frail. Step on it once and it rises the next time it rains. The second time, it
doesn’t rise back up. And the third time you step on moss, it dies.”
¯ Tove Jansson, The Summer Book
Living in the Pacific Northwest and near Mount Hood, we’re
surrounded by lush green forests full of majestic trees of many kinds and
bushes that contain berries and flowers. Usually the last thing to be mentioned
in the list is moss. Moss is an important component of the forest ecosystem
that is easily overlooked and sometimes even walked over without a thought.
When we do notice it, we usually notice it when it grows on our roofs and
sidewalks.
As a photographer I’m keen to notice all of the details in
the scene that I’ll be photographing. Through that close attention to the
details I’ve become a “mossaholic.” I love moss and seek out mossy scenes in
forests and near creeks and waterfalls. Another thing that I’ve noticed as a
photographer is how many of the areas that once were covered with moss are
becoming muddy worn out areas due to increased traffic. Many are being closed
due to the erosion that this causes.
Because of these reasons my attention has been drawn to
moss, how it grows, why it grows and how to best live with moss without
damaging it in nature and how to deal with it around my home. So, let me
explain moss.
Moss was the first plant on Earth. Algae adapted to life on
earth eventually evolving into lichen, liverworts and moss. Moss grows all over
the earth with more than 10,000 different varieties. Mosses prefer damp shaded
areas, but some can grow in deserts or even in frozen regions. In severe dry
spells they can go into dormancy until moisture returns.
Moss doesn’t have roots but instead has rhizoids, string
like structures that anchor the moss to trees or rocks but can grow on
practically anything. These rhizoids don’t draw water like a root system does
and the moss itself has no vascular system to carry nutrients like other plants
with stems, leaves and flowers. It absorbs water and nutrients like a paper
towel. Mosses are not parasitic and seldom damage the plants that they’re
attached to. Mosses get their nutrients from absorbing rain, fog or dew and
sunshine. They use photosynthesis to convert sunshine and carbon dioxide to
sugar as a nutrient.
Mosses are able to absorb large amounts of water and release
it slowly which reduces erosion and helps keep the forest moist. Typical mosses
can absorb 25 times their weight in water. Moss is sensitive to air pollution
and actually is used by scientists to measure the level of certain types of
pollutants in the air. Moss, actually the bacteria that grows on moss, is a
perfect nitrogen fixer, meaning that it gathers nitrogen from the air and
distributes it into the forest as a fertilizer. Mosses collectively absorb more
carbon than all the trees in the world.
The list of benefits moss provide can go on and on, but as a
photographer the primary benefit is its beauty in a forest scene. It’s my goal,
while I’m in the forest, to affect the moss as little as possible. When I’m
walking along a mossy stream, I will choose to walk on forest duff or in the
water if possible, limiting the effect that my boots have on the integrity of
the plants and moss that hold the stream bank together.
Some may argue that the little bugs in the water may suffer
but besides not going into the forest I feel that this is the best method to
preserve a pristine area in the forest. Those bugs will benefit from a healthy
stream bank.
Most all problems with wear and tear of a mossy area are the
result of a lot of foot traffic. The most popular and easily accessible areas
are the most susceptible. Most people who go and walk over these fragile areas
consider their contribution to be insignificant, but when there are lines of
others waiting to stand in the same spot the accumulation of the effects of
this traffic adds up over time.
As photographers, it benefits us to help to mitigate damage
being caused to these areas for several reasons, but most important, besides
the health of the forest, is to maintain the aesthetics and beauty of the area
for future photographers. It’s important to keep these areas open to visitation
in the future. I know of several areas that once were iconic photography
locations that have now been closed just because people wouldn’t stay on the
pathway in these sensitive areas and the damage warranted closure for
remediation.
I urge everyone who goes adventuring into the outdoors to be
mindful of their effect on these places, especially those with large amounts of
visitation. If we don’t, the consequences will be the loss of these locations
to visitation by ruination. Moss may seem insignificant until you understand
its value and importance in the lifecycle, health and beauty of our forests.
|
| Viewpoints - Sandy: Call to action to help the most vulnerable by Gary Randall on 06/01/2019
There are people in our community that must make tough
decisions when it comes to feeding their families. There are community members
that must choose between paying bills and feeding their children. One in seven
of our neighbors face food insecurity, meaning they are unable to access a
significant quantity of nutritious, affordable food.
I write to you today requesting help for these neighbors,
these most vulnerable citizens.
Because of new regulatory changes enacted by the Oregon Food
Bank, our community’s food bank and largest non-profit food provider, the Sandy
Community Action Center, needs to purchase a new refrigerated van to serve
their clients as soon as possible.
As you may know, the Sandy Community Action Center serves
the Oregon Trail School District. The District is made up of 424 square miles
and includes the Sandy, Boring and Mt. Hood communities and approximately
30,000 people. The Oregon Trail School District is the seventh largest school
district out of 156 in our state. According to Clackamas County, small rural
towns and communities tend to have larger concentrations of people living in
poverty, and often, isolated seniors in need of basic resources. These are the
people that Sandy Community Action Center serves.
The primary mission of the Sandy Community Action Center is
to provide hunger relief, assistance and encouragement to those facing food
insecurity in our community. The Action Center serves the elderly, disabled,
families and homeless.
These recent regulatory changes from the Oregon Food Bank
require constant temperature monitoring of products; this could be avoided with
a refrigerated van. The Sandy Community Action Center could also pick up
additional food from partners like Starbucks, who require that we use an active
cooling method for transporting food. This helps reduce food waste, which is a
primary goal of many of our partners.
Through one of our local business partners, Sandy Suburban
Auto Group, the Sandy Community Action Center has secured a great deal on a van
with the refrigeration unit insulation package.
Through contributions from local businesses like Clackamas
County Bank, community members and awarded grants, we are only $8,000 away from
reaching our goal to fund our new refrigerated van.
J. Frank Schmidt Family Charitable Foundation has approved a
challenge matching grant of up to $4,000. If we can raise just $4,000, they
will match those funds and we will be able to purchase the van to provide much
needed services to our community for years into the future.
Please consider making a contribution to help us meet the
matching grant offer. Any amount helps. You can contribute by visiting the
Sandy Community Action Center website at sandyactioncenter.org, visiting their
Facebook page or by stopping by the store. Thank you for supporting such an
outstanding local organization as they work to build a hunger-free community. Stan Pulliam is the Mayor of the City of Sandy
|
| Viewpoints - Salem: The Student Success Act by Rep. Anna Williams on 06/01/2019
It’s hard to believe, but we’ve almost made it to the end of
the legislative session. We still have a lot of work to do to get some
important bills across the finish line, but I want to highlight one bill that
I’m extremely proud to have supported: the Student Success Act.
The Student Success Act is a landmark investment in Oregon’s
students that will change the course of public education in our state. This
bill is the product of the Joint Committee on Student Success, a bipartisan and
bicameral group of legislators who have been working for years to improve the
way our schools are funded and operated. This group of legislators traveled for
15 months around the state, listening to educators, administrators, parents and
students about what improvements were necessary within their schools.
By combining accountability, transparency and a focus on
historically underserved students, the Student Success Act will, in many ways,
rebuild Oregon’s statewide education system. This bill creates strategic new
investments that enhance pre-kindergarten funding, keep class sizes down and
ensures struggling schools have the resources and technical support they need
to help their students succeed. This investment in our schools will build a
brighter future for students, families, communities and businesses in every
community in Oregon.
The legislature will fund this proposal through a Modified
Corporate Activities Tax (MCAT) which was developed in partnership with a broad
coalition, including small business owners, educators and corporations across
the state. The MCAT will yield approximately $2 billion per biennium (or $1
billion per year) and will result in approximately $16 million towards schools
within House District 52 in just the upcoming biennium. That will grow in the
years to come.
This is a significant investment for students in our
district and across the state. One of the exciting things about this bill is
that it provides for a major increase in resources for early childhood
education, summer programs and brings back the kinds of programs that get kids
to love school - like arts, music and engineering. Schools will be able to hire
more teachers to keep class sizes down, provide long-deferred maintenance for
their facilities, fully fund career and technical education, increase mental
health and behavioral supports for students and more.
One of the main concerns that was brought to me was that the
newly-raised revenue would go directly into the unfunded liability for our
state’s pension system, and I wanted to make sure that this record investment
would actually go to serve Oregon’s students before I voted for this package.
The bill includes the creation of a dedicated fund that is only able to make
focused investments in education. Money in the Student Success Fund cannot go
toward paying for retirement costs and schools must submit proposals on how
these funds will be used to access those resources. Again, I appreciate the
work done by my colleagues to keep us accountable in how we allocate these
funds.
Thanks to everyone who has engaged with my office and shared
their thoughts on the Student Success Act. As always, if you have a question or
an idea, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at
Rep.AnnaWilliams@oregonlegislature.gov.
|
| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: planting a pollinator garden by Mary Soots on 06/01/2019
It’s wildflower season and this year seems to be more
resplendent than ever, with flowers blooming everywhere you go. I constantly
marvel at nature’s paintbrush and seeing that we humans aren’t the only ones
loving the explosion of colors competing against each other. The birds and the
bees seem to be equally active.
Last month I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by
Thomas Seeley, Biology Professor at Cornell University. He was discussing his
new book, “The Lives of Bees,” which explores survival strategies by wild bees
at a time when managed beekeepers’ colonies are threatened by severe population
decline and extinction of different species of bees. He theorized that wild
bees, especially native species, may be better adapted and will hold the key to
bee survival.
The reason it is important to learn about bees and how we
can help them survive is that our own food supply is at stake. We now
understand that bees and other pollinators are key to the survival of our own
species, as without them our supply of fruits and vegetables is severely
threatened. According to Green Schools Alliance, “It is estimated that bees
produce over 10 billion dollars’ worth of agricultural crops annually in the
United States.” They cite statistics from the Natural Resources Defense Council
(NRDC) that “over 80% of all crops, especially fruits and vegetables, depend on
pollination in order for their output to keep up with public demand.”
(https://www.greenschoolsalliance.org/blogs/16/427)
However, for a variety of reasons, bee populations are
declining by as much as 30 percent per year. One reason is that temperature
shifts caused by changing climate means that bees are not able to pollinate in
time and therefore cannot gather nectar at the time of year that they need it.
There are ways that we can help bees, as well as
hummingbirds, butterflies, moths, bats and other pollinators to survive in
these difficult times, especially native species that are adapted to our unique
climate. A simple computer search lead me to the USDA’s “Gardening for
Pollinators” (https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/gardening.shtml).
Among their recommendations are the following:
– Plant a variety of native flowers that bloom from early
spring until late fall, but avoid hybrid plants that have been genetically
altered, especially those that have “double blossoms.” And don’t forget those
flowers that bloom at night in order to attract our vast population of moths
and bats as well.
– Whenever possible avoid the use of pesticides, especially
the most toxic ones. If you must spray, wait until dark when bees have gone
into their hives.
– Plant a butterfly garden that will allow larvae to eat the
leaves and flourish. You can attract butterflies with moist soil mixed with
ashes from your fireplace or wood stove, or a bit of sea salt. They also like
pieces of rotting fruit.
– Leave fallen or dead trees or branches – provided that
they aren’t a safety hazard – so that bees can build their hives inside them.
According to Seeley, bees build their hives inside trees that provide
insulation for a more constant temperature than managed beehives.
– Attract hummingbirds with a feeder using four parts water
to one part sugar. Do not use honey, artificial sweeteners or fruit juice. And
please wash the feeder with hot soapy water twice a week to prevent mold that
will kill the birds.
While it’s wonderful that springtime brings with it a
cacophony of color in our wildflowers, we should all do our part to ensure that
pollinators are getting the nutrients that they need during the time they need
it. Planting native flowers will ensure that by helping bees in the wild
survive, we will actually be doing a good thing for the planet and for our own
well-being.
|
| Blue Zone finale – Sardinia, where the men live long lives by Victoria Larson on 06/01/2019
In honor of Father’s Day and men everywhere, we’ve come to
our final Blue Zone. Not that there aren’t other places and other peoples who
live long on this earth, but this Blue Zone is where, proportionally speaking,
men live longer than anywhere else on our planet! In America only one in 5,000
people live to the age of 100; in the Ogliastra villages of Sardinia, Italy,
five people out of 2,500 live to be 100 years old. Blue Zones are those areas
where it was discovered that people lived longer than other areas of
habitation. Circled in blue ink by researchers, they became the Blue Zones.
In most of the world where a man reaches the age of 100,
there are five women who do so. In Sardinia that ratio is one to one, probably
because men are able to stave off heart disease longer. But how do they do
that? For starters older people don’t retire they just change jobs. In America
it is not uncommon for a man to die of a heart attack within three years of
retirement. However, changing what work men do keeps them alert and active and
using their brains. Not sitting in front of a computer or the TV and just
sitting.
I recently went to lunch at Bob’s Red Mill with friends, and
who was standing in line behind me but Bob Moore himself. I took that moment to
shake his hand and thank him for the thousands of dollars he’s donated to the
medical school I attended -- NUNM (National University of Natural Medicine)
formerly known as NCNM (National College of Naturopathic Medicine). Bob is now
90 years old and still goes to work every day, though he may be considering
lunch as “work.” Such a deal.
Sardinians claim their longevity is due to clean air, local
wine, and, despite the movie “Never on Sunday,” physical intimacy at least once
a week. It is also important to note that electricity and roads didn’t come to
the area until the 1960s, bringing other changes and a taste for carbs and
sugars. At the same time, we saw an increase in diabetes, heart disease and
obesity. Prior to the 1960s most men worked as shepherds slowly following their
sheep in the sometimes steep hills, while women traditionally cared for children,
elders, gardens and home.
We tend to think of the Mediterranean diet as the best diet
in the world (see April column). There is no question that the Mediterranean
diet is healthier than the Standard American Diet (SAD). Almost half of the
Greek Mediterranean diet is greens, pulses (beans and legumes) and vegetables.
Yet in Sardinia that same portion of the diet is grains. Dairy, in the form of
sheep’s mild cheese, comprises over a quarter of the daily diet. None of the
Blue Zones use much sugar.
Protein comes primarily from the beans and legumes (the
pulses), mostly as Fava beans and Ceci beans, as they are called in Italy (they
are known as chickpeas in the African areas of the Mediterranean and in the
United States). A low protein diet is associated with decreased risk of
diabetes and cancer in people under the age of 65. However, for people over 65,
a high protein intake was associated with a 28 percent decrease of those
diseases. This at the age when many elders are onto the “tea and toast” diet usually
due to a decrease in the ability to smell food, whether from nasal surgeries,
injuries or just aging. In Sardinia, meat was consumed no more often than
weekly and mostly for festivals. Barley and the pulses are the main sources of
protein otherwise.
Fava beans were grown extensively in England and in the
United States as John Seymour tells us in his gardening classic. Barley was the
grain found to be most closely associated with living to be 100, at least for
the Sardinian male! Ground into flour for bread it has a much lower glycemic
index than wheat bread. Barley was also added to daily soup as well as the
addition of tomatoes, the beans (Fava and chickpeas) and sheep’s cheese.
Other breads include a high protein, low gluten bread made
with hard duram wheat that is high in fiber and complex carbohydrates. This
bread does not cause the spike in blood sugar found with many of our quickly
manufactured American breads. On the other hand, sourdough bread made with
whole wheat and using live lactobacilli (see April column) converts the sugars
and gluten to lactic acid, thereby lowering the glycemic index.
A dark red wine made locally in Sardinia from the Grenache
grape is consumed almost daily by adults. At the level of three 3-ounce glasses
per day it does not usually lead to disruptive behaviors. This does NOT mean
you can save up your quota of wine for the weekend and consume more. And of
course, if you don’t imbibe alcohol there’s no need to begin the habit at all.
Americans consume about 2,000-3,000 calories a day, but we
sit a lot -- in cars, at desks, in front of the TV. It is now known that the
second worst thing you can do to your health is sitting (first worst thing is
smoking). Sardinians of Italy consume about 3,000 calories a day but they move more.
They engage in more cooking, gardening, walking and chasing kids, whether human
or sheep. The latest studies show that even ten minutes per hour while awake
can extend your life. So set your computer alarm, get up after every chapter or
with each commercial on the TV. At the very, very least move your arms and legs
at least once an hour. Then feel energized and go back to whatever you were
doing.
|
| Episode XXXIV: Bruised, battered amid poolside pulchritude by Max Malone, Private Eye on 06/01/2019
CIA section head Bryan Brodsky filled out his swivel chair
like Kim Kardashian seated in a Yugo. He leaned forward, elbows on a desk in an
interview room that had seen more guest appearances than a Johnny Carson
retrospective. The interview room itself was a masquerade, looking more like an
abandoned meat locker with the refrigeration shut off.
Seated on the opposite side of what was passed off as a
conference table was Wildewood World editor Nigel Best with 8-by-10 glossy
photos strewn atop the tired ridges of the table like a scene from Alice’s
Restaurant. Nigel sat as erect as he could manage, which amounted to all of 5
and ½ feet of muster.
Brodsky’s jaw would give Rocky Marciano second thoughts. He
clenched his teeth together after decades of cigar smoking that was no longer
allowed in government buildings much to the eternal disgust of the CIA section
head. The jaw remained permanently set and the teeth gnashed together, even
when he spoke.
“Nigel Best?” he belched, as if finding long-lost relief
from an ill-advised taco and overdose of Pepto Bismo.
Nigel nodded, his back as straight as a terrified prairie
dog.
“What kinda name is that?” Brodsky managed without
surrendering to a lower colon eruption.
“English, maybe some Swedish.” Nigel muttered.
“Mmmmm.” Brodsky fumbles with the photos, tossing one after
another aside as if surveying his losing cards in a low-stakes poker game. “I
think I saw most of these in the Miami Herald, didn’t I?” He doesn’t wait for
an answer. “And this Cavendish broad. Why don’t you think her death was a
run-of-the-mill car wreck? And do you actually believe this MI6 chick is a
double agent?” Again, no hesitation. “And who in the hell is this Andy
Campanaro dude and that two-bit private eye?”
“Max Malone, sir.” Nigel’s response surprisingly clears the
lump in his throat.
Brodsky studies the newspaper guy through slitted eyes that
have seen more espionage plots than George Smiley, and a furrowed brow that has
suspected every Joe he’s run from Serbia to the Seychelles.
“And according to your story, there’s no evidence that
munitions were actually shipped from the Caymans to who the hell knows where,
right?” Brodsky skillfully keeps the information of the pharmaceutical shipment
tucked in his already overtight shirt.
“Well, Mr. Brodsky, the evidence is all circumstantial,
admittedly. But (Nigel clears his throat and reaches for all the investigative
reporter that hopefully lives somewhere deep down inside him), there’s simply
too much evidence to brush off as mere coincidence. U.S. Attorney Cavendish
hires Max Malone to investigate this Campanaro guy, who Max believes blew up a
resort in Oregon killing three people, including Campanaro’s twin brother, and
the attorney believes is running munitions to our enemies, then Max gets plugged
and is now being held against his will at Campanaro’s estate in Grand Cayman,
all the while Max has been set up by Dolly Teagarden who happens to be a
British double agent, and U.S. Attorney Cavendish conveniently dies in an auto
accident on Capitol Circle in Tallahassee with a 45-mile-per hour speed limit.
And there’s my photos of Max being taken captive. He’s an American citizen.”
Nigel lets out his breath, then offers rather meekly, having exhausted the last
of his bravado,
“That convinces me of a terrible conspiracy against my
country, and a job for someone like you.” Then, after a life-saving gulp of
air, “Sir.”
“And why exactly should I give a damn,” Brodsky claims,
spreading his arms around the shabby expanse of the conference room, then
realizing his point has been rendered much less important than it was intended,
tries again. “We have big problems to solve here.”
“Because it’s not just my country, sir. It’s also yours.”
* * *
Max gets wheeled poolside once a day for the amusement of
Andy Campanaro. He’s shackled to a wheelchair. His ribs remind him of every
breath he takes. He takes his meals through a straw. One eye remains closed
beneath a purple haze. And the other eye is forced to witness the parade of
bikini-clad beauties who find Max too disgusting to look at. Max thinks: Dear
me, let that skinny newsie Nigel Best deliver me from this hell.
After all, bruised, battered, and shunned by poolside
pulchritude, he remains Max Malone, private eye.
|
| Review and Revise by Paula Walker on 06/01/2019
So, it’s done. Finally. After the many years you’ve had it
in your mind to create that will or trust as the gift it’s meant to be to help
your family take care of your affairs as cleanly and simply as possible after
you’ve passed, you’ve done it. There now. Nothing more to do with it! Right?
Well … not so fast.
One thing is for certain, life doesn’t stand still. Your
family, your circumstances, and (don’t forget) the government are constantly on
the move, growing, changing and imposing new laws respectively.
Too often people tuck their estate plan away and twenty
years or more hence, when the time comes to rely on the plan, it is discovered
inadequate or inflexible to their current needs. Their life’s circumstances
changed and the plan in many places is no longer relevant, or worse, undermines
their intentions. While your estate plan may not be your favorite bedtime story
every evening, as a practical matter for your benefit it is best to review the
plan you have in place every three to five years. Some circumstances that
should trigger a review on that boundary or before, potentially as
circumstances arise, follow:
– Moving to another state. Estate planning laws vary state
to state, by example, some states have an inheritance tax and/or an estate tax,
others do not. Another example, the requirements for advance directives and
durable powers of attorney vary.
– Births; those new family members, you may have a place in
your heart that you want reflected in your estate plan.
– The three D’s: death, divorce, disinheritance. Major
shifts in life that alter the way you originally intended to distribute your
wealth and belongings, impose a need to review and revise.
– Marriage - your own or one of your beneficiaries can
impact your plan.
– Charitable giving - there is a cause you want to support
that did not have your attention when you first created your plan.
– Your executor or successor trustee may need to be changed.
They are no longer able or willing to serve in that capacity, or they are no
longer a good fit for your life’s circumstances.
– Children reach the age of majority, i.e. they turn
eighteen.
– Changes in the law, tax law and laws that govern aspects
of your estate plan, like laws governing the durable power of attorney or
advance directive.
This is just a sampling of the events that should trigger
you to review your estate plan. Some of these, like changes in the law, you may
not be aware of which is why, as I started with, it is a good practice to
review your estate plan regularly. Every three to five years review your plan
with your estate planner so that you can identify impacts, the obvious and the
not so obvious.
Stories of the Stars... If Only
Examples from a few celebrities.
Robin Williams, comedian extraordinaire, with his estate
planning and revamping of that plan likely reduced the battle between his third
wife and his children from becoming a wildfire out of control, to a mediated
settlement that concluded in a relatively short amount of time by creating a
prenuptial agreement with his third wife and then updating his revocable living
trust in line with that agreement.
Paul Walker, The Fast & The Furious, in contrast to
Williams stands as an example of missed opportunities by leaving his estate
plan untouched for twelve years, omitting to review and revise. With forward
thinking, he created a revocable living trust to provide for his three year old
daughter, Meadow. Kudos. But in the twelve years intervening between that event
and his untimely death, many of the life changes mentioned in this article
occurred that went unattended to in his plan. At the time he created his plan
his career was just taking off. He amassed significant wealth, an estate
estimated to be in excess of $25 million at his death. And then there was his
seven-year relationship with the person that many thought was destined to be
his future spouse. None of these significant life changes were incorporated.
Much to speculate on that could have better served his estate and his
intentions for those that he provided for or may have wanted to provide for had
he reviewed and revised his estate plan.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
|  Contributed photo
I love Mount Hood, history and photography, and when I can
bring all three together in one place, I’m happy.
Loyal readers of my column may remember the article that I
wrote about Jennie Welch, her photography and its importance to the history of
Welches and the Mount Hood area (August 2018 Mountain Times). Before Jennie
Welch took her first photo another Mount Hood icon was bringing cutting-edge
photography technology that would eventually allow consumers, such as Jennie,
an easier method to create their own photos to the Pacific Northwest.
Oliver C. Yocum, known to everyone as “OC,” came to Oregon
in a wagon on the old Oregon Trail as a five-year-old child with his parents in
1847, and by the time that his life ended, he became a legend indelibly etched
into the history of Mount Hood.
His family settled in Yamhill County, where he spent his
childhood working on the family farm and odd jobs in between. By the time he
was 17 he had worked as a clerk in the family hotel in Lafayette, was an
apprentice saddle maker, a builder and in his spare time studied law. In time
he struck out on his own.
He loved Shakespearean novels and travelled mining camps
with a troupe reenacting the plays on a portable stage.
He eventually made it back to Lafayette where he met Ann
Robertson, herself an Oregon Trail immigrant who travelled to Oregon as a
two-year-old, and they were married. OC did some building, cabinet making and
grain buying before the couple moved to Portland in 1881, where OC became a
photograph printer and eventually a professional photographer.
Photography, back in the old days, was a messy and
complicated procedure. It required a glass photo plate to be prepared with
chemicals, exposed and developed all within a 15-minute period of time and
required a portable darkroom in the form of a tent if you were taking photos in
the outdoors. This form of photography was called wet plate photography.
But in 1871 a process called dry plate was invented and by
1879 factories were being made to manufacture glass dry plates.
Oliver Yocum was the first person in Oregon and perhaps the
Pacific Northwest to manufacture dry plates. Dry plates were portable and able
to expose the photo quicker, allowing for hand-held photos and were able to be
stored for a time after the photo was made before it needed to be developed.
This allowed more people to be able to enjoy photography and even though the
cameras were still rather bulky, they allowed folks to carry their cameras into
the outdoors.
In 1883 Oliver Yocum climbed Mount Hood for the first time.
During the trip he carried a large 8” x 10” wooden camera and all of its
accessories, weighing close to 50 pounds.
It was on this trip that the first photos taken on the
summit of Mount Hood were made. It was also on this trip that Yocum fell in
love with the countryside on the south side of Mount Hood.
For several seasons Yocum did photography in Portland during
the winter and came to Government Camp in the summer. He took every opportunity
to climb the mountain. In 1887 he was a member of the party that illuminated
the summit and was one of the founding members of the Portland climbing club,
the Mazamas, in 1894.
He guided people to
the top of Mount Hood until he turned 67.
In his quest to spend time outdoors in clean air, due to
“pulmonary problems” caused by smoky air in Portland (and no doubt the
chemicals from the photography process), he changed his occupation to surveyor.
In 1890 Yocum moved to Mount Hood, homesteaded, operated a
sawmill and started guiding people to the top of Mount Hood.
In 1900 he built the first hotel in the town that was named
Government Camp.
Oliver lived on Mount Hood until 1911, when he sold most of
his holdings in Government Camp and moved back to Portland where he decided to
study dentistry and accepted a position at the North Pacific Dental College. He
was 69 years old at that point and had sold most of the business to the
soon-to-become-legendary Lige Coalman, including the hotel.
OC lived a long and varied life and will forever be
associated with the history of Mount Hood, but will also be a part of Mount
Hood’s photographic history. OC died in 1928 and was followed into eternity by
his wife Ann two years later.
Although his legacy rarely mentions his contributions to
photography, his name will be preserved in some of the geographic locations on
and around Mount Hood. Yocum Ridge, a very challenging ridge on the
southeastern side of the mountain was named for him, as well as the picturesque
waterfall on Camp Creek, Yocum Falls.
|
| Viewpoints - Salem: Looking out for rural Oregon by Rep. Anna Williams on 05/01/2019
The 2019 legislative session has reached its midpoint and we
have a number of important policies still to work through. The legislature’s
main priorities are coming into focus now that many bill proposals have fallen
by the wayside, and I want to discuss three important bills that could make an
impact in our local communities.
First, House Bill 2007, a diesel pollution reform bill, is
one that I strongly support. Some areas in Oregon have some of the worst diesel
pollution in the country. This raises both environmental and public health
concerns. HB 2007 would require owners of certain older trucks to install model
2010 or newer engines by January 1, 2029. This bill will also use the remaining
funds from the Volkswagen Settlement to help fund that transition to cleaner
diesel engines. Although 2029 may seem like a long timeline for such an
important law, the longer timeline will give agricultural producers in the
Mount Hood area time to budget and plan for the transition.
House Bill 2020, another measure I plan to support, would
launch a “cap and invest” program to regulate carbon gas emissions in our
state. Under this bill, the state will auction off “allowances” for companies
to emit those gases and use the money from the sale of the allowances to help
Oregonians transition to lower-emission practices. I strongly support this
concept, but I have heard from farmers in our communities about their concern
that they may be more negatively impacted than other industries by this law.
In my conversations with those farmers, I have learned about
their fears for their farms’ futures and the challenging reality of our
ever-changing economy. I have passed their concerns along to my colleagues who
are managing the amendments proposed for this bill. My hope is that the final
bill will avoid unintended hardships for farmers while creating effective tools
to combat climate change. I will keep pushing to ensure that these farmers’
voices have an impact on the bill’s final language.
Finally, there are several bills that propose to ban various
pesticides, including chlorpyrifos and neonicotinoid chemicals. Although I have
heard from some of my constituents about the risks of recklessly using these
chemicals, I have also heard from Hood River Valley and East Multnomah farmers
about the challenges that total bans might create.
I worry that farmers will be forced to turn to more damaging
or even dangerous alternatives to avoid pest outbreaks if a total ban is passed
by the Legislature. Another possibility is that no alternative would exist at
all for certain specialized farms in our part of the state, such as blueberry,
peppermint and Christmas tree farms.
This would mean that some crops would be exposed to serious
and potentially devastating infestations while farmers scrambled to find
non-chemical means to combat them. So, while I would probably support
restrictions on how certain pesticides are used, I have been proud to stand by
the agricultural community in opposing these total bans.
All of these policy ideas may make sense to legislators and
voters from more urban areas of our state. However, I am concerned that many
farmers feel the cumulative impact of many bills this session are having an
outsized negative impact on the agricultural sector and rural communities. It
is essential that we protect our farms and small towns, while we find ways to
encourage better environmental practices. So, I am open to your thoughts and
ideas about how to strike a balance between environmental responsibility and
security for rural Oregon that helps make our beautiful district such a
powerful economic force in the state.
Anna Williams is the House District 52 Representative
|
| Viewpoints - Sandy: The Mountain Festival Carnival is back! by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 05/01/2019
I’m excited to announce the return of one of Sandy’s most
sacred traditions – The Sandy Mountain Festival Carnival!
A big thank you to the Sandy Mountain Festival Committee,
especially to Martin Montgomery and Steven Brown. Additionally, this event does
not happen without outstanding community partners like AntFarm and the Leathers
Family and Leather’s Fuel.
As someone who grew up in this community, I have fond
memories of attending the carnival as a child. As a father of two little girls,
I’m excited to see this annual tradition continue for future generations.
As some may remember, even prior to me making the decision
to run for Mayor, I was a vocal critic of the lack of proactive leadership
displayed by the city for such a popular event.
In an editorial that garnered lots of local attention, I
stated that while “I understand that most of the work and planning for the
festival is done by the committee, it’s imperative that the city begins to
coordinate logistics and show this kind of proactive leadership to troubleshoot
issues. How is it possible that one simply cannot find a local business owner,
a community organization or a parcel of publicly-owned land for a carnival one
weekend out of the year?”
I’m happy to say that as Mayor, this is exactly how I have
chosen to lead. I’ve had several meetings with the leadership of the Sandy
Mountain Festival Committee, as well as the property and business owners
affected by the event. I also hosted a joint meeting with all the event
stakeholders including our city department heads who interact with the Mountain
Festival, like police, public works, recreational services, transit and
economic development.
The Sandy Mountain Festival is one of the largest festival
events in Oregon and attracts thousands of people to town each year. According
to the festival’s website, its purpose is to enhance Sandy’s business climate
by showcasing products, allowing local nonprofit organizations to raise funds,
providing artists a forum for their talents and promoting community pride and
participation.
Basically, the Sandy Mountain Festival provides citizens
opportunities and allows our city to put its best foot forward. This is only
the first step in our efforts to create the best possible Mountain Festival
experience for both our neighbors here in Sandy, as well as our visitors.
In the years ahead, we hope to better incorporate our
transit services with the overall visitor experience and help alleviate some of
the traffic and parking concerns that arise during this popular event.
We want both our neighbors and visitors to have an
experience when interacting with our community that leaves them wanting more
and coming back to support our community and our local business owners. The
Sandy Mountain Festival is a unique and outstanding opportunity to do just
that.
The Sandy Mountain Festival Carnival is back at its usual
location! What a crucial piece to reaching our overarching goal – To Keep Sandy
Wonderful! Stan Pulliam is the Mayor of the City of Sandy
|
| Welcome to adulthood by Paula Walker on 05/01/2019
Our theme of “never too young” continues from last month
with a topic that surprises many, if not most parents. The fact that your
child, just turned 18, is now legally an adult, imposes legal requirements
you’ve likely not yet considered. Although still their parents, and they still
live at home, you no longer have legal access to your 18-year old’s medical
records or information about their medical condition; nor can you transact
business on their behalf should they need you to do so. This becomes especially
relevant as your child heads for college, or that gap year of travel between
high school and entering college; or otherwise ventures forth, independent and
ready to be so, but, in emergencies, still looking to you for support and help.
Four documents each emerging young adult should have, are:
1) Healthcare Power of Attorney; 2) HIPAA Authorization; 3) Advance Directive;
and 4) Durable Power of Attorney. With these instruments in place, whomever the
young adult appoints in those instruments can intervene on their behalf in
cases of medical emergency; can support them with medical care; can have access
to medical records as needed; can make life and death decisions; can manage
financial affairs as needed. Without these, even though you are paying the
medical bills, you may not be able to speak with medical staff about medical
conditions, prescriptions, handle insurance claims etc.
While the parent may be the best person to appoint in many
cases, the young adult may appoint another trusted adult, aunt, uncle, older
sibling, instead of or in addition to a parent. It is advisable to appoint
alternates in case the first choice is unable or unwilling to serve.
How long do these four documents remain in effect? Two
answers to that. First, each document is ‘durable,’ meaning that they remain in
effect during a time of incapacity. Second, the appointment lasts as long as
the young adult wants. They can revoke or amend the documents at any time
appointing other persons to serve as their agent as they move into other stages
of their lives and relationships, such as marriage.
Not only for medical events, having these proxy authorities
in place can be useful in a variety of situations as your child ventures forth,
perhaps travels overseas for a gap year or study, such as your ability to wire
money from child’s bank account, contact the local embassy, sign a legal
document for your child in their absence such as their lease, sign tax returns
and pay bills. As well, a young adult may not want their parents to have access
to certain information. They can stipulate not to disclose information they
want to keep private.
Where forms may be state specific it is advisable to prepare
the forms for the state in which you live as well as those for the state of the
school attended and the school’s forms, if they have their own. Once executed,
scan and save the documents so that they are readily available on a computer or
by smartphone.
Attending to these documents is a good investment; part of
your back-to-school/next-stage-of-life support. This can give peace of mind to
your child as well as you as they venture forth, that in those fledgling years
between childhood and fully independent adulthood, you can still be there for
them if they need you.
Stories of the Stars, If Only …
Sobering statistics emphasize the importance of considering
this. One source reports that each year, a quarter-million Americans between 18
and 25 are hospitalized with nonlethal injuries, and that accidents are the
leading cause of death for young adults. However, there are numerous incidents,
less drastic than this that may call upon a parent to be there for their child
and act on their child’s behalf.
For this article I offer up, not stories of the celebrities,
but stories from our common shared experience as parent and young emerging adult.
One father recounts a scary episode in which his nineteen-year-old, who had
traveled to Mexico on spring break, developed a severe intestinal bug and was
admitted to the college infirmary. His father rushed to visit him there,
however, doctors would not discuss his son’s condition citing privacy concerns.
Another parent recounts the events following a phone call
informing her that her son, in college 270 miles away, was being rushed by
ambulance to the emergency room due to severe chest pains. She called the ER only
to be told that she had no legal right to talk with the doctor about her son’s
condition. Even though in this case the son would not have wished to keep his
parents in the dark, he was in too much pain to authorize their access to his
medical information.
In both cases the children recovered, thankfully. Each
story, though, goes to underscore the importance that these documents can
provide in that transitional period of your and your children’s lives.
Dear Reader… We welcome your questions on matters related to
estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance the
potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| Blue Zone delicacies: seaweed, turmeric and mushrooms by Victoria Larson on 05/01/2019
Okinawa, Japan is the Blue Zone where women tend to live
longer than other areas on our earth. In honor of women and mothers everywhere,
let’s look at the lessons from this Blue Zone. Blue Zones are those areas in
the world where it was discovered that inhabitants had better health and lived
longer than most other areas on earth. The areas were circled on a map in blue
ink and henceforth became known as the Blue Zones.
Okinawa, Japan is about a thousand miles south of Tokyo, an
island of white sandy beaches and palm trees. Maybe that alone is enough to
lead to longevity? Early Chinese explorers called this “the land of immortals.”
Life expectancy for males is 84 years and for females it is almost 90 years! In
addition, they have one-fifth the rate of breast cancer and prostate cancer and
half the rate of dementia compared to the United States! I know both men and
women in our immediate area who are in their 90s too, but for now let’s look at
what has been discovered in Okinawa.
While yoga is performed almost daily, it was presumed that
the Japanese diet had more to do with the longevity than any other factor. This
is now presumed to be the cause of longevity almost everywhere, but a
best-selling book, The Okinawan Diet Plan, written by brothers Craig and
Bradley Wilcox, proves interesting. Investigation into the eating habits of
Okinawans has now been divided into pre-1940 and post WWII. Hmm ... The
pre-1940 diet was intensely focused on ingesting a sweet potato, related to our
delicious orange ones, but purple and called “imo” in Japanese. This sweet
potato used to constitute 60 percent of the daily caloric intake of the people.
After WWII and our Western influences, consumption of those sweet potatoes fell
to only five percent. In addition, consumption of foods like white bread, white
rice, milk and eggs increased considerably. At the same time, cancers of
breast, colon, lung and prostate about doubled.
A typical breakfast was miso soup with seaweed and “green
leafy things.” Even as late as the mid-1990s, I remember being served a watery
soup with rice and mushrooms (called ‘fungus’ in China) on a month-long trip to
China. Added to this breakfast soup were greens foraged from nearby hills only
hours before. Very fresh and highly nutritious. Main meals were stir-fried
vegetables including burdock (we call it a weed) with a very small amount of
fish or meat, if desired.
Before 1940, fish was eaten at least three times a week.
Dairy and meat represented only three percent of daily caloric intake.
Okinawans favored pork, usually only served on feast days, when it was stewed
for days before until it was mostly collagen (which we tend to buy in plastic
containers for a lot of money). It was believed that the protein substance
actually repaired small tears in blood vessels, thereby reducing risk of
stroke.
A typical meal was seaweeds, sweet potatoes and turmeric, a
digestive mode now believed to mimic calorie restriction. And calorie
restriction is believed to lead to greater longevity in Okinawans, at least in
older citizens born before 1940. In 1940 Okinawans ate 40 percent fewer
calories than the average American. It appears that seaweed, sweet potatoes and
turmeric all provide genetic triggers to decrease free radical production
without causing increase in hunger.
Tofu has been popular in Asian countries for hundreds of
years, being made into everything from milk to ice cream and was the dairy
consumed daily in Asian countries. Also consumed daily was green tea made
wonderfully fragrant by adding jasmine flowers! You’ve all heard the phrase
“all the tea in China?” In fact, while we brought our own tea to tea houses and
eateries in China, it was weeks before we learned that we had to ask for hot
water in order to brew it ourselves at our table.
Turmeric is used as both a tea and as a spice and is best
warmed and served with a pinch of black pepper. Not as an encapsulate pill.
Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory now being further studied for its
anti-aging and anti-cancer properties. Add in mushrooms and the hundreds of
kinds of fungus with their immune protecting compounds, lots of garlic and the
many different kinds of seaweed and you have a very healthy diet.
It’s no wonder that older Okinawans have the longest life
expectancy, especially for women. Live well, live long. Sushi anyone?
|
| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: toy exchange programs by Mary Soots on 05/01/2019
It’s May already and summer is just around the corner. The kids
will be on vacation before you know it. What are you going to do? How will you
keep them busy and out of trouble all day? Apparently, they disallowed child
labor some time ago. And child development experts strongly recommend that you
limit a child’s screen time (TV, phone, computer, tablet, etc.) to two hours
per day. So, it remains up to parents and grandparents to keep them busy and
entertained while making learning a part of the play experience during the
summer break.
One of the best things when we were kids was receiving a
monthly subscription of Highlights for Children, a magazine that began
publishing in 1946 and continues in popularity today. It is filled with
activities, reading and puzzles. Geared primarily for children ages 6-12 it has
kept up with the times by launching a mobile app, Highlights Every Day, in
2017. While an app is nice, it’s not the same as receiving a surprise package
in the mail addressed to your child(ren). Luckily, there is a new type of
service that has become quite popular that will keep the kids from saying
they’re bored. It’s called a toy exchange subscription.
With this type of service, your child receives a used and
sanitized toy each month that they play with and then return. When they’ve
returned the toy, they get a new one. If the child has fallen in love with the
toy, they can keep it for the cost of the toy. There are different types of
programs available, based on the type of play that the child enjoys and on
their age.
Some popular services such as Toy Library or Pley boast
brands such as Lego, Minecraft, Disney, among others, and have hundreds of toys
to choose from. Often the cost of the monthly subscription is less than the
cost of purchasing new toys and the quality of toys is top-notch.
Other services offer a packet of activities that the child
can engage in and there is nothing to return. Companies such as KiwiCo or
Spangler Science Club both focus on play as a way of developing a child’s
intellectual curiosity. Each month, kids ranging from infants to teenagers
receive a box with various arts and crafts activities that focus on science,
technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Dress-up was always a favorite at our house. If your child
is into playing pirates and princesses, My Pretend Place is the company for
them. Each month, the package includes costumes, books and activities
surrounding a specific theme that will set their imagination free.
The advantage of using a toy exchange program is that the
toybox won’t get full of toys that the kids will have grown bored with or have
outgrown. From an environmental perspective, the toy exchange programs use the
“reduce” and “re-use” philosophy in a great way. By sharing or exchanging toys,
it reduces the number of toys that end up in the landfill. One environmentally-friendly
company, Green Piñata, ensures that their high-end toys “use
sustainably-sourced wood or recycled plastic” as well as being toxin-free.
It’s inspiring to see the creative ways that individuals are
finding to bring about new models for doing things. Toy exchange programs solve
the problem of getting tired of the same toys, keeping them busy, helping the
child develop through play, all while saving parents money. Of course, a
subscription would also make a great gift for those grandchildren, nephews, and
nieces who are far away.
|
| Adventures in meal prep by Taeler Butel on 05/01/2019
As someone who works in nutrition, I’ve seen diet fads come
and go as I’m sure many more will come and go. Such is the cycle of life.
Recently, I was hired to prepare (or “meal prep” as the streets call it) a keto
style menu. This new language included words like “Macros” and “Ketosis.” So, I
researched a little and decided on a menu, and now I’ll share a few recipes
with you.
Happy Ketosis!
Italian cream cake
(Gluten free also)
Heat oven to 325
Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.
For the cake cream together:
2 sticks soft butter
1 cup sweetener such as swerve
1 T vanilla
Add four egg yolks, one at a time. Put whites in a large
bowl and set aside.
Whisk following dry ingredients:
1.5 cups Almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
Add dry ingredients about 1/2 at a time alternate adding 1/2
cup heavy cream.
Beat egg whites with 1/4 t cream of tartar.
Carefully fold egg whites into the mix.
Bake 40-45 minutes, let cool in pans, frost when cool with
cream cheese frosting.
Use mixer to beat together:
1 8 oz package cream cheese
2 sticks soft butter
1 cup sweetener
1 t vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream
Optional
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Toast and add around sides and top of cake.
Creamy Tuscan chicken
Between plastic pound out four large boneless skinless
chicken breasts.
On a large plate toss together:
1/4 cup almond flour
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 T lemon zest
1 t Italian seasoning
Dredge chicken in mixture, set aside.
In a large skillet heat on medium, melt together:
2 T unsalted butter
1/4 cup olive oil
Brown the chicken 4-5 minutes on each side one at a time,
place in warm oven.
Wipe out skillet. Then add:
1 T each butter and olive oil
1 t chopped garlic
Juice from 1 lemon
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup each chopped sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Bring to a bubble, stir until everything is melty and serve
over chicken.
(Taeler Butel shares her culinary gifts exclusively with The
Mountain Times.)
|
| Episode XXXIII: Rolexes and a Palisade of Pain by Max Malone, Private Eye on 05/01/2019
Max tried to shake the fuzzy gauze from his eyes. Slowly, he
began to focus. The wall in front of him, viewed from the floor, the hideous
pastels of island architecture from hell. Despite the four-alarm fire in his
head, he was still able to feel the humid air clinging to him like an iguana in
heat. He forced himself to a seated position, saw, figures in the room,
thought: I probably have these knuckleheads to thank for my headache.
He heard a door open and the footfall of two men, one very
heavy. The big one stopped in front of him. Max looked up and managed a sinful
hobgoblin smile.
“Ah, Mr. Fong. So good to see you again. (beat, fighting
against the continuing cobwebs in his brain.) You really need to take a dip in
the ocean. You smell like fish guts.”
The big Chinaman didn’t appreciate the reference to where he
had been tied up by Max and friends, and Max didn’t expect him to. Rather, Max
knew he was in deep trouble, but had already guessed he wasn’t going to be
killed, because if he was, he’d already be there – call it private eye
instincts – so he might as well get in a few licks of his own, albeit only of
the verbal nature.
“You stink in a worse way, Mr. Private Dick,” Fong slavered.
“But soon it won’t matter to me.”
Max managed a laugh, impressing even himself at its
authenticity. The blow came suddenly and with such force Max could only guess
it was delivered by Mr. Fong. It sent him reeling across the floor, and Max
could feel his nose exploding through the pain. He squinted at the shoes. There
were four. Two moccasin types, brown, and two as shiny as a marine’s dress low
quarters. He forced himself to look up at his tormenters, got as far as their
hands, noticed both wearing Rolex watches, wondered to himself why cheap thugs
sought legitimacy through expensive watches.
He almost got back to a seated position when he was sent
reeling – a serious blow to his ribs. Had to be a foot, he thought, of the
shiny shoe variety. He searched deep inside for a breath, found one, then
regretted it as the pain shot through like a bullet train from Brussels.
More blows came. The pain seemed to fall away, like a rock
down a deep well. He knew he was losing consciousness as the pastel walls faded
with the torment and he began to drift toward a distant shore.
He tried to focus on something he could hang on to. Being
Max, he thought of women: Valerie Supine, the meanest little woman in thirteen
western states; Hope, who had ventilated his fedora, and was doing time for a
murder she didn’t commit; Francoise, his faithful secretary now in the good
hands of Frank Strong, the former porn star Feral Strong; Natasha, dead on the
fecund soil of rural France; Katrina, who swept through his cabin like her
hurricane namesake; Anna Belle Wilde, the supposed innocent widow of Paul Kimatian-turned-Andy
Campanaro; Jemma Gayle, the delightful and helpful Jamaican nurse who made a
habit of pulling him out of trouble; then, before giving in to the gathering
darkness, Dolly Teagarden.
Did Mr. Fong see Max smile, or try to smile? If so, his work
wasn’t finished.
Max thought of the morality of Dolly, the MI6 agent from
England. What cause did she serve? What was her reward? Where does she go from
here? After all, he had accompanied her through France while cuffed to various
versions of interior furniture, afterward here to the Caymans.
Then it came to him, his final thought before the lights
went out: Why is it that as soon as I get to know a woman, I suddenly don’t
like her anymore? Is that a flaw, or a salvation? Bah. A split lip and a bother
of women.
* * *
Jemma Gayle got off work, checked her watch, and hurried
down the crowded street of her neighborhood, finally reaching the Internet
Café. She got her phone cabin number from the clerk and went in, closed the
door, took a slip of paper from her purse and dialed a series of numbers.
She thought: After all, I’m doing this for my new friend,
Max Malone.
|
|  Dalles Mountain, Wash.
It’s April again, and we photographers all know what that
means - it’s wildflower season again! Especially around the Mount Hood area as
we have so many options and a very long season to photograph them.
Early in the season the flowers such as the purple lupine
and bright yellow balsamroot sunflowers start in the lower elevations,
especially along the east end of the Columbia River Gorge. Places such as
Rowena Crest or Dalles Mountain on the Washington side of the river are both
very popular locations for those who seek these wildflowers in the springtime.
As the season progresses the flowers work their way up into the foothills of
Mount Hood and in time onto the slopes of the mountain during the summer
months. Most of the best wildflowers on Mount Hood are accessible from the many
hiking trails available to us but a drive on some of the forest roads will be
lined with everything from lupine and paintbrush to a wide assortment of
orchids and lilies.
When photographing the flowers, I like to get up before
sunrise to be able to be there during the best light available to me,
especially for my landscape photos (but a sunset can be just as nice). I
typically avoid the light of midday but a nice blue sky with some fluffy clouds
is also striking. As the light changes, I like to take more close-up photos of
the flowers. Macro photography is fun, but bring some knee pads. I spend a lot
of time on my knees during wildflower season.
When out in the wild and roaming among the fields of flowers
be aware of your surroundings so as not trample or destroy any plants or areas
surrounding them. Don’t break new trails as there will be many opportunities
for photos along the pathways and trails. As outdoor enthusiasts we need to
practice and preach proper stewardship of the lands, especially in these days
of increased usage.
Some of my favorite secret locations:
Rowena Crest Viewpoint, Mosier – early season
Rowena Crest Viewpoint is located on and is a part of the
old Historic Columbia River Highway. Located between Mosier and The Dalles, it
gives you a commanding view of the Columbia River Gorge, especially to the east
which makes it a great place to photograph a sunrise. Lupine and balsamroot
sunflowers dominate the scene, but it is home to an amazing variety of native
wildflowers. There are great trails through the area, including the Tom McCall
Preserve.
Columbia Hills State Park, Dalles Mountain, Wash. – early
season
Across the Columbia River from The Dalles, Oregon lies a
whole world of exploration. One of my favorite places to photograph is Dalles
Mountain Ranch near Dallesport. It once was a ranch and several of the
buildings, including barns and the original farm house are still there and a
part of the historical history of the area. With views over fields of
wildflowers in the Springtime that overlook the southern skyline including
Mount Hood amazing photos are made here.
Mt Hood National Forest roads – after snow clears
I love to just go for drives on many of the roads that are
open for travel that are on National Forest land, especially while the
rhododendrons and bear grass are blooming. Many of these roads come to views of
Mount Hood. As you drive you will also notice a wide variety of wildflowers
that grow along the road. Just pack up your camera and go for a drive.
Mount Hood’s Wy’east Basin –late season
For those who enjoy a beautiful hike that will get you onto
the upper slopes of Mount Hood I recommend a hike up Vista Ridge to Wy’east
Basin. It can be strenuous to some but if you pack a lunch and water, take your
time and stop and photograph the flowers along the way, a wonderful day can be
had. The trail weaves its way through the ghost forest created by the Dollar
Lake fire, the floor of which can be covered in flowers including beautiful
white fawn lilies. As you break out of the forest, views of Barrett Spur and
Mount Hood bear grass and rhododendrons line the trail. When you arrive above
the timber line and into Wy’east basin you will be greeted with areas covered
with beautiful mountain heather.
These are only a small sample of the amazing scenery that
can yield amazing wildflowers and, consequently, amazing photographs. Grab your
gear and hit the road.
|
| Viewpoints – Sandy: Budgeting the biennium and beyond by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 04/01/2019
Sandy’s budget planning process for the next biennium is
upon us, which means we get to dream big, but we must also be mindful of the
challenges that lay ahead.
Our rapid growth along with the nearly 40-acre Sandy
Community Campus means exciting things for our community. Our growth also puts
a large strain on our infrastructure and core functions of government, and as
the leaders of this community, we can no longer side-step those issues.
Past leaders have been willing to ignore major deficiencies
in core local government services, have failed to plan for a rainy day and have
continued to ignore a failing waste water treatment process. I refuse to be
that kind of leader.
Here are the issues that face us as we enter our budgeting
process:
As with other local municipalities, Oregon’s recent rise in
the minimum wage and soaring PERS costs are finally catching up. For example,
the City of Portland Parks & Recreation Department is facing a $6.3 million
shortfall forcing them to dramatically cut staff and close several Community
Centers. Similarly, the Sandy City Council recently decided to temporarily
close Sandy’s Aquatic Center. In addition to the large maintenance expenses,
the salaries and benefits of employees restricted our ability to explore
short-term funding solutions to allow the pool to remain open.
Because of poor leadership planning, the city was forced to
transfer nearly $500,000 from our general reserve and contingency funds in 2018
to subsidize the Aquatic Center for the remainder of the biennium. This left
our reserve and contingency funds at their lowest point in the last decade. The
ramifications of that decision could be disastrous if we experience another
economic downturn.
Secondly, since Estacada ended their contract with our Sandy
Police Department, our department has felt the financial loss. Currently our
police budget is in an operational deficit of nearly half a million dollars and
that is just to maintain current levels of operation, which means only one or
two officers on duty at a time. Past leaders have found this to be acceptable.
I do not. As a growing city with increasing petty crime and homelessness
issues, this is below standards that our taxpayers deserve.
Adding to all of this is years of not addressing our waste
water treatment issues. As a result, the Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality is now requiring our community to fix the problem. As I addressed in my
column last month, fixing the issue is one thing, but doing so while creating a
plan that can handle our rapid growth in population is another. This project
has a price tag of $60-$80 million and must be addressed by 2024. This will put
a financial burden on our utility users and compounds our other budgetary
shortfalls.
While the issues facing us are complex, my plan to address
these new realities is quite simple.
First, we must release some of the strains currently
stressing our general fund budget. The first step of this was the temporary
closure of the Aquatic Center and the eventual proposal of an Oregon Trail
Recreational Parks District to our voters. This will provide a long-term and
stable funding source for the Community Campus Project including a new aquatic
center and could also help to improve access to Sandy’s parks.
Additionally, our council will need to investigate the
viability of a public safety fee to secure adequate funding of our police
department. Every citizen in Sandy depends on public safety officers. For a
small fee of $5-10 a month, we could finally begin to have the kind of coverage
our citizens deserve and expect.
These two items will put Sandy into a position where we can
offer core services to our neighbors, create a healthy reserve/rainy day fund
and lay the foundation to a wonderful and exciting future for our community.
|
| Viewpoints - Salem: Solutions to the housing crisis by Rep. Anna Williams on 04/01/2019
As I enter the third month of the 2019 session, the pace of
legislating shows no sign of slowing! Final deadlines for new bills are
approaching quickly. After those deadlines pass, we will focus our energy on
evaluating the bills that have already been introduced and passing the good
ones. I look forward to getting as much done as possible before we adjourn this
summer.
Much of my energy has gone to one major topic for the past
month: housing. Since I serve on the House Committee on Human Services and
Housing, I get to be involved in the early process of reviewing and amending
nearly every housing bill that could eventually become law. Because Oregon’s
housing shortage is an issue that affects our district as much as it affects
the rest of the state, I will highlight some of the accomplishments and
possibilities in this area of lawmaking.
Senate Bill (SB) 608, a bill that you may have seen or read
about through local or national media, was signed into law on Feb. 28. The bill
places a cap on annual rent hikes at about 10 percent and prohibits no-cause
evictions of long-term tenants. I heard from landlords who were concerned about
the impact this bill may have on their investment properties, and I listened to
every one of their concerns. I also heard from landlords who appreciate this
law and the clarity it provides around the eviction process and how landlords
can navigate improvements to their rental properties. In the end, I believe
this bill will have an overwhelming positive impact on Oregonians and it will
be a useful tool to protect safe, stable housing for more Oregonians.
However, SB 608 is only one part of the plan to address the
housing crisis. Several other pending bills, if signed into law, will increase
the availability of affordable housing and help people who may not be able to
afford housing at all. House Bill (HB) 2001, for example, will make it so that
cities and counties with large populations would have to provide property
owners with the option of building “low-rise middle housing” like duplexes and
triplexes, even in areas previously zoned for single-family houses, as an
overlay to current city zoning plans. This will provide the opportunity for
thousands of affordable housing units to be built in the years to come. To be
clear, this bill would not make single family housing illegal in Oregon. It
would simply open up local zoning processes to ensure that they prioritize
housing which is affordable and appropriate for middle-class people and
families in communities across the state.
I am also working with colleagues from Eastern Oregon to
encourage the building of new housing in our rural communities across the
state. We are looking for ways to encourage developers to invest in smaller
towns, especially those which are further away from the interstate system.
There are many challenges involved in making development of
affordable, accessible housing a profitable endeavor for housing developers
(and they won’t do it if it’s not profitable!). Your ideas are, as always,
welcome. What are the challenges to housing development in your community? I
look forward to hearing from you and putting your good ideas into action.
The housing bills which are passed this session will have a
major impact on the housing crisis. They will make housing available to more
Oregonians, help our neighbors find and move into appropriate housing and help
us all remain securely and stably housed.
I intend to do everything in my power to fight for the
people of our community who currently lack that security and stability. I would
love to hear from anyone who would like to weigh in on housing issues. Please
feel free to reach out to my office at Rep.AnnaWilliams@oregonlegislature.gov
if you would like to share your thoughts on these or any other bills.
|
| MHGS: the unwelcome early spring by Mary Soots on 04/01/2019
Spring is here! Have you noticed in recent years that it
starts earlier and earlier? Twenty years ago, we would not have seen such
beautiful weather as we had recently so early in the season. According to the
journal Nature, researchers started tracking data on the annual temperature
cycles about ten years ago by studying the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere
as well as over the oceans.
They looked at two components. The first component,
amplitude — “loosely, half the difference between summer and winter temperatures
— has been decreasing over most continental areas and increasing over the
oceans.” The second component is phase – “the relative timing of the periodic
(seasonal) component of temperature.” (NATURE|Vol 457|22 January 2009). They
found that over time, for the most part, the seasons occur earlier over land
and later over the oceans.
Researchers in the U.S. and in other parts of the world
concluded that shifting seasons are directly linked to warmer global
temperatures. According to one website, “As a result, winters are shorter,
spring is earlier, summers are longer and fall arrives later.”
(http://climatechange.lta.org/climate-impacts/shifting-seasons)
With the earlier arrival of spring and thawing temperatures,
trees and wildflowers are blooming earlier than previously. The US EPA uses
leaf and bloom dates to track shifting seasons, and scientists have high
confidence that the earlier arrival of spring events is linked to recent
warming trends in global climate. When the weather warms in late winter, a
trend that we have experienced in recent years throughout the United States,
this can create a “false spring” that signals to plants that it’s time to start
to bloom.
While we are all delighted with the warm weather, sunshine
and the miracle of rebirth that spring brings, plants that begin their growth
cycle too early are vulnerable to damage from any subsequent frost. This can be
especially harmful to sensitive plants and trees and can bring about economic
disaster such as in our part of the world where the economy relies heavily on
the production of fruit and nuts.
The disruption in the timing of the typical seasons has
implications for the ecosystems and for people as well. As Dr. Stephen Thackery
of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, in Lancaster, England explains, “Each
year, a sequence of natural events unfolds,” he said. “Plant life becomes
active, then herbivores that eat those plants, and finally the carnivores that
eat the herbivores.” (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/jan/23/spring-early-plant-animal-behaviour)
The early advent of spring disrupts the natural cycle
because different species respond in different ways and at different rates.
Species that rely on others for survival are not born in time to do so. One
example is birds that need to feed on specific species of insects may be
hatching too late. Another example is juvenile fish that need to feed on water
fleas may hatch too late and could starve from a lack of insects that
flourished earlier. This may also affect migrating species, many of which
travel through the Cascade Range. Their journey may misalign with the timing of
the species they need to survive along the way.
Other effects of the shifting seasons can lead to earlier
snow-melt, with corresponding flooding. At the same time that spring is
arriving earlier, winter is arriving later as measured by the first frost of
the year. They’re shorter winters, however. Plant pests and diseases don’t have
time to die and can flourish over a longer summer growing season.
There is little that can be done to change the pattern that
we are seeing. Sadly, the rate of which the change is happening is accelerating
according to researchers. We can however, as a community recognize the changes
that we are experiencing and act to identify and minimize risks. Some groups
are beginning to include more plant diversity in restoration projects in order
to provide native fauna with other food sources and habitats as the timing of
seasons change.
Let’s enjoy the beauty of spring while we have it. Summer is
just around the corner. Just realize that with a longer growing season, it also
means earlier and longer allergy seasons.
|
| Episode XXXII: Nigel’s the ‘Best’ that Max has by Max Malone, Private Eye on 04/01/2019
The longer Max keeps the conversation rolling, the more
comfortable he becomes with believing he’s getting out of this with his hide.
But absolutely nothing else. Andy Campanaro is too calm – icy calm, like a
glacier too big to fail – and too capable, and Dolly Teagarden is thrown in
with the scum as she swirls down the drain amid the remains of all the human
detritus of Max’s adventures.
Yet, Andy is enjoying his position of being totally in
charge. And Dolly is a willing supplicant – which isn’t that tough to figure
for Max at this moment, considering the miserable pay check she deservedly
receives from MI6 accountants who are doubtlessly all descended from the
miserly Ebenezer Scrooge of Dickens fame, albeit sans Jacob Marley, the ghosts
and the Cratchit family.
Along with that thought, Max’s mind skips to Tiny Tim, which
leads directly to how is the newsie Nigel Best doing? After all, he could be
Max’s last shot at improving his hand – Nigel, not Tiny.
“So how long you two been using the same outhouse?” Max
asks, sharing the question with both Andy and Dolly via syncopated sideways
sneers.
“It’s business old sport,” Andy grins his way through
another response. “I’ve explained it.”
“And so have I,” Dolly says, with a not-so-convincing smile.
“Yeah, I get that,” Max parries, covering his concern over
Nigel. “We all do business of one kind or another. Some legal. Some not so
legal. But I’m just wondering, is there no sense of honor? Nothing bigger than
the allegiance to a profit motive? (pause) “And I’m not your old sport.”
“That’s funny as hell, old sport.” Max cringes, but Andy
presses on. “What was your motive for doing nothing for a fat retainer back in
hillbilly heaven?”
Max remembered his motive perfectly: trying to maintain the
last shreds of decency for the Wilde family, and protecting an innocent waif
from Campanaro’s crustacean-like clutches. OK. Admittedly. At the time he
needed the dough.
But he still needed to play for time.
* * *
Jemma Gayle kept her eyes open for trouble, but feigning it
with a natural-born thrusted hip and crossed legs at the ankles as she leaned
against the outside window of the internet café. Still in hospital uniform, she
could have been a nurse on hold for her married doctor to arrive.
Inside, Nigel Best was dictating off his reporter’s notepad,
fighting to keep the sweat from ruining his notes. Finished, he motioned for
Jemma to come help. She quickly dropped the doctor charade and joined Nigel at
the desk. She helped with instructions as the clerk was in over his head with
downloading photos from Nigel’s nifty palm camera.
Nigel and Jemma stood outside the café, both looking at the
purloined Lincoln, and instinctively and innocently sauntered up the street.
Jemma pulled off the innocent part much better – the obvious scene stealer in a
B-grade movie.
* * *
Max was guessing he had stalled all he could, and the rest
was up to Nigel. That still left him holding a pair of deuces in this real-life
game. He went all-in.
“You know,” directed at Andy, “your big mistake was knocking
off the U.S. attorney in Tallahassee.”
Andy shrugs it off with a washtub full of nonchalance.
“Don’t worry,” Max keeps moving forward, daring for his hand
to be called. “I’m confident you have plausible deniability. Especially with
that thing running interference,” Max dips a disrespectful shoulder in Dolly’s
direction. “But that attorney was a college mate of Nigel Best. Remember him,
Andy? From Wildewood? And she was probably the first, and maybe only, woman
Nigel ever had. Know what I mean?”
“You’re boring me, old sport.”
“Photos of this escapade,” Max scans the villa, the rooftop,
Dolly, then back to Andy, “and the story are headed to the bureau chief of the
Associated Press in Tallahassee. And he’s some old curmudgeon who has buried in
the Tommy Lee Jones wrinkles that define his face a well-earned disdain for
creatures like you. (to Dolly now): and you, doll face. And I don’t know if
you’re familiar with AP, but news spreads like a west coast forest fire with
that bunch.”
It was an uneasy feeling, putting all your chips in the
middle of the table on this 140-pound Nigel Best, and an AP bureau chief he had
just invented, but after all, that’s all that Max, the Wildewood private eye,
had at the moment.
|
| Scrumptious spring! by Taeler Butel on 04/01/2019
Spring chicken
A whole meal in one pot, bursting with the flavors and
colors of spring:
1 whole cut up chicken
1 jar artichoke hearts
1 cup sliced, cleaned leeks
2 smashed garlic cloves
1 t lemon zest
1 T each garlic powder, salt, pepper
1 cup white wine
1 cup chopped fresh asparagus (1/2-inch pieces)
New potatoes (2 cups)
2 cups chicken stock
2 T thyme
1/4 cup flour
Olive oil
Mix together flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Toss chicken in mixture, heat oil in a large oven safe pan
with deep sides.
Add chicken in, skin side down, cook on med heat turning
chicken until well browned on all sides.
Remove chicken from pan and add all other ingredients to the
pan.
Place chicken back on top, heat oven to 365.
Place pan in oven and roast another 45 mins until chicken
and vegetables are cooked through.
Strawberry cucumber salad
1 lb sliced strawberries
1 cup chopped kale
1 sliced English cucumber
1 cup halved red grapes
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup feta cheese.
Dressing – mix together 1 T olive oil, 1T honey, 1 t Dijon
mustard.
1 T apple cider vinegar, pinch salt and pepper.
Combine with fruit and other goodies and enjoy!
(Taeler Butel shares her culinary gifts exclusively with The
Mountain Times.)
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall.
The more time that I spend as a photographer the more that I
recognize how I handle life equates to how I should handle photography. How
just being patient and using simple life lessons can affect my photos.
How many times have we been challenged by a situation where
when we walk away for a period of time and then return everything falls into
place? How many times have I came to a location and walked away without a
pleasing photo, or with a photo that I’m proud of, only to return another day
and effortlessly snap an impressive photo? What makes the difference? In my
life it sometimes is only a matter of looking at the problem with a fresh set
of eyes, being there under different conditions or using different tools or
techniques for the job. Sometimes it takes all three.
When we are challenged by an obstacle that impedes our
progress sometimes just a simple break can allow us to throw out or forget
about a thought process that keeps us from looking at the situation in a
different way, many times creating a “now why didn’t I see that before”
situation. Sometimes it requires a totally different approach with a different
set of skills or tools, sometimes it’s just a matter of looking at it with
fresh eyes. I’ve been out shooting with a friend and saw their photo and
thought, holy guacamole! Why didn’t I think of that? Many times, we insist on
taking a path that is difficult when the easy way is not far and can be found
if we just step aside for a moment and look around. My father would say to me
that sometimes you have to stop or back up to make progress again. I apply this
to photography when I visit a location where I know there’s a photo but have
been challenged in the past.
Technique, or how one uses their camera to capture the
scene, is very important. Understanding how your camera works allows you to
become instinctual about how to be able to capture the moment according to your
vision, adapt to changing conditions and overcome challenging conditions. The
three basic settings, shutter speed, aperture and ISO (film speed) and how
they’re combined will create certain effects that will capture the scene
accurately or will allow the photographer to create an effect that can enhance
the image. These techniques can help create a stronger or more unique image.
Another part of technique involves composition, including different points of
view. Standing in a different spot, raising or lowering your camera zooming in
or out. These are all things that the photographer has control over that allows
them to adapt the photo to their vision.
Next is opportunity. An opportunity can be an event, a fraction
of a moment in time or a set of conditions that are unique. Simple analogies
would be a sunset or a rainbow. A photo’s quality or beauty, in most cases, is
enhanced under good light. A landscape photographer will always prefer shooting
a scene at sunrise, sunset or in “sweet light,” but the light doesn’t always
show up. When it does it creates an opportunity for more beautiful photos than
in stark light. Outdoor portrait photography or even real estate photography is
no different. Being there when these conditions, or opportunities are there
brings us to the next variable.
The next variable is planning to take advantage of the
previous two variables. Planning is being prepared to use skill or technique to
capture an opportunity. Relying on coincidence or luck is like a game of chance
and it rarely happens. When it does happen, many times the photographer isn’t
at the right place or doesn’t have their camera set properly to completely
capitalize on the situation. When the opportunity is fleeting, the photographer
needs to be prepared.
When I consider how I handle making a photograph I find that
I get the best results when I stop, relax and look around, master the proper
tools used for the situation and am prepared to take advantage of opportunities
when they occur. I find handling life to be much the same.
|
| Viewpoints – Sandy: Investing in wastewater by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 03/01/2019
Today I write you on a major issue facing our community that
I’d like to talk to you about.
As you may have read recently on social media and in our
local newspapers, Sandy has been faced with several DEQ (Department of
Environmental Quality) fines for failing to meet permit limits at our
wastewater treatment plant. Our current treatment plant was last upgraded in
1998 when we were a small community with just over 5,000 residents. In the past
20 years, our population has more than doubled to approximately 11,000
residents and we are expected to double again in the next 20! With those new residents comes more
wastewater and our wastewater system just hasn’t been able to keep up with the
increased flows.
So, where does our wastewater go?
Starting in May and continuing through summer and into
October, there is not enough water in Tickle Creek and our treated wastewater
is recycled and used for irrigating potted plants at a nearby nursery. We
aren’t planning to change this program – it conserves our water resources and
reduces the amount of wastewater released to local streams during the summer,
when stream flows are at their lowest.
From November through April, our treated wastewater is
released to Tickle Creek. As many of you know, Tickle Creek is not a large
stream. Unfortunately, the creek doesn’t have the capacity to accept any more
wastewater. In fact, increasing wastewater loads into the creek is prohibited
under state law.
Our sewer system also needs investment. We have old, leaky
sewer pipes that allow clean rainwater to get into our wastewater system. It
costs less to fix the pipes than the build an even bigger treatment plant to
treat all the extra water.
The question for our community is – how can we meet the
needs of our growing community while protecting our local streams and
maintaining affordability for our customers? To answer that question, we hired
Murraysmith, a reputable regional engineering firm, to develop a comprehensive
Wastewater System Facilities Plan.
That plan showed that the best path forward for Sandy is to
build a second wastewater treatment plant to treat our additional wastewater.
The new treatment plant will use state-of-the-art membrane technology – the
treated wastewater will be very similar to the water that comes out of your tap
at home. Water from the new treatment plant will be released to the Sandy
River. The Sandy River has much greater flows than Tickle Creek and a greater
capacity to accept the treated wastewater.
Under this plan, we will continue to use our existing
wastewater treatment plant, making the most of our past investments. We did
evaluate whether we could upgrade the existing treatment plant to meet all of
our needs – it turns out those upgrades would cost just as much as building a
second treatment plant and would only meet our needs for 20 years.
The long-term solution comes with a hefty price tag of more than
$60 million. I wish this was not the case, but we don’t have any lower-cost
options available to us. Now is the time to address this major challenge facing
our community, waiting will only kick the can down the road and result in even
greater costs for our community.
Now, you can only imagine what this could mean for our local
ratepayers. The City Council and I are doing everything we can to mitigate the
costs for our neighbors here in Sandy. We have engaged State Representative
Anna Williams and State Senator Chuck Thomsen, among several other regional
State Legislators to help find funding solutions at the state level. There is
bi-partisan support in this effort and we’re all working together to do what’s
best for our community of Sandy.
Additionally, I’ve already engaged with U.S. Senator Jeff
Merkley’s office and have future meetings set up with a representative from
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden’s office and a face-to-face meeting with Congressman
Earl Blumenauer. I’ve also been in discussions with John Huffman, who is the
State Director of the US Department of Agriculture. This is all in effort to
secure additional federal funding for our wastewater project.
City Councilor Carl Exner has done a tremendous job in his
outreach with both the Clackamas River Watershed Council and the Sandy River
Watershed Council to engage them early on in this process.
Councilor Jan Lee has joined water resource committees at
both the county and state levels, and Council President Jeremy Pietzold and
Councilor Laurie Smallwood have joined me in our advocacy efforts. We’re
all-hands-on-deck working side by side fighting on behalf of our community of
Sandy.
As someone who grew up here, who returned to raise my own
family and knows many of you through our kids being in school together,
attending youth activities or delivering food baskets during the holidays, you
can bet I understand what an increase in utility costs means for our neighbors
here in Sandy. Nobody runs to be Mayor of their hometown to champion an issue
like wastewater treatment. However, this is a core function of government we
must address together. I promise you that Council and I will do everything we
can to mitigate the impact this will have on our community. That said, we
cannot do it without your help. We need your involvement and your feedback.
Posted on our City of Sandy Social Media pages is an
opportunity for community feedback on this process. Please also take a few
moments to review the plan along with a video presentation on our website at
https://www.ci.sandy.or.us/sewer-wastewater-system-facilities-plan. While
there, you can also provide us with your feedback and comments.
Additionally, there will come a time when we will need you
to advocate to our state and federal representatives on the need for their
assistance in funding this new system.
Together, we will address the future needs for our community
while protecting the rivers and streams that run through our town. Together, we
can Keep Sandy Wonderful. Thank you.
|
| Viewpoints – Salem: Funding Search & Rescue by Rep. Anna Williams on 03/01/2019
Somehow, it’s already February. Things at the State House in
Salem are bustling and there’s too much going on to give you an overview this
month. So, I will use this column to tell you about one of the bills I’m really
excited about this session.
I’m serving as a Chief Sponsor for House Bill 2503, along
with Senator Thomsen, Representative Bonham, Representative Helt and
Representative Marsh, among others. This bipartisan and bicameral bill “directs
the Office of Emergency Management to study and make recommendations regarding
funding of search and rescue operations.” Search and Rescue operations (SAR)
are a necessity in our community, but they are expensive and strain our Sheriff
and our community’s resources and budgets.
People come from all over Oregon (and the world!) to visit
the Mount Hood area and enjoy our beautiful scenery, exciting recreation
opportunities and delicious local food scene. As you know, folks who live here
are incredibly proud of this, and many of us make our livings through tourism.
We love showing off our amazing communities to visitors, but sometimes those
visitors get lost or injured in our mountains, rivers and trails and need help
to get back to safety. Our SAR teams are hard-working, dedicated volunteers and
professionals who only care about getting people back to safety. However, our
counties and cities have to pay for the costs of these vital programs and these
operations can be expensive and pull law enforcement away from enforcement and
crime prevention.
House Bill 2503 would mandate a study to find out how SAR
expenses are currently spent and offer suggestions for how we can better fund
these critical services. It doesn’t allocate funding or resources, but it is a
first step toward a stable solution. Once we have a clearer understanding of
SAR costs and practices, we can work with stakeholders to make recommendations
for how to adequately and fairly fund SAR in counties like Hood River and
Clackamas where the majority of our search and rescue operations are for people
who don’t live in (and pay taxes in) our counties.
I love our mountain community. We need to be sure our search
and rescue providers have the resources to make sure that all Oregonians can
enjoy what we have to offer.
It is important to note that thousands of bills are proposed
each session - but generally, only a couple hundred pass and become law. Bills
often change significantly as they make their way through the legislative
process. With this in mind, if you’re concerned about a particular bill or have
a question, my door is always open. Feel free to email
Rep.AnnaWilliams@oregonlegislature.gov or stop by my capitol office.
Onward!
|
| MHGS: going gray is the new green by Mary Soots on 03/01/2019
Perhaps it’s just my age. Perhaps it’s my gender. Perhaps
it’s my imagination, but I’ve noticed a recent trend in women of a certain age
refusing to color their hair and opting instead for a more natural aging
process. It’s refreshing, really, like a big exhalation when one has been
holding their breath for a long time. You no longer have to impress anyone or
yield to social pressure to conform. Women are shedding the mantle of eternal
youth, instead choosing to feel comfortable with the real woman they are.
In part this is due to the realization some time ago that
hair color contained toxic chemicals. P-Phenylenediamine (PPD), an active
ingredient in most hair dyes, has been linked to skin irritation, as well as
immune and nervous system problems. Ammonia, another common hair dye
ingredient, can cause respiratory problems and throat irritation.
In addition to the effects these chemicals have on us
humans, they are also damaging to the environment. According to one website,
“to put it simply, when you wash commercial hair dyes out of your hair,
chemical ingredients often wind up in local waterways. Ammonia has been linked
to soil acidification and changes in ecosystems, and the EPA notes that
chemicals associated with personal care products like hair dye are proven to be
in our water supply.”
As a result of the research giving the harmful effects of
hair color, companies have developed products that avoid these two ingredients.
More and more salons and home kits have shifted toward dyes that use natural
ingredients rather than harsh chemicals. Organic and henna-based hair colors do
not cause damage to the skin, the body or the environment. While chemical hair
colors strip the hair of its natural coating and cover it with dyes, the way
that henna works is to instead wrap the hair in color. The down side is that
the color does not last as long as the chemical dyes, but it is less damaging
to the shaft of the hair.
Still, it has now become fashionable to have gray hair. Even
young people are using hair colors to dye their hair different shades of gray.
As Anne Kreamer, author of “Going Gray: How to Embrace Your Authentic Self with
Grace and Style,” points out, it is liberating. As a 46-year-old businesswoman,
she literally wrote the book about it letting go of the “brown helmet.” Not
only does she describe it as an act of desperation while one tries to hold on
to an imaginary youth, “Kreamer is adamant that using colouring as an ageing
disguise does exactly the opposite and is detrimental to your confidence. ‘It’s
your sense of vitality and your character that define you. You could have the
best dye-job from a top salon, but have a slump in your step, and you would
look ancient.’”
Another advocate for gray hair, Jane Mayled notes the
disparities between how society views men and women. In an article in the
Guardian in 2016, she notes that men who have gray hair are viewed with respect
as being wise. “Men who embrace their grey are treated as if they’ve found a
cure for cancer,” she said. “They’ve become gorgeous. Women who do it don’t get
that response. We’re either brave or mad.” She sees the move to go gray as a
political one. “I want my children to see what a real live middle-aged woman
looks like.”
The baby boomer generation is one that has blazed new trails
in many social norms. Perhaps the way that mature women are seen in regard to
their appearances and the “Forever 21” syndrome is only beginning to change.
|
| Episode XXXI :A tough hand of Cayman hold-em by Max Malone, Private Eye on 03/01/2019
Seemingly in charge of Andy Campanaro matters, Max’s
attention turns back up the hill as four squad cars of Cayman cops roar toward
the villa, and after passing Andy’s Lincoln Max sees his newsie buddy from
Wildewood, Nigel Best, scramble from beneath the limo, fire up the engine, and
take off over the hill and disappear into the distance, heading in the general
direction of town.
Dolly Teagarden’s MI6 “assets” have lowered their Glock 17s,
Carlo’s gang has lost its advantage on the roof of the villa, holding their
hands aloft as a newly arrived band of Campanaro reinforcements have gained
control of the high ground, while Dolly’s fierce expression of triumph has
morphed into one of conspiratorial conquest, and of course Andy, the eternal
vision of evil incarnate has rediscovered his mocking smile – one that has
never completely disappeared despite the highly charged turmoil that has
erupted over the last minute which could have also been described as an
eternity.
Despite a flood of questions that could have floated Noah’s
ark, Max at least understands that his position has suddenly become as
untenable as Joe Frazier looking up at Muhammad Ali standing over him rhyming
“I told you your fate, you were going down in eight.”
Max turns to Dolly. She shrugs as if she’s just turned down
a glass of champagne at a cocktail party that she has long ago found boorishly
boring – not to mention the dubious history of the bubbly being offered.
“Tough luck, old sport,” Andy chuckles predictably. “Best
laid plans, and all that.”
Max buries his fists into his sides as his glare turns from
Dolly to his nemesis. “Got it all figured out, eh?”
“You’re a private dick. Think about it. I’ve got two boat
loads of precious seed and farm equipment headed to countries ravished by
famine.” Andy raises both arms, palms upward in self-praise. “I’m a hero.” He
pauses, drops his arms to affect something more sinister. “Of course, there’s
the aircraft winging across the Atlantic with all those life-saving drugs.
Granted not completely tested, but they soon will be, old sport.”
Max turns again to Dolly. “It’s way above our pay grade,
dear Max,” she rasps, as if still at the crushing cocktail party. “Drugs,
dollars, deception, diplomacy. It’s really that simple.”
Max knows he has to drag this out. No one has left the scene
except Nigel. Have they forgotten about him? Not likely. It’s also unlikely
Nigel can outwit this band of island thieves. But those are Max’s only cards.
“I suppose it’ll be easy enough getting rid of me,” Max
opens holding a pair of deuces. “You’ve got enough weapons. But what do you
plan to do about the authorities back in the states who know what I’m up to?
You can’t kill ’em all.”
Andy’s grill grows into his gruesome grin. Dolly cocks her
head to one side like a Labrador retriever begging for a command. The “assets”
have holstered their Glocks suggesting all danger has passed.
After the flop, Max’s hold-em hand still tops out at deuces.
* * *
Nigel Best careens into town, searching with the limo for
the right side of the road, or in this case, the left side. The Oregon newsie
leans into the steering wheel as if at the helm of an undersized fishing boat
in the perfect storm – albeit therein ends the comparison of Nigel to George
Clooney.
He pulls up at the emergency room entrance to the hospital
where Jemma Gayle comes running down the ramp, squishing in her spongy,
sensible nurse’s shoes, and slips into the passenger seat, which nearly every
other driver in the world knows should be the driver’s seat, but isn’t.
“Can you drive?” Nigel implores hopefully.
“Never tried,” Jemma disappoints.
“Terrific. Where to?”
“Straight ahead.”
Nigel screeches onward down the narrow market street
scattering alarmed locals trying to do nothing more than collect their meager
supplies for the evening meal.
“There it is,” Jemma shouts, pointing at the Internet café.
* * *
“What does England get out of this?” Max asks pointedly to
Dolly.
Again, the Dolly shrug, as if everyone should already know.
“There are things in this world that cause we cousins to join forces.”
“Cousins?”
“Americans,” followed by the seductive Dolly smile that Max
recalls like the soft sigh of a scented breeze from the not-too-distant past.
After all, if even for a brief, yet stressful, romantic
moment, he’s still Max Malone, private eye.
|
| Blue Zone benefits – Costa Rica offers the ‘pure life’ by Victoria Larson on 03/01/2019
They don’t say “hello” in Costa Rica, they say “Pure Vida”
(purr-ah veedah) as a greeting. Literally translated it means “pure life,”
loosely it translates as “life is good.” Imagine being with a cheery “life is
good” ten, twenty, fifty times a day. Pretty soon you internalize it and life
IS good!
Costa Rica is another of the Blue Zones on our lovely
green-and-blue Earth. Blue Zones are those five areas on our planet where it
was discovered that people lived the longest. Last month I told you about the
only Blue Zone in the United States, Loma Linda, Calif. This month I’ll let you
know about Costa Rica, the only Blue Zone I’ve actually visited. But it is the
one place I’d move to in a heartbeat if all things were equal. But my family
and grandkids don’t want to move, and I don’t want to leave them. They give me
so much happiness.
Costa Ricans live to be ninety years old and older at a rate
that is two-and-a-half times greater than US citizens. They have decreased
rates of cancer, diabetes and heart disease, yet they spend one-fifteenth of
what we Americans spend on healthcare. How can that be? What are they doing
that we should be doing? Pharmacias (drug stores) are on almost every corner in
the cities. The pharmacias sell mostly homeopathics for healthcare. Homeopathics
are generally considered to be safe, effective and cheap. And for mental and
spiritual well-being there are several churches in each city.
I was in Costa Rica in 1999 after graduating naturopathic
medical school, and I consider it the best vacation I ever had. It was an
ecological tour with a dedicated guide and instructor. Twelve people travelling
together to learn more about the ecology of Costa Rica - why coffee needs to be
grown under shade trees, how to avoid being bonked on the head by falling coconuts
and myriad other tidbits of knowledge. We hiked in jungles to see butterflies,
orchids and snakes, swam in rivers, took water tours where our guide could spot
caiman eyes or a hummingbird nest yards from the boat. Using a machete he’d
open a coconut for all to try. We awoke early to the sounds of howler monkeys,
ate mostly vegetarian food and basked in the glow of lava running down
mountains.
The food was always freshly prepared, never packaged, as it
is a small country and there’s no place for garbage to build up. For the
duration of the trip I had the same meal for dinner every night, corvina with
hearts of palm salad and every night it was prepared differently though
incorporating identical foods. Costa Ricans have a diet that is high in complex
carbohydrates, not the simple carbs over-consumed in America. There was an
abundance of fresh foods, locally made cheeses, and wonderful seafood. Members
of our group were taken to a garden where we each took turns digging and
pulling Casavas, a staple food of Costa Rica, much like a large yam. Then we
were treated to a meal of them baked, mashed, even as freshly prepared ‘potato’
chips.
Costa Ricans eat a diet high in fruits – bananas (they grew
outside the hotel rooms), plantains (which are not sweet), papayas (both green
and ripe) and strawberries. Though it was March they already had strawberries,
several months away from ripeness in the rainy Northwest. A sweet young woman
came onto the bus and we all sampled her basket of berries. But when we
purchased baskets of berries from the farm stand we’d stopped at we discovered
alas, that we’d been duped. The berries we bought were not sweet like the ones
we’d sampled on the bus. Caveat emptor! Buyer beware!
The Costa Ricans who live outside of cities work hard. They
don’t spend their days sitting in front of computers or in cars or watching TV.
They grind their own corn for their daily tortillas, manually (or more likely
fe-manually). Everyone in the country has a garden, for grocery stores are few
and far between. Beans, corn and squash are grown in every garden and beans are
eaten daily. Many grow their own coffee in the shade of the jungle and daily
use machetes to keep that jungle at bay.
Thus, the average Costa Rican earns time for fishing,
socializing or just loafing. There are a lot of hammocks to be enjoyed in the
mild climate of Costa Rica. On a video of that trip in a view of me resting in
one of those hammocks with a book fallen across my face, saying “All I have to
do is breathe in and breathe out.” Any wonder I’d like to move there?
The Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica has been cut-off from
rampant development for several decades. Most roads in the outlying areas are
dirt or gravel, becoming mud roads during the rainy season. And it rains a lot
in jungles. One person in our group complained when our bus was delayed for a
few hours, waiting for torrential rains to abate so we could continue our
travels. I thought back to the dirt and gravel roads of outlying China that I’d
travelled in 1996. Better roads would make Costa Rica more travelled, which
would completely change the character of this gorgeous Blue Zone country. No
wonder so many live so long there.
|
| Healthier comfort food by Taeler Butel on 03/01/2019
This menu will get in some healthy ingredients in a tasty
way, great for a night in!
Sloppy joes on cheddar biscuits
For the joes:
1 lb lean ground beef/ turkey
1/2 cup each chopped onion, celery and carrot
1 T each onion powder, garlic powder, salt and white pepper
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup ketchup
1 T Dijon mustard
1/2 cup water
In a large pan, brown ground meat with seasonings, add in
onion, carrots and celery, cook five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in
tomato paste and cook another few minutes, then add in other ingredients.
Let mixture simmer until thick, around 20 minutes.
For the cheddar biscuits:
Heat oven to 375 – place a layer of parchment onto a baking
sheet.
2 cups flour
1 stick butter; chopped
1 T salt
1 T baking powder
1/2 cup milk or cream
Stir dry ingredients, cut in butter and cheese, then stir in
milk or cream until mix just comes together then drop by large tablespoons onto
parchment lined sheet pan. Bake 15 minutes until tops are golden.
Sweet potato chips
2 sweet potatoes, sliced thin
1 T olive oil
1/2 t sea salt
Heat oven to 365. Toss ingredients together and lay out on a
baking sheet, bake 30 minutes or until crisp, tossing every ten minutes.
Cauliflower “Mac n cheese”
1 large head cauliflower, chopped
1 t garlic powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup half-and-half
2 cups vegetable stock
1 t corn starch
1/4 cup minced onion
1 T butter
Salt and pepper
Melt butter in large pan, add in onion and cauliflower,
garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add stock, cream and vegetable stock to the pan
and bring to a simmer.
Mix cheese with cornstarch, stir in and cook until mixture
is thickened and cauliflower is tender.
Stress-free skinny brownies
Trust me these are delicious! I’ve made them weekly since
all ingredients are often in my cupboard:
1 large sweet potato, baked (1 cup)
1/2 cup nut butter
2 T real maple syrup
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Pinch of salt
Heat oven to 350. In a medium saucepan, melt nut butter with
syrup and set aside. In a large bowl whip potatoes with cocoa powder and nut
butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, bake 20 minutes.
(Taeler Butel shares her culinary gifts exclusively with The
Mountain Times.)
|
| You are never too young by Paula Walker on 03/01/2019
The adage “You are never too old …” has a reverse corollary
in Estate Planning — “You are never too young.” And in some circumstances
better young than old.
We have all heard of the sensational feuds, battles of the
Titans, waged by family over the wealthy estates of famous people who die at a
relatively young age without an estate plan, or at minimum a will in place to
direct the distribution of their amassed wealth. The result leaves the
claimants to wrassle and whittle away the spoils in the legal firmament.
Their stories bring us to the realization that you are never
too young to put into place at minimum the most basic of estate plans: a will.
But, better to attend to creating a comprehensive estate plan and moreover to
consider the benefits to your family and loved ones that a revocable living
trust may provide over a will, because after all, the main point is taking care
of those who are dear to you.
Compelling reasons include family harmony, appointing a
guardian for your children and managing assets for your children as they emerge
into adults.
Family harmony … an estate plan conveys your clear
directions of how to distribute your assets, when and to whom. It can alleviate
the potential for conflict over what you intended, saving costs in time, energy
and dollars to those involved, and allow for the personal time need to grieve
and deal with loss.
Appointing a guardian for young children … with an estate
plan you entrust the care of your most precious responsibility to the person of
your choosing and not leave this paramount decision to the court, a timely and
costly process that leaves children’s fate in limbo for a time and can result
in a placement you may not desire.
Managing assets for young children and young adults … money
left to minors must be managed by an adult. Your estate plan appoints who you
trust with that responsibility and provides your directions as to how to manage
that financial support for their care and upbringing. And it provides the means
to spread distributions over time to help the just-turned-eighteen-year-old
emerge into the financial realities of adulthood, to further support them in
preparing for life’s financial milestones like higher education or a first
house down payment. An important boost because as we know, becoming legally an
adult at eighteen does not immediately confer fiscal wisdom and foresight.
Stories of the Stars… If Only
The estate plan of actor Paul Walker provides an example of
“never too young.” Upon his sudden death in Nov. 2013, in a car accident that
rivaled the spectacular and sensational scenes from the program he’s well known
for, “Fast & Furious.” The planning from years earlier did not compound
this tragedy with the issues of intestacy. Paul had created his estate plan
based on a revocable living trust at the age of 28, providing for his wealth to
transfer to his daughter, Meadow Rain Walker, who was three years old at the
time.
In the estate plan he also appointed his mother as Meadow’s
guardian to manage the estate he left his daughter until she reached adulthood,
if his ex wife, Rebecca Soteros, was unable to take or keep custody.
Others whose early death provide sagas to emphasize the idea
of “never too early” include: Bob Marley, whose death from cancer at age 36 in
May 1981, with a fortune of $30 million at that time, now estimated at more
than $130 million from posthumous earnings, triggered legal suits between
family members for more than 30 years. Jimi Hendrix, whose sudden death at age
27 in Sept. 1970, with an estate valued at more than $80 million at that time,
triggered sibling battles in a $1.7 million lawsuit that was still active in
2017. And Prince whose sudden death at age 57 in April 2016, leaving a fortune
estimated at approximately $200 million, still has court battles raging and
escalating related legal fees estimated at more than $9 million.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
|  Alaska
The gurgling sound of the twin 200-horsepower outboard
motors mounted on the stern of our excursion boat mixed with the sound of
camera shutters and the random “ooh and ahh” as we cruised back and forth
through the still, ice laden water at the face of the massive wall of glacial
ice before us.
Once everyone was through photographing this incredible
scene, our boat captain eased forward on the throttle, turning the gurgle to a
roar as we left the sheltered cove to head back to where we started this
incredible day.
Our group of intrepid photographers sat at rest and enjoying
the views after a full day of cruising the Prince William Sound in the Gulf of
Alaska, photographing wildlife and the immense, wild remote scenery that
surrounded us.
Our day started at our log lodge located near Palmer in the
beautiful Matanuska Valley, located about an hour northeast of Anchorage. We
had a drive to make to be on schedule, as we had to be at the Whittier Tunnel
on time to pass through with the regularly scheduled opening that allowed
visitors and residents to get to the little town of Whittier, located at the
other end on the majestic and scenic Prince William Sound. The Anton Anderson
Memorial Tunnel, commonly called The Whittier Tunnel, is a tunnel that was made
through a mountain between the town of Whittier and the Seward Highway, a major
thoroughfare taking traffic to and from the Kenai Peninsula to Alaska’s
mainland.
The Whittier Tunnel is a one-way, single lane, tunnel that
is two-and-one-half miles long. It’s the longest highway tunnel in North
America. The roadway includes a set of train tracks to accommodate the Alaska
Railroad. The inside of the tunnel is rough rock, almost cave like, and is a
bit claustrophobic the first time through, but is a bit exciting nonetheless.
There’s a time schedule for opening the tunnel that accommodates the train as
well as car and truck traffic in each direction at different times. If you miss
your scheduled opening, you must wait an hour before it’s open again in your
direction.
On this morning our group awoke with adventure on our minds.
We all climbed into the van and headed out. We were right on time, although the
bathroom break along the way caused a little concern about catching the tunnel,
and we made it with time to spare. Our destination this morning was Epic
Charters and the boat that we had reserved to take us out into the fjords of
the Prince William Sound to photograph not just scenery, but also to photograph
its wildlife.
The day was calm with some overcast skies. The ride out into
the sound was calm and exhilarating. The Chugach Mountains surrounding us tower
up from the water to reach an average height of 4,000 to 5,000 feet, with peaks
as high as 13,000 feet. Many have majestic glaciers covering their flanks and filling
their valleys with some ultimately crumbling into the ocean waters. As we
traveled along, we passed small islands covered with sea lions, rafts of sea
otters (as they’re called) and eagles flying overhead while we hope to see
orcas and black bears.
Our skipper navigated our boat into a couple small bays, one
of which was the location of a remote salmon hatchery where we found at least a
dozen or more opportunistic black bears roaming the shore, dipping their paws
into the water and dragging out a fish with little challenge. We left and made
our way to another bay where we found several more bears away from manmade
surroundings, a small group of which consisted of a mother and three cubs
hiding in tall grasses on the shoreline. Their heads peeked up every so often
just to keep an eye on the boat full of shutterbugs sitting in the water beyond
the shoreline.
We left that bay and made our way further into the sound to
a little island where we all stepped off the boat to stretch our legs for a
little while before heading into the incredible Harriman Fjord, a finger off of
the sound and a realm of huge hanging and tidewater glaciers. Our boat made it
to the face of Surprise Glacier where we floated around taking in the massive
mountains and huge flows of glacial ice. Massive waterfalls flowed down huge
solid stone walls from the ice fields and hanging glaciers above. The boat
slowly cruised through the iceberg filled water, several of which were the size
of the boat itself as we observed walls of ice caving into the ocean and
creating waves that would gently rock the boat as we stood there in amazement
of the scene surrounding us.
In time we turned to head back to Whittier. As we skimmed
over the calm water, we passed by the glaciers in the College Fjord before
heading back into deeper water and passage back. The boat’s captain pushed the
throttle further and brought the boat up onto a plane as our group sat at the
stern watching the scene disappear behind us. As we sat there taking it all in
for one last time and recalling all that had happened on that day, a rainbow
appeared behind us as one final parting gift from this spectacular land.
Our group left the pier and our captain as we gathered
together to make sure to catch the tunnel scheduled opening for our trip back
through and to the Seward Highway for our drive back to the lodge, with one
more stop for a meal at the Turnagain Arm Pit, a favorite barbecue restaurant
along the way. Once back at the lodge all everyone wanted to do was rest and
look at all their photos from this amazing time. This trip has become a
favorite part of our yearly Alaska Adventure tours but is only one day of the
five that we spend photographing Alaska. Each and every day is filled with
another incredible experience.
|
| Viewpoints – Sandy: Local officials ready for action by Mayor Stan Pulliam on 02/01/2019
Winston Churchill said, “I never worry about action, only
inaction.” I’ve spent the past few months since being elected mayor meeting
with members of our local city council, community stakeholders, department
heads and state and federal officials. I’m excited to say we are ready to work
together on a plan to keep Sandy wonderful!
While the Federal government is mired in partisan bickering,
we at the local level are ready to put people before politics and do what’s
best for the future of our beautiful city.
I’ve known Senator Chuck Thomsen for some time and have
watched him work across party lines to get great things done for our community.
I’ve also been impressed with our newly elected State Representative Anna
Williams. Representative Williams and I have met several times and discussed
ways that we can collaborate on Sandy’s behalf at the state level. It’s been
over a decade since our community has had majority party representation in
Salem, and we are fortunate to have someone like Anna who is willing and
excited to carry Sandy’s priorities to our state capital.
What are these Sandy priorities you may ask? At our recent
goal setting retreat for Sandy’s City Council and department heads, we created
an aggressive agenda to get our quickly growing city into the 21st Century
while preserving our unique character and pioneer spirit. These goals are some
of the most ambitious in our communities’ history.
We’ll be addressing traffic congestion by conducting a
Transportation System Plan, advocating for a viability study for a local bypass
and an extension of Bell St to 362nd to alleviate the morning and afternoon
school commute.
As one of Oregon’s fastest growing cities, we plan to put
together a comprehensive plan for growth with extensive community outreach for
input and direction. Our neighbors will no longer be bewildered by development
projects that have little vision, guidance or infrastructure built to support
them.
As a result of our rapid growth in size, our sewer water
treatment process is simply no longer viable. In the months ahead, there will
be announcements involving a new Waste Water Treatment facility. I will be
working collaboratively with our state and federal officials to find funds that
will help make this plan a reality without overburdening our local rate payers.
And finally, we’ll be providing our community with a vision
for the Sandy Community Campus project that will revitalize the Pleasant Street
Neighborhood, provide opportunities for our residents and allow us to grow from
our main street core, which is bisected by a state highway.
Additionally, in the year ahead our council will be holding
a series of work sessions on a variety of major topics including public safety,
homelessness, urban renewal, parks and enhancements to the Sandy Style and Sign
Code to become more small business friendly.
We will also be updating our cities policies to incentivize
industry to come to Sandy that will create more family wage jobs, allowing
families to thrive with parents who will be able to work where they live.
We’re going to leave the partisan fighting to Washington
D.C. Our locally elected officials are already busy working together to reach
our common goal: to keep Sandy wonderful! Stan Pulliam is the Mayor of the City of Sandy
|
| Viewpoints – Salem: 2019 legislative session starts by Rep. Anna Williams on 02/01/2019
This week has been an exciting one for me, as the first week
that the 2019 Oregon State Legislature is officially in session. The Capitol is
bustling with excitement and I’m really looking forward to getting to work with
my legislative colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Up until now, I’ve been
taking meetings with state-agency representatives, lobbyists and constituents,
but this week my committees had their first meetings and I voted on the House
floor for the first time.
Speaking of committees, I’m thrilled to have been appointed
to the following: Agriculture and Land Use, Energy and Environment and Human
Services and Housing. I’m really looking forward to getting to work on these
committees - I think they are a perfect fit for my experience and they also
represent the district well. My legislative priorities include creating
affordable housing, healthcare for all Oregonians and protecting our
environment and what makes Oregon so special, so I’m glad that I will have opportunity
to work on these issues in my committees.
Another exciting new development is that I hired staff for
my Capitol office! If you ever visit, email or call my office you will likely
either speak to myself, Amy and/or Justin. I’ll be in my Capitol office Monday
through Thursday, but I’m looking forward to spending Friday in-district to
take meetings and visit with constituents and spend the weekend with my family.
My staff will also be at in-district events I’m attending and will be
organizing town halls and constituent coffee meetings throughout House District
52.
There are already a few bills that have been introduced this
session that are getting some attention, and I think it’s important to note
that a lot of these bills will likely change significantly as (or if) they make
their way through the legislative process. I want to wait and see the final
version of a lot of these bills before I make my voting decision, but I’m
always happy to answer any questions you may have along the way. We may not
always agree on the specific issue, but I think it’s important to let my
constituents know where I stand, while also hearing their thoughts.
I’m excited to get to work to represent House District 52,
and I hope that you will reach out to me and my staff to let me know how you
think I am doing.
Anna Williams is the House District 52 Representative
|
| MHGS: the forest’s therapeutic benefits by Mary Soots on 02/01/2019
Shhhh! Our secret is starting to get out. The knowledge that
those of us forest-dwellers already knew – that being in nature and spending
time in the forest is good for the body, the mind and the soul. According to
the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs, “Forest
Therapy is a research-based framework for supporting healing and wellness
through immersion in forests and other natural environments. Forest Therapy is
inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku, which translates to ‘forest
bathing.’ Studies have demonstrated a wide array of health benefits, especially
in the cardiovascular and immune systems, and for stabilizing and improving
mood and cognition.”
Dr. Andrew Weil relates that, “researchers from UK’s
University of East Anglia analyzed 143 studies of forest therapy including data
on some 290 million participants from 20 different countries. Not only was
forest bathing associated with lower levels of cortisol, lower blood pressure
and heart rate, it also lowered blood cholesterol and reduced rates of
diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, asthma and death from heart disease.
In addition, it was associated with decreased risk of preterm birth and lower
all-cause mortality. Some studies suggested that forest therapy helped people
sleep better and improved outcomes in those with cancer and neurological
conditions. Finally, people exposed to forest therapy were found to be more
likely to report that their overall health was good.”
For example, one research study cited by Quarts.com states
that, “From 2004 to 2012, Japanese officials spent about $4 million dollars
studying the physiological and psychological effects of forest bathing,
designating 48 therapy trails based on the results. Qing Li, a professor at
Nippon Medical School in Tokyo, measured the activity of human natural killer
(NK) cells in the immune system before and after exposure to the woods. These
cells provide rapid responses to viral-infected cells and respond to tumor
formation and are associated with immune system health and cancer prevention.
In a 2009 study Li’s subjects showed significant increases in NK cell activity
in the week after a forest visit, and positive effects lasted a month following
each weekend in the woods.”
Another study measured the physiological effects of forest
bathing on “280 subjects in their early 20s. The team measured the subjects’
salivary cortisol (which increases with stress), blood pressure, pulse rate,
and heart rate variability during a day in the city and compared those to the
same biometrics taken during a day with a 30-minute forest visit. Forest
environments promote lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower
blood pressure, greater parasympathetic nerve activity, and lower sympathetic
nerve activity than do city environments.” In other words, being in nature made
subjects, physiologically, less amped. The parasympathetic nerve system
controls the body’s rest-and-digest system while the sympathetic nerve system
governs fight-or-flight responses. Subjects were more rested and less inclined
to stress after a forest bath.
One theory presents the idea that spending time among the
trees is beneficial for one’s health due to various essential oils, generally
called phytoncide, found in wood, plants and some fruits and vegetables, which
trees emit to protect themselves from germs and insects. Forest air doesn’t
just feel fresher and better—inhaling phytoncide seems to actually improve
immune system function. For city dwellers, time in nature can be spent in a
park. The benefit is best if one spends time simply absorbing nature, leaving
behind the electronics, the stressors of daily life and taking time to relax
and de-stress. No need to hike, ski, snowshoe or exert yourself.
We are fortunate to live adjacent to a national forest. The
more we learn about forests as a living organism, we realize that not only do
they provide clean drinking water, clean the air and offer myriad opportunities
for recreation and healthy living, but that our very well-being is dependent on
them. It is therefore our responsibility to protect the last remaining forests
from overlogging, exploitation and development. It is also our responsibility
to walk back out of the woods leaving them without a trace of our having been
there.
|
| Bringing healthy ‘Blue Zone’ principles into your life by Victoria Larson on 02/01/2019
As mentioned last month, we can learn a great deal from the
Blue Zones. Blue Zones, circled in blue ink by researchers looking at longevity
on a world map, are areas on our glorious blue-green earth where people live
the longest. Most of these areas of longevity are in other places in the world,
save for one in the United States.
The area of our nation with the lowest rates of heart
disease, diabetes and even obesity, is Loma Linda, Calif. Let’s start studying
Blue Zones with this area, as it most likely is the most “user-friendly” area
worldwide for those of us who live in the United States.
The people of Loma Linda statistically live about ten years
longer than most of the rest of our nation. Hmm... let’s find out why.
As a cardiologist and epidemiologist, Gary Fraser, of Loma
Linda University, has directed huge health studies for the National Institutes
of Health (NIH). These studies looked at causes of death among this Blue Zone
segment of the population. The AHS-1 study included 34,000 people for 14 years.
The AHS-2 study included 96,000 men and women and all ethnic groups.
Most of the participants of both studies followed the
Adventist lifestyle which we will look at in greater depth in this column in a
bit. Participants were asked 500 questions regarding diet and lifestyle, these
being determined to be indicators of longevity.
The well-known principles to follow for longevity were not
smoking, primarily a plant-based diet, maintenance of body weight and physical
activity. We’ve all heard about the usefulness of oatmeal, six to eight glasses
of water per day, physical activity and even a handful of nuts per day, but
many have ignored the benefits of avocadoes, seafood and pulses (the
old-which-is-new-again name for legumes like beans, lentils and peas).
The AHS 1 and 2 studies included vegans, lacto-ovo
vegetarians (those who include a little eggs and dairy), pesco-vegetarians
(those who include some fish in the diet) and non-vegetarians. While vegans
weighed the least, they didn’t live the longest. The people who lived the
longest ate primarily plants with up to as much as one serving of fish per day.
Non-vegetarians tended to not live as long and consumed more sugar and refined
foods, and hence tended to carry more weight, especially around their middle,
which is a sign of high risk of diabetes.
Even those in the study on a plant-based diet ate up to one
serving of fish per day or even had the occasional egg or dairy. Researchers
found that a three-ounce serving of fish one-to-three times a week provided
enough essential fatty acids (EFAs) to reduce the chances of dying from a heart
attack by one third. Alaska wild-caught salmon was by far better than farmed
Atlantic salmon (which should be avoided if possible). Other tasty and
good-for-you choices included cod, clams, crab, scallops, shrimp and sardines.
The smaller the fish the less mercury. An ounce of nuts (about a handful) was
capable of decreasing heart disease by 20 percent.
A primarily plant-based diet helps to clear out arteries,
helps you to lose weight and leads to a longer lifespan. The Adventists in the
study ate a very Biblical diet consisting of whole grains, fruits, nuts and
seeds, vegetables and water. They ate little or no refined grains, salt or sugar.
New studies show that consumption of good fats such as avocadoes, flax, nuts,
seeds and seafood will give you the needed omega 3s needed for heart and brain
health.
In addition, let’s remember to get up and move around even
if you don’t exercise per se. Get up from the book, computer, TV or video game
every half hour or hour. Walk around, jump up and down, move your arms and
legs. My grandsons and the neighbor kids do this even though they laugh about
it.
In fact, in order to decrease stress reactions, it is better
to spend some “sanctuary time,” time without computers, TV or video games. Our
grandparents burned at least five times more calories a day than we do in
modern times. Of course, they also didn’t have blenders, microwaves, Mixmasters
or TVs to start with!
Reducing stress includes 15-20 minutes walking in nature
every day. Eat sitting down, never standing up or in the car. Eat with family.
If you live alone, your “family” may be cats, dog or even a goldfish.
Feb. 17 is Random Acts of Kindness Day. So, do something
nice for someone. Carry their groceries, buy a stranger a coffee, do something
for someone else. It’ll de-stress you as much as them. For sanctuary time, go
to church, meditate, have a potluck, turn off the electronic devices and remember
to say “I love you.” I love you.
|
| Itemizing isn’t just for your taxes by Paula Walker on 02/01/2019
‘Tis the season … no not nostalgia for the holidays just
passed, but an acknowledgement of the focus that many of us have during the
first few months of every year to meet or beat that annual April 15 filing
deadline.
But, ‘tis not only the season to itemize for taxes but also
to consider what to leave to whom in organizing our affairs for our loved ones
to divide the belongings that we leave. The recognition of memories and
valuables contained in items termed “tangibles” when developing your estate
plan.
Itemizing can be a very important part of keeping family
harmony intact as your belongings are distributed amongst your family. Often
people simply state that their “tangibles” are to be divided in shares of equal
value amongst their children as they agree — and that may be sufficient.
However, there can be particular items of value — emotional,
sentimental, utilitarian, as well as those having financial worth — that may do
you well to specify their distribution to eliminate or reduce the possibility
for disagreement, conflict and stalemate.
One very important aspect of this process of itemizing is
conversation. The best outcomes for your estate administration in the future
are those discussions you have now. Find out who wants what and work out
overlaps for family treasures. You don’t need to itemize every little thing.
Itemize those tangibles that are meaningful to someone you are close to or that
serve some enduring purpose you want to support as part of your legacy.
Stories of the Stars… If Only
One example of such a seemingly easy distribution lies in
the estate of Audrey Hepburn, who left a storage locker in Los Angeles full of
her memorabilia to be divided equally between her two sons “as they agree.” But
they could not agree … for many years. In 2017, twenty-four years after her
death in 1993 at the age of 63, Audrey Hepburn’s two sons settled a two year
legal battle over dividing the possessions kept in that storage locker. The
settlement encompassed those items that each will keep, and those items that
they will sell and divide the profits. The famous Christie’s Auction house
expects that Hepburn’s photographs from this collection will sell for prices
ranging from $120 to $101,000.
About Ms. Hepburn, these highly prized memorabilia represent
this enduring icon not only of style, grace and beauty, but also of humanity. A
remarkable individual in the course of humankind, Audrey Hepburn was renowned
not only as an actress, but also as a philanthropist and UNICEF goodwill
ambassador.
Born in Ixelles, Belgium, in 1929, Ms. Hepburn was a child
of World War II. Of her own recounting, she was “among those who received food
and medical relief right after World War II;” she knew firsthand the value of
UNICEF’s work to aid children worldwide, dedicated to the proposition that “All
children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential – to the
benefit of a better world.” Upon becoming a UNICEF ambassador in 1989 she went
on a mission to Ethiopia, a country devastated by famine due to years of civil
strife and famine. That was just the start. She worked tirelessly, to bring
attention to the plight of children in many countries, earning the Presidential
Medal of Freedom in 1992 for her work, spending the last years of her life as a
UNICEF ambassador though battling cancer.
Dear Reader … We welcome your questions on matters related
to estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance
the potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| Episode XXX: Fong gets fishy, & Dolly’s ‘assets’ by Max Malone, Private Eye on 02/01/2019
Max, Jemma and Carlo walk out of a clapboard building with
Max looking as violated as a Thompson’s gazelle having a bad day on the
savannah. Jemma and Carlo are trying to suppress a laugh, with about as much
luck as that gazelle.
“What wrong mahn?” Carlo manages to ask through a losing
battle against a wide grin.
“That place could gag a maggot,” Max snarls.
“It’s just a fish processing plant,” Jemma offers, lips
caving in.
“Is that what you call it? I hate fish.”
“Good protein, mahn.”
“Yeah. I prefer my protein medium rare.”
Jemma and Carlo surrender to laughter. Max glares at them,
softens.
“I just hope that Chinaman and his sidekick hate the smell
as much as me. C’mon. There’s work to do.”
* * *
Max, Jemma, Carlo and MI6 operative Dolly Teagarden are huddled
in a local dive, surrounded by pirates, scoundrels and brigands – or so Max
imagines. They lean forward across the table, speaking in low register,
listening carefully, making pains not to look around suspiciously.
Dolly: “What makes you think his guards won’t just shoot
you?”
Max: “Well, Campanaro is lots of things, but stupid isn’t
one of them. He’ll want to know where Fong and the driver are, and, maybe, more
importantly, how to get his Lincoln back. Plus, he doesn’t want to lose me in
the counter-espionage caper. He’ll call off the dogs until he hears me out.” To
Carlo, “How many men you got?”
Carlo: “Seven good ones. More if you don’t need good.”
Carlo’s gold tooth glows through the gloomy surroundings.
Max looks at Jemma for confirmation. She nods. Max turns to
Dolly.
Dolly: “I got two assets flown in. They’ll be ready.”
Max: “You actually call them assets? I mean, I saw all three
Jason Bourne movies. Are you serious?”
Dolly nods affectionately at Max’s enduring sense of humor
despite the crisis that awaits. Carlo looks to Jemma for translation.
Jemma: “Is your news guy here, Max?” Max nods.
* * *
Sunrise in Grand Cayman. The sleek Lincoln is parked at the
top of the hill facing away from the Campanaro compound, beyond the range of
ordinary weapons. Nigel Best, editor and publisher of the Wildewood World,
stands next to the limo, arms folded across his chest, puffed up as much as his
140 pounds allows. Dolly is at his side, hip jutted out defiantly. There’s no
one else in sight, except for:
Max – who has ditched the island attire for his signature
suit and fedora – stalks resolutely down the hill toward the compound. Two
armed guards are at their posts on the roof of the villa, one more stands next
to Andy at the edge of the pool. Andy Campanaro’s eyes glint into the sun, a
hand gripping a glass of orange juice, his pernicious grin firmly in place.
“I’ll be damned,” Andy says to no one. “He’s got a pair.”
Max arrives. Andy flops casually into a poolside chair,
motions to his guard to lower his assault rifle.
“What makes me think our beautiful friendship has gone
adrift, old sport?” Andy says, in his unflinching manner.
“Maybe we never had one, old sport,” Max says with a mocking
snort.
“Have a seat anyway.”
Max doesn’t comply, keeping the sun at his back, with Andy
and the guard fighting the piercing Cayman sunlight.
“Let’s get to it, Andy,” Max says evenly, despite a clenched
jaw. “Your Chinaman and driver are all tied up at the moment. They’ve been
singing to MI6 agents. The containers on your boat are being ransacked.”
“Do they have an interest in farming?” Andy interrupts.
“Ahh. I should have been clearer. They’re going through the
containers on the Andromeda, not the Jamaican Star. It was part of Fong’s sea
chanty.”
Andy is able to maintain his expression, but he hoods his
eyes with his hand and his glance goes beyond Max toward the Lincoln.
“I don’t see much up there, Max old sport.”
Max looks up to the roof. “Look closer.”
Carlo and his pals are on the roof, both guards face down.
Dolly’s assets step from the villa into the pool area behind Andy and his
guard. They hear them, and start to turn.
“’Ello, ’Ello,” says an agent. “Don’t be too hasty there,
mate.”
Andy and his guard are looking down the barrels of a pair of
9-millimeter Glock 17s.
“Love those accents, don’t you?” Max says congenially.
After all, he is Max Malone, an American private eye.
|
| For the love of health by Taeler Butel on 02/01/2019
Food is my hobby and it shows. Making food healthier doesn’t
have to be a bummer. Think of nutrient rich food your body can use right now
and not store around your belly. Here are a few simple and scrumptious recipes
that are sneakily good for you.
Dry brined roasted chicken and vegetables
1 cut up chicken
4 T sea salt
2 T olive oil
1 T lemon pepper
1 T Italian seasoning
1 t smoked paprika
1 T each granulated onion and garlic
Veggies
2 med zucchini, sliced
1 small yellow or red onion quartered
1 small sweet potato peeled and sliced
Heat oven to 365. Mix together seasonings – set 1 t of
mixture aside. At least an hour before cooking, run seasoning all over chicken,
getting under skin if possible.
Lay veggies onto a tray, drizzle 1 T olive oil on them, add
the seasoning and toss. Roast 20 minutes at 365 degrees until browned and
tender.
Pour 1 T olive oil in large pan (I used large cast iron skillet),
place chicken pieces upside down, bake 40 minutes, turn over and bake top side
up another 20 minutes adding until skin is crispy - serve with roasted veggies.
Nutty Granola
4 cups rolled oats (not quick cook)
1 cup chopped hazelnuts or almonds
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanuts
1 T salt
1 t cinnamon
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Toss all ingredients except
cranberries in a large bowl. Spray a large baking dish with nonstick spray,
spread mixture into pan and bake, tossing every 15 minutes for about 45 minutes
or until brown and toasty. Cool!
Beef and Broccoli
Super quick and delicious, beef tenderloin is very lean and
packs a ton of protein! Serve over quinoa or wild rice if you need a starch.
1 lb sliced beef tenderloin
4 cups chopped broccoli
2 T olive oil
2 garlic cloves smashed
2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 small onion, sliced
1 T corn starch
Heat a large wok or skillet, add oil and then add beef in
batches. Brown pieces on each side - remove from pan.
Add in broccoli, garlic and onion. Cook, tossing
occasionally until tender crisp, remove veggie mixture from pan, add in stock
mixed with corn starch and soy sauce. Let thicken (about a minute), add beef
and broccoli back to pan. Serve warm over your favorite rice or plain.
(Taeler Butel shares her culinary gifts exclusively with The
Mountain Times.)
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall.
It’s a beautiful morning as you gather your camera and gear
to head out to take some beautiful landscape photos. You understand the
settings that you’ll need to get the proper exposure, in this case with a
fast-enough shutter to overcome the blur caused by the breeze that tosses the
flowers around in front of you. In the background is a view of Mount Hood on
the horizon. You allow the camera to set the focus by using one of the automatic
settings. Perhaps you focus on either the foreground or the background. Or, if
you are using manual focus, you use the age-old method learned from another
photographer, who learned it from his uncle who was a photographer, who learned
it from some guy named Ansel, and you focus a third of the way into the scene
and hope for the best.
Once you get home and download your photos you notice that
in some of the photos the foreground is out of focus and the background is in
perfect focus, while in others the foreground is sharp but the background is
out of focus. Some may be fine from front to back but you don’t know why or how
it happened.
In time, as you hone your photography skills, you will want
to understand how to focus properly and consistently. It’s something that is
hard to guess your way through or to accidentally discover. And once you figure
out that there’s a method, understanding it seems daunting but it’s rather
simple to understand if explained properly, so I’ll give it a try.
What you need to understand is something called hyperfocal
distance. By focusing your camera at the hyperfocal distance your photo will be
in acceptable focus from half that distance all the way to infinity. In other
words, if your hyperfocal distance is 20 feet everything will be in focus from
10 feet to infinity. In landscape photography especially, it allows you to
maximize your depth of field. Knowing this, in this example, we can then push
our depth of field out by focusing to 30 feet, 10 feet past your subject,
maximizing the depth of field.
Determining the hyperfocal distance for a particular focal
length and aperture combination can be tricky, but there are charts that you
can put in your billfold or camera case. There are also apps for your
smartphone that will help you calculate what it is for your particular camera,
focal length and aperture setting. Because of this I won’t go into the
complications of the mathematics involved in determining your hyperfocal
distance. With one of the variables being “The Circle of Confusion,” it would
be easier to explain a method that I use and that you can start using to
maximize your depth of field, resulting in a more accurate and consistent focus
in your photos.
Start by switching your lens to Manual. Turn off any kind of
vibration reduction if you’re using a tripod, leave it active if you’re hand
holding. Make sure to stop down, aiming for the lens “sweet spot,” an aperture
setting of roughly f/8-f/11. The sweet spot is the range of sharpest aperture
settings of your lens. It’s typically two full stops from your widest aperture
depending on the lens. Just make sure to stop down to increase your depth of
field.
Turn on your Live View screen and increase its magnification
and scroll the view to the closest spot that you want to be in focus in the
scene. Observe that area as you turn your lens focus ring to infinity, which
will slightly blur your foreground, and then focus back from infinity slowly
until your foreground object just comes into sharp focus then stop. Once you do
this you’ve moved your depth of field out as far as it can go while maintaining
focus at your foreground object. Using this method, you don’t need to know
distances to set your focus.
I should mention that there are times when hyperfocal
distance is not desired or necessary. Many forms of photography rely on a
shallow depth of field, such as portraiture or macro photography. In that case,
none of this is necessary, as having areas that lack focus is desired to direct
the viewer’s attention to the subject which is in focus.
Also, modern digital photography and computerized
post-processing allows a photographer to take multiple shots of a scene,
focusing from front to back, and then combine them to create a focus that is
sharp throughout the image. This method is called Focus Stacking, but in most
cases it’s unnecessary if you use the methods described in this article.
As in most cases when an instructor explains something, they
will always seem to take the long way. I know that I gave you the shortcut at
the end of a lengthy description, but as with any skill it’s more than doing,
it’s also about understanding. The more that we understand what we are doing,
the more we’re able to perfect how we do it. I hope that this rudimentary
explanation of hyperfocal distance helps you to take your photos one step
closer to perfection.
|
| Building relationships in Salem and beyond by Rep. Anna Williams on 01/01/2019
As the days get shorter and my to-do list gets longer, I
remind myself this is the season of service, rather than the season of
shopping. To that end, I have enjoyed spending my time this month getting to
know some of the elected officials who will become my colleagues in January.
December marked my first adventure into serving as your
State Representative. I was in Salem for Legislative Days and new member
training where I learned the rules for being a legislator from the Chief
Clerk’s office, got my office and parking space assigned and met with
constituents and lobbyists for the first time. It was a hectic and exciting
time.
In my conversations during Legislative Days, I heard from
people concerned about access to health care in rural communities, funding for
search and rescue operations in tourism destinations and about how climate
change will affect their businesses. I also visited with representatives of
survivors of sexual and domestic violence and students hoping to share their
visions for the future of Oregon’s education system.
The time was also important in building relationships with
my new colleagues. We shared photos of our family celebrations and got the
chance to talk about our communities. Getting to know my colleagues as people
first, before we discuss policy, ensures that we will be better able to find
solutions to our common problems.
I also travelled across the district to learn about the
issues I’ll work on in Salem. I met with the Port of Cascade Locks and the
administrator for the Bridge of the Gods and I learned about the pressing need
for a pedestrian and bike lane across the bridge. They generously provided a
tour of the important economic development and community-building projects in
the works.
I met with an advocacy group called One Gorge, which works
across state and party lines to meet the needs of the people, businesses and
environmental resources on both sides of the Columbia Gorge National Scenic
Area. We discussed the need for increased support for search and rescue
operations in the scenic area, as well as the process for replacing the Hood
River Bridge, a project that has been in process for nearly two decades.
I connected with Stan Pulliam, mayor-elect of Sandy,
multiple times. We discovered we have a lot in common and a host of shared
priorities for the people of Sandy. I am excited to partner with Mayor Pulliam
as well as Stephen Bates, a community leader in Boring, on a variety of
projects. We are ready to work together to support local businesses, improve
school funding, expand transportation options throughout Clackamas County and
ensure proper infrastructure is built to support the ongoing growth of Sandy
and the surrounding areas.
As we enter the final weeks of the holiday season and set
our sights on a new year, however you celebrate, I hope the holidays bring you
joy and connection to loved ones.
(Anna Williams is the representative-elect for House
District 52)
|
| MHGS: socially responsible corporations by Mary Soots on 01/01/2019
The way that business does business is changing. In a good
way. Businesses have always competed to get to the lowest common denominator –
selling products at the lowest price to produce the highest profits. But
companies are now leading the way to create benefits for the world in which
they operate, and often to save the environment. Where governance has given the
business sector free rein to do as it will, some companies are blazing trails
to set a new standard. And it’s paying off for those companies. Patagonia, a
company that produces outdoor gear, was one of the first companies to make us
stop and think about our consumption habits. In 2011, the company released a
full-page print advertisement detailing the environmental costs of its
bestselling sweater and asking customers to think twice before buying it. The
company responded to the demands of consumers who are also concerned for our
planet and want to act responsibly. The culture of overconsumption is one that
is driving environmental degradation and the company has asked that we change
our culture to one of responsible consumption. Patagonia also sells worn
clothing, hosts repair events and supports local environmental organizations.
As a result, it saw double digit growth annually over the past five years.
Another corporation that is setting a new standard is
Chipotle, the Mexican food chain that serves “Food With Integrity,” which
includes using fresh foods free of artificial flavors or preservatives,
sourcing meat that has been responsibly raised and eliminating genetically
modified ingredients from its products. International corporations like
Starbucks are also realizing increased profits from policies such as
sustainable coffee, greener retail spaces, employee programs and community
service.
Socially responsible corporations will be the drivers of our
new culture where customers whose values align with those companies will boost
sales. We know the things that are bad for our bodies, our health and our
environment, but we often don’t have healthy and affordable alternatives. Those
companies that are presenting us with options are the ones that will see the
greatest growth in the future.
Besides resource and environmental protection, companies
with socially responsible polices benefit from being role models for others,
enjoy a better reputation and customer loyalty from grateful consumers who see
that they benefit from an improved standard of living. The philanthropy that
businesses give will benefit their bottom line through tax benefits, of course.
But the benefits to both the businesses and the society at large will be
immense as other businesses take on the mantle of sustainability.
We as individuals can support companies that are socially
and environmentally responsible. We can choose how our money is used. As
consumers, we can save money and support the companies that produce the best
quality goods that will last longest so that we don’t have to replace them as
often. We can buy from companies that have socially responsible programs. And
we can invest wisely. Often our money is tied up in pension plans and
retirement savings accounts. At a previous job, I tried to find out where my
401K fund was invested, but no one could tell me. I knew that it was being used
to fund business whose values did not line up with my values and I felt that
there was nothing I could do about it.
Instead, I moved my savings to a brokerage firm and into a
different type of retirement account where I can choose that it be invested in
socially responsible stocks. Those provide funding for companies that invest in
environmental stewardship, consumer protection and human rights. It doesn’t
mean that we are sacrificing profits. On the contrary, while some companies are
treading water in a poor economy, socially responsible companies are thriving.
And I can feel better knowing that I’m helping to make a difference.
|
| Episode XXIX - ‘Ahh, Mahn, We Do That’ by Max Malone, Private Eye on 01/01/2019
Weeks passed as Max battled to maintain a few drops of
sweaty sanity through the endless days of sameness. The island weather was
taking its toll on the Wildewood private eye. His skin had sprung more leaks
than the Minnow on a three-hour cruise. The rattle of palm fronds in the wind
were beginning to sound like the clatter of lunchtime false teeth at the
sanitarium.
He longed for an afternoon of whispering wind in the cedar
trees around his mountain cabin.
Then there was the music. Max had nothing against the
rustling of reggae that drifted in the heavy air of the Caymans – except for
the fact that it was so infuriatingly jolly. He needed a good dose of Sinatra
melancholy – some “the place is all empty, ’cept you and me.”
And then there was his job. It was a chore just to keep up
with the information that flowed between Campanaro’s camp and Dolly’s diary –
information that Max was entirely in charge of. Did this make him a foreign
agent? Or a double-agent? Or, was there such a thing as a triple agent? Max qualified,
or failed to qualify, on all these fronts of foreign espionage. Campanaro fed
him false information that he was supposed to provide to MI6 operative Dolly
Teagarden. She in turn would reverse engineer the info then let Max know
exactly what she wasn’t doing about it. Max would return that misinformation
back to Campanaro.
Miraculously, Max kept both sides informed, misinformed, and
oddly pleased.
But that was just Max’s cover. He had his own agenda:
keeping Jemma company after the attack from Mr. Fong – the wicked fixer of
Campanaro’s – and fashioning his revenge on the churlish Chinaman.
And it would be an added and well-earned bonus if he could
pick up the juicy payment from Campanaro.
Max kept a “private eye” out for the habits of Mr. Fong and
his observations paid off. Campanaro’s muscle made trips into town twice a
week, always on Sunday and one other random day, returned the same night, and
was chauffeured by the mustachioed sidekick that had driven Max a couple times,
and was doubtlessly the second dark shadow the night of Max’s capture and
Jemma’s unwarranted assault.
* * *
The proper Sunday arrived. Max spent the day squirming in a
poolside chair, listening to Campanaro wax on about arms deals, drug running,
money laundering, all in an “aw shucks” tone that, except for the subject
matter, could have doubled for Andy Griffith explaining the heartwarming art of
fishing to an adoring Opie.
But Max was no Opie. And right on schedule, Mr. Fong and his
driver folded into the Lincoln Continental and drove off.
After two more hours of Campanaro: “I’ll be going, Andy,”
Max said, releasing himself from the agony of the poolside chair, and glancing
at his watch. “I have to see the Brit in about an hour.” He took a couple
steps, had his rhythm interrupted by a woman poured perfectly into a bikini,
sporting come-hither golden hair. “I’ll stay in town tonight.”
Campanaro nodded, but not in Max’s direction, whose
departing figure had been eclipsed by Germanic effulgence.
Max walked along the nearly endless driveway toward the
motorway where he could hail a taxi. His stroll was not an idle exercise as he
wandered on and off the drive, poking his head here and there in the tangle of
Cayman underbrush and fallen fronds.
* * *
The headlights of the Lincoln searched the darkness as it
moved along the driveway, made a turn, and came to an abrupt halt. Limbs,
trunks and palm tree leftovers were strewn across the road. Mr. Fong and his
driver got out, the Chinaman going immediately to his shoulder holster and
removing his piece. They were greeted by three island men who stepped into the
headlights, each dangling a machete from one hand.
“Do you know what you are doing, idiots,” Fong growled. It
was not a question.
“Ahh, mahn, we do that,” Carlo responded through a broad
Jamaican smile with a voice rooted in the music of the islands.
Fong brought his pistol into position. A man stepped out of
the shadows and clicked back the hammer on a revolver as its barrel came to
rest in the back of Fong’s head.
After all, despite the island attire and borrowed revolver,
he is still Max Malone, private eye.
|
| Having the will not to procrastinate by Paula Walker on 01/01/2019
A quick Google search serves up ‘195’ for the number of
countries or nations there are in the world. I will add to that one more that I
think all of us, at some time or another, are members of … the “procrasta –
nation.”
As we round another year, reminding ourselves to enter a “9”
instead of an “8” as we date our checks in this first month of the new year,
many of us become temporarily preoccupied with the anniversary ritual of New
Year’s resolutions. One worth considering in the many that are worthwhile is
creating or reviewing your estate plan.
Whether based on a Trust or a Will, a comprehensive estate
plan consists of a set of documents that transfer your possessions in an
orderly manner according to your directions upon your passing and carries out
your preferences for care and financial stability should you have a time of
incapacity while you are living. It identifies those who you trust and rely on
to perform those duties and gives them solid direction in fulfilling your
desires according to what’s important to you.
What to review? Just as Santa has his list and is “checking
it twice,” here is a checklist of some of the items to review if you have an
estate plan. Have there been major changes in your life or in law that warrant
changes in your estate plan: a birth, a death, a remarriage, a divorce, a shift
in wealth, a move to another state, a change in federal tax law?
Why create an estate plan? If you don’t already have an
estate plan here are a few reasons why you might be motivated to do so.
1) To keep your wealth for you and those you want to benefit
- and don’t, by lack of action, feed the state coffers. The federal estate tax
threshold is so high it is beyond the concern of most of us, though we may wish
we were in the category to have such concerns. However, our wonderful state
(and it is) of Oregon has an estate tax threshold that can concern many of us.
2) To take care of you. A comprehensive estate plan includes
those documents in which you appoint someone you know and trust to take care of
your finances, manage your daily affairs and assist with health issues when you
cannot do so for yourself. Better you choose than the court because there is a
void that needs to be filled.
3) To reduce the cost and the hassle of leaving yourself or
your possessions to the state to decide what’s to be done. In the case of
healthcare arrangements for instance or probate by intestacy, not only does
leaving it to the court expose you to “who knows who” to manage your most
personal affairs, it’s a lengthy, costly process for the court to intervene in
these regards.
4) To take care of your little ones. One of the most
important reasons for a young family to create an estate plan is to name a
guardian for your children. Should that ever be needed you don’t want to leave
it to the state to decide to whom they should be entrusted.
5) And what about that furry companion? What happens to them
when you cannot see to their care? An estate plan ensures for their well being
too.
Whether you simply want to be better organized about your
own affairs in general or want to leave your loved ones one of the greatest
gifts you can give – and I’m not talking here about your wealth in finances and
belongings but about guidance in trying times – preparing an estate plan is
worth your action.
Who benefits from you making good on this New Year’s
resolution? Ultimately you … and those you love, be they two legged,
four-legged, finned or feathered, or the more ideological purpose of supporting
a cause you believe in, because it is about your gift to life and not just your
wealth but your legacy.
That is why this is one New Year’s resolution worth your
time to complete.
Dear Reader … We welcome your questions on matters related
to estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance
the potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| Living in The Blue Zone and some lessons on lifestyle by Victoria Larson on 01/01/2019
If you are the type who likes resolutions, pick something
very specific like quitting smoking or drinking more water. If you’ve got those
basics covered let’s go for a refinement of changes. But where to start...
Health and longevity are admirable goals. Years ago, people
researching these goals found that there were five places on God’s green earth
where people routinely lived the longest and were the healthiest. These regions
were circled on maps and the globe by the researchers.
They used blue pen and henceforth these areas were known as
The Blue Zones. They were areas found to have less arthritis, cancer, diabetes
and heart disease! Areas where the citizens lived into the later years, and
without Alzheimer’s!
These five locations were Greece, Japan, Sardinia (Italy),
the town of Loma Linda, Calif. and Costa Rica. Locations any one of us would
probably be happy to live in. And live a long time. But what exactly did the
people of these five locations, The Blue Zones, do to extend their lives. What
do they all have in common? What are we in the United States missing?
In all of the five locations, movement, not necessarily
exercise per se, was the daily norm. As well, these people had some purpose in
life. And in all five locations people were faith, family and community
oriented.
They knew how to rest once in a while, from daily to weekly
to yearly. And followed the 80 percent rule of healthy living most of the time
while still allowing for celebrations without guilt. The eating habits of all
five locations is mostly plant-based.
There will be more about the individuals living in The Blue
Zones in future columns. For now, suffice it to say that in none of these
locations did anyone resort to strict exercise regimes, they just moved, a lot.
(Do I hear a ‘yeah” out there?) Though admittedly, there are no garage door
openers (and few cars) or microwaves (most food was prepared over wood fires)
or junk food (most people grew or foraged for food), with the possible
exception of the California location. All the other four locations are in
countries we Americans tend to think of as “foreign”.
These lifestyles don’t mean you have to give up everything
you’ve become used to in life. But going for the 80 percent rule would be a
good place to start. All areas of Blue Zones are little meat, but sometimes
eggs, dairy, fish and always beans for protein.
Many in these locations drank one-to-two glasses of wine and
even coffee. All drank plenty of water though. So, we are going to do some
refinement changes, nothing totally drastic.
With the exception of Loma Linda, Calif., most of these
zones don’t even have supermarkets like we have. Ours are filled with
undesirable, factory-made, over-packaged foodstuffs! One percent of all Seventh
Day Adventists live in Loma Linda. They eat a very Biblical diet of fruits,
grains, nuts and vegetables. While discouraging the use of alcohol or coffee,
some may have small amounts of eggs, dairy and meat. Like the Amish, Adventists
have (or should have) what’s known as “sanctuary time” where time is spent
avoiding distractions such as movies and television. Instead they take long
walks and visit with friends. Many religions observe “sanctuary time” in their
own fashion.
All the Blue Zones evidence decreased calories, some by
eating only two meals a day, all by increasing fiber, eating in season, no junk
food and daily walking or biking or even dancing. Drinking plenty of water and
eating high fiber will automatically decrease calories by filling you with high
quality nutrition. If half of your food intake is beans and vegetables, you’ll
never be hungry!
Regrettably, the Japanese consumption of plant foods went
from 82 percent of the diet in 1950 down to 48 percent before 1990. Though
still eating little salt or sugar, “the diseases of affluence” are infiltrating
this (all?) countries.
Each of The Blue Zone world locations has something
wonderful to be gleaned. Each has an outstanding result to be considered; from
the Mediterranean diet to the area with the longest living females, or the
longest living males, to Biblical and historical diets.
Each of these areas of The Blue Zones will be reviewed in
future columns, but for now I’ll see you in the produce department or gleaning
for fallen fruits in your yard.
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall
As the Mama’s and The Papa’s once
sang, “All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey.” But that shouldn’t stop
you from taking a walk on a winter’s day. And while you’re at it, don’t think
that photography season has passed. I can think of at least six reasons why
winter is a great time for photography.
The first reason that comes to mind concerns the weather.
The common thought about photography in the weather would be that it’s a
terrible time to go due to the grey skies, rain or snow. It is commonly
believed, especially among non-photographers, that the Summertime is the best
time for photos. Although the Summer weather is a great time to be in the
outdoors it may not be the best time to make beautiful photos - especially
photos of dramatic light and skies. A clear blue sky is beautiful in a photo,
but there can be a lot of negative space to try to fill, whereas a grey,
dramatic cloudy sky can add texture and drama to the scene.
Rain can help a scene as well, especially a forested creek
or a waterfall. The rain wets the foliage that may still be in the forest,
including moss and evergreen trees. When the foliage is wet, I like to apply a
circular polarizer to my lens and turn it until the shine and glare that’s on
the leaves and rocks, which is a reflection of the sky and ambient light,
disappear, which will in turn bring out the color of the forest.
Don’t hesitate to go out and photograph in the snow. The
snow can make some great photos, especially fresh snow. A bluebird day and
fresh snow will bring clear views of the horizon and any geographic features
such as a mountain into view.
Wintertime is the best time for beautiful sunrises. Winter
skies and rainstorms can, at times, clear or partially clear at night and
during daybreak only to succumb to a completely overcast or stormy sky soon
after sunrise. I always try to go to bed early, set my alarm and head out to a
view to try to witness a sunrise.
Winter forest scenes can be dramatic as well as artistic.
The lack of foliage leaves the forest with a clear view through tree trucks and
bushes. Many times, a view of a scene such as a creek, waterfall or view into
the distance is exposed in the winter when it’s obscured by foliage in the
summer. Also, with the tree trunks exposed, creative abstract landscape scenes
can be found.
Summertime weather, sun and no rain, leaves the streams and
waterfalls dry or with a limited flow but the rains of winter fill these
streams with water. With rain comes renewed growth of the moss around these
streams and waterfalls as well. Winter can be a great time to photograph them.
And don’t hesitate to arrive after a fresh snow to photograph them in the
winter white forest. I enjoy photographing streams and waterfalls in the
winter.
Winter weather will also filter out a lot of fair-weather
photographers too. Not all will dare to go out to get those unique winter
photos. This leaves you with more room to work at a location. Fewer people in a
photograph will allow you to concentrate on your subject better, no matter if
you’re photographing a landscape or a portrait shoot in a park.
Then there are the holidays. The winter season offers
holidays that will traditionally bring families together for family events and
get togethers. Don’t let these times with family pass without documenting them
with a photograph. A lot of times, in this busy day and age, we are so
distracted by our personal day to day routine that these holidays are the only
times throughout the year when family can be gathered together in one place.
Take advantage of that time to gather images for posterity.
As you can see the winter season is no time to set your
camera aside. There are plenty of reasons to look at winter as another time of
the year to get beautiful photos.
|
| New House District 52 Representative heads to Salem in January by Rep. Anna Williams on 12/01/2018
As your newly-elected State Representative, I get the
privilege of writing a regular column in the Mountain Times. This first
edition, I will introduce myself and my priorities. As the session starts, I
will share updates from the State House, my thoughts on our district and
responses to your inquiries. I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to
serve you as your Representative in Salem.
I am an academic adviser, social worker, mother of two boys
and wife of a high-school math teacher. I have been raising my family in this
part of Oregon we call home for just over a decade. A wise man once told me
that the best way to feel successful in life is to find a place you love and
then do everything you can to make it better. I have followed that advice
earnestly, and the results so far have not been disappointing.
I love this district, and I will do all I can to make it the
best it can be for all of us who live here. I am honored to have been elected
as your State Representative for House District 52 in the mid-term election. I
am ready to get to work to make HD 52 better for everyone who lives here.
I will do my best to keep in touch with you. One way I will
do that is to write this regular column in the Mountain Times to inform you of
my work in the Legislature, and to provide updates on what is happening in
Salem that will affect people in Sandy and the Hoodland/Mountain community. I
will be sworn in as a State Representative on Jan. 14 in Salem, and the Session
will officially begin on Jan. 22. At that time, I will focus my time and energy
on serving the people of House District 52, bringing a rural progressive lens
to the committees to which I am assigned, and working with you (my
constituents) to resolve your concerns and challenges with navigating
governmental systems.
One of my major goals for my freshman term is to be in
regular contact with each of the communities in the district. I met with
thousands of you during my campaign, but I want to continue to meet and listen
to you so I can best serve the community.
I will only know how you feel about something if you let me
know about it. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we do have to respect
one another as neighbors and equals. Please feel free to invite me to your
local forums, community meetings and events. I will do my best to attend as
many of these as I can. I have yet to receive my legislative contact
information, so for now you can get a hold of me at
anna@friendsofannawilliams.com or you can email my Chief of Staff, Adam Rice,
at adam@friendsofannawilliams.com.
My priorities in the Legislature will be to expand access to
healthcare for all Oregonians, ensure our children get the education they deserve,
protect the environment, and to make sure that the legislation passed in Salem
works well for the diverse and varied people who make up the communities I now
represent.
As I take the oath of office and begin working as your
Representative, I will learn more about how these values can take shape in the
legislature. Until then, thank you for trusting me to stand for you in Salem. I
am honored to be the Representative for House District 52. I will do my best to
serve you, protect the beautiful place we call home and all the things that
make it special, and be a Representative you can be proud of.
Thank you.
(Anna Williams is the representative-elect for House
District 52)
|
| MHGS: recycling construction materials by Mary Soots on 12/01/2018
I sprained my ankle last week, walking where admittedly I
had no business walking. It was a construction site where the grounds were
being prepared for development. There were big piles of gravel and sand. As I
walked along, I realized that the gravel I was walking on wasn’t the type of
gravel I’m used to seeing. It was, in fact, broken up concrete.
Instead of breaking up the rocks to make smaller pieces,
this was gravel made of aggregate of rocks that had been broken up into smaller
pieces. Instead of quarrying more rock, this was a way of re-using what has
already been quarried.
While nursing my swollen and purple ankle, I thought of ways
that we dispose of construction materials. When we demolish an existing
building or tear up a road, used materials are generally taken to a landfill.
But much of that material is of good quality or can be
repurposed. Old concrete can be recycled into aggregates and used in many civil
engineering applications, including road pavement materials, sub-basements,
soil stabilization, and the production of new concrete.
Re-using or recycling building materials is not a new
concept. In Portland, Hippo Hardware, the Re-Building Center and Habitat for
Humanity are all long-time institutions that re-use building components. There
is a difference between disassembling and demolishing a home. It is only
recently that architects, builders and some clever entrepreneurs have been
finding new and inventive ways to sustainably recycle construction materials
from deconstructing buildings rather than demolishing them. Materials such as
the concrete.
Concrete is the most widely used building material in the
world. That means that when we demolish buildings to make way for new ones,
there’s that much concrete to dispose of. When we dispose of concrete, it uses
up landfill space. But when we recycle, it cuts down on greenhouse gases that are
created in the production of virgin concrete. Recycling also cuts down on the
cost of transportation. Best of all, it is less expensive to produce. A win-win
all around!
If you are doing a remodel, consider taking your concrete to
one of several recyclers in the area. Many will also take masonry, bricks,
asphalt shingles, glass or rock. And if you are building, look for recycled
concrete. Not only will you do something nice for your wallet, you’ll do
something nice for the planet.
Another construction material that can be recycled is gypsum
from drywall or sheetrock. According to one Oregon recycler, Knez Building
Materials, “Every year, manufacturers produce a total of 80 million tons of
drywall supplies – and 15 million tons of drywall waste ends up in the
landfill. In the US and in Europe, drywall waste that is disposed of in
landfills has allegedly created a dangerous Hydrogen Sulfide Gas (H2S). In high
concentrations, hydrogen sulfide can be lethal. Although drywall waste itself
is not dangerous, when mixed with organic waste and exposed to rain in an
anaerobic environment, hydrogen sulfide gasses can begin to develop.”
As with concrete, recycling the gypsum from drywall can
reduce the amount of quarrying to produce, as well as the other ingredients used
to make it such as black alkali, lactic acid and aluminum. It also cuts down on
the energy used to produce virgin gypsum. Another local recycler, American
Gypsum Recycling, uses the drywall materials for agricultural soil
applications.
The future of downstream materials handling for all types of
construction materials – everything from carpet pads to thermostats--is bright.
It is an industry that is just taking off, with the possibility of much future
expansion. To get more information on how to recycle your building materials,
look online for Metro’s 2018-2019 Construction Salvage and Recycling Toolkit.
You can find it at
https://www.oregonmetro.gov/tools-working/guide-construction-salvage-and-recycling.
|
| Pouring over a pour-over will by Paula Walker on 12/01/2018
We all know the basic idea of a will, that testamentary
document that directs the distribution of your belongings after your death, so
why the term “pour-over will,” and how is it used, and how does it work in
Oregon?
A pour-over will is also a testamentary document that
accompanies the revocable living trust. In creating your trust based estate
plan, the pour over will is the ‘fail safe’ component. It covers assets that
you forget or omit to put into or assign to your trust. That is to say that, a
revocable living trust must be what is called “funded,” i.e. you must associate
all your assets to the trust to get the benefit of avoiding probate, one of the
many motivations for creating a trust based estate plan.
For those assets that you leave out of your trust, the pour
over will is the means by which those assets are handled.
In many states pour over is true to its obvious wording, the
assets not in the trust, are “poured over” into the trust as was the intent of
the trust maker in creating the trust in the first place, i.e. that all their
assets would be covered by the trust. In many states you, the person
administering the estate, petitions the court to approve that intent for assets
not in the trust, and with that approval proceed to administer the entire
estate, all assets, according to the terms of the trust. But not exactly so in
Oregon.
In Oregon the pour over will does not so much pour the
outlier assets into the trust but instead circumscribes the scope of probate.
All assets in the trust are handled by the trust itself, avoiding probate for
those assets. All assets not in the trust go through probate. In that second
prong then, the determination becomes whether the value of those left out
assets warrants a full probate proceeding or a small probate proceeding, a
matter of the level of time, cost and complexity of probate incurred.
In either case, whether a state that allows a true “pour
over,” or a state like Oregon that limits the scope of probate according to the
value of the assets left out of the trust, the purpose of the pour over will in
creating a trust based estate plan is, and should be, vestigial, i.e. something
that was once larger and with an important purpose that is now smaller or non
existent and of no real use.
More to come on the many terms and concepts that this
article introduced.
Stories of the Stars… If Only
The point of the pour over will, whether used or vestigial —
as with many aspects of a carefully considered estate plan — is to have a plan
… the loving, considerate act of leaving your family and loved ones with a
solid course of action to follow and execute legally when you are gone.
Unlike the “Stories of the Stars…” that abound, of the
absence of such a plan by some well-known personage, that leave in the wake of
their sudden or not so sudden death confusion at best and more often
embittered, long running battles that waste the bounty that could otherwise
have benefited their family, friends, and philanthropic goals.
Recent examples: Prince… now nearly two years since his
untimely death without even the most basic will in place creating a muddled
mess that has to date benefited no potential heirs but has cost the estate so
far $6 million in attorney and advisor fees. Aretha Franklin with an estate
valued at $80 million died this past August without a will, leaving four sons
to sort out the bramble of legal requirements and claims aplenty you can be
sure. As the legal system recognizes her sons initially only as “interested
parties” and Aretha’s niece petitioned the court to be assigned personal
representative for the estate it appears the ingredients of drama possibly
fomenting.
Dear Reader … We welcome your questions on matters related
to estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance
the potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| Episode XXVIII: Mutiny on a Cayman Island by Max Malone, Private Eye on 12/01/2018
When Max Malone climbed into the lime-green sedan, driven by
a mustachioed Andy Campanaro boot-licker, he was plotting his course like a
resolute Fletcher Christian no longer able to suffer the tyranny of Captain
Bligh.
But much like the fate of a moody Fletcher Christian, dark
clouds were on the horizon.
As he bumped along the palm tree dotted road away from the
island villa of Campanaro’s, Max squinted into the sunlight and gathered his
thoughts:
Cashing in on Campanaro was not his highest priority, he
mused. Although it would be a welcome reward. More importantly, there was the
world view that had to be taken into account, even though he had dedicated most
of his life to not being tangled in such nefarious affairs – save for a few
days handcuffed to a radiator in France, but his mind stopped its wander and
snapped back to the moment. He had to work with MI6 and the redoubtable Dolly
Teagarden in order to thwart the Campanaro shipment of arms from the island if,
for no other reasons, that it might bring down the demonic arms dealer, the
issue of the remains of three dead men at the inferno once called the Stardust
Lodge, and it seemed like the right thing to do.
Max lurched back to reality when the free ride came abruptly
to a halt on the edge of George Town, the capital and site of Jemma’s place and
the hospital where he was repaired. Max walked along, pulled his island shirt
away from his sweaty shoulders, cursed the clammy tropical weather, passed
fruit and vegetable stands, a furniture store that seemed not long for this
world, a shop selling turtles (big ones) complete with all sorts of turtle
products (don’t ask).
The urban nature of George Town surrendered to neighborhoods
clinging to the island like egrets tottering on the backs of grazing cattle –
which led him to Jemma’s place.
First, Max noticed what wasn’t there. There was no music. No
children playing. In fact, no anything, save for a few faces stealing glances
at him from inside their huts. Cautiously, Max knocked at Jemma’s door.
Nothing. He stepped silently into the darkened cottage.
The Rasty musician sat on the floor next to Jemma’s bed. His
eyes rose to meet Max in a most unfriendly way. Jemma was tucked into bed. She
didn’t bother to budge.
“What’s happened?” Max whispered, approached the bed.
The Rasty stood up. “You not welcome here no more, mahn,” he
said defiantly.
Max stopped at the bed, close to her protector. “Well, I’m
here.” And he bent over Jemma, nudging the Rasty aside, somehow softly and
seriously at the same time.
“What happened Jemma?” he asked, already assuming the
answer.
Jemma opened one eye, the other too swollen and bruised to
participate. She touched Max’s hand lightly with her fingertips. “Too much,
Max,” she managed over a cut lip. “Too much,” her voice as distant as a
forgotten foghorn.
Max looked back at the Rasty. “Big Chinese guy?”
The Rasty nodded. “You were knocked out, mahn. They drag you
away to a car, then do this,” turning his glance to Jemma.
Max’s blood boiled, but he didn’t let it spill over. Not
yet. He bent down to a knee and held Jemma’s hand. “Is there anything else
broken?” he asked the Rasty with a look over his shoulder.
“Don’t think so mahn. Jemma said no. She a nurse,” he
shrugged.
Max looked apologetically down at Jemma. She held his glance
for a moment, then closed her painful eyes.
“English woman came for you,” the Rasty said.
“Yeah,” Max responded with no enthusiasm. Then, to Jemma:
“I’ll fix this. I promise. I’ll fix this.”
Jemma looked away. Max stood. “Can you take care of her for
now?”
“Yes, mahn. Carlo take care.”
“Thanks Carlo.”
Max turned slowly, exited the hut, shamed by the sudden
sunlight.
He knew he had to contact Dolly Teagarden. He knew he had to
string Andy Campanaro along. He knew he could not be distracted by the
possibility of a big payday. And he knew he had a date with a big Chinese guy.
The kind of date Mr. Fong would never forget.
After all, he is Max Malone, private eye, with enough anger
to satisfy a scurvy-ridden survivor of Pitcairn Island.
|
| Gifts from the kitchen by Taeler Butel on 12/01/2018
Time to have fun and create, some of my favorite gifts are
found in a jar!
Pickled Carrots
7 medium carrots cut into 1/4” spears
2/3 cup white wine vinegar
3/4 cup water
1/8 cup sugar
3 t sea salt
1 teaspoon each caraway seeds and black pepper
Sprigs of rosemary
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the carrots and
boil for about 5 minutes. Place the carrots and rosemary into small jars.
Make the brine by combining the vinegar, water, sugar, salt,
caraway seeds, and pepper; bring to a boil.
Pour the hot brine into the jars with the pickles and let
cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Panettone
This is a buttery, yeasty seasonal bread with dried fruits
it is good enough to give! Choose the traditional way or add your own take with
different fruits.
1/2 cup whole milk, warm
1 package dried yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup softened unsalted butter
5 large eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
2 1/2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting
1 t sea salt
1/4 cup currants
3 T rum
For the icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 T cream
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 cup candied lemon and orange peel, finely chopped.
Panettone cake pan or 20 cm deep cake pan.
Grease a Panettone pan with softened butter. Place the warm
milk in a bowl and add the yeast and sugar. Mix well and let yeast get frothy,
about five minutes.
In a large bowl with a mixer beat together the butter and
vanilla extract until light and creamy. Add lemon and orange zest. Add the eggs
a little at a time until all are well incorporated.
Place the flour in a large bowl and mix with a pinch of salt
and make a well. Add the yeast mixture, then the butter and egg mixture,
folding in with a large spoon to make a soft dough.
Knead for five minutes in the bowl until the mixture starts
to come together. Put the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a further
ten minutes, until you get a soft, stretchy dough. Add a light sprinkling of
flour to the surface and your hands as you go to stop the mixture from
sticking.
Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap;
keep in a warm place for two hours or until doubled.
Place the currants in a small saucepan with the rum and heat
on low for about five minutes or until the fruit has absorbed the liquid; set
aside to cool.
When the dough is risen, tip it out onto a lightly floured
surface and knead for another five minutes. Gradually knead in the soaked
raisins and chopped candied peel. Shape the dough into a ball and pop into the
prepared Panettone pan. If using a wrap layer of baking parchment around the
inside of the pan, place it to come up about a few inches above the rim and
secure the paper with string. This will help contain the dough as it rises.
Cover lightly with plastic wrap and leave to rise for
another hour until it has risen to the top of the pan or paper.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the Panettone in the
oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden and risen. Insert a skewer into
the middle of the cake to test if done.
Leave to cool in the pan for ten minutes before turning out
onto a cooling rack.
Leave to cool, mix and drizzle icing on Panettone.
(Taeler Butel shares her culinary gifts exclusively with The
Mountain Times.)
|
| Handy herbal helpers to stay healthy for the holidays by Victoria Larson on 12/01/2018
The holidays bring us so much, in many cases more than we
need. Yet each of the winter holidays can deepen the meaning of our lives. We
can venture away from the frazzle-dazzle of holidays.
But if you succumb to the frazzle-dazzle of “shop ‘til you
drop,” treat yourself. If your feet are dog-tired (pun intended) then treat
yourself to a soothing footbath as soon as you can get those swollen feet out
of those shoes. To refresh worn out tootsie-toes use a handful of fresh herbs,
or 1/4 cup of dried if no fresh herbs available. Using a dishpan or large
bucket, throw in some salt and water. To refresh feet, use any or all of the
following: bay leaves (those old ones in the cupboard?), lavender, marjoram,
sage and thyme. Add vinegar if your feet itch.
If your feet feel cold, try this before bed to warm up. Make
a footbath of bruised black mustard seeds (available at Asian or East Indian
markets). But don’t make things any more complicated during this busy season.
Just leave herbs or seeds loose in the footbath. When removing them, simply
pour out over your outside plants to replenish the earth.
For a Fizzy Fun Footbath use 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/2
cup of cream of tartar (it needs to be used up somehow, right?), add some sage
leaves and 5-6 drops of peppermint essential oil. This will fizz those frazzled
feet for a few minutes. Soak feet for at least ten minutes and feel the tickle.
If you’ve been overdoing the holiday season you may need to
stave off a cold or the flu. If you don’t feel like going out use up whatever
you have at home instead of running off to the pharmacy for industrial remedies.
You’ll not only feel better, you’ll be saving gas and therefore the
environment. Boil some eucalyptus or peppermint leaves in water. Then remove
from heat, put a towel over your head and the pan of steaming water with herbs.
Being careful to not burn yourself, lean over and breathe deeply. If you have a
cold or the flu, brew up some teas: lemon and ginger for cold, flu and
digestive upsets; sage and thyme for coughs and flu.
Compresses work well on sore throats. Soak a clean cotton
cloth in hot brewed tea (eucalyptus, peppermint or sage) and place over your
throat and chest, being careful to not burn yourself or your “patient.” Cover
the towel with plastic wrap, another towel and a hot water bottle. Remove when
cooled and replace with another warmed hot water bottle.
The use of sage during the holidays is well-known with our
American Thanksgiving meal. But did you know that sage leaves were a sacred
herb in Roman times? Sage was used in ceremony, as a medicinal and a culinary
herb. It is also a wonderful plant to attract pollinators.
Sage wands are still used to dispel not only animal and
cooking smells but also bad juju. Sage purifies the air. Large leaves of basil
or sage can be made into fritters by dipping into a batter of flour and beaten
egg and frying in olive oil.
If you get outside in time you may still be able to harvest
the last of the herbs in your garden. Dry them in bundles held together with
rubber bands or paper bags so they won’t fall all over the floor. Bundles of
herbs such as lavender or rosemary can be placed among linens or clothing. Or
stuff some herbs into baby socks tied with ribbons and use as dryer sheets! You
or your children could make tea cozies or pot holders by placing herbs between
the layers before sewing them together. Lovely gifts that release their scent
when warmed by use.
I was thrilled to find a three-foot bay tree among the
arborvitaes that surround two sides of my new-to-me 1925 home. Bay laurel
(Laurus nobilis) was growing wild in the Mediterranean region in Biblical
times. The will often survive our relatively mild northwest winters.
Bay trees are evergreen and consistently successful, so bay
was used by athletes, poets and priests. Wearing a wreath of bay was a mark of
distinction. A door wreath of bay was said to dispel sickness and even protect
from lightening. The leaves are most potent when used fresh or dried slowly.
A terrific herb to use for warming in the wintertime is
curry. Curry is actually a blend of several spices and can range from mild to
sweet to fiery! It is always best made fresh (as is most everything). Here’s a
good recipe to try: 2Tbsp each of cumin seed, coriander seeds, black
peppercorns and cardamom seed; 1 Tbsp each of caraway and fennel seed; 1 three
inch cinnamon stick broken into pieces; and 1 tsp whole cloves (not ground).
Toast the herbs in a heavy skillet, without any oil, for 8-10 minutes.
Spices will turn darker and be very fragrant. Cool
completely before grinding in a blender or spice grinder in small batches.
Store in a dry place. To use this delicious and good for you curry blend, just
sauté leftovers and top with any combination of almonds, apples, celery,
coconut or raisins and serve over rice. Yum!
Adding turmeric to your curry mixture will be delicious and
very healthful (much more healthful than capsules). Turmeric is better utilized
by the body if heated. Turmeric is a rhizome grown easily in tropical areas of
the world such as India and South America. Difficult in our area unless you
have a tropical greenhouse.
Turmeric is good for digestion, liver problems, lowering
cholesterol and decreasing Alzheimer’s disease. And it’s a food, so side
effects are less likely. You can add it to curry or on its own to dips, eggs,
rice, salads, stuffing or teas. Try Golden Milk: use any kind of milk heated
with turmeric and a little honey if desired.
For gaining the “holiday spirit” try making “Bishops’ Wine.”
To two quarts of cider add four cinnamon sticks, six cloves, one orange
unpeeled but cut into quarters, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and two quarts of port.
This recipe comes from Adelma Simmons, herbalist
extraordinaire. As an aspiring herbalist I went to hear speak at an herbal
gathering in 1997. Alas, she couldn’t attend due to an upper respiratory
infection making travel from Connecticut too difficult.
She died not long after that and it is my longtime sorrow
that I never met her. Her writings are legend. Now I have many more herbalist
friends who’ve written wonderful books if you’d like to immerse yourself in
herbs – Lesley Bremness, Stephen Foster, Deborah Francis, Jill Stansbury,
Sharol Tilgner and many more. Have fun discovering the world of herbs.
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall.
Autumn has arrived here around Mount Hood. This is one of my
favorite seasons. As of this writing the leaves are prime all around the
mountain. The vine maples and the broad leaf maples are blazing. Even the moss
illuminates in the light.
When I grew up my family loved to pack a lunch, load up the
car and take Fall Leaf Sunday Drives. It’s something that I still love to do,
and so my wife Darlene and I hopped in the car and went for an incredible drive
looking for colorful fall leaves the other day, and we were not disappointed.
The Mount Hood Loop Highway has been a favorite day trip for
Portland families for many years. It’s fun to hop in the car and spend a day
travelling and sightseeing no matter the season. Those of us who live around
Mount Hood, the north side as well as the south side, have a secret shortcut
that we usually take. Lolo Pass to the Hood River Valley, or vice versa, in
good weather will give incredible displays of colored leaves and views of Mount
Hood.
Of course a large part of why we take these drives is to
take photos. I look forward each year to autumn photos along creeks or framing
views of Mount Hood. The trip yielded all of these. I took my DSLR and my
tripod, but after the trip was over I realized that most of the photos that I
made that day were on my cell phone camera.
Most all of today’s cell phone cameras have capabilities
that the average cell phone owner is probably not aware of. I have a device
that will adapt the phone to a small tripod. I can then switch the phone to
“Pro Mode.” Once in “Pro Mode,” it will allow you to make ISO and shutter speed
adjustments. It will even allow you to photograph in a Raw format (DNG). Once I
have taken the photograph in Raw format I am able to do adjustments in the
Adobe Lightroom CC Mobile application. This is the method that I used to take
the photograph that accompanies this article. When Carlton Watkins photographed
Oregon in the 1860s, he needed a horse and wagon to carry his camera and
supplies and a tent for a darkroom to develop his photos. Today we carry it all
in our pocket.
As we drove we stopped here and there, not even getting in a
hurry. As we drove up Lolo Pass, we stopped for views of Mount Hood vine maples
that were in colors that range from vivid yellow to dayglo oranges and reds. We
drove into the upper Hood River Valley to the little town of Parkdale where we
drove up to Cooper Spur through amazing yellow broadleaf maple forests on the
way to Highway 35.
All along Highway 35, the larch tree blazed a bright yellow
as they are scattered through the conifer evergreen trees. We drove up along
the east fork of the Hood River making a couple stops along the way before we
made it to Government Camp and a quick trip down Highway 26, where the display
didn’t end.
The sunshine was shining the day that we made our trip, but
don’t let a little rain stop you. Go out and enjoy the autumn color while it’s
still around.
Don’t forget to take your camera… or your cell phone.
|
| Trust & Privacy or... Mind Your Own Business by Paula Walker on 11/01/2018
A key question from clients as an estate planning attorney
is whether to develop a trust or a will and why. It depends (the stock legal
answer – right?!) … there are several essential determining factors, all based
on a client’s particular goals, objectives and preferences. Privacy and
continuity factor high among them. Distinguishing a trust from a will is the
ability to keep our affairs and the terms of our generosity private. Also,
there is the ability to designate a continuing source of welfare for your
beneficiaries.
You can think of a Trust and privacy in the pragmatic
context of sharing a confidence with another. You trust that in sharing, the
one with whom you have shared will keep your confidence in trust, a private matter
not to be disclosed. In similar fashion, because the terms of a Trust are not
subject to probate, i.e. not subject to court supervision, they do not become
public record. The person you name as Trust Administrator carries out the
duties assigned in the Trust, according to the terms of the Trust without
requiring court supervision or approval. The necessities of settling your
estate, and distributing your property require accounting to the government —
paying final taxes due — and to the beneficiaries you’ve named, not to the
court. As well, that Trust Administrator can be assigned to manage the Trust
over a period of time to provide beneficiaries a continuing source of benefit,
if that meets your goals.
A will by contrast, subject to court supervision, is a
matter of public record. Anyone can look up the specifics of your estate. Once
a will has been filed for probate, anyone can obtain a copy of it.
Ordinarily in writing this column I supplement the main
focus of column with a snippet of a “celebrity gone-wrong” example of poor or
lacking estate planning. This month I provide a solid example of the use of a
Trust to keep affairs and terms private, as well as ensuring that the Trust is
well-administered and continuing for the benefit of the recipient.
And for a little entertainment pull up this website to hear
“Mind Your Business” by Hank Williams. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZH2bmbUTl4
Stories of the Stars … If Only
Well known for his roles in “Smokey and the Bandit,” “The
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “Deliverance,” Hollywood icon Burt
Reynolds died unexpectedly at 82 from coronary arrest on Sept. 6. Notable is
not only Reynolds’ acting career and iconic style of handsome, but also the use
of a Trust to pass his wealth on to his adopted 30 year old son, Quinton,
described by Reynolds as his, “greatest achievement.” The media quickly locked
on to Reynolds as an example of celebrity wealth managed well with respect to
heirs. Headlines declared upon Reynolds passing that, “Reynolds intentionally
left his son out of his will” — the reader catching sensationalistic lead —
followed by the line declaring that he left Quinton money through his Trust
instead. In addition to establishing the Trust itself, Reynolds provided us a
model of other aspects of a well-designed estate plan by appointing his niece
Nancy Lee Hess as Trust Administrator and not his son, in order to avoid
potential contests of self interest dealings. As well, it is reported that he
planned a succession of Trust Administrators to follow his niece should she be
unable to fulfill that role, thus ensuring the terms of the Trust would be
carried out by people that he himself knew to be trustworthy, for the life of
the Trust to benefit his son. Reynold’s estate is estimated to be worth
approximately $5 million. Because of the privacy guaranteed by using a trust as
the estate planning mechanism, the terms, type and specific value of the trust
Reynolds left his son are not known. It appears that Reynolds, who professed
unabashedly his pride in his son and his son’s self made career, has now
provided that self reliance a generous source of support.
Dear Reader … We welcome your questions on matters related
to estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance
the potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| MHGS: tips for throwing a ‘green’ party by Mary Soots on 11/01/2018
This summer, I attended several outdoor parties. I was
struck by the differences between them regarding the decorations. Take for example, two parties that were given
in the same park location.
The first party had balloons clustered around the location
to assist party-goers in finding the right shelter.
(Of course, I know some of you will crash a party if their
food is better than the one being served at your group’s, but you get the
idea.)
Floating balloons, filled with helium, promising us from the
time we are children to expect fun, food and games wherever they are present.
Unfortunately, the balloons were released into the air,
where they would find themselves traveling sometimes for long distances into
the trees, the ground and the rivers and oceans.
There, what was intended as a celebration of a gathering of
friends, family and life can become the death sentence to our beloved whales,
sea lions, fish and water fowl if they ingest the latex or mylar remains.
Helium, while not scarce, is an element in the air that can
best be saved for use in things such as MRI machines, computer and TV screens,
etc.
At a different party, I was struck by the fun idea of
stringing colorful paper banners and crepe paper waving in the wind to attract
party-goers. The crepe paper streamers danced while paper pin-wheels on
chopsticks spun around the site of the party, creating a sense of movement,
drawing the attention to the site.
Those things are made of natural materials that can be
composted and are biodegradable.
Once inside the first party site, plastic tablecloths covered
picnic tables with colorful designs.
At a child’s birthday party, the theme included with
pictures of the current favorite movie characters.
At an adult party, the tables were covered with red
checkered plastic to evoke the nostalgic feeing of days when people would take
their gingham tablecloths and wooden baskets filled with homemade fried chicken
and fresh-baked pies to enjoy on a Sunday drive in the countryside.
What’s not to love?
But when we examine those things that evoke such wonderful emotions,
we don’t think the fact that those tablecloths will be used for 2-4 hours, and
then the plastic is promptly deposited into the garbage, ending up in the
landfill.
In the middle of the 1900s, convenience was the goal and
clean-up was a cinch with the inventions of plastic.
Looking at the other party, fabric tablecloths covered the
tables.
I’ve spoken before of using fabric to give your gathering a
feeling of nostalgia, refinement, and the environmental benefits of throwing
the tablecloth in the washer. Somehow, the party seems just a little nicer when
the table is covered in fabric.
You can imagine of course, that the first party used plastic
papers and cups, disposable silverware and serving containers.
One use and conveniently, it all disappears from our life,
we continue home and forget about having to clean anything.
At the second party, the host had vintage melamine dishes,
mismatched, but very functional, as well as a set of silverware that she had
rescued at a re-sale shop and reserved for the purpose of entertaining.
A rolling cooler was designated to hold the dishes until
they returned home to be thrown into the dishwasher and the cooler was hosed
down.
We are conditioned to think that things should be done a
certain way.
We are the victims of a society that wants to sell us
things.
Maybe we can think of new ways of doing things that will
have the same effect emotionally, giving great joy and leaving us with
wonderful memories while teaching the younger generations to care for their
world.
|
| Simple dishes with leftovers by Taeler Butel on 11/01/2018
Thanksgiving dinner is one of my favorite meals – my advice
is get to the stores early in the month and then keep away, they get crazy!
Also stock up! Get an extra turkey or ham, make doubles of
desserts, breads and sides to freeze for the holidays.
Here are a couple recipes to transform leftovers into
something wonderfully different.
Butternut fettuccini Alfredo with chicken sausage
Best served by a fireplace in your jammies.
1 lb fettuccine
1/2 lb crumbled chicken sausage
3 cups chopped squash
3/4 cup cream
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil
Pinch nutmeg
1/4 cup cream cheese
1 t chopped fresh sage
Boil noodles in salted boiling water until tender.
Cook the chicken sausage in olive oil, spoon out and set
aside.
In pan drippings cook chopped squash with all the seasonings
until tender, add in cream and cream cheese and use a masher to break up squash
(or ladle into a blender and blend until smooth).
Toss noodles and sausage in sauce, top with parmesan and
sage.
Homemade crescent pumpkin rolls
2 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1 stick butter melted
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
2 T brown sugar
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl mix
purée, sugar and butter, stir into dry ingredients and knead for one minute.
Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Roll dough onto a floured surface,
cut into triangles and roll, starting with long edge down to a point. Bake at
400 for eight to ten minutes, serve warm.
Turkey Shepard’s pie
4 cups left over mashed potatoes
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups chopped leftover turkey
3 cups leftover turkey gravy
2 cups leftover cooked vegetables
Combine the turkey, gravy and veggies, pour into a baking dish.
Whisk mashed potatoes with cream and Parmesan cheese, pour over turkey
vegetable mixture and bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes (potatoes should be browned
on top).
(Taeler Butel shares her culinary gifts exclusively with The
Mountain Times.)
|
| Concerns and issues from recent forums turn into proposed bills by on 11/01/2018
It is hard to believe that November is here and it has been
nearly a year since I was selected to serve as your State Representative for
House District 52. As you might remember, I hit the ground running. This is an
amazing experience and I am honored to represent you. Thank you again to all
who contacted me over the last 11 months. Through these contacts, you have
shared the challenges and strengths of this great community, and we have
discussed how we can work together to ensure that the Hoodland Area continues
to be a great place to live, work and recreate.
Over the last month, I had the opportunity to attend and
meet some of you at the public safety forum in Welches and the Mt. Hood Lions
Club Annual Auction and Dinner. The public safety forum provided insight into
problems with illegal camping and dumping, and the need for more law
enforcement officers. The need for more public safety presence pitted against
deficient local and county budgets is an issue across the district. I am a
member of the House and Senate Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee
on Public Safety, and as I shared at the Forum, during the 2019 Session I will
be working with other legislators and stakeholders to better fund the Oregon
State Police. We will also be looking for ways to help counties better serve
all of their communities, especially rural ones. I also discussed the search
and rescue recovery fees legislation I proposed to help alleviate the costs of
these vital services.
In addition to these public safety-related bills, for the
2019 Session I have proposed bills that are focused on education, economic
development, environmental stewardship, emergency preparedness/planning and
rural health care and services.
Education
As a father with a young daughter in public elementary
school, a son starting school next year, and multiple friends and family
members who are or have been educators, I understand the importance of all
students having access to a high-quality education. For the 2019 Session, I
have proposed full funding of education/Measure 1 at the Quality Education
Model-recommended funding level
[www.oregon.gov/ode/reports-and-data/taskcomm/Documents/QEMReports/QEC%20Short%20Paper%20Final%205-22-18%20v2.pdf].
Also, to address the need for students to have access to mental health care
services in school settings, I have also proposed assessing the ability of the
state to create school-based mental health centers in every Oregon middle
school.
Economic Development
As your State Representative serving on the House Committee
on Economic Development and Trade, I believe we need to support, grow, and
retain Oregon’s small businesses and the family-supporting wage jobs they
provide. Beyond repealing Senate Bill (SB) 1528, I proposed a study to examine
the benefits, including cost savings, of shifting to online reporting for all
transactions related to liquor control for small businesses and from monthly to
quarterly reporting.
Environmental Stewardship
As the son and grandson of farmers, having been a farmworker
and being an avid fisher and archery hunter, I believe environmental
stewardship is critical for ensuring our natural resources and wonders are
around for generations to come. As I shared in August, I have proposed a study
to the state purchasing privately held timberlands in the National Scenic Area
to be repurposed for recreation and maintained for current and future
generations. I am also looking forward to working with my legislative
colleagues and stakeholders across the state on other environmental
stewardship-related legislation.
Emergency Preparedness/Planning and Public Safety
I am a former Cascade Locks City Councilor, retired police
sergeant, Air Force veteran and firm believer that emergency
preparedness/planning and public safety are critically important to the success
and sustainability of our community. In addition to submitting a bill to make
the safety corridor that runs through the Hoodland Area permanent, the other
legislation I proposed includes a bill to eliminate all statutory limitations
on prosecuting felony sexual assault cases that have DNA evidence. Regarding
school safety, I have submitted multiple bills to address various aspects of
school safety including an examination of the cost and feasibility of
implementing the Salem-Keizer Threat Assessment System in school districts
across the state.
Rural Healthcare and Support Services
Across the district, there is a lack of health professionals
and prevalence of federal designations as medically underserved areas, I have
family and friends that struggle with having access to the care they need, and
my wife is a health care provider, I understand the need for health care and
other human services in our community. As such, I have proposed a study of the
costs and feasibility of providing telemedicine/telehealth infrastructure in
rural Oregon, and joint study by Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and coordinated
care organizations (CCO) on how to provide better access to healthcare services
to small communities. Also, in response to the threatened closure of the Hood
River County Veterans Services Office (VSO) I proposed a bill to allow Measure
96 (M96) funds to be directly added to small rural county budgets to keep VSOs
fully operational.
I look forward to seeing you in the community and hearing
from you soon.
(Jeff Helfrich is the representative for House District 52)
|
| Ways to give thanks and share in your abundance by Victoria Larson on 11/01/2018
Despite our current-day visions of the first Thanksgiving,
it may not have been as perfectly bounteous as we imagine. When they first
alighted from the Mayflower, the Pilgrims were still eating from what was
stored aboard ship. Each family had a ration of a peck of grain meal per week.
The first real Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, when
only eleven houses lined the street and four of those buildings were for common
use. Native Americans, most notably Squanto, helped the Pilgrims when their
crops failed them. The Natives also taught them about local foods. Though 20
acres of corn had done well, the 6 or 7 acres of barley, peas and wheat had
failed miserably. Nonetheless, the weekly allotment of maize was doubled for each
household.
The time for a true harvest festival and giving of thanks
was nearing. Men were sent out to gather in waterfowl, deer and shellfish. For
three days the Pilgrims gorged themselves on these gathered delicacies as well
as bread, leeks, salad herbs, cranberries and plums. History does not actually
record the eating of turkeys as this first Thanksgiving, though many wild
turkeys were in the fields and forests so it’s entirely possible that turkey
was on the menu. There is no mention of pumpkin pie at that first Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving was a local and regional Northeast holiday
until 1863 when President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a
national holiday. This was during the Civil War and one wonders what tables
were laden with during war time. But the gratitude for family, food and life
must have been great, despite (or maybe because of) the war. At this time there
were “new” traditions such as fruit pies and fruit wines!
Traditions evolve over time. Now there are few tables laden
with dishes of conserves, currant jelly, pickled peaches or spiced crabapples.
Though I still remember the spiced peaches on my aunt’s table. Yum. Fruits were
often gathered from farms, fields and roadsides, home-processed and stored in
fruit rooms. Whether underground barrels or above ground rooms with foot-thick
walls, fruit cellars, or rooms, were necessary in the days before electricity.
The place I moved to last summer has a free-standing fruit
room. It may be my favorite part of the new/old 1925 property. Though as of
yet, none of my home-grown, home canned fruits are in there. Next year I intend
to fill the room with succulent goodies for the table.
More about how to do this in the months to come.
Colonial America brought the country more affluence and
estate farms such as Mt. Vernon and Monticello. The Atlantic sea held an
abundance of food. Wild fruits and vegetables grew abundantly in American soil.
Farms were the norm and they were the “supermarkets” of the time. Apples,
peaches and pears dried on strings over open hearths; herbs, garlic and peppers
hung from kitchen ceilings; hams and fowl in the smokehouse.
How far have we progressed? We still have hunger in America.
Is this because we think that food comes from profit-seeking venues? Is it
because our populations have grown tremendously? Have we forgotten the American
values of frugality, resourcefulness, self-sustainability? Instead of giving
people fish, give them fishing poles. And teach everyone to garden. Gardening
gives people a true feeling of self-reliance. Most Americans discard almost
half of the still edible food they buy. Literally throwing away money, to say
nothing of the food.
Maybe it’s time to re-learn the old ways of canning, drying,
using things up. There is an astounding amount of abundance in our country. It
disturbs me greatly to see apples, nuts, pears and other foods lying on the
ground, not being utilized to feed more hungry people. When I had rescued
donkeys and llamas, I’d often ask neighbors and strangers for windfalls for my
animals. No one ever turned me down. They were thrilled to have someone use the
food.
People want to help one another. Some take their windfalls
to food banks or other locations that collect them, sometimes even plant
nurseries. Some donate money. Some invite people to Thanksgiving dinner who
have nowhere else to go.
Whatever you do, may you be grateful for all you have. May
you be able to share your abundance. And may you have a warm and cozy holiday.
Be grateful. Always.
|
| A Reason for Treason: a Big Payday by Max Malone, Private Eye on 11/01/2018
“I’ve got a real deal for you, old sport,” Andy Campanaro
offered as an opening gambit. “You let your Dolly what’s-her-name know that
you’re working for yours truly. Then you feed her misinformation.”
“What makes you think I’d ever throw in with you? And I’m
not an ‘old sport,’” Max Malone responded under hooded eyes.
“Money,” Andy said, opening his arms and shrugging as if it
was the most obvious idea since wheels on suitcases.
“I’m already on retainer,” Max answered meekly.
“Ahh. That U.S. Attorney in Florida,” Andy said, barely
masking a chuckle. “I’m sorry. That well just ran dry, old sport. Seems she
suffered a vehicle rollover on Capitol Circle in Tallahassee. It cost both of
you.”
Max thought: It’s a tough game to play when you’re not
holding any cards. Plus, he’s capable of reaching all the way to Florida. And,
my revenue stream just got cut off. So, there’s work to do.
“First of all, where’s Jemma Gayle?”
“It’s always about the skirts with you, Max. She’s just
fine. You can go back to her little shack as soon as we work through some
details.”
“OK. Fill me in.”
Andy drones on, like a worker bee in a field of dahlias,
explaining how the U.S. sells billions of dollars of arms to allies, but only
because the allies have enemies and they must have arms too, and the arms
manufacturers are more than happy to supply those as well.
“It’s just business, Max,” followed by another shrug. “Think
of it as the oil industry making billions while polluting the world so the
scientists and environmentalists can have jobs and make a few bucks themselves.
I’m more like an environmentalist.”
Andy laughs.
Max thought: Anyone this maniacal has the tragic flaw:
arrogance. (A personality trait Max is familiar with). I can navigate this mine
field.
“All you have to do is feed that annoying British babe some
bad information. And, there’s this.” Andy pushes a bank book across the table.
“Take a look, old sport.”
Max decides to let ‘old sport’ pass for now. He opens the
book, sees an account with his name on it at a Grand Cayman bank, with as many
zeroes on the left side of the decimal point as a scoreboard in the midst of a
Sandy Koufax-Juan Marichal pitching duel.
“All it needs to be activated is for me to call the bank and
release the funds,” Andy says through a Vincent Price smile.
“That’s damned convincing,” Max shoots back, emitting a low
whistle, finally getting to play a card of his own. “But I have to make sure
Jemma’s OK.”
“You can take off as soon as you sign up,” Andy says. “For
that amount of money, I need insurance.”
Andy reaches into his briefcase and hands over another
document. Max reads through it, slowly, ponderously, as if it really matters to
him. Max looks up at Andy, grins conspiratorially.
“And what exactly will you do with this after I sign it?”
“Nothing, old sport. In fact, tear it up after you’ve done
your job.”
Max pondered the situation: I’m admitting to treason,
probably, by signing this. But surely there are safeguards I can take. Surely,
I can solicit legal counsel if the need arises. And more than all of that, how
much do I really care? I am looking at the eye of a needle.
And all I have to do is thread it.
After all, “I am Max Malone, private eye.”
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall.
Another drop in the bucket of things that I have to do in my
life has been achieved - to intermingle with and photograph grizzly bears.
Darlene and I have just returned from an amazing trip to Alaska that included a
hike on a glacier, a boat ride into the Prince William Sound and a flight over
the glaciated peaks of the Kenai Peninsula, but the highlight was mingling with
grizzly bears in the wild.
We drove to a location that we had visited and were
unsuccessful at on a previous trip to Alaska. We weren't all that confident but
decided to give it a whirl. We did know that the river was full of salmon, so
it would be possible. The bears come down to the rivers when the salmon are
spawning for an easy, nutritious meal.
As we arrived at the trailhead a group of fishermen were
walking out to their cars. They had been chased out of the fishing holes by a
sow and her cubs. Darlene and I got excited. We grabbed our gear and headed
down the trail toward the river. As I hiked down the trail my mind was on
uber-alert with my bear spray quickly available. The last thing that I wanted
was to surprise a momma and her babies. Darlene was singing a song to herself
as she walked, hoping to alert a bear before we arrived if one was in our path.
We got down to the river just as the evening light was
starting to fade. I had a 150-300mm zoom but was wishing that I had a 600mm
with me. Primarily to be able to get a shot without walking right up to them
and asking them to smile. As it turned out the 300mm worked well, but I didn't
get any closeups. As we walked along the river we saw a group of people coming
out that told of another bear further downstream.
Darlene and I walked with a bit more vigor due to the
adrenaline in our veins, but when we arrived the bear had gone back into the
woods. We decided to just walk up and down the path for a while until we became
tired of that and had a seat to just sit and wait and watch.
We sat there chatting in a low whisper while we sat near the
brush next to the river as to not alarm any potential bear who might want to
come back for another salmon snack. I told Darlene that it was getting a little
dim and that we'd now need to really push our ISO to get anything with an
acceptable shutter speed. We discussed being hungry and that perhaps we should
leave and find a meal before it got too late when as I looked over Darlene's
shoulder toward the river, I saw the big sow grizzly lumbering out of the
forest toward the river on the bank right across from us no more than 20-30
yards away. I said in a concerned and excited whisper, "Bear! Bear!
Bear!" Darlene turned and showed her obvious excitement as we both started
to photograph the bear as if we were hidden paparazzi! A moment or two passed
and out came a cub, then another and then another. A momma and three cubs. We
could hardly believe what we were seeing. I will never forget that moment; when
she gracefully emerged from the forest. My first thought was, "this is not
the zoo.”
We photographed her and the babies until they decided to
retreat into the forest. Not long after we heard some commotion down river. All
of a sudden, I heard the "huff, huff" from a bear. It sent a chill up
my spine. A minute later a small group of tourists came walking toward me with
a sense of urgency. They said that a male grizzly came out of the woods near
them and chased them away. I grabbed my gear, and Darlene and we headed toward
where I heard the commotion. My senses on alert I walked slowly as I scanned
the trail ahead, the forest to the right and the river to our left.
As we approached we could see a bear in the river. Darlene
and I found a safe spot to observe and proceeded to watch one of the most
beautiful things that I've experienced in my life. In the river was a young
bear, perhaps two years old, playing as if he had no care in the world. He
walked around in the river picking up fish and tossing them around into the
air, wading into deeper pools and just swimming around. He was a joy to watch
and to photograph, but our light was fading fast. The cameras were having a
hard time and I didn't want to hike out in the dark, so we grabbed our gear and
headed back.
As we were walking out we could see silhouettes of bears in
the river. We walked a little quicker and counted ten bears in all on this
visit. It was as if they were all coming out of the forest at once. We hurried
out while we still had light to show our way.
That night at our hotel we decided to dedicate the next day
to getting some great bear photos. I reviewed my shots that night and came to
the conclusion that I needed that 600mm. The shots were great, but not close
enough as far as I'm concerned, and I'll be darned if I'm going to get closer!
We decided to drive 150 miles one way to Anchorage to rent a lens. We returned
with just enough time to get ready and head to the river.
We arrived with my rented 150-600 zoom lens and walked up
and down the trail and spent that evening there with absolutely no success. As
the light faded I lamented the fact that we had blown a whole day and the cost
of the lens. Darlene suggested that we take our last day in Alaska and come
back one more time.
The next day was beautiful. We spent a great day in the
Alaska scenery, but I was anxious to return to the bears that evening.
We noted that the time that the sow and her cubs came out of
the woods was approximately 7:30 p.m. We made sure that we were there early and
staked out a spot to sit near where she had been the night that we saw her
previously. Sure to form, at approximately 7:30 p.m. down from the forest she
came – her and her cubs.
The rest is history. This family came down and ate for a
while, retreated back into the woods for a while and then returned for an
encore. Ensuring that I got my amazing bear photos. I was beyond excited. We
were so excited when we got back to the car that we felt like kids after a
carnival. I scrolled down through the photos, checked focus, etc. and then
drove back to the hotel fulfilled and in disbelief that the photos on my card
were mine.
|
| MHGS: the cost of paper vs plastic bags by Mary Soots on 10/01/2018
Last month, the City Council of Sandy held a discussion on
whether to ban single-use plastic bags in the city. This would be in keeping
with a growing number of cities that have implemented similar bans. Each year,
according to the Environmental Protection Agency, consumers in the U.S. use
hundreds of billions of plastic bags. Plastic bags end up in trees, the street,
the ocean, endangering wildlife and the environment. According to the
non-profit Biological Diversity, around 100,000 marine animals are killed by
plastic bags annually and one in three leatherback sea turtles have been found
with plastic in their stomachs because they confuse the clear plastic bags for
jellyfish.
The truth is that plastic bags are by far the least costly
(i.e., carry the smallest ecological footprint) to produce over paper or cotton
bags. According to a study done in the U.K., a paper bag must be used three
times to offset the environmental impact of production. In part, that is
because it takes four times as much water to produce the paper bag by the time
you factor in the tree. If you use a cotton bag, it must be used 131 times to
offset the environmental cost of production. What about those cute shopping
bags they sell at grocery stores? They’re made of nonwoven polypropylene (PP)
and according to the same study, must be used 11 times to break even
environmentally.
The standard grocery store plastic bag is made from
high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Plastic is made from petroleum. The problem
with that is that there is not an endless supply of petroleum and it gets more
and more destructive to the environment to extract as we are running out of it.
Cost of production aside, we can re-use plastic bags as
trash liners or dog poop collectors, but eventually they still end up in the
landfill. Plastic bags have the highest after-use cost to the environment.
Unlike paper or cotton (or hemp), they will never biodegrade. The cost of
disposal is high as well. The EPA notes that some urban communities spend over
$1 million annually to remove litter. In 2011, Americans produced around 250
million tons of waste, 32 million tons of that solid waste was plastic. That’s
4.4 pounds of waste per person per day!
Of course, plastic bags can be recycled. Plastic cannot be
recycled curbside, which makes it especially challenging for communities such
as ours. Seven years ago, the Mt. Hood Green Scene helped the Hoodland
Thriftway pioneer a collection site for plastic bags. Since then, each week our
community fills two to four large bags with plastic shopping bags, weighing
five to seven pounds each. Not all bags are recyclable. Only clean bags that
are not crinkly, and no mylar bags. Only produce bags or standard shopping bags
can be recycled. Still, in spite of our best efforts, only three to eight
percent of bags are recycled in the U.S.
What’s the solution? In 1993, Denmark was the first country
to introduce a tax on plastic bags. A bag costs about 50 cents, with the
greater part going to taxes and the rest to the store. The result is that the
higher cost of the bags has cut the amount of use by more than 40 percent over
the last 25 years. In the U.S., in 2014, California was the first state to
enact legislation to ban single-use plastic bags at large retail stores. Since
then, municipalities such as Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and others
have banned plastic bags. Yet others have imposed fees.
Retailers are getting the message. Some stores simply don’t
provide bags at all. Both Natural Grocers and Costco avoid either type of bag,
opting instead to package things in merchandise boxes. According to Costco’s
website, “We sell our goods directly out of the boxes they are shipped in, then
reuse those same recyclable boxes at the register by offering them to our
members in lieu of shopping bags.” Kroger, owners of Fred Meyer, plans to
eliminate plastic bags by 2025. “The plastic shopping bag’s days are numbered,”
Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen wrote in an editorial published by the Cincinnati
Enquirer. The city of Sandy might be at the vanguard of the new reality or it
can maintain the status quo. For better or worse, change is on the horizon.
There are no easy answers to the dilemma of paper or
plastic. The best solution is to use the bags we already have — over and over
and over again. Avoid purchasing new shopping bags. Instead, look for pre-owned
bags at resale shops. Just don’t forget them in the car when you get to the
store as I’m prone to do. You’ll end up with your purse and your arms full!
|
| Episode XXVI: Campanaro Again and a Fling with Mr. Fong by Max Malone, Private Eye on 10/01/2018
It’s an unexplainable phenomenon how the mind, when in
crisis, can stop time and focus on multiple events simultaneously.
The combat soldier experiences it during battle. The Apollo
13 astronauts felt it in their time of crisis. Richard Burton dealt with it
when facing Elizabeth Taylor.
So it was with Max Malone in that fleeting moment in Jemma’s
bed when the Jamaican nurse slipped into the room, followed by two uninvited
shadows from nowhere, followed by the muffled protests of Jemma being gagged,
then the sudden gun barrel to the temple as Max reached for his borrowed
revolver on the nightstand.
All of this, in an instant.
An arm reached onto the nightstand, the other still pressing
the gun to Max’s head, and the lamp switched on. Max turned to the intruder who
allowed himself to be seen, relaxing his gun sufficiently to let it drift
between Max’s eyes. The man pressed his forefinger to his lips for quiet. Max
complied. Mysteriously, Jemma quit struggling.
Max sat up in bed, the gun not having changed its aim, and
saw Jemma unconscious with a cloth over her face. Max couldn’t focus on her
assailant, so he turned back to the more immediate problem.
His attacker was a huge Asian with a Fu Manchu, imperious
eyes, and came draped in a black raincoat that glistened in the dimly lit room.
He could have been the antagonist on the Orient Express.
Max looked again to Jemma.
“She will be fine in about one hour, Mister Malone,” the
Asian said in an exacting, accented tone. “Now, you will be pleased to dress
yourself.”
“Why should I?”
“Because I have the gun.”
Not even Max could protest against such Confucian logic.
* * *
The light danced off every surface of what must have been
the living room at Andy Campanaro’s mansion, but by simple square footage could
as easily been a high school gymnasium. It was simultaneously sumptuous and
spare. Modern art adorned the walls, but not overdone as much breathing room
existed between each piece. The sofa that Max was sitting on was bottom
friendly but uncomfortable in the obvious way of furniture too expensive to be
functional. Fluted faux-Doric columns separated the room from the view of the
cliffs and the seashore.
And Andy Campanaro slouched in a couch-matching easy chair
seemingly searching for a weakness in Max that would allow the gaze from his
menacing, steel-blue eyes to penetrate.
“I hope Mr. Fong was not indelicate,” Andy said, smiling
broadly, his eyebrows raised in a too-large friendly gesture, yet all of it
betrayed by the unscrupulous eyes.
“He made his point,” Max said flatly, then “at the end of a
gun.”
“Hah,” Andy exclaimed. “That’s funny, old sport.”
“I’m not an old sport, pal.”
“No,” Andy’s smile and raised eyebrows disappeared, as if
dropped down a well. “You’re a two-bit private eye who gets himself lured into
shark-infested waters for a U.S. attorney’s pay check and some sort of
hillbilly idea of revenge. That’s who you are.” Then the smile reappears as if
on cue from an off-screen director. He raises his hand as if brushing away a
fly.
“But you hired me as well, remember?” Max answered.
The raised hand again. “Max, please. Wildewood was a ruse.
The fix was in. You were nothing more than a bit player.”
“And Anna Belle?”
“Ahh, yes. Lovely Anna Belle Wilde. She was in on the caper
from the beginning. Great job by the way, especially for a backwoods babe. She
got everything she wanted. The property. The insurance money.” Andy shrugs like
an umpire walking away from a confrontation with an impotent manager.
“You killed your own twin brother.”
“He’s been dead for years. Up here,” Andy points at his
head.
“You tried to kill me too, pal,” Max leans forward.
“Ahh, Max, old sport. I don’t try to kill people. Look,”
Andy leans forward as well and folds his hands together, signaling lecture
time. “You blow into a foreign place you know nothing about, on the dime from a
U.S. Attorney. The Cayman cops don’t protect much, in fact aren’t capable of
protecting much – witness they even messed up putting you out of commission –
but they are able to focus on the status quo and what makes them comfortable.
You and the U.S. made them uncomfortable.” Andy shrugs and brings on the smile
again. “It’s that simple.”
“So what am I doing here, hot shot?” Max gazes around the
room.
“I can use you,” Andy says promisingly. “You have an in with
British intelligence. That makes you interesting to me. Far above your P-eye
grade.”
Max senses an opportunity. After all, perhaps a fish out of
water, but he is still Max Malone, private eye.
|
| Why a ‘Revocable Trust?’ by Paula Walker on 10/01/2018
When we talk about a Trust as opposed to a Will as your
basic estate plan document, we are in general referring to a Revocable Living
Trust. A ‘brain-ful’ to remember and a mouthful to repeat. But why the term
“revocable” and what about the term “living?” And are all trusts “revocable?”
First off what is a Trust? It is a legal entity you set up
to manage your assets and possessions, such as investment accounts, real
estate, qualified tax accounts, cars, art, jewelry etc. You place your assets
inside the Trust to manage them during your life and to provide the means to
manage them and/or their distribution upon your death. There are two types of
“living trusts,” i.e. trusts made effective during your lifetime. They are
‘revocable’ and ‘irrevocable.’
A Revocable Living Trust provides you the means to change
the terms of the trust, retain control of your assets or cancel the trust
altogether, i.e. ‘revoke’ it. Powers over the trust include adding and removing
assets, naming beneficiaries, changing/adding/removing beneficiaries, changing
what and how much is distributed to each beneficiary and dictating how
distributions occur and when. This is in contrast to an Irrevocable Trust, also
a ‘living’ trust that is by contrast cast in stone. Except for rare
circumstances, the terms of an irrevocable trust are set upon signing the
agreement. Once signed the Irrevocable Trust may not be changed, altered, modified
or revoked after its creation.
More to come in subsequent articles on types of trusts and
how they might work together or independently to meet your estate planning
goal(s).
Stories of the Stars… If Only
As we lived vicariously through the lyrics of the 1985 hit
“Freeway of Love” — “We goin’ ridin’ on the freeway of love in my pink
Cadillac” — watching the procession of more than 100 pink Cadillacs, escorting
the hearse carrying the golden casket, in honor of the Queen of Soul who
brought us that picturesque expression of life at its freest, the media had
been quick in making us all aware that Aretha Franklin, who passed away Aug. 16
of pancreatic cancer, died without a will. Documents supporting those reports
were filed by Aretha’s sons in a Michigan probate court, declaring themselves
as “interested parties,” checking the box on the form declaring that the Queen
died intestate – i.e. no will, no estate plan and no revocable trust in effect
at her death. As the procession of pink Cadillacs that lined the streets of
Detroit made an indelible tribute to this Diva of Soul we are left to ponder
whether she becomes another in the league of celebrities and famous persons who
make indelible impressions in the world of estate planning providing “lessons
to learn from” … if only …
Dear Reader, we welcome your questions on matters related to
estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance the
potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| Creamy Rueben Soup by Taeler Butel on 10/01/2018
Rueben, I love you. Let’s make you into a soup:
2 slices rye bread, cubed
1/2 head green cabbage, sliced thin
1/2 cup each yellow onion, celery, carrots chopped
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 peeled and diced large Yukon gold potatoes
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup gruyere cheese (or another Swiss) shredded
1 T corn starch
1 cup sliced pastrami
1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
2 T olive oil
2 t salt and pepper
1 t Italian seasoning
1 cup white wine
1 t paprika
Make the croutons: in a bowl toss bread cubes with 1 t salt
and pepper and 1 T olive oil. Bake on a cookie sheet at 375 for 15 mins or
until crusty
In a large pot combine all vegetables, salt, pastrami,
pepper, Italian seasoning, paprika and olive oil. Cook on medium heat until
tender. Add in wine, cook one minute. Add in stock and bring to a boil, then
simmer 15 minutes. Add in cheese tossed with corn starch and stir until
thickened, then add in cream.
Ladle in bowls and top with croutons.
|
| Bills and the ‘4 Es’ for the 2019 legislative session by on 10/01/2018
Hello Hoodland Community and other Mountain Times Readers.
As your State Representative, I have the great honor of
representing this community in Salem and working towards solutions for issues
we face locally that will make our neighborhoods, communities, district and
state stronger. I want to thank you all for taking the time to email, call and
share face-to-face your questions, challenges and appreciation. The most common
topics discussed in the last month were: Highway 26 traffic and safety, school
funding and public safety needs. I have submitted bill proposals and begun
conversations with state and county level administrators to address these
issues. I look forward to continuing these conversations and working with
state, county and local leaders to find sustainable solutions.
Highway 26 safety: I shared in last month’s article that I
submitted a legislative concept/bill proposal to make the Highway 26 safety
corridor permanent. This bill proposal was in direct response to community
members, leaders and community-serving organizations and businesses sharing their
concerns about the safety corridor expiring. I spoke with Oregon Department of
Transportation Director Matt Garrett to share the community’s concerns during
my meeting with him during the 2018 Session, developed the bill proposal and
have since met multiple times with Dir. Garrett to discuss how else the traffic
safety needs in the Hoodland area can be addressed and in other communities
across the district as well.
School funding: School funding concerns are statewide.
Measure 1 and the High School Graduation and College and Career Readiness Act
of 2016 (Measure 98) have yet to be fully funded. Oregon ranks 47th in high
school graduation rates
(https://eddataexpress.ed.gov/data-element-explorer.cfm/tab/data/deid/6100/sort/iup/).
As such, in addition to submitting a bill proposal to fully fund Measure 98, I
submitted a bill to identify the impact of not fully funding Measure 98 or
Measure 1. I believe that the legislature and public need to know the adverse
impacts that such inaction has on our students, educators, staff and the
education system.
Public safety: Public safety funding concerns exist across
the district and state. County budgets are in deficits, public safety funding
and personnel are being cut, and communities are grappling with how to address
this and some have even attempted to defund county veteran services offices
(VSO;
http://www.hoodrivernews.com/news/2018/sep/19/county-sustains-veterans-office-funding/).
With most residents sharing concerns about the public safety needs along
Highway 26, I have begun conversations with Oregon State Police (OSP)
leadership on the personnel and funding needed to have additional patrols in
the area.
As I shared in my September Mountain Times article, for the
2019 Session, I am proposing bills that focus on education, economic
development, environmental stewardship and emergency preparedness/planning.
Again, these 4Es intersect and directly and indirectly impact the well-being,
quality of life and outcomes of the children, families, friends, neighbors and
communities across our district and the state. To learn more about the bills I
have proposed thus far or share your opinion on current or pending legislation,
please contact me directly via email at Rep.JeffHelfrich@OregonLegislature.gov,
my personal cellphone at 541-392-4546 or find me on Facebook and message me
@RepJeffHelfrich. I look forward to speaking with you and more state, county
and local leaders and community members on how we can work together to address
these and other issues. Thank you.
(Jeff Helfrich is the representative for House District 52)
|
| Witches aren’t just for Halloween – you can be one, too by Victoria Larson on 10/01/2018
Let it be known that Halloween is supposed to be a silly,
light-hearted holiday. While not a fan of the gruesome and terrifying, a little
thrill of witches and bats can be kind of fun. And Halloween requires no presents,
decorating is optional and no particular family tensions. You really can’t beat
that for all time fun.
So, do you want to be a witch? I’ll tell you how. Start by
getting minimal sleep. Four or five hours is not enough. Before electricity
people slept ten to twelve hours a night. Many parts of the world still do.
While that may not be possible for you (a new baby, too many lights, electronic
distractions), you should at least try for seven or eight hours of sleep every
night. Anything less will probably leave you feeling “witchy” and unfocused.
Perhaps this is part of the reason so many are seeking an off-the-grid
lifestyle?
Of course, you can aim for focusing by consuming numerous
cups of coffee or energy drinks. These may leave you feeling even more unfocused
and with tremors, but you can always tell yourself you are aiming to be a
witch! Add to this a breakfast of anything from cold cereal to a donut (both
fairly expensive and nutritionally worthless) or, if your aim is “witchiness,”
have nothing at all. Fairly guaranteed to make you a witch.
There’s always the carb overload if you really want to be a
witch. Pasta for dinner with too much wine will only put on the pounds,
especially belly fat. This will make sleep difficult as well as will
less-than-perfect digestion. Most wine has high levels of nitrates. Nitrate
(also in processed lunch meats and most bacon) has a strong link to breast
cancer. But hey, you are half-way to becoming a witch, so you knew that, right?
Sometimes witches are controlled by societal input. You can
be one too. You can be one who feels progress is always “better.” Certainly
medical advances have saved lives, but do we really “need” Twitter? I’d
personally rather not know what our President tweets to anyone. But I do like
the natural sounds of bird tweets every day.
Are we lost in the soulless language of technology? Sure,
it’s a fun and almost immediate way to keep in touch with those who matter to
you, but do you really need hundreds of “admirers.” And who wants dozens of
sales calls, phone threats or any life interruption for that matter! Shouldn’t
our lives be more fact-to-face? Man-made things can be good. Things made by God
or nature are even better.
We live in the “more is better” time when there is constant
clamoring from someone, somewhere for our dollars. To maintain a certain
standard of living means to buy more things. Does this not actually lead to
more stress - more to clean, more to store, more to insure, more debt for some
people? Maybe everyone doesn’t have to have a smartphone, a microwave, a
Cuisinart, a computer. But witches live by outside influences and may feel the
need to be part of the status quo.
Working a lot of hours at a stressful job will make you
spend more money - on clothing, childcare, even eating out because you have no
time to cook, though you may own every electric kitchen device available! Does
the trend of having your groceries delivered help the environment? Shouldn’t
this be reserved for those who are shut-ins or injured or somehow
incapacitated. Helping your neighbors is a fading concern. And think, growing
even some of your food would be soul-fulfilling.
If you already are, or want to be a witch, having one of
those stressful jobs is likely to cause you to reach the stress requirement of
witchiness. Many countries encourage vacations of several weeks in order to
renew your connection to nature, soul and self. But most North Americans don’t
take vacations, much less days off when they are sick. Think about it, which (witch?)
would you rather be?
Traits such as frugality, honesty, thrift and transparency
are lost to s society that values money above all else. So, you decide, do you
really want to be a witch? Or could you be one who simply makes a costume or
dons a witch hat and plays at Halloween fun? Maybe you could be a “good witch!”
|
|  Perseid Meteor Shower
Each year come August I start to look forward to the Perseid
Meteor Shower. The Perseids are an annual event that comes each year as the
Earth passes through the orbital path of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. The debris
from the comet’s path causes little pieces of the comet to fall through the
Earth’s atmosphere at over 100,000 miles per hour, creating an amazing amount
of falling stars, sometimes up to 200 per hour. The Perseid Meteor Shower of
2018 was helped by its occur-rence during the dark skies of a New Moon.
Another occasion that’s becoming an annual August event is
my Dead Ox Ranch Photographer’s Campout. Last year we dedicated the event to
capturing photos of the Solar Eclipse. This year we were there to capture
photos of the Perseid Meteor Shower.
The Dead Ox Ranch isn’t as morbid of a place as it sounds.
The name was given to the ranch by the chance occurrence of there being a dead
cow on the property when it changed hands in a sale in its past. The ranch is
more than 100 years old and is located east of Baker City near Vir-tue Flats
and ruts from the old Oregon Trail. It’s just an hour drive from Hell’s Canyon
and the Wallowa Mountains. It’s also the location for some of the darkest skies
in the state.
Disregarding all of the above, the ranch itself is like
going back in time to an era of outdoor group socials, picnics and sitting
around in the yard in the summertime heat visiting and talking to friends and
family with an ice-cold beverage. Once everyone arrives and we are all set up
in our camps we mix and mingle and discuss our common purpose for being there,
photography.
The only chance that we take is being there in the summer
during the peak wildfire season, and this year has been a bad one. The state
was covered with smoke from fires originating not only in Oregon, but from
fires in both California and British Columbia. It’s been terrible indeed, but
we somehow lucked out with clear skies and only traces of smoke that came and
went for the whole three-day event. If we would have had smoky skies, we would
have somehow made the best of it anyway but that wasn’t the case.
Our mission for the workshop was to create what is called a
composite image; one that is made from several photos to create one single
image. Our goal was to make an image that included a group of meteors gathered
over a three-hour period.
To do that we wanted to create the photo using a base layer
taken at twilight so we can have focus and definition and yet still have dim
and cool light like night time. Then a photo of the sky later at night when the
Milky Way was fill-ing the sky.
After that we set up our cameras to take 30 second exposures
one after the other for three hours to gather photos of as many meteors as
possible. Once we gathered all these photos we then went into our digital
darkroom to blend them all together.
To composite the photos, we made our basic adjustments in
Adobe Lightroom and then opened all of the files into Adobe Photoshop as
layers. Once we had them in Photoshop it was a matter of creating masks and
selecting a blend mode to allow each layer to show through in its place and
order.
After some final adjustments the whole stack of layers was
merged together into a single image. Although this is a general description, I
felt compelled to explain the process to those who aren’t aware of how these
images are made. In today’s world of digital photography certain lines can be
blurred between art and photography.
The whole group of photographers had a great time. I’m
convinced that when we were out playing at sunset and into the dark we reverted
to kids again.
And when we gathered to process our photos, we were all
amazed at the results. I included the image that I created as an example of the
composite image that the class came to create for themselves.
Even if you don’t create a complex composite image in
Photoshop, a beautiful single image of a meteor is reward enough for a night
under the stars.
Keep this in mind next August when the stars start falling
during the Perseid Meteor Shower. Perhaps you can join us at the Dead Ox Ranch
for a workshop.
|
| A fond farewell, even to those who sent fruitcake by on 09/01/2018
They say all good things must come to an end.
Pompeii.
The “Die Hard” films.
Gluten.
And after today, this humor column.
For 20 years, I’ve had the privilege of being a part of more
than 30 community newspapers around the country, sharing a laugh or two
(sometimes three, if I was really on my game) with folks each week, from Boca
Raton, Fla., to Watsonville, Calif., and Tempe., Ariz., to Marietta, Ga.
I’ve learned a few things from the last two decades of being
a part of your communities, particularly about all the things that bring us
together rather than divide us. For example, our shared belief that Kenny
Rogers is one plastic surgery away from becoming a truly frightening Halloween
mask. Or not understanding how we have become more afraid of gluten than …
well, Kenny Rogers. Or that apes taking over the world will eventually happen because,
without opposable thumbs, they can’t become addicted to iPhones. And that our
government should have a Secretary of Bacon.
OK, maybe that’s just me.
But the most important thing I’ve learned over the years is
that humor is a language everyone understands and, in most cases, can agree on.
In today’s world, it’s easy to forget the many common, everyday experiences
that, while making us uniquely human, are things we all share in our daily
lives that unite us. Over the past 20 years I’ve experienced divorce,
re-marriage, the challenges of being a father to four teenagers, successes and
failures in my personal life as well as my professional life — all things that
aren’t particularly unique to me but that I tried to view and share through the
lens of humor. And not counting my teenagers, the rest of us had a good laugh
together as we shared in the common experiences of being human.
As this chapter of my writing career comes to an end, I am
moving on to the editorship of two small community newspapers — in a sense
coming full circle back to my journalism roots. Coincidentally, just as
marijuana has become legal here in Oregon.
I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for
allowing me the privilege of, in a small way, being a part of your communities
for so many years. Your letters and emails have meant a lot, and I will always
appreciate your taking the time to write them. Even when they arrived inside of
— or wrapped around — loaves of fruitcake.
Thank you again, and if you’re ever in Florence, Ore.,
please stop in. I still have fruitcake.
(Ned is a syndicated columnist with News Media Corporation.
Write to him at nedhickson@icloud.com, or c/o Siuslaw News, 148 Maple St.,
Florence, Ore. 97439)
|
| Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way: Health & Wealth Part 3 by Paula Walker on 09/01/2018
Part 3 in the series addressing aspects of the Durable Power
of Attorney, an essential element of a comprehensive estate plan, answers a few
questions commonly asked about this legal instrument: Why the term “Durable?”
What is the difference between a “Power of Attorney” and a “Durable Power of
Attorney?” When do the Durable Powers of Attorney (DPOA) become effective? When
do the Durable Powers of Attorney end?
Why the term “Durable?” The use of this term is specifically
directed to the viability of the power during a time of incapacity. That the
powers granted are durable means that they remain in effect during and despite
a time of incapacity for the principal, i.e. the person who created the Durable
Power of Attorney document, assigning another person (the “Agent”) to act on
their behalf when needed.
What is the difference between a “Power of Attorney” and a
“Durable Power of Attorney?” You can establish a Power of Attorney for limited
purposes of limited duration, as well as establishing a power of attorney that
is durable. You may anticipate circumstances, such as travelling abroad, or
surgery and recovery, which will prevent you from directly managing your
financial affairs for a limited time. In such circumstances you may designate a
person, granting them authority to act as your agent for a limited duration.
The power concludes at a specified time, however long you set, or at your
incapacity if such a condition occurs before the specified end time. A durable
power of attorney remains in effect until you revoke it or at your death.
When does the Durable Power of Attorney become effective?
This depends on the choices you make in creating your Durable Power of
Attorney. You can designate that it is effective immediately upon your signing
the document or alternatively that it “springs” into effect when you are
determined to be incapacitated.
When does the Durable Power of Attorney end? That is in part up to you. As
mentioned, your Durable Power of Attorney ends when you die, but it also ends
if and when you revoke it. In addition, there is the potential for
effectiveness to come and go. If you have set the power to “spring” into effect
upon your incapacity, it becomes ineffective again when you are determined
returned to capacity, as though becoming dormant, waiting in the wings should
there be another time of incapacity in which it will be needed.
Stories of the Stars… If Only
Gene Wilder, known for iconic comic performances in “Blazing
Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,”
died of Alzheimer’s in 2016. His is not a story of “if only” but an example for
others learn from who face such a prognosis of debilitation. From accounts of
the family’s decisions of how and when to publicize the news of Wilder’s
illness we can infer that his family was involved early on in understanding and
planning for the eventual course of this illness. With Alzheimer’s or other
types of dementia, time is of the essence. Early action can allow a person to
review or create an estate plan, or components of an estate plan like the
Durable Power of Attorney while that person can still make legally valid
decisions. This course can reduce the potential for a family fight and possible
court contests over inheritance as well as ensure that the person and their
family have confronted the issues and set in place what is needed for care
giving as the disease advances. In these days when there is seemingly much to
worry about, it’s a loss when someone who had such an ability to make us laugh
is no longer here. The gentle-humored Wilder, who dedicated his life to making
us smile, left us with a legacy for another source of happiness — a model for
peace and harmony in how he faced his last act.
Dear Reader… we welcome your questions on matters related to
estate planning. These will provide grist for future articles and enhance the
potential for those articles to be of interest and value to you.
Please submit your questions to Garth Guibord, at
garth@mountaintimesoregon.com.
Paula Walker is the founding attorney of Confluence Law
Center in Welches, www.confluencelawcenter.com.
|
| Hwy. 26 safety one of the high priorities for Mountain community by on 09/01/2018
Hello Hoodland Community and other Mountain Times Readers.
For those of you who are new to my column, my name is Rep.
Jeff Helfrich and I am the State Representative for House District 52 in the
Oregon Legislative Assembly/Oregon Legislature, which includes North Clackamas
County, the entirety of Hood River County, and parts of east Multnomah County.
I was appointed in late 2017 and have been honorably serving our beautiful
district ever since. I am a member of the House Economic Development and Trade
committee as well as the Joint (House & Senate) Ways and Means Public
Safety Subcommittee.
I have been a public servant for over 30 years, beginning
with my service in the U.S. Air Force. I firmly believe that the best
legislation is developed in collaboration and through communication with the
community, and it is responsive to the challenges and needs of the communities
within the district, because a better district truly makes a better Oregon.
For the 2018 Regular Session, my bipartisan and bicameral
work included proposing and passing the maximally allowed two bills: House Bill
(HB) 4152, an Eagle Creek Fire Recovery-related bill; and HB 4044, an education
bill identifying the most effective programs in Oregon for recruiting,
retaining, mentoring and providing professional development to educators
working with our most vulnerable students.
As I shared in my August Mountain Times article, for the
2019 Session, I am proposing bills that focus on education, economic
development, environmental stewardship and emergency preparedness/planning.
These 4Es intersect and have both direct and indirect impacts on the well-being
and outcomes of our families, community, district and State.
To learn more about some of the bills I have proposed thus
far or make suggestions for legislation in time for the Sept. 28 bill
proposal/Pre-2019 Session Filing deadline, please contact me directly via email
at Rep.JeffHelfrich@OregonLegislature.gov, my personal cellphone at
541-392-4546, or find me on Facebook and message me @RepJeffHelfrich.
In previous articles, I have mentioned the public safety
concerns Hoodland Area community members, leaders, and organizations have
shared with me or that I have heard from attending community meetings. Last
month, I shared that I had submitted a bill proposal for the 2019 Session that
would make the safety corridor in the Hoodland Area along Hwy. 26 permanent.
In late August, I met with the Oregon Department of
Transportation (ODOT) Director Matt Garrett to discuss the Hwy. 26 safety
corridor, how the safety corridor can be improved and enforcement. My biggest
takeaways from the meeting with Director Garrett was how approachable he is,
that he truly wants to work with community stakeholders to address the Hwy. 26
safety issues affecting the Hoodland Area, and understands that the Hoodland
Area’s portion of Hwy. 26 is unique and expectedly faces unique challenges
requiring input from and collaboration with this community. I look forward to
meeting with ODOT Director Garrett again in the coming months to discuss plans
for a Transportation Forum with Sen. Thomsen,
Hoodland Area community and organization members and leaders, Clackamas
County government and agency leadership, and other area stakeholders.
In addition, I hosted a community conversation event in late
August. Thank you to those who attended, it was great to meet everyone there
and discuss the issues that are facing the Hoodland Area. As expected, Hwy. 26
and public safety were two of the major topics, but so too were affordable
housing, school funding and PERS reform among many others. I look forward to
working with you and many others in our community to address these concerns and
others you bring forth.
I look forward to seeing and hearing from you soon,
(Jeff Helfrich is the representative for House District 52)
|
| MHGS: protecting our drinking water by Mary Soots on 09/01/2018
We live in what is called a temperate rainforest. While
there are many temperate forests around the world, ours is one of a handful of
unique sites characterized by temperate temperatures and heavy rainfall.
England, New Zealand, Chile and a few others are found around the world in
oceanic regions.
While we may think that sometimes the amount of rainfall we
receive is more than abundant — especially in the midst of the long winters —
we also have other climate regions in our state. The southeastern portion is
largely desert. And so, it may seem that our state, especially in the beautiful
cascade-laden broadleaf forest where we live, will never run out of water, we
only need to look around us to see that we are experiencing water shortages.
For decades those shortages have only seemed to affect the
southern Oregon region around Klamath County where there has been the annual
conflict around the distribution of water between ranchers and farmers and
environmentalists trying to keep enough water in the rivers for fish and
wildlife. But other things affect our water supply as well. In central Oregon,
the burgeoning population in an area that does not have enough water to support
a large population will create larger problems over time.
Incredible as it seems, at the time of this writing, 80
percent of our state is experiencing drought. We currently have eight major
wildfires burning throughout the state. At the same time, we have been in a
period of insufficient snowfall for the past several years. That means that
each summer, we experience shortages of water due to a lack of snowpack melting
into the rivers. The result is that the rivers run low, the trees do not get
enough water, smaller streams begin to dry up and eventually there will be a
change in our ecosystem. That in turn affects our economy – the Christmas tree
industry, for example, suffers from lack of healthy trees. Also, the drought
brings invasive pests such as beetles that prey on unhealthy trees.
Did you know that at this time, 40 percent of the rivers
around the world no longer have sufficient water in them to reach the ocean?
Water is diverted from the rivers for the purposes of agriculture and ranching,
for manufacturing, since everything we produce requires water. Most recently,
an emerging problem is the use of water for fracking. The fossil fuel industry
invests heavily in trying to convince us that gas extracted from shale is not
harmful. According to Food and Water Watch, “The fracking industry itself
consumes space and water on a large scale. Through the construction of a
network of thousands of wells, it has a significant impact on the development
of the targeted regions and inevitably affects areas where either settlements
or environmentally and culturally sensitive zones can be found.”
What’s more, once they have used the water, it becomes
contaminated with toxins. Fracking waste includes rock and drilling lubricant
left over from the process of drilling a well, as well as wastewater and sand
from the fracking and production processes. This toxic cocktail is reinserted
into the earth. Sadly, state laws exempt those companies from having to make
reparations for the contamination.
There are things we can do to protect our environment and
our drinking water. We can plant native trees so that they are more likely to
survive droughts. We can take shorter showers, we can conserve water whenever
possible (don’t leave the sink running while we brush our teeth, etc.) and we
can raise awareness in others. Having a healthy ecosystem with enough water is
good for wildlife, good for the prevention of wildfires that threaten our own
health, but it will also decrease the risk of conflict over water, just as
those conflicts that are currently raging across the world as our most important
natural resource becomes more and more scarce.
|
| A Taste of Paradise by Taeler Butel on 09/01/2018
I’m currently eating my way through Miami and the Florida
Keys.
This is a place to taste history from the flavors of key
lime pie to the flavors of Cuba, and I’ve got the recipes for you.
Cuban roast pork
4 to 5-pound pork roast shoulder
2 cups orange, lime or lemon juice
bay leaf
2 t dried oregano
2 t cumin powder
2 T salt
1/2 t black pepper
10 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
1/2 cup mojo sauce
2 large onions sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
Make a dry rub with the pepper, salt, cumin and oregano,
then poke holes all over roast and rub in spices. Heat oil in large pot and
brown pork all around, then set on plate, turn heat to med high and add onion
and garlic to pot. Cook 3-4 minutes, then add bay leaf, mojo and juice to pan.
Add in pork roast, cover and cook over medium-low heat at
least one hour until meat pulls apart easily with fork.
Key lime pie with coconut crust
Crust:
3 T melted butter
1/2 t salt
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Mix together and press into pie pan, bake at 350 degrees 15
mins set aside to cool.
Filling:
1 cup key lime juice
Zest of one line
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
Whisk together filling ingredients until smooth and pour
over cooked crust.
Topping:
1 cup whipping cream
2 T powdered sugar
Whip together with an electric mixer, then spread or pipe
over filling.
(Taeler Butel writes exclusively for The Mountain Times.)
|
| Episode XXV A Mansion and Marley by Max Malone, Private Eye on 09/01/2018
Dolly Teagarden’s idea of hanging out with Max would make
him more of an asset than a target for Beau Kimatian-turned-Andy Campanaro
remained an unresolved strategy even though the pair made certain they were seen
everywhere around the glitziest hangouts of Grand Cayman – boosted by Dolly’s
seemingly inexhaustible MI6 expense account and the island’s equal supply of
ritzy restaurants and natty nightclubs.
Max played the game but maintained his private-eye notions.
Dolly had her eye on the ultimate prize of bringing down Campanaro at the
point-of-sale for the arms and military hardware at some far-off
unpronounceable desert rendezvous, while Max, being reminded constantly by the
tug of pain from his gunshot wound, remained motivated by his burning desire
for revenge against the man who defiled a seemingly innocent woman in
Wildewood, held Max’s hometown hostage all the while, then had the hubris to
have a slug delivered to Max’s midsection.
This Campanaro chap had a date with destiny.
* * *
Max sat in what should have been the driver’s seat of a
rental car being driven by Dolly from the passenger’s seat, only she had the
brakes, clutch pedal, accelerator, stick shift and steering wheel, while Max
had a distant dashboard and homeless glove compartment.
Max thought: How did Sterling Moss ever learn to drive a
Formula I race car?
The hair-raising ride was amplified by the fact that Dolly
spent precious little time paying attention to the road, road signs, or speed
limits, keeping up a running commentary on the politics of England vs. Cayman,
all of which totally escaped Max as he was riveted on the palm trees flying by
like a picket fence, monuments to his impending doom, on their way to a yet
undeclared destination.
Dolly wheeled around a corner and jerked the car over a
culvert and guided her missile off-road through and around banyan trees, up a
mossy hill with hidden rocks each of which Dolly managed to find, before they
bounced to a stop with a breathtaking view of the sea and a white mansion atop
the next hill over, followed by a precipitous drop onto a rocky shore below.
“Whattya think?” Dolly asked breathlessly as she killed the
engine.
“Nice view,” Max offered, gathering what was left of his
wits.
“That’s his,” she said.
Max gazed at Campanaro’s digs, gleaming white atop the
grassy hill, the sea in stark blue contrast as backdrop over the orange-tiled
roof, sculpted hedges, manicured lawns, three distinct floors, each one
slightly smaller than the one beneath giving off the simultaneous sympathies of
sumptuousness as well as a fortress to foil any foe. Guards with automatic
weapons slung over their shoulders were a finishing touch, two on the grounds,
one by the pool, and two more on the catwalk clinging to the third floor, their
gazes unwaveringly fixed on the immediate grounds.
Two dark-complexioned women dangled their feet in the pool –
Caymans? Jamaicans? – while two goons parked their suffocatingly ample bodies
on lounge chairs providing a convenient view of the diffident women.
Despite the temptation, Max paid more attention to the
fortress aspect. Surely there are floodlights. Surely there are 24-hour guards.
And surely, somewhere behind one of those windows, sleeps this Campanaro.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Dolly said, interrupting
Max’s reconnaissance. “Stealth will not get you in there, Max. But we’ve been
seen by Campanaro’s people. They’ve reported to him. He knows MI6 is here. He
wants to enlist you.”
Max squinted in Dolly’s general direction. “How do you
know?”
“Believe me.”
To Max’s way of thinking, a female British agent, who not
that long ago, had spent days cozying up to a band of European terrorists while
Max was cuffed to a radiator, had no collateral in the “believe me” bank.
However, that resort on the hill looked impregnable.
* * *
Max was spread out on the cot gazing up at the clapboard
ceiling, hearing the rummy voice of Jemma’s Rastafarian neighbor making his way
through another island tune, accompanied by the spiritual drumming of a
sidekick, taking the rhythms into a reggae bent that made shades of Bob Marley
dance in Max’s head.
Like a shadow on the wall, Jemma was there.
“You still here Mister Stubborn Americano?”
He certainly was.
After all …
Then, two more shadows washed the room. Max went for the
borrowed revolver on the nightstand. Too late.
|
| The three D’s: downsizing, destressing and de-teching life by Victoria Larson on 09/01/2018
Several years ago, I wrote a column of this same title. And
I began the process of doing so. Changes can come fast, or they can take years.
Life changes in an instant with a job loss, a move, health challenges, divorce
or death. These kinds of changes are unexpected and there is little we can do
to prepare for them.
Other kinds of changes take months or years, depending on
circumstances. I began downsizing five years ago. I started by getting as much
plastic as possible out of my house. Then books were donated to the library,
the local Montessori school and my friend’s rural “library box” alongside her
driveway. Bags and bags of recently unworn clothing went to local churches.
Household goods went to Salvation Army and local Senior Centers. This made a
considerable dent in “stuff” but not so much.
That reminds me of one of my favorite new sayings,
“everything matters, but not that much.” Similar to, “don’t sweat the small
stuff, it’s all small stuff,” but easier to say and usually gets a laugh as
people think about it. Ultimately, we are not the ones “in charge.” The Big Guy
(or Gal) upstairs is in charge, not us. Just realizing that we’re not really in
charge of everything goes a long way towards destressing.
De-teching came next for me. I cannot tell you how many
people respond to that by saying, “I can’t do that.” But you can. Start small.
When so-called time-saving devices wear out, don’t replace them. Don’t replace
the electric coffee grinder, dishwasher, microwave or TV when they break down.
By the time I was seriously into downsizing, all the above had broken down. I never
replaced them. And I’ve never owned a clothes dryer. I dry my clothes outside
on the line in the summer and inside by the woodstove during the winter. Do you
really need to upgrade an expensive phone? Or will a simple but portable one
do? They all do texting and photos now. If you are serious about “slow food”
instead of fast food, don’t eat out more than once or twice a week. Learn to
cook and save money besides.
Destressing happens when you tackle the above “stressors.”
Of course, you need to make decisions for yourself and your circumstances. A
large family may need a dishwasher or clothes dryers, and career addicts may
choose to keep their fancy phones and computers. But many “devices” lead to
stress. However, I remember an amusing incident when someone asked me why I
owned a bread machine. Well, my oven was broken, that’s why!
We need to remember that humans lived without any “devices”
for literally millions of years. Electricity only hit most of the US in the
late 1800s and was pretty much universal by 1940. Smart phones and computers
are relatively new. We’re encouraged, advertised to and given incentives to
modernize. But does everyone need to?
In seeking a slower-paced life, rather than pursuing the
frazzle-dazzle, I’ve spent most of my life cooking at home, doing dishes by
hand and drying clothes on the line outside. Over time I’ve become happier and
less stressed. Lots of alternative publications recommend destressing by
getting out of debt. First, pay off all your credit cards - then cut them up.
Then pay off your car or trade it in on a used car you can pay for outright.
Then pay off your mortgage. This is how my parents and grandparents did it.
Even those on fixed income or at poverty level may be able to survive on less.
Studies show that people are most content right at or just above poverty level.
Pots of money don’t necessarily make people happier. In fact, those who win
lotteries are often depressed within just a few years.
The decision to retire and live on a low income was not as
difficult as one might think. Especially since my level of life satisfaction
went up with every step towards self-sufficiency. My life is easier without so
much stuff, especially stuff that breaks down and becomes instant garbage.
After careers in radio, television and record promotion (back when we still had
records), I chose a career in natural medicine. I’ve loved the more than twenty
years of practicing and writing. Some people took my advice, some didn’t. Such
is the nature of human beings. But by continuing to write the columns I can
continue to disseminate information, maybe even controversies. I’m kept up to
date on current information and trends. And that’s a good thing, for all of us.
Several studies show that crises in mid-life are real. I’m
well beyond “mid-life,” and in fact beyond retirement age, but in order to live
the lifestyle I desire I’m choosing to no longer practice, other than to
provide information via these columns. Surveying people in 72 developed
countries found that people are at their happiest after age fifty. With our
youth culture that curve of happiness may even start later. While aging has its
attendant unpleasantness, the decrease in anger, worry and stress generally
gives way to an increase in laughter, wisdom and acceptance as we age. I look
forward to continuing to bring you my monthly columns.
|
|  A Jennie Welch landscape
We’re all photographers in the 21st century. In 2018, the
day of cell phones and their cameras, we hardly think about it when we pull out
the phone to get a photo of friends, family and places that we visit.
A hundred years ago it wasn’t so easy. Back then cameras
were bulky and film was inconvenient. Not all photos turned out and you didn’t
know what results you would end up with for a long time while your film was
away being developed, if you didn’t develop your own. But, of course, there
were enthusiasts.
There were photographers that ranged from full-fledged
professionals to home hobbyists with their own darkrooms. Most professional
photographers provided services to those who didn’t have their own photography
gear. They would travel and offer their services, sometimes door to door. They
would photograph anything from individual portraits to family groups. Even photos
of prize possessions such as their home, pets or a brand-new automobile.
At the early part of the 20th century postcards were a big
deal. Many people would order a set of the photos printed as a postcard to send
a photo to a friend or a family member that lived away.
Many of these same photographers provided photo postcards to
souvenir shops of local iconic landmarks frequented by tourists. After all, it
was easier to just buy some picture postcards than it was to fuss with a camera
and the subsequent rolls of film.
Some of these photographers made a name for themselves that
has endured through the years but some of them were a little bit obscure. Some
churned out massive amounts of these photo postcards while others only made
enough to sell in their own roadhouse gift shops or country stores. Billy
Welch’s Hotel was no exception.
Back in 1905 the Welches post office was established at
Billy’s Ranch with Billy as postmaster. Billy married Jennie Faubion, the
daughter of Oregon Trail pioneers and local homesteaders, and in 1940 became
the Welches postmaster. Jennie was the Welches postmaster until 1960. Jennie
Welch loved antiques and enjoyed collecting daguerreotype, ambrotype and
tintype examples of early photography. It’s obvious that Jennie enjoyed
photography.
Most people who remember Jennie remember her primary passion
being antiques, but what a lot of people don’t know is that Jennie Welch was
also one of the first local photographers of her day. She took photos and most
likely had someone else develop them and apply them to postcard backs to be
sold to tourists in the Welches Store and Post Office. They’re quite rare as
she didn’t make volumes of them like some of the other pro photographers did
and they’re hard to take notice of when you see one, but every now and then one
is recognized by the keen-eyed postcard collector.
Although not recognized as such, Jennie Welch should be
included in the list of early 20th century female photographers. Her photos
capture the history and beauty of Welches. Without her photos many early scenes
would be lost with the passing of time.
Today her photos are considered rare and collectable. Gone
are the days of picture postcards and travelling photography salesmen, but
thankfully their work lives on.
|
| MHGS: eco-friendly options to dry clothes by Mary Soots on 08/01/2018
Another incredibly hot summer and as I did laundry
yesterday, it just felt wrong to be using the clothes dryer on a day when the
temperature was in the 90s. I wondered for the umpteenth time how much energy
is being used simply by so many households doing laundry over the course of the
day? Or the week? Or the year? It turns out that next to refrigerators,
lighting and water heaters, electric dryers are the top energy-consumers in our
homes. The average dryer uses 875 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. The
environmental impact of clothes dryers is especially severe in the US and
Canada, since more than 80 percent of all homes have a clothes dryer.
Treehugger.com states, “There are upward of 88 million dryers in the U.S., each
emitting more than a ton of carbon dioxide per year.” According to the US
Environmental Protection Agency, if all residential clothes dryers sold in the
U.S. were energy efficient, the utility cost savings would grow to more than
$1.5 billion each year and more than 22 billion pounds of annual greenhouse gas
emissions would be prevented.
So, what can we do about it? Well, the obvious thing would
be to use the clothes dryer less frequently. As I researched the answer to my
question, I found that there is a nascent movement to bring back one type of
solar clothes dryer (also affectionately known as a clothesline). Drying
clothes this way actually extends the life of your clothes because tumbling dry
breaks down the soft fibers (lint is the byproduct of this). For decades, I
lived in a house that was built in 1905 that had a wonderful clothesline in the
back yard. Clothes smelled fresh, and the sun added some additional whiteness
to the laundry. If I needed a little softening, I could tumble them in the cool
dryer for a few minutes. Also, the old Portland house had a clothesline in the
basement for rainy day use. I miss that old house! Now, when I do a load of
laundry, I try to do it in the morning. Instead of putting the clothes directly
into the dryer, I use a drying rack either outdoors or indoors. If I need to,
when I return from work in the evening, I toss things in the dryer for a few
minutes.
Even if you prefer to use a clothes dryer, there are ways
you can make it operate more efficiently to reduce the amount of energy it
uses. There are some great new innovations, such as solar powered dryers, which
in the future might become the norm. While we wait, you can choose a more
energy-efficient heat pump or condensing dryer. It condenses the moisture out
of the dryer air, then reheats it. This design is great because it doesn’t
require any additional air – it’s a closed loop. Key to any new dryer would be
a moisture-detection feature that will shut the dryer off when the clothes have
dried.
Here’s some other tips to save energy:
– You should also place the dryer in a warm spot in your
house so that it uses less energy to heat the air inside the dryer.
– Dry full loads, but don’t overload the dryer as you need
the air to circulate around the clothing.
– Try to wash several loads one after the other to maximize
the warm air and warm drum.
– Make sure that you clean the lint filter every time you
use it to keep the hot air moving more efficiently through the dryer and
shorten the drying time.
– Also, home maintenance experts recommend cleaning out the
dryer vents both from the inside and from outside the home to maximize air
flow. This will also prevent lint from accumulating inside the ducts which
could potentially create a fire hazard.
– And while you’re drying your clothes, you might consider
leaving out the dryer sheets. They’re full of cancer-causing chemicals.
Instead, go natural.
|
| Episode XXIV: It’s not nirvana to be an iguana by Max Malone, Private Eye on 08/01/2018
Max sat alone under a faded umbrella at a veranda bar
supported by tired timbers overlooking a working harbor – no luxury liners here
– as the moaning of ship horns testified to the tankers and container ships
that stood guard, all under the scrutiny of an unblinking indigo-blue iguana
that belonged in a Charles Darwin documentary.
Even Max’s most menacing glare was no match for the
redoubtable reptile, reclining a few feet away.
Rolling the remains of a defeated mojito around in its
glass, Max shifted an unfocused eye on a hazy horizon with lumps of briquet
clouds. He thought: Dolly Teagarden is MI6 – British for CIA – Jemma Gayle is a
Jamaican nurse providing him shelter from the storm during his rehab from a
gunshot wound inflicted by, doubtlessly, Beau Kimatian cum Andy Campanaro, or
one of his henchmen, and despite all the distractions – Dolly and Jemma – the unaccompanied
thought that bubbled up with every wince of pain from his abdomen was revenge.
That rage was deeper than the wound.
The more Max tarried, the more he blended in with his island
shirt, white slacks, huaraches, topped by a stylish Panama hat held in
captivity by a murky brown band. Or so he thought.
A dark, slender arm plopped down a fresh mojito, and one for
herself as well. Max followed the arm all the way to a beguiling Jamaican
smile.
“Believe I will, Jemma, thanks,” Max said, lifting his fresh
glass to his sponsor. “Have a seat.”
Jemma was already seated. “It’s OK for you to go home now,
Max.”
Max squints through the Caribbean sun, smirks, says “Jemma.
You don’t know me that well. I …”
“I know Grand Cayman, Max,” she interrupts, somehow without
raising her voice above the Jamaican cadence. “I don’t know what you’ve done,
or even why you’re here, or who that British woman is you’ve been talking to,
but I know that when the people who own Grand Cayman have unfinished business,
they find a way to finish it. This is not a democracy. It is a country of
billionaire bankers, drug dealers, money launderers, arms dealers, and corrupt
authorities. People mean nothing. Money means everything.”
“We’ll see, won’t we?” Max says, shooting a sharp glance to
Jemma, uncomfortably impressed that she knew of Dolly Teagarden.
“Iguanas are overrunning Grand Cayman, you know?” she said.
“There’s even a bounty on them.”
Max nods, lifting his mojito, getting the point.
* * *
Max shuffled along the run-down Cayman neighborhood, far
from the eager eyes of tourists. Music drifted on a soft breeze, a striking
Cayman woman sauntered across the street with a baby on her hip, vegetables
mingled with live poultry in cages on makeshift stands. Max walked into the
dark inner bowels of an alcove that dripped with intrigue. Sitting at a table
in the hallway, carving up a mango, sat one of the twins that had guarded Max’s
hospital room.
Max nodded. The hulking Jamaican polished off the last slice
of mango, rose, opened a steamer trunk that rested against the wall, took out a
soiled rag and rested it on the table between the two men. Max slid the bulky
rag to his side of the table, tucked it in his belt, stood up, dropped a brown
envelope in the trunk, walked back up the hallway, drummed his fingers on the
wall in an expression of island gratitude.
* * *
Two shadows faced off, divided by a sky full of stars
freshly washed by an island rain.
“Why don’t you bust him?” Max rasped as sotto voce as he was
able.
Dolly whispered, whittling away at the few remaining inches
between them. “We need the ones on the receiving end more than him. They’re the
ones who start wars. He buys his arms from Americans. All we can do is watch,
and wait, and hopefully follow the shipment, and then act.”
Max shuddered. What was unsaid was the U.S. did not
intervene because of the supply line.
“You must have a plan,” Max said.
Dolly surrendered her crooked Queen of England smile. “We’re
going to make sure Campanaro sees us together. That will make you more of an
asset to him than a target.”
That was enough intrigue for one night. The intervening
stars fell into shadow.
After all, he is still Max Malone, private eye.
|
| Universe makes push-starting your car that much harder by on 08/01/2018
I certainly feel a deep kinship with the surrounding universe.
Particularly after reading how, like my own waistline, it is continuing to
expand as it gets older. According to an article in TIME magazine, there are a
number of discoveries that answer fundamental questions about the mysteries of
space — beginning with a property called “dark gravity.”
It is something that parents have suspected for eons, and
that astrophysicists have only now proven the existence of: an invisible force
slightly stronger than normal gravity that pulls in the opposite direction. It is
this property that keeps the universe expanding in spite of the pull of planets
and constellations.
According to physicists at Princeton University, children
naturally possess this gravitational force, which explains their ability to
pull their parents in two directions at once.
The other effects of “dark” gravity aren’t as
straightforward. In fact, the difference between the two types of gravity are a
little hazy; both are invisible, and both earn their living by pulling things.
Here are a few examples to help illustrate their differences:
– A baseball landing in your mitt is gravity; a baseball
landing on your forehead is “dark gravity.”
– Push-starting your car by rolling it down a hill is
gravity; if the car doesn’t start before you get to the bottom, that’s “dark
gravity.”
– Weight-lifting, gravity; weight-gaining, “dark gravity.”
– Getting sick on the Tilt-a-Whirl, gravity; being strapped
next to the person getting sick on the Tilt-a-Whirl –
You get the idea.
And the discovery of light and “dark” doesn’t end there.
Apparently, physicists have discovered that matter also has
a bright and not-so-bright side.
While regular matter is easy to see, taste, touch and feel,
“dark” matter is an invisible substance that, by a ratio of 10 to 1, outweighs
all visible particles that stars, planets and people are made of.
This is why eating a three-ounce candy bar means that you
will gain — on average — 10 pounds. It’s all of that invisible “dark” matter
surrounding what we eat that’s causing America’s obesity problem, not the
calories or lack of exercise.
The trick is to find a way to remove the “dark” matter from
our food sources — something that is harder than it sounds since scientists
have no idea what the stuff is, what it looks like or where it came from.
The only thing we know for sure is that it was approved by
the FDA.
Though there were a handful of other revelations, nothing
compares with how the universe will eventually collapse. Much like the elastic
waistband in my swimming trunks, the universe will continue to stretch until it
reaches a point of critical mass known as “The Big Snap.”
What happens after that is anyone’s guess.
As for me, I’d rather not dwell on the gravity of such
matters.
(Ned is a syndicated columnist with News Media Corporation.
Write to him at nedhickson@icloud.com, or c/o Siuslaw News, 148 Maple St.,
Florence, Ore. 97439)
|
| Proposed 2018 legislation by on 08/01/2018
Hello Hoodland Community and other Mountain Times Readers,
It is an honor to serve as your State Representative and I
thank you all for taking the time to email, call, and share with me face-to-face
your questions, challenges and appreciation. Over the last month, I have had
the great opportunity to participate in and meet some of you at the Sandy
Mountain Festival and Parade and Mt. Hood Farmer’s Market, among other events
and venues. In response to these and other contacts, including those with
community, business, organization and government leaders across the district, I
have developed and submitted bills for the 2019 Session. The legislation I have
proposed has focused primarily on the 4E’s: education, economic development,
environmental stewardship and emergency preparedness/planning. Here are some of
the legislative concepts I submitted by Aug. 1:
Education
As a father with a daughter in public elementary school, a
son that is soon to start and multiple friends and family members who are or
have been teachers, I understand the importance of all students having access
to well-qualified and high quality teachers and a high quality education. For
the 2018 Regular Session, I proposed and passed House Bill (HB) 4044 which
commissioned a study to identify best practices for recruitment, retention and
mentoring our educators. For the 2019 Session, I have proposed full funding of
Measure 98, the High School Graduation and College and Career Readiness Act of
2016. Measure 98 provides funding for career and technical education (CTE),
dropout prevention programs and college credit courses. To learn more about
Measure 98, please visit
www.oregon.gov/ode/learning-options/CTE/statefund/Documents/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions%20(Updated%202-16-2017).pdf.
Economic Development
As your State Representative serving on the House Committee
on Economic Development and Trade, I feel very strongly about our need to
support, grow and retain small businesses and the family supporting jobs they
provide in Oregon. As such, I have proposed the repeal of Senate Bill (SB)
1528. SB1528 disconnected Oregon from the federal tax code and will prevent our
district’s businesses from receiving a tax deduction that could lead to
increased investment in the businesses, its employees and our community.
Environmental Stewardship
I am the son and grandson of farmers, a former farmworker
and avid fisher and hunter, I believe it is important to be a good neighbor and
environmental steward and am teaching my two young children to believe the
same. Across the district, many have expressed concern about responsible
forestry management practices and the next steps for the privately owned
timberlands that are in the National Scenic Area (NSA). The NSA sits squarely
within our district and to address these and other concerns, I have submitted a
bill to study the feasibility of the state purchasing privately held timber
lands in the NSA, their possible use and public benefit.
I believe that buying former timberlands in the NSA is a
great opportunity for Oregon to acquire lands to be repurposed for recreation
and maintained for current and future generations of community members and all
Oregonians to enjoy.
Emergency Preparedness/Planning and Public Safety
I am a former Cascade Locks City Councilor, retired police
sergeant, Air Force veteran, member of the Joint (House and Senate) Ways and
Means Public Safety Subcommittee and have a young family of my own. I believe
that emergency preparedness/planning and public safety are critically important
to the success and sustainability of our community. I have heard from many
across the district regarding earthquake preparedness and in the Hoodland Area
specifically about the concern for safety along Hwy. 26. In response, I am
proposing a bill to identify the best option for adding flexibility to the
school building seismic upgrades grant funding that would allow for cases where
a building’s upgrades are close to or exceed the cost of reconstruction. I have
also submitted a bill to make the safety corridor that runs through the
Hoodland Area permanent.
My goal is to propose legislation that is responsive and
effective for addressing the challenges you identify and the successes you want
to see. To share your questions, concerns or suggestions for legislation or
invite me to your community or other group to talk about my role as a
legislator or discuss legislation, please contact me via
Rep.JeffHelfrich@OregonLegislature.gov, cellphone 541-392-4546, my Salem office
at 503-986-1452 or message me through www.facebook.com/RepJeffHelfrich/.
I look forward to seeing you in the community and hearing
from you soon.
(Jeff Helfrich is the representative for House District 52)
|
| Bite size is the right size by Taeler Butel on 08/01/2018
When it’s hot and you just want a bite and you also have
lunches to pack, these bite sized snacks have your back.
Pulled chicken potato skins
1.5 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
6 small Yukon gold potatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 cup prepared BBQ sauce
1/4 cup sliced scallions
Heat oven to 365 degrees. Bake the potatoes tossed in olive
oil, salt and pepper for 40 minutes until tender and roasted.
Cool slightly, then scoop out to make room for the chicken
mixture.
Toss the chicken together with BBQ sauce and salt and pepper
to taste, then spoon about 1/4 of the mixture into the potato skins.
Bake for 15 minutes and top with scallions.
Cheese quinoa bites
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups quinoa prepared
1/2 t each onion & garlic pepper
1 T flour
1 cup milk
Salt & pepper to taste
Mix together the milk, cheese, flour and seasonings together
in a small bowl and add this mixture to the cooked quinoa.
Stir over medium heat until thickened slightly, then pour
into greased muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool slightly.
A bite-sized side note
Try salami ravioli flowers, by cooking packaged ravioli and
skewer with salami.
Or make apple “chips” with cinnamon almond butter by slicing
a green apple and dolloping on some almond butter with a drizzle of honey and
then sprinkle on cinnamon and sliced almonds.
(Taeler Butel writes exclusively for The Mountain Times.)
|
| Maintaining health during a staycation, vacation or relocation by Victoria Larson on 08/01/2018
Whether staying home for a vacation this year, driving
through our lovely state of Oregon or relocating and settling in, illness on
the road is far worse when in flux. How can we make moves more comfortable and
be prepared for the possible stress of travel or relocating?
The farther away you plan to travel or move, the sooner you
should begin preparations. You can begin shoring up your immune system up to a
month before to deal with any onslaughts. Sleep and diet are underappreciated
as “health aids.” Since sleep is difficult for many while travelling or under
the stress of relocating, consider doing all you can to make yourself and those
travelling with you as comfortable as possible.
Try one of those small travel pillows for each member of
your family and put a few drops of each person’s favorite essential oil on the
corners of the pillow. You do not want to put the essential oil on the middle
of the pillow where you put your head as you don’t want to cause any irritation
to eyes. Lavender is the go-to essential oil for promoting calmness and sleep
but not everyone likes the scent of lavender. My personal favorite is geranium,
as it resembles rose essential oil without the high cost.
Since car travel is up and many are travelling with
children, why not be prepared to calm both children and adults. A mixture of
lavender essential oil and Rescue Remedy (or both) in a spray bottle filled
with distilled water will quiet everyone in the car, as well as drown out the
odor of those smelly feet or sweaty bodies after that long hike.
Essential oils, homeopathics and essences are small, light
and easy to travel with, whatever your luggage choice or your destination.
However, you should package the oils separately from the homeopathics and
essences, as essential oils may decrease the effectiveness of the homeopathics.
In addition to band-aids and healing salves, you can carry
homeopathic Arnica as a gel or in pill form to help with those inevitable minor
to moderate sprains, strains or other injuries. Both Arnica and Rescue Remedy
will also help with insect bites, stings and even sunburn, and are easy to
carry in purse or pocket.
Remember that nutrition is an important part of your health.
Increasing consumption of ginger, mint or turmeric will improve your traveler’s
digestion. Your tummy will be happier with a decrease of sugar in your diet not
just when vacationing or relocating but also when settling in. Sugar decreases
the ability of your white blood cells (the defenders) within a half hour of
consumption and lasts for five hours! After just two hours your immune function
is reduced by 50 percent. Plus, and perhaps worst, is the fact that sugar
consumption makes people cranky and irritable and summer heat does that
already. While treats when travelling or under stress are inevitable,
increasing fiber and protein will keep everyone more balanced and happy.
Probably the most incapacitating traveler’s or mover’s
problem is diarrhea. Even with the admonition of using only bottled water for
brushing teeth or washing fruit, keep in mind that not all places on earth have
dishwashers or use boiling water for washing dishes. In some countries it is
not advisable to eat raw fruits and vegetable. Forgetting is easy.
I remember a time in China when we dipped grapes into
boiling water to peel them before eating. But think about guacamole in Mexico:
better to buy the avocadoes and make your own guacamole with processed salsa
and not with fresh tomatoes or onions to avoid the famous “turista.”
If intestinal imbalance does result in diarrhea or vomiting,
be prepared. It’s easier than trying to find a grocery store or a pharmacy when
in the woods, travelling in a foreign country, or relocating to a new area.
Carry some bottles of carbonated water to which you can add
activated charcoal or psyillium powder to absorb the toxins you may have
ingested. Powdered ginger, turmeric or mint tea bags can help too. Pineapple
juice and fresh papayas, if you are lucky enough to be in a country where these
are readily available, will ease digestive woes as well.
In a pinch (no pun intended) you could use cinnamon, cloves
(also good for toothache), oregano or thyme from any old spice rack to make
tea. If you have carried essential oils of mint, oregano or thyme, they may be
diluted with olive oil and applied topically to the tummy area. Test a small
area for possible irritation before applying, especially with children and
anyone with compromised skin issues. Best to avoid the sun under such
circumstances as some are more sensitive than others and may cause rash or
sunburn. Using essential oils internally, even in drop doses could lead to
irritation of mucous membranes of the mouth or intestinal system.
All of the above-mentioned remedies are easy to obtain from
Naturopaths (capsules of ginger, turmeric, homeopathics and salves). Many can
be found at local grocery or health stores (teas, pineapple juice), or off the
shelves of your own home or the home of those you are visiting (powdered
spices). Let’s face it, vacations and moving are few and far between, so let’s
not lose any time being uncomfortable. With a little pre-planning and becoming
prepared we can be happier whether stacaytioning, travelling through or
relocating to a new area.
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall.
Summer is here. For a landscape photographer this time of
the year means good weather, green forests, flowers, warmer nights and starry
night skies.
I enjoy heading out for a sunset and staying until the stars
come out, and in many cases, staying out until sunrise. Sunsets and sunrises
are always a wonderful time to get dramatic landscape photos, while landscape
photos with an amazing Milky Way in the sky above can be unique and dramatic.
Night photography is a form of photography that seems
mystical and magical. To many people night photography appears to be
complicated and left only for those with the most acute photography skill, when
in fact once you understand just the basics of the exposure triangle - shutter
speed, aperture and Iso - you will realize that all that’s being done to get
these dark night sky photos, in most cases, is to get as much light into your
camera as possible.
Set your camera on Manual, set up your tripod and let’s get
started.
As most photographers know when you use a long exposure you
will need a tripod. Your tripod will keep your camera still during the
exposure. You will want to ensure that no movement takes place at all during
the exposure.
Another device that helps with this is a shutter release.
The release will keep you from moving the camera when you press the button. If
you have no shutter release you can usually set your camera timer to take the
photo a few seconds after you click the shutter button.
Your exposure setting will need to be extended in most cases
up to 20 or sometimes 30 seconds, depending on how dark the sky is. Remember
that the darker the sky, the brighter the stars, and a night without a moon
will give the best starry sky. The only negative consequence will be less light
on your subject or foreground. Many times just a slight sliver of a moon will
allow a more defined foreground while still allowing the stars to shine.
Concerning shutter speed, the only consideration that you
must have is that the longer the shutter is open the more movement you will
detect in the scene. Even in the stars as at some longer focal lengths the
stars will streak slightly when you extend the exposure to 30 seconds. These
star streaks turn into star trails if allowed to streak long enough, sometimes
up to 30 minutes. This method will create amazing surreal images of streaks and
circles of light above your subject. To do this requires another method, not
explained here, to pull off.
The next thing that one must consider is how the aperture
will block or allow light to pass through the lens and into the camera. When
light is dim or it’s dark outside, you will want to allow as much light through
as possible and to do this you must use a wider more open aperture - a smaller
number. Without getting into the math involved just remember that when you open
your aperture you will be allowed a quicker shutter and a lower Iso. Both are
desirable, which I’ll explain later. A good quality lens will allow an f/2.8
aperture setting.
Next is your Iso setting, meaning the longer that you keep
your shutter open the more light will pass through the lens and into the
camera. We also know that an aperture that’s open wider allows more light in.
In digital photography we have no film but we do have electronic film in the
form of the image sensor. The image sensor’s sensitivity to light can be
adjusted. The higher the Iso number the more sensitive to light your camera
becomes. Iso 1000 will be more sensitive to light than Iso 100, for instance.
Therefore you will need to raise your Iso to get your starry night photos. It’s
easy to think that all one needs to do is raise their Iso, but there are
negative effects in the form of noise in the image. In film it’s called grain.
To get a cleaner image you want to keep your Iso as low as possible. Extending
your shutter speed and opening your Iso allows you to do this.
One thing to remember when setting up is that in the dark
it’s more difficult (even impossible) to use your light meter to determine your
settings. Therefore, one must take a couple test shots before they get the
exposure right.
Another important part, and in many cases the most difficult
part, of getting setup for the shot is focus. Unfortunately, on a zoom lens
when you set the focus to infinity the stars will not be in focus. And at night
it’s dark and difficult to focus manually. I recommend taking your camera out
in the daylight and setting the focus to an object far away and then marking
the lens. I have used tape where when I line up the edges of the tape it’s in
focus. There are other methods, but this is the simplest until you gain more
experience.
And so, once we understand this we can let more light into
the camera using these three settings and we can start taking photos in low
light. Tripod, long exposure, open aperture and a higher Iso. The next thing to
do is to go out and practice. Once you do this a few times your photos will get
better and your understanding of what settings to start with will become more
second nature.
|
| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: more steps for a better environment by Mary Soots on 07/02/2018
Last
month, the Mt. Hood Green Scene (MHGS) was the recipient of a scholarship to
attend the 40th annual conference of the Association of Oregon Recyclers. We
would like to express our appreciation to the Association for the great gift
bestowed on our community in allowing us to attend. The MHGS is a grassroots
group of involved members from our community who have come together to bring
opportunities to our unique corner of the world that allow us to protect our
home environment. We face unique challenges that large cities don’t face
because we have a very basic infrastructure. If there are items that are not
recyclable at curbside, we have no nearby facilities to drop them off.
The MHGS
was created as a non-profit organization to fill in those gaps for people who
want to learn about our environment through education and action. We have
worked to bring plastic bag recycling to the Mt. Hood Thriftway, collaborated
with Page’s Mt. Hood Auto and Tire to collect used tires, with the Welches
Mountain Building Supply to collect used paint and with the Hoodland Library to
collect used batteries. These efforts are by citizens who care about our
fragile environment; about keeping our lands and waterways safe for wildlife
and for humans. Our efforts can only succeed if our community gets involved in
bringing in their recyclable materials and if we work together.
Because of
the transitory nature of our community, we have a further challenge in working
with community members who may only live in our area temporarily. The best way
is to engage our community through businesses that will work to set a culture
within their organizations that create and promote ways to reduce the amount of
materials being used, re-use as much as possible, and recycle responsibly.
At the
conference, we also learned that there is a fourth step in the life-cycle of a
product: re-creation. This is when an item is re-purposed after its life as one
thing has ended. For example, a friend of mine had an old wooden kitchen table
that he no longer needed. He took the table apart and used the wood to build a
serving cart which he needed for his family room.
The
conference allowed us to share concerns about the lack of opportunities that we
are currently experiencing in recycling some materials such as plastic. When
China was buying recyclable plastic from the U.S., there was much being
included that could not be recycled. Items such as those clear plastic
clam-shell containers, and even used baby diapers were being thrown in with the
recyclables. That is part of the reason that China will no longer accept our
recycling. It is now up to Americans to understand that if we don’t find a way
to reduce the amount of plastic that we produce, we will drown in our own
garbage. Recyclers are in the process of creating an infrastructure to recycle
plastics, but that will take three to five years.
We also
learned of a second challenge, that of clothing. We are buying more clothing
than we need, and retailers change fashion styles quickly — especially for
women — to get us to buy more. We think if we donate our old clothing, we are
keeping those (often plastic fabrics) out of the landfill. In reality, 80
percentage of what is donated still ends up in the landfill. We can help by
buying less, buying used items at re-sell or consignment stores, and wearing
the items for a longer period of time.
The
conference allowed us an opportunity to exchange ideas with others who are
facing similar challenges, and to connect with those who are working to find
ways of re-cycle or re-create everything from old candle wax to make new
candles, mattresses into dog beds, old furniture into beautiful handbags and clothing,
glass into ornaments, record albums into earrings, old windows into artwork,
etc. The creativeness of individuals and groups represented was truly
astounding!
As a
community, we can come together to face the challenges that our lifestyles have
created. MHGS is currently working on some projects to bring education to our
local schools, on making some YouTube videos, on working with other non-profit
organizations and with Clackamas County. We are inspired, and we are looking
for individuals who are passionate about making our community a shining example
for other rural communities. If you are up for the challenge, reach out to us
through our Facebook page.
|
| Episode XXIII: Aint This The Pips by Max Malone, Private Eye on 07/02/2018
Max tried to do what he was told. Jemma, the inspirational
Jamaican nurse, insisted he get “lost out of here.” But when he rose from the
park bench, the excessive activity of escaping the hospital bed caught up with
him.
Max’s knees sagged from the pain that ripped through his
midsection like a midnight train to Georgia. (Prior to this moment, Max had
always liked Gladys Knight.)
Jemma grabbed hold under Max’s arm, slung it around her
slender neck, and peered up, inches from his face.
“What’d you have in mind?”
Max winced, then offered meekly: “Tryin’ to do what I’m
told.”
Jemma lifted Max’s spirits with a million-dollar smile.
“Well, guess we better get you some rehabilitation beforehand, huh?”
“Whiskey wouldn’t hurt.”
Jemma and Max limped along through the park, bouncing off a
hibiscus frond here, an unforgiving lamp post there, before piling onto two
torn seats on a city bus, and rattling along for what seemed an eternity to
Max, more like the last bus to nowhere than any late train going south.
* * *
It wasn’t as bad as one might think. Certainly, Jemma’s hut
wasn’t Trump Tower, but it was clean, and the blind Rasti dude next door could
sing like a hip Harry Belafonte. And, of course, there was absolutely nothing
wrong watching Jemma go to work and return as well. That she could cook, was
definitely a bonus. Unfortunately, in some ways, Max improved.
Max wandered in the nearby neighborhood, feeling oddly at
home in the shady side of Grand Cayman. He stumbled on an Internet café, which
also offered phone booths where a person could call anywhere, then pay up at
the counter afterward. Max started to dial when his Spidey sense tingled. He
looked through the nicotine-stained glass of the phone booth door and saw a
pair of legs, one crossed over the other, in the nearest chair to the booth.
He’d seen those stems before.
Max cradled the receiver, opened the booth door, and looked
straight into the unblinking, twenty fathom, British blue eyes of Dolly
Teagarden.
“So, Max. We meet again,” Dolly opened, as if ordering a
slab of salmon in a seafood market.
“How’d you know, uh …” Max began.
Dolly, interrupting, “Your newspaper guy, Nigel Best, but we
knew way before that.”
“Nigel’s back in the states.”
“We know, Max. And you’re here in Grand Cayman. Who were you
about to call?”
“None of your British business,” Max snapped.
“You’re forgetting, Max. The Caymans belong to us.”
“Well, when I get through with my business, believe me, doll
face, you can have ’em.”
Dolly delivers her well-practiced diplomatic smile, stands
up, leaving as much space between them as that of a praying mantis couple with
a hungry female member.
* * *
Max and Dolly sit at a table squashed against the wall of a
local dive, separated by two liberal glasses of Havana Club.
“First, let’s get the name right,” Dolly says in a
tendentious tone. “It’s Andy Campanaro, not Beau Kimatian.”
Max stares at Dolly, refusing to flinch, feigning
disinterest, shrugs. “A knotweed by any other name is still … and, how in
plu-perfect hell do you know him, by whatever name?”
“Well, Max, I promise you it would have nothing to do with
you if you hadn’t showed up where you weren’t supposed to be, kinda like
France,” Dolly says with a knee-buckling grin. “You remember France, right?”
“I’m not in the mood for remembering anything, especially
those days handcuffed to a radiator.”
Dolly forges ahead, figuring she owes Max some information,
and possibly, cover as well. She tells of Andy Campanaro’s dim-witted twin
brother, Randy, who is now deceased in Wildewood along with a bodyguard and a
cook. She drones on about Campanaro’s businesses of shipping companies, money
laundering, arms acquisitions and sales, drug trafficking, and any other
activity that leads to incalculable wealth.
Max polishes off his rum. “So, if you know all of this, why
don’t you arrest him, or as a diplomat is it that you don’t have the
authority?”
“I’m MI6, Max,” Dolly says, her blue eyes turning to ice.
This is getting interesting, Max thought.
After all, he is Max Malone, private eye.
|
| Memory is a Sticky Thing by on 07/02/2018
When my wife called to remind me about taking the dogs out
at noon, I instinctively retrieved a sticky note pad from the desk drawer and
scrawled “Dogs at noon” on the top page, then stuck it to the computer monitor
— next to a series of other yellow squares with things like “Call about
haircut,” “Clean out car,” and “Go to dry cleaners” written on them. They’re
all things I should be able to remember, and usually do; like when I’m staring
into the closet for a pair of pants to wear.
Later, I climbed into the truck and was gently reminded by a
shocking-yellow square of paper to “get gas.”
It was while sitting at the pump a short time later that the
notion of dependency hit me.
In the beginning, I was only an occasional user, jotting
down out-of-the-ordinary reminders. You know, things like a doctor’s
appointment, or that it was time to change the oil.
Then, “Change cat box” and “Take out trash” began appearing
on the bathroom mirror or stuck to the alarm clock — painfully obvious to-dos
that were reminders in and of themselves.
My life was becoming sort of a dot-to-dot — or in this
instance, pad-to-pad — existence, moving from one reminder to the next.
What was next?
“Breathe?”
“Swallow?”
“Don’t drink soda with ‘Alka-Seltzer’?”
(I must confess that I almost reached for a pad to remind
myself to check the spelling on “Alka-Seltzer.” Sad, but true.)
So, I decided that enough was enough. It was time to end the
dependency!
I reached into my shirt pocket, snatched my last
still-cellophaned package of sticky notes and tossed them out the window and
into the trash. This was my moment, something I would long remember without a
scrap of yellow paper conveniently laced with “stick-um.”
“Excuse me, sir,” the gas attendant said, interrupting my
moment of triumph. “You got another gas card? This one’s expired.”
Confused, I thumbed through my wallet as the attendant
handed me a yellow slip of paper. “By the way, this fell off the back of your
card.”
I took it from him and stared at my handwritten reminder.
“Call about gas card.”
After handing the attendant my cash, I reluctantly stepped
from the car and, with no small amount of humiliation, dug the package back out
of the trash and opened it — then wrote myself a reminder:
“Get more pads.”
|
| Bills due for 2019 session in September by on 07/02/2018
Hello Hoodland Community and other Mountain Times readers.
First and foremost, thank you for reading this article.
Please contact me at Rep.JeffHelfrich@OregonLegislature.gov, call 541-392-4546
or my Salem office at 503-986-1452, or message me through
www.facebook.com/RepJeffHelfrich/. To share your suggestions for legislation,
the only question you need to answer is: What do you believe (or know) would be
effective at addressing an issue the community, district and/or state is
facing?
In late May, the 2018 Special Session started and ended in
one day with just House Bill 4301 (HB4301) passing. HB4301 was designed to
address an inequity built in to a three-year-old law that excluded otherwise
qualifying sole proprietorships from reduced tax rates. To me, what was most
troubling about the Special Session and HB4301 was that it failed to repeal
SB1528 and address the adverse impact it has on the development and growth of
small businesses across our community, district, and Oregon. If SB1528 had been
repealed, then these small businesses would have had a much needed tax
deduction. This small business tax deduction would have translated into
increased investment in the development, growth and sustainability of small
businesses, our local communities, district and the greater Oregon economy.
Small businesses are the backbone of our communities, places
where we buy goods and get services every day. In support of small businesses
in our communities and across Oregon, I voted no on SB1528. I firmly believe
that we can’t keep taxing small businesses and expecting them to flourish, some
will move but others will simply close. We must work together to grow and
sustain our small businesses and our communities, and that means developing
legislation that shows small business developers, owners and supporters that
Oregon values small businesses. To develop legislation that is responsive to
this and other issues that are important to you, I need to hear from you.
As your State Representative for House District 52, I am
still serving on the House Economic Development and Trade, and Joint (House and
Senate) Ways and Means Public Safety Subcommittee. I have also joined the Fire
Caucus and Sportsmen’s Caucus among others. For the 2018 Session, I was focused
on developing and supporting legislation that improves education, economic
development, environmental stewardship and emergency preparedness including
public safety in our communities, district and state.
I want to work with you to develop legislation that is
responsive and effective at addressing issues you that are important to you. Once
developed with you, I will work with my colleagues in Salem, across the aisle
and the building, to get that legislation passed. This is the same approach
that I used to develop and pass HB4152/Eagle Creek Fire Recovery Bill and
HB4044, an education bill which is identifying best practices for recruitment,
retention, and mentoring our educators. Both HB4152 and HB4044 are laws and
that are currently being implemented.
For the 2018 Session, Representatives were limited to two
bills, but we are not limited for the 2019 Session. The 2019 Session bill
submission deadline is at the end of September, but we need to start working to
develop the bills now. That’s why again this month and every month through
September, I am asking for your bill ideas. To you, what are the community’s
greatest challenges and successes? What services and supports are needed for
older adults in the community? What are your public safety concerns? What are
some of the greatest challenges to maintaining and growing small businesses in
the Hoodland area?
To share what matters most to you, your responses to the
questions in this article, suggestions for legislation, or any questions you
might have about legislation, please contact me using the information above. I
look forward to seeing you in the community and hearing from you soon. Thank
you in advance.
(Jeff Helfrich is the representative for House District 52)
|
| Picnic Basket by Taeler Butel on 07/02/2018
There is a picnic equation I think you should know about.
One homemade item per ready-made purchase. For example, if you like
store-bought potato salad, you’ll want homemade cookies in your basket.
Here are a few recipes to get you started, happy summer
ya’ll!
Homemade BBQ sauce
1/2 yellow onion chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 15 oz can tomato purée
1 small can tomato paste
2 t salt & pepper
2 t dry mustard
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 t lemon pepper
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
Dash of hot sauce
Combine all ingredients in small saucepan and simmer on low
for 40 mins.
Turn off heat and allow to cool completely.
Peanut butter shortbread cookies
Shortbread holds up well in a picnic basket and is a
slice-and-bake cookie you can keep in your freezer – a double win!
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 t sea salt
1 stick softened butter
Mix butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer and add
in salt, sugar and flour on low.
Stir in the chocolate chips and roll into a log using
plastic wrap and freeze.
Slice and bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
|
| Choosing wisely in the age of chemicals and lab food by Victoria Larson on 07/02/2018
In honoring ourselves and the Earth we need to remember that
ALL of our food comes from the earth, either directly or indirectly. Not just
vegetables and fruits but also protein from meat, milk, eggs, honey and even
the nutrients from the sea. The Earth “giveth.”
That is unless you are eating industrial food, chemically
produced, manufactured in a lab, with preservatives, colorings and other
chemical ingredients. This would be the foodstuffs that comes in bags or boxes,
readily available in every “regular” grocery store, but not always the best
choice for nutrition.
The history of “lab-created, manufactured” food really
boomed in popularity after WW II when chemicals were being touted as the
“savior” of humankind! Americans’ taste was altered by the newly manufactured
foods, which contained high amounts of salt, sugar, spices and chemicals. This
was in order to extend the shelf life of foods for an increasingly mobile
society. These were the foods that kept well and as life in America sped up,
and continues to do so, most learned to like those salty, sugary, spicy,
chemical tastes. Just as people today “like” things on the internet, a totally
new introduction into global life.
With the increased speed of American life came also fast
food eateries, or rather the ubiquitous drive-through. Never before had we as a
nation been able to drive up to a window to procure food. And that’s a long way
from hunting and gathering. Fast changes in a relatively short amount of time.
To add to the changes, the media, and even doctors were trying hard to convince
us that this was the way to go. And that butter, eggs, honey and meat were bad
for us. But the faster food came into our mouths, the more simple carbs we
consumed. And as a nation we grew to be obese, and that trend continues today,
much to the detriment of our health.
In the 1960s and 70s there was a fashionable trend towards
vegetarianism, but with adequate protein, mostly in the form of beans. Beans
were popular because of their high protein content and low cost. Now veganism
is popular due to the decreased carbon footprint and concerns about global
hunger and global warming. Valid earthly concerns.
But packaged vegan foods tend to be high in salt and/or
sugar. The consumption of sugar has risen to an all-time high. And what can you
expect from mouths trained to want those increased tastes. The tastes of
industrial food. Yes, they do eat desserts in countries like France, Italy,
Spain and others, but you won’t find those countries serving desserts as sickly
sweet as those served in the United States. Though that is changing world wide
as well. Even bread in other countries is different from what we have in the
US, which is why those who are gluten sensitive can eat bread in foreign
countries without the kinds of reactions they get at home. Most of the bread
made in our country is made quickly without the benefit of slower or multiple
risings. This is done to increase profit margins. Oh gee, money is the goal
again! The faster method of producing bread may contribute to gluten
sensitivities. The jury is still out. We need more studies and more time to
figure this all out. In the meantime, if you feel better not eating gluten then
by all means don’t eat it if you can avoid it.
When it comes to organic versus conventional food there is
often no comparison in terms of flavor. But not always. There are also
industrial organic farms producing “fresh” organic, but anemic looking, produce
on farms comprising thousands of acres. Some stores have an organic section of
produce that in fact looks like it’s been sitting on the shelf for six weeks or
more. In that case you may choose the locally-grown sustainable produce as an
alternative. The choice is yours.
While vegan diets ensure a decreased carbon footprint, you
may be one who still chooses animal proteins. Industrially raised chicken is
sometimes labelled organic but in fact the chickens are raised in defunct Tyson
or other chicken housing, or from far-away countries, and given only an hour
per day in fresh air. That’s not the way to raise chickens, whether you are
consuming them or not, as this does not give a quality organic product. Use
discretion as there is a great deal of non-compliance in the organic and
sustainable practices.
Many Americans are cash-rich and time-poor, hence the desire
for fast food places and pre-prepared foods. Yet many are cash-poor and still
also time-poor. Remember that cooking some beans in a crock-pot doesn’t take
much work or time on your part. And farm markets are just plain fun.
Many who are without monetary constraints still shop by
price, while owning expensive vehicles and going on extravagant vacations and
eating out more than two times a week. Those are the priorities of most
Americans. Perhaps food itself, and its preparation, needs to be more of a
priority if we want to live healthy and long lives. We get enough chemicals in
our lives from so many sources we have little or no control over, such as air,
water and some food. Let’s make our food a higher priority and refuse to buy so
much industrial food. Choose wisely, cook a little more, eat slowly and calmly
and buy the best you can afford. That’s the secret to living well.
|
|  Leslie Gulch.
Oregon is truly an amazing place. In terms of variety of the
landscapes available within an easy day’s drive, who really needs to travel
outside of the state to find what they want to experience?
From my perspective, that of a landscape photographer, I
speak primarily in regard to the natural world. Oregon has views of the ocean,
rolling hills and valleys, forests, mountains, glaciers, sagebrush desert, mud
playa desert, you name it. I tell people that in Oregon there’s a view of a
canyon that’s deeper than the Grand Canyon – Hells Canyon on the Snake River.
Considering the variety of terrain that we have to choose
from here, I seem to gravitate to Eastern Oregon. Perhaps it’s because I live
in trees and relish a clear view of the sky and clouds, but I seem to breathe
more freely in the open spaces and expansive views that I find there.
My latest trip east included a stop at a place that I can
never get tired of exploring, Leslie Gulch.
Leslie Gulch is on Bureau of Land Management land located
about an hour from the little town of Jordan Valley near the Oregon and Idaho
border. Named for a poor fellow named Hiram E. Leslie who was struck by
lightning there in 1882, it’s a part of a larger area that include the many
canyons that make up the Owyhee River drainage. It’s a canyon with towering
rock spires and formations made of ancient volcanic tuff, a rock very similar
to what’s found at the popular Smith Rock State Park, but times ten as there
are huge formations surrounding you all the way through the canyon and up side
canyons.
The canyon has a 15-mile dirt road that takes you down into
and through to the end where it meets the Owyhee Reservoir, where there can be
found the 8-unit Slocum Creek - Leslie Gulch Campground (Open from March -
November) and a boat ramp. Many people come here to fish.
A bit of caution must be expressed here. The road can be
treacherous in rain, and the area can be prone to flash floods so be warned.
When adventuring in remote areas always be prepared and make sure that your
vehicle is up to traveling for miles on dirt. Please don’t go unprepared.
Once you’re in the canyon you’re surrounded by castle like
pillars of rock formed by ancient volcanic ash, sheer cliffs and honeycomb type
rock formations. The rock features are jagged and more reminiscent of a place
in southern Utah or Arizona, but it’s all Oregon. In the springtime wildflowers
bloom, but as summer approaches the grasses turn yellow and the canyon can be
prone to grass fires. Although elusive, there is an abundant amount of wildlife
there including bighorn sheep, which were established there in 1965 and number
close to 200 animals.
As you sit at camp you’re serenaded by birds including
chukars, which are a type of partridge, and coyotes in the evening, while
consumed by the aroma of sage and juniper. Oh - and there’s no cell phone
service there so you have no choice but to relax and take it all in.
While in the area take note of some other places nearby that
are also worth visiting. There are many other places to get a view of the
Owyhee River as well as camping places. Succor Creek is another spot that I’d
recommend. Consider also visiting Silver City, Idaho, a remote “ghost town” at
the end of a rough dirt road that still has a few hearty residents holding on
there and a city ordinance that prohibits modern improvements. Take a day and
explore the old town and its old buildings including the Idaho Hotel.
The little town of Rome, the Pillars of Rome and views of
the Owyhee River as well as the Alvord Desert, a mud lake much like Death
Valley in California, are nearby. The Steens Mountains, considered the Alps of
Oregon, tower up from the Alvord Desert and also the Malheur National Wildlife
Refuge north of the Steens is an amazing place to sit and birdwatch.
Prior to my time in Eastern Oregon I must admit that from
all that I had heard I felt like there was nothing there but sagebrush and
coyotes, but once I decided to go it was immediately obvious to me that I had
found the solitude that I love and an expanse of land to explore and discover.
It may not be for those who want luxury in their free time
as there aren’t many motels but for those who want to get away from the
luxurious, forget a shower for a few days and spend time in the natural world,
I would recommend Leslie Gulch.
|
| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: plastic microfibers in our clothing by Mary Soots on 06/02/2018
When we think of plastic, we don’t think of clothing.
However, since the invention of polyester (‘fess up – did you have a leisure
suit in the ‘70’s?), increasingly our clothing is made of acrylic, nylon and
polyester. We’ve come a long way since the early days of plastic fabrics. They
now include everything from those fleece jackets we love, pants, blouses,
dresses, socks, underwear and workout clothing. Did you know? Every time you
wash these synthetic fabrics, millions of microfibers are released into the
water. Yes, plastic. But because they are too small to be filtered out by
treatment plants, they end up in our waterways and in the ocean. One research
showed that microfibers are responsible for 85 percent of shoreline pollution
across the globe. Because they don’t degrade, those microfibers remain in our
water systems forever.
Another source of contaminant is our waterproof outerwear.
We live in a rainforest and we all appreciate the need to have waterproof
jackets. However, the waterproofing process often means coating nylon fibers
with perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), which are persistent and potentially
toxic pollutants. With use and washing, lab and field studies have shown that
some PFCs can accumulate in the tissues of fish and other wildlife as they
consume contaminated food and water - building up a dose that can become
harmful to us.
How can we stop this pollution? As this problem is becoming
more evident, consumers are demanding and manufacturers are seeking
alternatives to plastic coatings in the way of bio-synthetics, plant-based
alternatives that are equally effective in repelling water. We consumers demand
large amounts of clothing.
The website plasticpollutioncoalition.org offers some
suggestions on how to reduce the amount of microfibers we produce:
Wash synthetic clothes less frequently and for a shorter duration. Fill up your washing machine. Washing a full load results in less friction between the clothes and fewer fibers released. Consider switching to a liquid laundry soap. Laundry powder “scrubs” and loosens more microfibers. Use a colder wash setting. Higher temperatures can damage clothes and release more fibers. Dry spin clothes at low revolutions. Higher revolutions increase the friction between the clothes. When you clean out your dryer, place lint in the trash instead of washing it down the drain. Consider purchasing a Guppy Friend wash bag. In tests, the bag captured 99 percent of fibers released in the washing process. The Guppy Friend wash bag traps fiber inside the bag which can then be removed by hand and placed in the trash. I got mine online through the Patagonia store. Purchase a washing machine lint filter. These filters require more of an investment, but they will benefit your septic system and the environment. Speak up and tell clothing designers to choose natural fabrics that aren’t prone to shedding. Tell your friends and family about microfiber pollution. Higher quality clothing lasts longer. Avoid purchasing cheaply-made, “fast fashion” clothes, whenever possible. Buy clothes made from natural fibers such as linen, silk, and wool. Cotton fiber has an even larger carbon footprint based on the large amount of water needed to produce it. But still, natural fibers will eventually break down in the environment. Plastic fibers will never go away.
Most importantly, as Prof. Richard Blackburn, head of the
sustainable materials research group at the University of Leeds cautions, “We
are unsustainably addicted to consumption. I cannot emphasize enough how much
of a step-change it would be for sustainability if we bought fewer items of
clothing per year, wore them for longer and threw them away less often.”
(http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40498292)
|
| Episode XXII: ‘Double Double Toil and Trouble’ by Max Malone, Private Eye on 06/02/2018
Inspired by the suspicious hospital food and starched
atmosphere, Max was getting back on his feet – literally – as he made it to the
bathroom on his own after the recent lime jello dessert course.
Further, generous though the two sons of Janetta were in
keeping a watch on his door, they were slowly losing interest, except for the
moment when a certain Jamaican nurse named Jemma strolled by – and who could
blame them on either count. Certainly not Max.
But the immobile days at the hospital came with a reward:
Max had a lot of time to think.
He also had daily visits from Nigel Best, which came with
mixed results. Nigel meant well, certainly. And he was smart – especially for a
journalist. But he also carried the glandular weight of the overly active
conspiracy theorist – something that doubtlessly fed into his gnawing need for
a juicy story.
Max’s thoughts drifted more toward simple explanations. It
was always his practice to not complicate a matter. Solutions tended to rise to
the surface like champagne bubbles. And lately, Max had been splashing around
in a mental magnum of Dom Perignon.
To wit: Was it more probable that Beau Kimatian died in the
Stardust Lodge explosion, or was that someone else, and Beau was now cavorting
in the Caymans? Well, U.S. Attorney Ida Cavendish believed Beau had been
spotted in the Caymans. And who could think otherwise. Certainly not Max who
had a 38-caliber slug dug out of his precious interior after it was deposited
there moments after his arrival in the Caymans. The only logical next step,
after getting out of the hospital, was to find Beau. This might not be all that
easy, but after all, Beau had certainly found Max.
Or, the guy in the Caymans was only masquerading as Beau,
and the real codger was a charred corpse back in Wildewood.
But all of that got too head-scratching for Max. There had
to be a simpler explanation. Suddenly, the bubbles rose to the surface.
* * *
Nigel came in the night with Max’s getaway wardrobe. Moments
later, with Nigel forming a lump in Max’s hospital bed, Max slipped into the
hall, past Janetta’s son’s dozing form, to be met by a most curious Jemma at
the top of the stairwell. She looked Max up and down, flashed a most delightful
evil eye, as Max tried to look natural in his Panama hat, island shirt, chinos
and squeaky huaraches.
For Max, it wasn’t a good look.
“Hi there,” Max offered, and tipped his dolorous Panama.
“What’s your name?”
“Ah’m Nurse Jemma Gayle, Mr. Malone. And you look like
you’ve gone off and gone tourist for your escape.”
“Heh, well …” Max stumbled along, clearing his throat, oddly
at a loss for words.
“Well, ah don’t think anything is very ‘well,’ Mr. Malone,”
Jemma responded, planting both fists on her hips. “Do you know what could be
waitin’ for you out there? Hmmmmm?”
“Out … there” Max said, pointing toward an imaginary
outside.
Jenna nodded over an arched, reproving eyebrow.
“Nurse Gayle. Remind me please,” Max said, regaining a
fraction of his charm.
“Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm,” she reprimanded, shaking her head side
to side, but simultaneously releasing an all-conquering smile. “You best follow
me Mr. Malone.”
And Max did exactly that – right out the front door of the
hospital and across the wide street to a small park where Jemma parked the two
of them on the only bench. It was so dark that Jemma’s face seemed to disappear
in the moonless gloom.
“You need more help than that high school boy back in your
bed,” she scolded.
“He’s, uh, about forty, actually.”
“Right,” she smirked. “And I’m Penelope Cruz.”
Max had to get past the sinful similarity.
“Miz Gayle,” Max uttered, gathering his private eye
attitude.
“Jemma.”
“OK. Jemma. Are Janetta’s sons twins?”
“Yes,” she answered quickly, as in ‘isn’t it obvious?’ “But
that’s not why we’re sitting here in the park.” Jemma’s rhythmic Jamaican drawl
begged for a percussion base rift. “You need to get lost out of here.”
But Max was anything but “getting lost.” He slapped his
knee. It was the only explanation. And the simplest, after all …
|
| Graduates, chances are your old bedroom is already a hot tub by on 06/02/2018
For parents, graduation is a bittersweet time filled with
angst and second-guesses. Particularly if it appears their graduate won’t be
out of the house before the contractor is scheduled to begin turning that extra
bedroom into a new hot tub by July 4th.
Don’t get me wrong. Parents will always have a place for
their children at home. It’s just that, after the remodel, that place may have
to be in one of the utility closets.
To help with this important transition, a lot of parents put
together a “survival” package containing things like pots and pans, utensils,
toiletries, dishes, tools — things from home that 1) you, as graduates, will
find familiar and comforting in your new life, and 2) they’ve been waiting to
unload on you for years so they can buy all new stuff. To protect yourself,
take careful inventory of this “survival” package before you accept it. Any
small appliance — such as a toaster, blender or hot plate — that was made
before standard outlets were introduced should be refused. The same goes for
any “family heirlooms” that you’ve never seen before, but that your parents
insist you loved as a child. In many cases, these items were never in your home
to begin with and are actually the result of an exchange program established by
other parents of graduating seniors who are also trying to get rid of stuff
they don’t want.
The reason for this is simple: All parents know that
whatever you leave behind after graduation will likely remain in the attic or
garage until the reading of their wills. Because of this, they will stop at
nothing to make sure you are accompanied on your journey by that 70-pound
ceramic pterodactyl you made in fifth grade, as well as any other belongings
that won’t readily ignite should the garage be consumed in a “freak” inferno.
But let’s assume you manage to escape from home in anything
smaller than a 27-foot moving van. Your next step as a graduate will be to
settle into your new surroundings. This generally includes adjusting to having
a roommate your first year in college. It will probably be someone you’ve never
met before, but whom you can rest assured has been carefully screened and,
based on compatibility, specifically chosen as the perfect roommate. You will
never actually meet this person, of course, and will instead share a room with
someone you once saw in a David Lynch movie. But that’s all part of the college
experience, which is aimed at preparing you for life.
(Or a life sentence, depending on how the whole roommate
thing goes.)
Once you’re settled, it’s time to focus in on what you came
to college for: an education.
Ha Ha! Just kidding! Let’s just be honest and admit that you
chose a college based on which website had the best-looking students playing
volleyball in the fall leaves. Every college website has one of these photos,
along with pictures of young, chiseled teachers lecturing before
300-seat-capacity halls filled with super models.
Warning: This is not real life! You will not find a lecture
hall filled with 300 super models. In fact, your first semester, you’ll be
lucky if you find the lecture hall at all.
And even when you do find it, chances are you’ll be sitting
next to your roommate.
That said, I wish all of this year’s graduates the best of
luck as they embark into the world with stars in their eyes and dreams in their
hearts — and, if they weren’t quick enough, a 70-pound ceramic pterodactyl.
(Ned is a syndicated columnist with News Media Corporation.
Write to him at nedhickson@icloud.com, or c/o Siuslaw News, 148 Maple St.,
Florence, Ore. 97439)
|
| Food on trend by Taeler Butel on 06/02/2018
Food can trend like fashion. Just imagine the mid-century
gelatin years! Thankfully we’ve left that trend in the past, and we’re leaning
toward more fruits and vegetables and less fried foods and carbohydrates. No, I
haven’t started putting butter in my coffee just yet. These recipes take a
little dip onto the healthier trends pool. They’re hip, and delicious and not
too fussy.
Cabbage roll casserole
1 lb grass fed beef
1T olive oil
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 cup quinoa - prepared
Mix together 1t each salt and pepper, Italian seasoning and
granulated garlic
1/2 head cabbage - sliced
1/2 yellow onion - diced
2 stalks celery - diced
1T Worcester sauce
1 cup chicken broth
Heat oven to 325. In a large skillet brown beef with
seasoning and oil, add in onion and celery. Continue to cook 5 minutes,
breaking up meat with a wooden spoon. Add in Worcester, tomatoes and broth.
Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly, layer into a
large baking dish of cabbage then quinoa and then the sauce, and repeat ending
with sauce. Bake about an hour until the cabbage is tender.
Philly cheesesteak stuffed Portobellos
1/2 lb thin sliced sirloin steaks
Mix together 1t each of salt and pepper, Italian seasoning,
granulated garlic, kosher salt and cracked black pepper
3/4 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced green or red bell pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup shredded mild provolone cheese
4 medium Portobello mushrooms
Heat oven to 350. Cut stem and scoop out scales from
mushrooms, drizzle 1T oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 365 for 20
minutes while you prepare the steak, onions and peppers. Set a grill pan over
med/high heat, drizzle with olive oil and 1/2 of the seasoning and grill about
2 minutes on each side. Set the meat aside and slice into thin strips when
cooled.
Toss veggies with remaining oil and seasoning, and grill on
the same pan 4 to 5 minutes until tender. Mix the shredded cheese, cream cheese
and sour cream. Layer mushroom caps with steak, then veggies, then the cheese
mixture. Set oven to broil and broil until bubbly.
Protein berry smoothie bowls
This is a smoothie with a spoon! Great as a snack, breakfast
or dessert. Refreshing and the flavors varieties are endless.
2 scoops of your favorite protein powder (substitute 1/2 cup
Greek yogurt)
1 cup almond or other milk
1 frozen banana, chopped
1 cup frozen berries of your choice
Fruit and nuts of choice as toppers (I used berries,
tropical frozen fruit mix and shredded coconut)
Blend together first 4 ingredients until smooth, then top
with fruits and nuts of your choice.
|
| Shopping smarter – comparing stores for the best deal by Victoria Larson on 06/02/2018
Instead of farm-to-table, I want to talk about getting food
to your table. Despite the fact that many people eat in their cars or at their
desks or in restaurants, numerous studies show that gathering together at the
table leads to better family relationships, better digestion and ultimately
better health. Making this a goal is sadly somewhat lost in our frazzle-dazzle
society where the goal appears to be dollars and not one’s health.
But you can’t eat dollars and you need to eat to stay alive.
All that you ever need is given to you via the eco-system. Photosynthesis leads
to plant foods, dairy products, honey and high protein foods. What we hope is
an infinite sun that will provide for us. Foods created in labs are not the
best choice.
There are many ways of getting healthy food onto your table.
Choices come down to growing it or buying it at a grocery store. Other choices
will be addressed in another column. We’re all concerned about the cost, or
should be, so I decided to run a little experiment. I chose four different
stores to compare prices. I chose a “regular” grocery store, a “healthy” store,
a “bargain” store and a “big box” store that’s employee owned.
I chose to compare not only prices but the “shopping
experience.” I chose items that I regularly buy, though in some cases not
often. The items I chose were vinegar, sesame oil, Amy’s frozen meals, coconut
oil and fresh carrots. These are not especially expensive items, but they
seemed to be sort of across-the-board items in most stores, no matter what kind
(excluding the stop-and-go markets which rarely carry anything I find edible).
I didn’t go running from store to store but did choose four
stores within five to fifteen minutes of where I live. At the closest “regular”
grocery store where I’ve been going for thirty years, I have a few favorite
check-out people, Lynette and Craig. But that store also has some check-out
people I specifically avoid. Who wants to hear a check-out clerk say, “I’d
never eat that!” I wondered if she was making fun of my purchase or trying to
talk me out of that purchase.
The “healthy” grocery store also has two of my favorite
check-out people, Diane and Jerry. They are truly the friendliest store and
once a check-out person reached into her own pocket to dig out the thirty-nine
cents that I was short so I wouldn’t need to write a check. I don’t use credit
cards. This was quite a bit above the call of duty but very much appreciated.
However, I removed one of my items so I could pay properly with cash.
The “bargain” store has check-out people who must be told to
increase the number of people served as they all talked fast, moved fast and
therefore put no effort into getting to know their clientele.
The nearby “big box” store is employee-owned and the workers
appear to be happy working there. Their 24-hour venue means you don’t often
deal with repeat check-out clerks especially if you shop at 5 a.m. and only a
few times a month. There were trade-offs in all of the grocery store choices.
But here’s the clincher - the “healthy” store has a
reputation for being the most expensive, but they also have a sit-down eating
area, hot pizzas and soups, cold salads and many other choices if you’re hungry
NOW or meeting friends. Only one other store even offered an area for sitting
and having coffee! At the “regular” store I often find errors on my receipt and
while they’re nice about rectifying it, it’s still disturbing as the errors are
rarely the check-out person but appear to be computer generated. I always check
my receipts at this store! The “big box” store is slightly cheaper, but it
still is a big box and you still have to shop carefully! The “bargain” store
had prices that were exactly the same as the so-called most-expensive store and
in some cases the same price to the exact penny!
The bottom line is that all these stores had almost the same
prices and some of them didn’t even have some of the five items I was looking
for. The “big box” store had the cheapest vinegar since I only use Bragg’s
vinegar. It is sometimes not even available at the “bargain” store. The
“regular” store and the “healthy” store were very close in price. But the ‘big
box” store did not even have any carrots with their tops on and I personally
would never buy a bunch of carrots without the tops. At the “healthy” store
they will remove the tops for you and my favorite clerks will pull them out as
they know I have chickens who love those carrot tops. I will occasionally buy a
frozen Amy’s meal when I’m dead tired or in a real hurry and the “big box”
store did not have that brand which is the only brand I most often buy as it
has the best flavor. Sesame oil really ranged in price from a dollar cheaper in
the “big box” store to a dollar and a half cheaper than the “healthy store.”
But to be fair, it’s not an item I buy often though I do buy it regularly. The
range of price on the coconut oil was the biggest, and I do buy that fairly
often as I use it in cooking and on my skin. The healthy store had the most
expensive (I was comparing prices of the organic brands) but my favorite brand
is worth it to me as they used the entire coconut and not just a portion.
To be fair, I don’t shop the way most people do. Most people
go into a store without any meal plans, so they buy what they have a hankering
for whether it’s on sale or not. I do not buy many items that are not on sale.
I’ve learned to substitute asparagus for peas when called for in a recipe. And
I can live without dairy products or wheat products for at least a week. And I
only eat ice cream perhaps once a year. It has taken years to learn to shop
this way, but it makes a huge difference in your food budget! So go with a
list, only buy it if the item is on sale and buy what’s in season. Purchase
less-often needed items when they are on sale and don’t wait until you are
completely out.
If 10 percent of your food cost goes towards advertising,
refrigeration, and transportation and you are discarding 40 percent of what you
buy, maybe it’s time to consider a CSA (community supported agriculture), a
farmer’s market or growing your own food.
More about the alternatives to getting food on you table in
a future column.
In the meantime, whenever you shop and wherever you shop, do
so wisely.
|
| Spreading the word by on 05/07/2018
Spreading the word about the benefits of the HPV vaccine Recently
the American Academy of Pediatrics has made a push for kids to be vaccinated against
HPV, a virus that
has found to be linked to numerous cancers. You may have heard of this new
vaccine in the news as many health care professionals are starting to recommend
it, but it has not become as prominent as other vaccinations that have been around
for a while.
Research
has found that HPV infections are linked pretty strongly to head and neck
cancers which is why dentists are concerned about this in particular. Dentists are
active in the screening and treatment of oral cancer and anything that will
reduce diseases is a good thing. In the U.S. overall cancer rates have been
coming down, but the rates for HPV-related oral and throat cancers are rising.
Vaccination
can help reduce the risk of these types of cancers and the FDA has recommended
it for both boys and girls ages 11 to 12 years old. This is around the time that
they might be receiving vaccinations for meningitis and tetanus as well. It is
usually given in a series of three vaccines. Unfortunately, in 2016 only 60 percent
of adolescents were vaccinated against
HPV and only 43 percent were up to date on the recommended three vaccine
schedule.
Vaccinations
can be controversial for some people and ultimately if the patient is a child,
the parents will be making the
decision on whether or not they feel it is a good idea. A spokesperson for the
oral health section of the American Academy
of Pediatrics, Eileen Crespo MD recommends making a decision based on good factual
sources. One online source is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of
course, your family doctor or health care provider is another excellent source
of information on the subject.
Dr.
Crespo said, “We have a great opportunity to prevent cancer in this next
generation, at least for the types of cancers caused by HPV, I’m hoping that we
can galvanize the village that is required so that we can create a healthier
adolescent population, and as they grow up, they will have the protection
against HPV that we know can help improve their quality of life.
The
Whole Tooth, by Robert Kelly, DMD, General Dentist (McKenzie Dental, Welches) |
| Communication is the Key by on 05/07/2018
Hello
Hoodland Community and other Mountain Times Readers,
I
want to start by thanking community members for contacting my office to share
their concerns, suggestions for solutions, and being sure I was aware of and
could attend Commissioner Humberston’s Town Hall in early April. I want to
reiterate a theme from these and other contacts I have had in the Hoodland
Community, and throughout our diverse district: open, ongoing, honest and
two-way communication is critical to ensuring the needs of our community are
heard and addressed, and that our positive and productive relationships are
both built and maintained.
Good
communication is the cornerstone of any positive and productive relationship;
this is not new or news, but it is worth mentioning and being encouraged. As such,
I want to emphasize the importance of
us communicating. I need your voice and collaboration to continue building a
better community, district
and state. I invite you to contact me and share your experiences, challenges,
concerns and suggestions for legislation. Please email me at rep.jeffhelfrich@oregonlegislature.gov,
call my Salem office at 503-986-1452 or visit my Facebook page and contact me
through messenger at www.facebook.com/RepJeffHelfrich/.
Over
the last month, through the Town Hall and other conversations with community
members, I have learned more about the needs of this community — some require
legislative action and community involvement to both further outline the
concern and assist in getting the legislation passed, other issues are specific
to the Hoodland Community and could potentially benefit from legislative
advocacy to support local
efforts and provide effective, active support to move a process forward or
facilitate a conversation with
other county and state agencies.
Of
great concern was the need for: early, ongoing and increased communication
between elected officials
and the community; earlier and proper notification of local forestry efforts;
addressing feelings of community isolation and insulation; more services and supports
for veterans and older adults; increased litter control; penalties and reducing
the Hoodland area speed limit for both improving safety and local business access;
infrastructure repairs including roadways/potholes; support addressing the
growing number
of illegal campers and services for homeless community members; and increased
public safety
and law enforcement patrols.
I
will continue working with local community members and leaders, business owners
and county officials to identify the issues of greatest concern and in ways I
would be most effective. I look forward to additional conversations, developing
plans and tackling the aforementioned issues. I invite you, as community members
of the Hoodland area and House District 52, to please contact my office, share
your concerns and solutions.
As
your State Legislator, I am interested in your ideas for legislation and
opinion on pending legislation, but am also willing and very interested in
helping the community find and implement effective, lasting solutions because
success in the Hoodland area means a better community, district and Oregon.
Contact
me. I want to work with you and for you!
Thank
you for your commitment to the community. I look forward to hearing from you
soon.
(Jeff Helfrich is the representative for House
District 52) |
| The bigger your lips, the sexier ..... by on 05/07/2018
The bigger your lips, the sexier you'll be when it comes to dating a sucker fish Nothing
says “sexy” faster than someone with a pair of giant lips, even if that person’s
collagen injections have
made their lips so enormously seductive that they can’t actually pronounce the
word “sexy,” and must instead
settle for calling themselves “shek-shee.”
The
point is, big lips are no longer just a cosmetic enhancement for people less
fortunate than Mick Jagger and Angelina Jolie, whose lips are so large and incredibly
sexy that they are prohibited by international law from bearing children together
because, quote: “Said children could potentially upset the delicate balance between
populations of humans and sucker fish.”
Though
we all know that true beauty stems from inside, as any cosmetics surgeon will
tell you, no one will notice unless your lips are the size of tractor tires.
Which
is why a product called “City Lips” is being heralded as the newest, easiest
and safest way to give you the lips you always wanted, but never dreamed you
could have. At least not without surgically implanting tire stems in them and inflating
your lips to 350 psi.
Until
now, those of us unable to afford expensive collagen injections were forced to
live with the embarrassment of having normal, everyday lips. But thanks to City
Lips, you can avoid the hassle and expense of collagen injections by using their
patented do-it-yourself lip enlargement process.
That’s
right! Say goodbye to snobby surgeons telling you how much better you’d look
with Julia Roberts lips when
their own lips look like Phyllis Diller’s. With each purchase of City Lips you’ll
receive one bottle of specially
formulated “lip transformer” solution and a patented dual-action applicator. This
applicator is a
crucial part of City Lips’ groundbreaking, two-step process — which starts by applying
the “lip transformer” with
one side of the patented applicator and then, after turning the applicator over,
whacking your lips with it as many times as possible for 10 minutes.
Okay,
I made that last part up. But according to City Lips, their new product has been
named “Best Over-the-Counter
Lip Plumper” by Good Housekeeping. I’d also like to point out that after three
large margaritas, trying
to say “Best Over-the-Counter Lip Plumper” will at least make you feel like
your lips are really huge.
I
bring this up because I’m concerned about the mixed message this sends to young
women. On one hand, they’re seeing supermodels getting thinner and thinner. On
the other hand, they’re seeing those same models trip over their own lips on
the runway, with nothing to break their fall except for other stumbling models,
who then land in a flailing heap of inflated lips and silicone.
No
more. It’s time to quit pouting, pucker up and accept each other’s lips just the
way they are. Unless pouting
makes your lips look fuller, of course.
(Ned is a syndicated columnist with
News Media Corporation. Write to him at nedhickson@icloud.com, or c/o Siuslaw News, 148 Maple
St., Florence, Ore. 97439) |
| Good Eats - finding the best diet that will work for you by Victoria Larson on 05/07/2018
We
are all living creatures composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen,
phosphorus and sulfur with a few more elemental
substances thrown in for good measure.
A
balanced diet will keep you healthier longer than the diet of industrial,
packaged, junk food that so many are trying
to live on. Where do you start to find out what’s right?
What
is balanced for one person may not work for another person. From the Paleo carnivores
to lacto-ovo vegetarians or vegans, there is a mighty range of foods. Luckily
for all of us, there is something for everyone. But
are you making the right choices for yourself at this stage of your life?
In
my lifetime I’ve been an omnivore (as my parents raised me) to a lacto-ovo
vegetarian (my choice when first an
adult) to a vegan (during deep detox), so I’ve experienced them all. Then there
was the high-protein diet we were required
to experience in med school. From the pork rinds of the high protein Atkins
diet to thegluten free vegan diet, how can you best judge what’s right for you?
First
assess your well-being. Look in the mirror- Do you look healthy? Do you sleep
well and have lots of energy while awake? Are you pretty much on an even keel,
or do you fly off the handle easily? Or scream at the kids or the kid next
door? Are your muscles taut and bones strong? Is your hair shiny and your skin smooth?
Do you get sick often? succumb to hay fever? colds? headaches? Problems in any
of these areas indicate a need to reevaluate your
food choices! Oh, the confusion, especially if you look only on the Internet and
never investigate further.
There’s
the GALT/GAPS diet which addresses nutrition from the intestinal-psychological standpoint.
There are the vegetarian/vegan
diets which address the global and spiritual side of eating. And all the areas
of “healthy” eating
styles, which may or may not be right for you.
Where
do you start?
After
honestly assessing your nutritional health status, how do you figure out what’s
the best for you? We are as individual
as the stars in the universe. So, let’s start at the top. We have teeth in our
mouths for helping us decide what’s appropriate for our human bodies. In front
we have incisors for biting primarily vegetables and fruits. Next, we have the ‘canine
teeth’ for the ripping and tearing of flesh foods. And finally, the molars for the
grinding of grains. There’s the beginning of your answer if we leave out the
mental/emotional/spiritual aspects. We are built to be
omnivores. But there may be several other reasons for making the choices each of
us makes for ourselves. Nutritional
reasons, monetary reasons, convenience reasons, and they may all play into your
choices as well.
Vegetarians
and vegans usually become so for a mixture of nutritional and spiritual reasons,
and there’s no arguing
with that. The veg/veg diets also address the issues of global warming. Animal
products (dairy, eggs, meat, poultry) increase our carbon footprint on the
earth while the veg/veg diets (beans, fruits, nuts, vegetables) decrease our
carbon footprint.
Still,
advertising, refrigeration, transportation and where you shop can play into
these choices too. It turns out that the people who eat the most fresh foods are
also the ones who waste the most food. Across the board, we Americans waste 40 percent
of our food by simply throwing it out! While decreasing meat products can help
your health and
the health of the planet, it doesn’t mean you have to give them up entirely if
you so choose. Grass-fed dairy, eggs
and meat can help the fertility of our much-depleted soils. Organ meats have
higher food value than muscle meats or ground meats. Our ancestors on the
now-termed Paleo diet ate their flesh foods raw or barely cooked, gnawed on bones,
and had bone broth from grass-fed animals thereby doing less planetary harm. And
they thrived, as do the Inuit who eat a diet almost only of meat and animal
fats. There are even Buddhists in the disputed areas of China who exist almost
entirely on yak butter and tea. We must be careful to not judge for there are
many paths to nutrition.
While
researching for this column I found that many attitudes have changed over the
years, while many have remained
the same. When, after WW II, we were told to eat margarine, Americans jumped in
with both feet, or perhaps I should say with open mouths. We were told that
margarine and Crisco were the healthy way to go if we wanted to avoid heart
disease. Now heart disease is still on the rise. And diabetes has skyrocketed.
The Mediterranean food pyramid which came out of Greece at a time when heart
disease in Greece was 90 percent less that
the US rate, suggests we have meat only once a month. Maybe there’s something
in that, even for the three-times-a-day meat eaters. At the base of this food
pyramid was daily exercise. Other daily food intakes included fruits, nuts, pulses
(the old term for beans, lentils, and peas, now back in favor) and olive oil
(yes, daily). Also encouraged for daily consumption were water, cheese and
yogurt. Allowances for weekly intakes of eggs, poultry and
fish (which was part of the Greek religion) were also made. Meat one time a
month, wine occasionally, and meals eaten in a calm atmosphere with gratitude.
Hmm...where has all of that gone?
The
bottom line is there is no perfect diet. There is only what’s right for you at
this particular time in your life. While
it’s extremely important to stress a lot less about eating, there appear to be
certain guidelines our supermarkets are undermining.
Most
of us need to increase water, fruits and vegetables and decrease sugar. We
should eat more nuts and foods of the
sea (whether fish or seaweed) and decrease packaged, color-enhanced and foods
with preservatives. Cook at home more and eat out less. Enjoy slow food and
enjoy food slowly while decreasing fast food. Increase good fats (olive oil, avocado
oil, coconut oil) and decrease trans fats (found in fast food and packaged
foods). Doing even some of these things will result in a healthier you. And you
will feel better too. Victoria Larson, ND, Family Practice Physician/Schoolhouse Natural Health, Damascus
|
| Eat Cake! by Taeler Butel on 05/07/2018
Can
you even celebrate without cake? Confidence is key, cakes can smell fear! Just
prepare well, easy on mixing after the flour and don't open that oven door!
Bake one of these up for your favorite mom or to celebrate any day of the week.
Remember ... boxed mix is for wussies.
Here's
a couple of my family's favorite cakes.
Flourless
chocolate cake
For
the cake:
1
cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2
cup soft unsalted butter
3/4
cup white sugar
3
eggs
1/2
cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2t
espresso powder
For
the glaze:
1
cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2
cup heavy cream
Heat
oven to 375 degrees. Cut a circle out of parchment paper to fit the bottom of
the cake pan, and put inside the pan. Spray the inside of the cake pan with a
non-stick cooking spray. Put the butter and 1 cup of chocolate chips in a
small, heat-safe bowl over a pan with an inch of boiling water (make sure the
water doesn't touch the bowl). Continue heating and stirring until the butter
and chocolate are melted and combined. Put the chocolate and butter mixture in
a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and espresso. Add the eggs and whisk until
smooth. Add the cocoa powder and mix until well combined. Pour the batter into
the cake pan, bake for 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it
cool for 10 minutes. Run the knife around the edges of the cake to separate it
from the pan. Invert the cake onto a plate.
For
the glaze - Put the heavy cream and 1 cup of chocolate chips in a small pot.
Heat it over medium heat, and stir until the cream is hot and the chocolate
chips are melted. Glaze the cake.
Confetti
cake
Childhood
goes by like confetti in the wind and I hope you'll remember all of its
sweetness! This cake is so much fun, almond and vanilla extract give it depth
of flavor.
1
2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1
cup sugar
1/4t
baking soda
1t
baking powder
3/4
cup soft unsalted butter
3
egg whites
1
t almond extract
2t
vanilla extract
1/2
cup sour cream
1/2
cup milk
1/2
cup sprinkles
For
the buttercream:
2
sticks unsalted soft butter
3
cups confectioners' sugar
1
t milk
3
t vanilla extract
1
drop pink food coloring
1/3
cup sprinkles
Mix
the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl.
Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in the sprinkles
at the very end and mix as little as possible. Pour the batter into the
buttered and floured pans. Bake at 340 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, or
until the centers are springy to the touch.
Cool the layers while making the buttercream.
Whip
butter with electric mixer until fluffy while slowly adding sugar. Add the
vanilla and food coloring. Frost and sprinkle the cake. |
|  Photo by Gary Randall
I’m asked at times, typically by another artist, about my personal
artistic vision. At first, I had no idea at all what artistic vision was. And
if I didn’t know what it was, how would I know if I even had one? And, to be honest, at the time I was asked I’m not sure that I did possess an
artistic vision when it came to my photography. All my life I had considered
myself an artist, but I never thought that I had to have a reason to be, or a
purpose beyond my own happiness. Since the first time that I was asked I’ve had
this little thought of curiosity or wonder about it in the back of my mind.
To be an artist should I have an awareness of a vision, direction or
purpose for my art. A curiosity of whether I was to purposely develop one or if it was something that
would develop in time, because at the time I had hardly developed any kind of mastery of the
skill that it takes to use my artistic voice, not to be confused with artistic
vision, so was not especially happy with the level of my work in the present,
but I enjoyed doing it.
Inside those of us who are creative is a want for our work to
touch others in some way. Most artists create their art to be judged beautiful
or even offensive, at times, by those that experience it. We create our work to
express ourselves in a way that conversation never could. Perhaps we don’t have
those words, or perhaps we’re too timid to vocalize them. We must use our
artistic voice to express our artistic vision, to express ourselves.
Our artistic vision is the reason and the purpose that we create.
It’s what makes us fulfilled so we naturally want to share with others. We all
have our own conscious reason for creating our art, but ultimately our artistic
vision is comprised of every aspect of who we are and what we believe in, not
just conscious decisions applied during the creative process or the application
of the skill that we possess. It’s the part that comes naturally when it's
allowed.
Our
artistic vision affects and drives our work. It creates an individuality in our
work that will allow it to stand out from other work similar. It starts to
express itself in the style of your art. Once you recognize that style you can
refine it and make it all your own. You can also start to use it to envision a
new future
for
the growth of your work. A plan for future experiments or projects to push the
bounds of your skill and creativity.
It
took me a while to understand this. It’s just a simple process of creating more
art. The more that we create the more the process becomes second nature, and
the more we’re able to let our artistic vision take control of more of our
natural thought processes. The best example of this that I can think of is how
a master musician is able to operate their instrument to a point that playing
the music becomes second nature,
hardly a thought is made while they perform their song. In my case being able
to go out into the field and create a photo without wondering what button to
push or dial to twist allows me to perform my song, figuratively speaking. It
simply takes doing what we love to do a lot to get there.
I
have been doing what I do now for about 15 years and I’m just now realizing
that I can now start to consciously consider my own personal artistic vision for
my work, but the best part about it all is that while I was working at
overcoming technical obstacles and obtaining new skills, I was also developing
that artistic
voice that drove me to pick up a camera to express my artistic vision in the first
place.
As
I practiced, without realizing it, I was actually starting to understand my
artistic vision, because when I started, all I knew was that photography made
me happy and I wanted to share my happiness with others.
Perhaps
that’s the best way to voice my artistic vision. I want to develop the skills
to create the kind of art that speaks for me. I want to create the kind of art that
makes others as happy as it makes me. |
| No Vital Organs, but Your Heart has to come out by Max Malone, Private Eye on 05/07/2018
Max opened one
eye and tried to focus beyond his feet at the foot of the hospital bed. Just as
he was able to make out the window beyond the bed, marked by the palm tree that
seemed to be glued to the blue sky like the work of a nouveau collage artiste, a dark cloud trimmed in starched uniform
cut off the light.
“Welcome back
Mister Malone,” came the sing-song voice of an extremely large nurse looming
over Max like a benevolent bison. “It’s nice, mah’n, but you don’t look so good
yet.”
“That’s odd. I
feel great,” rasped Max, hearing his voice coming from a place far away.
“I’m Janetta,
your nurse, Max,” she said, chuckling from deep in the caverns of her ample
belly. “And I don’t believe you, mah’n.”
Max focused
one eye back on the source of the voice. “I have to get out of here, Janetta,”
he said, winking, as he tried to sit up but was slammed back into the bed by a
four-alarm pain that stabbed through his midsection. “Uhh.”
“Yeah, mah’n.
You not going anywhere too soon,” Janetta said in a well-used motherly tone.
“They’ll come
for me, here,” Max gasped, conjuring up a never-before-used
defenseless tone.
“No worries,
mah’n.” Janetta stepped aside.
Standing a few
feet beyond the bed: Nigel Best, his owlish face offering up a classy Norwegian
smile, then nodding. “Max.”
“Great. No
worries. They sent me a journalist.”
“Be saying
thanks, mah’n. Mister Best and my two boys have been guarding your room for two
days now.”
In the
background, Nigel nods, signaling with one hand raised on tiptoes reaching as
high as he can when the words, “two boys” came up.
Nigel steps
forward and Janetta emits a giant smile that is punctuated by two gleaming gold
teeth, and she leaves the hospital room.
“How long have
I been here?”
“Two days and
a morning. This morning,” Nigel says. “Ida called me. I grabbed the first plane
from Portland. Janetta, the nurse, her two sons were taking turns at your door.
I promise you. No one will get past them.”
“Any idea
about these,” Max asked, pointing to his abdomen.
“No vital
organs, I’m told. Scraped past a couple of them. Chipped rib and sternum. They
had to remove your heart,” Nigel scoffed, laughed. “Doc told me you’d be laid
up a week or two.”
“So, what
exactly are you doing here? I don’t think I got that.”
“Well, I have
a theory. And when Ida called and said you’d been shot, my theory got legs.”
Max squinted at
Nigel. “OK. Glad I could oblige.”
Nigel pulled
up a cane chair. His theory went like this:
Since Beau Kimatian
had been spotted in the Caymans, and Max went to find the “real” Beau Kimatian
in the Caymans, and then Max got shot, the question had to be, who was blown up
in the Stardust Lodge explosion, really, and who was Gloria Lovejoy, really,
and is Anna Belle Wilde involved beyond being the innocent widow, well, as
Nigel admitted, “That’s as far as I got.”
“Just like a
journalist,” Max huffed. “All questions, no answers.”
“Fill in the
blanks, Max,” Nigel smiled, adjusting his horn-rimmed glasses atop his fittingly
aquiline nose.
“That’s what I
came here to do,” Max said flatly, turning his gaze back to the palm tree
collage. Max sighed, winced.
“Did you get a
look at the shooter?”
Max curled his
lip, shook his head. “But I saw the set-up man. My supposed contact. He flipped
on your attorney friend. He’s a double agent or a sleaze ball, pick one.”
After a long
pause while Max returned to his collage, thinking of who knew he was coming to
the Caymans, besides Ida, his sponsor. Gloria, check. Anna Belle, check.
“Ever been
shot before?” Nigel asked.
“Shot AT a few
times. I must be getting old.”
Max tries
unsuccessfully for a new position in the bed.
“The authorities
aren’t really authorities. Caymans. The British have no police presence here at
all,” Nigel said, shrugging.
“Kinda like a
Humphrey Bogart movie,” Max said, a smile and a simultaneous here’s-lookin’-at-you-kid
spreading across his face.
“Then who am
I?”
“Peter Lorre.”
After all, he’s
not Bogie. He’s Max Malone, private eye. |
|  Photo by Gary Randall.
One of the most asked questions of me is one concerning lens
filters. So, let’s talk about filters for a minute.
Filters are round glass elements that screw onto the end of
your lens, or in some cases glass or resin panels that are placed on front of
the lens using a fixture. The purpose of these filters is to affect several
different things when you’re taking a photo.
During the era of film photography many colored filters were
used, mostly used with black and white film. These colored filters would block
or cancel certain colors of light causing corresponding areas of color to
respond in different ways. An orange or red filter will darken blue tones and
lighten reds, while a blue one will darken reds and lighten blues. In digital
photography these colored filters are not needed as the sensor can filter red,
green and blue light.
In digital photography the most commonly used filters are a
circular polarizer and neutral density filters.
A circular polarizer, or a CP filter, will do a couple of
things to your photo according to how it’s used. The primary purpose is to
reduce glare and reflections on things such as the surface of water or even wet
leaves. It will also turn the sky a deeper blue. It is made with two elements,
one which you can turn to adjust the amount or place of polarization. The
filter glass will be somewhat dark, so it will stop light and the amount of
which varies depending on the darkness of the particular filter, but a typical
CP filter will stop about two f/stops.
The next filter that is most commonly used in digital
photography is a neutral density filter. A neutral density filter modifies the
intensity of all wavelengths of color. In short, its purpose is to block or
stop light. The purpose typically is to extend or lengthen one’s shutter speed during bright
light such as a sunny day. When a photographer mentions neutral density
filters, they typically call them NDs or ND filters. ND filters come in a
variety of “darknesses,” stopping different levels of light. They can vary in
optical density from almost clear to nearly solid dark. The most common NDs are
ND2, ND4 and ND8 with a corresponding 1, 2 and 3 f/stop reduction. Another
common ND used for extreme stops of light is a 10 stop ND filter.
Neutral density filters also come in what is called a
graduated neutral density filter. This filter is just as it describes. It has a
graduation from top to bottom making half of the filter dark and the other half
clear. This is used in neutralizing the exposure when you have an extremely
bright sky and a dark foreground. It stops the light of the sky making the
exposure more even.
As mentioned previously I use my circular polarizer to
affect the blueness of the sky, to remove glare and reflections from water
surfaces and wet foliage which will allow the color and texture to show. I love
using it for creeks and waterfalls, especially on a rainy day or a day where
it’s recently rained as the water will typically reflect the bright light from
the sky. So too will the leaves and plants reflect this light from the sky.
Once you polarize them the shine goes away and color and textures start to show
through. An important thing to remember is that a CP filter works best when the
light is coming from 90 degrees from the direction that you’re shooting. As the
angle changes so does the amount of affect that the filter has on the photo.
Also, the filter will allow me to extend my shutter speed to smooth the water a
little more to give it a feeling of movement or flow.
My primary purpose for ND filters is to allow me to extend
my shutter even more than I could without them under extremely bright light.
They come in handy if you show up to a creek or a waterfall during mid-day sun.
As for graduated ND filters, I use them as little as
possible as they tend to darken areas that don’t necessarily need to be. A good
example is if you want to darken the sky but there are trees or buildings that
extend into this area. The most ideal case for the use of one would be at the
coast in a photo of the ocean with an even horizon line.
Whew. This can all sound a bit complicated, but once you use
them it will become easy to understand. If you use your camera on the Manual
setting it’s also easier to understand as you probably have encountered some of
these problems while trying to get that shot at less than an ideal time. I do
my best to show up at a scene in good light. If I want to extend my shutter at
a creek or a waterfall I find it best to show up when the light is right. Good
light from a creek or a waterfall is subdued light with little or no glare or
reflection on the surfaces in your photo. I find it best early in the morning
or later in the afternoon, but I love it best when it’s drizzling or an even
overcast cloudy sky. Bright light is not your friend in these cases.
Surprisingly, the CP works under cloudy skies too.
I am writing this while in Reading, Pa. to give a
presentation at a photography convention. While here I wanted to visit Ricketts
Glen to photograph some east coast waterfalls. Two friends and I hiked in to
get some photos but, unfortunately, weren’t able to enter the park until after
9 a.m. At that time of the day the sky was bright and the light was harsh and
was shining directly on the falls. I had to block light in any way that I could.
I lowered my ISO, stopped down (narrowed) my aperture and applied my CP for two
more stops of light. By doing this I was able to get some decent shots.
Otherwise I would have gotten shots of crusty sharp water with blown out
highlights. Instead I was able to extend my shutter enough to get the water to
flow a little in the photo and to get a better exposure.
I hope that this helps clear up this subject a little. If
you’re serious about your photography put a CP and some NDs in your bag.
|
| A farewell to La Nina, and the monthly weather columnist by on 04/01/2018
Temperatures were close to long term averages during March,
with the exception of warmer than average days on March 11 and 12, as well as a
brief warm-up during the final week. Precipitation was well below average and a
dramatic contrast with a year ago.
Snowfall had been relatively light and scattered at
Government Camp, and up until March 18, totaled only 12.5 inches, well short of
the March average of 47.7 inches. Brightwood measured a one-inch snowfall on
March 24, following a trace that covered the ground the morning before.
You can nearly sense the relief felt by the National Weather
Service to observe the MJO pattern has weakened considerably, shifted over to
the Indian Ocean, and is not expected to impact our weather during April.
Additionally, La Nina conditions have decreased significantly and are expected
to end by May. They predict our area will have average temperature and
precipitation levels during April.
During April, Brightwood has an average high temperature of
55, an average low of 38 and a precipitation average of 7.72 inches, including
0.81 inches of snow. During the past 10 years, high temperatures have reached
the 80s three times, into the 70s five times and into the 60s twice. Low
temperatures have dropped into the 30s during six years and into the 20s during
four years. April averages 3.4 days with a freezing temperature. The record
snowfall for the month was during 1982 with a total of six inches. The record
24-hour snowfall of three inches was set on April 14, 1982.
During April, Government Camp has an average high
temperature of 45 degrees, an average low of 30 degrees and a precipitation
average of 7.43 inches, including 26.1 inches of snow. During the past 10
years, high temperatures reached into the 70s twice, into the 60s during six
years and into the 50s twice. Low temperatures fell into the 30s once, into the
20s during seven years and into the teens twice. The record snowfall in April
of 77 inches occurred in 1955. The record 24-hour snowfall of 17.6 inches was
set on April 12, 1981.
|
| A farewell to La Nina, and the monthly weather columnist by on 04/01/2018
Temperatures were close to long term averages during March,
with the exception of warmer than average days on March 11 and 12, as well as a
brief warm-up during the final week. Precipitation was well below average and a
dramatic contrast with a year ago.
Snowfall had been relatively light and scattered at
Government Camp, and up until March 18, totaled only 12.5 inches, well short of
the March average of 47.7 inches. Brightwood measured a one-inch snowfall on
March 24, following a trace that covered the ground the morning before.
You can nearly sense the relief felt by the National Weather
Service to observe the MJO pattern has weakened considerably, shifted over to
the Indian Ocean, and is not expected to impact our weather during April.
Additionally, La Nina conditions have decreased significantly and are expected
to end by May. They predict our area will have average temperature and
precipitation levels during April.
During April, Brightwood has an average high temperature of
55, an average low of 38 and a precipitation average of 7.72 inches, including
0.81 inches of snow. During the past 10 years, high temperatures have reached
the 80s three times, into the 70s five times and into the 60s twice. Low
temperatures have dropped into the 30s during six years and into the 20s during
four years. April averages 3.4 days with a freezing temperature. The record
snowfall for the month was during 1982 with a total of six inches. The record
24-hour snowfall of three inches was set on April 14, 1982.
During April, Government Camp has an average high
temperature of 45 degrees, an average low of 30 degrees and a precipitation
average of 7.43 inches, including 26.1 inches of snow. During the past 10
years, high temperatures reached into the 70s twice, into the 60s during six
years and into the 50s twice. Low temperatures fell into the 30s once, into the
20s during seven years and into the teens twice. The record snowfall in April
of 77 inches occurred in 1955. The record 24-hour snowfall of 17.6 inches was
set on April 12, 1981.
|
| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: spring brings out new beginnings by Mary Soots on 04/01/2018
Springtime and Easter symbolize new beginnings. The bulbs
are popping up, the trees are full of new buds. Each blossom represents new
life. From the falling leaves, branches, and trees, new life emerges. A new
beginning, full of hope, full of possibilities.
Longer days and warming temperatures bring with them renewed
energy. It’s time to fling open the windows and let in the sunshine and warm
breezes. It’s also time for some spring cleaning. Time to reach into those dark
recesses that have not seen the light of day for months. Our fragile
environment here on the mountain forces us to think about how we clean. The
harsh chemicals seep into our soil and rivers, so we need to find safe
alternatives.
As with many other things, our youth have been leading the
way to find alternative ways of doing things. When I mentioned that I was
preparing to write the April column, Alicen, the youngest member of the Mount
Hood Green Scene, suggested it should be about environmentally friendly
cleaning supplies. She said her favorite household cleaner is called Thieves,
which is produced by a company called Young Living. It is sold through social
networks, as well as online. The concentration of essential oils is diluted to
meet the demands of the job at hand. It has now joined my bottle of vinegar on
the cleaning shelf.
It makes my heart swell to know that many young people are
thinking about our environment and how we can protect it. Alicen mentioned the
essential oil cleaners that are available, as well as many of the gentle cleaners
now commercially available in stores like New Seasons. She suggested a website
called Environmental Working Group (EWG) and another called Think Dirty which
have databases of household products. Everything from cleaning supplies to
beauty products, to which fruits and vegetables contain the most chemical
toxins.
Years ago, when the Mount Hood Green Scene started, one of
our missions was to educate young people, and teach them about protecting our
environment. We held a contest at the Welches school to get the children
involved, where one of the students’ entries was selected to name our
organization. Our events have included youth groups from local schools and the
Ant Farm in Sandy, and we honor the work that our young people are committed to
doing to help protect our planet. Recently, one young man on the mountain told
me that he is studying to get a degree where he will work in preserving marine
life. His life on the mountain has made him aware of the need to protect our
environment.
As we move into some difficult times in protecting our
environment from those who would exploit it, I think that it will be our youth
who will change the paradigms that we have lived with for the last century.
From the darkness, a new light is shining, and it will be a force to be dealt
with.
In that vein of thought, we have a guest writer for our
column next month. Stay tuned...
|
| Finders keepers, losers weepers by Max Malone, Private Eye on 04/01/2018
U.S. Attorney Ida Cavendish came out of the gate like a
prized filly thoroughbred. Motioning Max Malone into a chair she perched on the
front edge of her desk with one foot on the floor, the other dangling – much
like Max’s frayed and obsessive accessibility.
But there was something lurking behind that southern smile.
Was it a smirk? A warning? Allure? No, definitely not allure. When it dawned on
Max it was like the sunrise on a distant planet – as in never previously
witnessed. The inner working of Ida Cavendish was All-American attorney.
Heisman Trophy stuff. Gold Medal. Nothing imposing mind you, Max thought. Just
a strong headwind of way ahead. Her jib was flying in full bloom.
“What makes you think you can find this Beau Kimatian
character?” she started, passing over introductions like a lonesome platter of
liver and onions.
“I don’t,” Max came back, a little too quickly, probably,
tipping his hand more than he might have against an ordinary opponent.
“Then what are we doing here?”
“You tell me,” Max responded, getting his sea legs back.
“Look Mr. Malone,” Ida said, her smile now completely driven
by attorney infidelity. “I went out on a limb to finance this, this, what did
Nigel call it, a ‘Hail Mary’ and I’m not accustomed to hailing anything,
especially worn-out sports metaphors.”
That got a smile from Max – one of his Galway Bay best.
“OK, OK,” Max said, holding up his palms in surrender. “I
won’t find him. That’s not the way I work. He’ll find me.”
* * *
Max was not unaccustomed to flying by the seat of his pants,
but the twin engine prop that the U.S. Attorney’s office had sprung for, for
his trip to the Cayman Islands, would have qualified for his seat without pants
of any kind. It bounced through, around and under cumulus clouds with all the aplomb
of a doomed Dodo bird. The plane was so old it had ashtrays in the arm rests.
There was no overhead luggage space because there was no overhead space. When
an updraft pitched the plane to port, the starboard prop fluttered to a
near-standstill, seemingly catching its breath for the starboard updraft that
would soon take its turn. When the plane got its wheels down on Grand Cayman
Island, the wings were still waving up and down as if there was a welcoming
committee of rusty Cessnas applauding its arrival.
As Max stepped off the ladder onto the tarmac, he took note
that farther down the line there were real airplanes parked with passenger
tunnels for unloading. In a few days, he was headed for an upgrade.
An island breeze ruffled the brim of his fedora. After all,
Grand Cayman is a Caribbean island. And besides being a haven for dodgy
offshore banking services, a tax haven for multinational corporations and
tawdry tycoons, a grandiose and forgiving far-from-the-British-Isles territory
of the British, it was also where, somewhere around the talcum powder beaches,
swaying palm trees, and haughty hedge fund managers sipping poolside drinks
while twirling plastic umbrellas, lurked Beau Kimatian, the man who made a
mistake in Wildewood and, if Max had his way, was going to pay dearly in ways
beyond monetary ways.
First, a taxi that had the chilling charm of driving on the
wrong side of the road, past the posh hotels and restaurants, up a seven-mile
beach, to a relatively modest hotel called The Caribbean Club on the north
coast in an area known as Rum Point. Relatively modest, as in Kate Middleton’s
dress didn’t cost half as much as the Queen’s.
Rum Point had its Max Malone charm. Early inhabitants
included pirates, shipwrecked sailors, slaves, and refugees from the Spanish
Inquisition. The skin color of the inhabitants reflected the chromatic glamour
of its characters, which made Max’s covert contact leaning against a mostly
white pillar that still showed the water line of Hurricane Ivan from 2004 even
more obvious, reassuring Max of the abilities of American intelligence to avoid
detection – kind of like the stealth of a giraffe in a bankrupt zoo.
“You’re Malone, right?” the contact offered, the words
whistling around a toothpick working feverishly to provide an air of
nonchalance that was as effective as (see giraffe reference above).
Max nodded with disdain.
“He’ll find you,” the contact said while disappearing behind
the white hotel pillar.
Max turned back to the street. A single shot rang out,
knifing through the humid air and coming to an abrupt halt in Max’s midsection,
pinning him momentarily against the colonnade before he slumped slowly down to
a sitting position leaving behind a thin trace of blood along the blanched
wall.
Max thought: “He found me.”
After all …
|
| Angry? Don’t beat yourself up over it by on 04/01/2018
Hello and welcome to another edition of our special in-depth
medical feature Health Yak, which has been recognized by the U.S. Surgeon
General as “extremely topical,” meaning that you should not attempt to ingest
any portion of this column without first consulting your doctor.
Today we will be discussing a study that suggests as many as
16 million Americans — or roughly the number of people who never receive their
appetizers during an average season of Hell’s Kitchen — suffer from periodic
outbursts of anger.
I know what you’re thinking:
What makes this different from a typical outburst of anger,
like when I open the air vent in my car and release a cloud of spores the size
of shiitake mushrooms?
The answer, of course, is that there IS no difference, at
least not until someone funds a clinical study, at which point it becomes an
official “disorder” treatable by a new drug with minor side effects, such
having your liver grow to the size of Shaquille O’Neal’s seat cushion.
According to Dr. Emil Coccaro of the University of Chicago’s
medical school, which, as you may recall, conducted the definitive study on the
yawning habits of the Tibetan mountain yak (Conclusion: After 3,000 yawns,
researchers become suicidal), what used to be known as “road rage” has now
escalated into a nationwide problem called Intermittent Explosive Disorder. By
definition, IED involves “outbursts that are out of proportion to the
situation.”
For example: Let’s say you’re at a drive-thru trying to
order a bacon cheeseburger and, for the seventh-straight time, the person
taking your order insists there is no one named “Macon the Sheep Herder” working
there, and to please place your order. And let’s say, in frustration, you exit
your vehicle and rip the image of a cheeseburger directly from the menu board
and begin gnawing on it, causing those in line behind you to drive off through
the patio area.
Chances are, you could be an IED sufferer.
According to Dr. Coccaro, his conclusion was based on the
results of a nationwide, face-to-face survey of 9,282 adults who were scored
based on their response to highly formulated and complex diagnostic observations,
such as “I’m guessing most dogs would probably introduce themselves by sniffing
your face.”
Amazingly, all 9,282 participants in the study were
identified as IED sufferers.
“Obviously, the disorder is more widespread than we
thought,” stated Coccaro, who then added, “You got a problem with that?!”
To determine if you might be an IED sufferer, answer “Yes”
or “No” to each of the following scenarios:
1) When my computer crashes, I try to remain calm by
thinking about the solitude and freedom of skydiving, ascending through the
clouds, and then letting my computer drop from 1,800 ft. into a lake.
2) On at least one occasion, I have attempted to affect
change and contact someone in Congress by yelling at the top of my lungs.
3) I find it difficult to remain calm when, after paying $40
for gas, I have to pay another 75 cents for AIR.
4) Because I have been told it is an important social issue
facing our nation, I am frustrated by my inability to really care where what
happens to anyone on The Bachelor.
And lastly,
5) Recently, I have been performing yoga as a way to limber
up before handing out a good butt-whoopin’.
OK, tally your score by giving yourself one point for “No”
and two points for “Yes.”
Answer key: If you took the time to actually answer any of
these questions you are an IED sufferer. According to the study, you should go
ahead and join the millions of Americans already on some type of
anti-depressant.
And if you have a problem with that, you KNOW where you can
find me!
I’ll be waiting right here in the lotus position.
(Ned is a syndicated columnist with News Media Corporation.
Write to him at nedhickson@icloud.com, or c/o Siuslaw News, 148 Maple St.,
Florence, Ore. 97439)
|
| Bills worth supporting and their impact on our lives by on 04/01/2018
I want to thank all who contacted my office to share their
concerns and opinions about the bills introduced during the 2018 Legislative
Session. As your new Representative for House District 52, both House Bill (HB)
4152 and 4044 that I wrote and Chief Co-sponsored with Sen. Chuck Thomsen
unanimously passed and are waiting for the Governor’s signature. Other wins for
our District that Sen. Thomsen and I worked on include the securing of $300,000
for the Oregon Food Bank to purchase additional cold storage units used to
store fresh food, such as the donations from the successful crop donation
program. We were also successful in securing just over $300,000 for the Oregon
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Network which trains and supports community
volunteers to be court advocates for foster children who have been abused and
neglected.
Representatives are only allowed to submit two bills for
consideration during the short legislative sessions. I believe both of my bills
unanimously passed thanks to their development through conversations with our
area’s education and public safety leaders, bicameral Chief Co-sponsorship of
Sen. Thomsen, as well as the outreach to fellow legislators by Sen. Thomsen and
me to garner bipartisan support. HB4152 is the Eagle Creek Fire Recovery bill
that provides funding to Hood River and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Offices for
search/rescue and wildfire-related training and equipment. HB4044 is my
education bill that identifies programs in our public school and education
service districts that are effective at recruiting, retaining and mentoring
educators who work with Oregon’s public preschool through grade 12 students who
are or may be at-risk of experiencing an achievement gap when compared to other
groups.
In addition to these two, I sponsored and supported bills
that successfully passed related to education, economic development, housing,
environmental stewardship, health care and public safety.
Education: Beyond HB4044, I sponsored HB4035, providing
grants to Oregon National Guard members for college, and HB4056, which allows
civil forfeiture proceeds to go to scholarships for the children of public
safety officers with disabilities or who have passed away.
Economic development: I sponsored Senate Bill (SB) 1516, the
Small Business Expansion Loan Fund, which provides early stage growth capital
loans to qualifying individuals and businesses with 50 or fewer employees.
Housing: I supported HB4007, First-Time Home Buyer Savings
Account, which allows Oregonians to set up a savings account at financial
institutions for their first single family home purchase and reduce their
federal taxable income by up to $10,000.
Environment: I sponsored HB4118, which implements the 2016
Good Neighbor Authority Agreement (GNA); the GNA facilitates sustainable
foresting, seeks to reduce wildfire risk and improve wildlife habitat. I was
also a sponsor on SB1541, Cleaner Air Oregon, a law that works to examine and
reduce toxic air-related public health risk.
Healthcare: I supported HB4005, the drug pricing
transparency bill, that requires prescription drug manufacturers to annually
report prescription drug prices and the costs associated with developing and
marketing them. This information can help us better understand the drivers behind
medication cost increases. I also supported HB4018 which requires coordinated
care organization (CCO) governing body meetings, where final decisions are
made, be open to the public and allow public testimony.
Public safety: Beyond HB4152, I sponsored SB1562 which
improves the definition of strangulation and increases the penalty for
strangulation when the victim is a family or household member. I also sponsored
HB4055 which affects hit-and-runs and includes requiring drivers to immediately
stop at the collision scene and reasonably investigate what was struck.
I need your voice and collaboration to continue building a
better community, district and state. As we plan for the 2019 Legislative
Session, I invite you all to contact me to share your experiences, challenges
or concerns. Please email me at rep.jeffhelfrich@oregonlegislature.gov, call my
Salem office at 503-986-1452 or visit my Facebook page and contact me through
messenger at www.facebook.com/RepJeffHelfrich/ .
Thank you for your commitment to the community. I look
forward to hearing from you soon.
(Jeff Helfrich is the representative for House District 52)
|
| Brunch, it’s what’s for dinner by Taeler Butel on 04/01/2018
Brunch isn’t just a meal, it’s a lifestyle. This menu is
thrown together in the best way, the main dish is served casserole style or as
they say in the Midwest, “hot dish.” Either way it can be easily made.
Baked oatmeal
3 cups old fashioned oats
¾ cup brown sugar
1 t cornstarch mixed with ¼ cup orange juice
¾ t ground cinnamon
½ t salt
1 t pure vanilla extract
4 T unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
2 cups fresh berries (larger berries chopped)
Preheat oven to 350°F and butter a 2½ quart baking dish.
Combine oats, salt, sugar, butter and cinnamon (reserve ½ cup) and press
remaining mixture into baking dish. Place half the oat mixture in the baking
dish, top with half the berries, sprinkle cornstarch and juice over fruit top
w/remaining oats and then top with the remaining berries. Bake uncovered for
about 40 minutes.
Biscuits and gravy casserole
Preheat oven to 425°F
1 can biscuit dough
1 lb cooked crumbled sausage
1 cup whole milk
8 eggs
1 t salt and pepper
½ cup each mozzarella
and cheddar cheese
White gravy - homemade or packaged.
In a large baking dish lay out biscuits. I pulled mine in
half to make the dough layer thinner. Sprinkle on the cooked sausage then
cheese. Whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper and pour over biscuits.
Place in oven and bake 30-40 mins until golden brown on top. Serve with gravy.
Cherry pistachio scones with cream cheese glaze
Preheat oven to 365°F. For easy cleanup I make and bake
these on a large piece of parchment.
1 stick unsalted cold butter
2 cups flour
1 t salt
1 t baking powder
½ cup sugar
½ cup cream
¼ cup chopped dried cherries and pistachios
Glaze – In a blender combine ¼ cup softened cream cheese, ½
cup powdered sugar, 1t vanilla and ¼ cup cream.
On a large piece of parchment with a fork mix together dry
ingredients. Grate butter on top, stir it together and sprinkle cream on the
top and mix in. Mix in cherries and pistachios and fold sides up until dough
comes together. Do not over mix. Form a disk and score into triangles. Chill
dough for 15 mins and bake on a large sheet pan on the same parchment for 20
mins until top is browned. Let it cool and pour glaze over top.
|
| The bottom line on fat – the good, the bad and the lipids by Victoria Larson on 04/01/2018
Many have tried every single low-fat food and drink
available to no avail. From planned meals to low-cal cocktails, nothing really
worked, right? Well, you’ve been sold a bill of goods, about a billion dollars’
worth of foods that clearly don’t lead to healthy weight management, or a
healthy heart for that matter. Diabetes, heart disease, and obesity continue to
rise. What’s wrong with this picture.
To this day the American Heart Association, in good faith
I’m sure, advocates avoiding butter, cream, eggs and whole milk as the way to
avoid heart attacks. Instead you’ve been told to eat and drink chicken without
the skin, egg whites (but no yolks), margarine, skim milk and low-fat salad
dressings made with questionable vegetable oils. If you followed this advice
you are probably the first to say, “ugh” in addition to not losing any weight
or maybe even not avoiding a heart attack. Why is this?
We tend to believe advertising. What we need to know is
this: our human bodies are made of protein. These proteins are composed of
amino acids, of which several are considered “essential.” That means they must
be consumed in the diet as they cannot be manufactured by our bodies. And our
bodies don’t function well without these essential amino acids. Proteins are
needed for all enzymatic processes that happen in daily life – like digestion,
energy and heart function! The following is a list of several amino acids that
must come from foods and which foods they come from.
Histidine comes from dairy, eggs, meat, poultry; Isoleucine
from the same sources; Leucine from dairy, meat, poultry and wheat germ; Lysine
from dairy, eggs, fish meat, poultry; Methionine from dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds;
Phenylalanine from dairy, eggs, meat, wheat germ; Threonine from beans, dairy,
eggs, meat; Tryptophan from dairy, meat, nuts, poultry (especially turkey) and
finally Valine from dairy, eggs, meat, poultry and wheat germ.
Vegetables and fruits are wonderful for providing vitamins
and minerals, but other sources of protein are important to keep us healthy.
But wait, those are the very foods you’ve been told for the last few decades to
avoid (while diabetes, heart disease, and obesity have continued to skyrocket)!
What’s going on here? We’ve been advertised to near death. Sold a bill of
goods. Crisco, fake eggs, margarine and vegetable oils were ‘sold’ to us, via
advertising, for heart health and weight loss. These things were touted as
being better for you than real food!
Yet for thousands of years before advertising, humans have
been consuming a traditional diet of dairy, eggs, meat and poultry. And I
mentioned wheat germ. These are the foods that bring us amino acids, the
building blocks of proteins, and the good fats. The foods that don’t make you
fat (unless over-consumed) but have an important role in keeping you healthy
with a managed weight.
If you still believe that fats raise your cholesterol,
you’re partially right. Bad fats, and simple carbs, do raise blood sugar,
cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood. The “bad fats” are things like
hydrogenated fats found in baked goods, crackers and chips, any of the myriad
of manipulated, colored, manufactured and preservative foodstuffs that
advertisers push you to consider to be healthy food! But they’re not.
The good fats don’t make you fat or raise your cholesterol.
Avocadoes, nuts, oils, olive oil, sesame oil and even butter are not only real
foods, they are foods (fats, if you will) that are good for you! Most cholesterol
is manufactured by your body and recycled. Surprised? That must mean that your
body needs cholesterol. And that, in fact, is true. But why do we need
cholesterol?
You have trillions of cells in your body and every cell has
a membrane composed of lipids. Lipids are fats. Good fats keep those cell
membranes fluid and “squishy” so they can move around your body and do their
“chores.” The chores of a cell include taking in nutrients, building enzymes
for metabolic processes, and releasing waste materials. Every cell. If those
cell membranes are composed of trans fats (from the previously mentioned
sources), the cells become stiff and unable to function properly, leading to
illnesses and the inevitable endpoint.
The bottom line – get the trans fats out of your diet, put
the good fats back in. Stop stressing about cholesterol, your body’s going to
make it anyway and you need it for cellular health. Eat real food not fake
food. Don’t be cajoled or scared by advertising. Use your brain and think it
through. Your brain by the way is composed of 40 percent fat so that should
convince you of the need for good fats. But more on that another time.
|
|  Punchbowl Falls.
This month I’m going to risk making my “View Finder”
Mountain Times column an opinion piece, but because of the tremendous negative
effects that the Columbia River Gorge Eagle Creek Fire has had on our region,
and in the light of the recent trial of the teen who caused it, I have decided
to weigh in on the judge’s verdict.
I feel that the punishment dealt out by the judge is fair
and I’ll tell you why.
I have been as angry as anyone about this situation. I have
family and friends in Cascade Locks and the Stevenson area who were affected
directly by this fire. The fire will ultimately cost me money as my guide
business in the gorge is essentially shut down. I have a lot to be angry about.
With that being said, I must remove the vitriol,
vindictiveness and other emotions from my thinking to see this logically. This
is what the law is required to do in these emotional cases. The job of that
judge was to put all emotional arguments aside while all the facts are
considered.
Prior to this day there have been some lively discussions
about this topic. Some have called for extremely severe punishment, while
others want to pass it off as just a bad decision by a child who didn’t know
any better, but the consensus seemed to be to have this teen serve a ton of
community service working to correct what he spoiled and to have him serve some
sort of probation. In the end that’s just what he received. It was also the
maximum that the judge could rule in a juvenile court.
There will be a hearing, scheduled for this May, to determine
restitution, which will be nothing more than a formality and nothing less than
a lesson in futility if collection from the family is expected, due to the
astronomical amount of monetary damage that was done. It’s my understanding
that the cost of fighting the fire is close to $20,000,000 and each person who
was affected by the fire has a right to sue the family for up to $7,500 each in
damages.
This teen will receive almost 2,000 hours of community
service working directly with the U.S. Forest Service. It is my hope that
during this 2,000 hours he will dedicate himself and find a mentor who will
direct his attention to the importance of conservation and community. If we can
trust the system these things will be addressed during his time serving the
community.
Although the letter of apology was finely crafted (or at
least refined) by his lawyers, I believe him. I believe that he understands now
the enormity of his actions. I feel that he truly realizes that his actions can
affect so many more than just himself.
It is my reasoning that if the system would have sent this
teen to a jail situation he would come out bitter. I’m hoping that his sentence
of community service and monitoring through the probation system and his
community service that he will come out of this a better human than he would
have otherwise.
It’s now time to heal. It’s time to heal our anger. It’s
time to heal the losses that those who have been affected have felt. It’s time
now to heal the Columbia River Gorge and go forward in the future with an
increased level of awareness of how fragile this land is and how easily we all
affect the land when we recreate there.
At this point, as a photographer and someone who has loved
the Columbia River Gorge all of his life, I can’t wait to be able to return to
the trails that were once so familiar to witness and record the effect that the
fire has had on the forest.
A lot of people have asked how they can help repair the
damage caused by the fire. A lot of people want to help repair the trails and
replant trees. The best way to do this is through an agency that does the kind
of work directly with the US Forest Service. Two that are doing a lot right now
are Trailkeepers of Oregon and the National Forest Foundation.
https://www.nationalforests.org/get-involved/eagle-creek-fire-restoration-fund
https://www.trailkeepersoforegon.org/get-involved/
|
| Save water – fix that leaky light switch by on 03/01/2018
The great thing about home improvement shows is that they
inspire the average person to improve their home without the hassle of dealing
with an experienced professional. The bad news is that I’m one of those people.
The result is our bathroom, which currently has a commode with hot running
water and a wall heater that can only be turned on by unscrewing the third bulb
in our vanity mirror.
I’d like to point out it wasn’t my idea to take what had
been a simple plan to increase the space in our bathroom and turn it into a
major remodel. However, after one teeny mistake, my family insisted on a total
makeover! Which brings us to our first home improvement tip:
The Importance of Bearing Walls.
You will discover that there are certain walls in your home
— possibly even in the bathroom — which should not be removed because, as it
turns out, portions of your home will collapse. As important as “bearing walls”
are to your home’s infrastructure, they aren’t marked as such and, as a general
rule, look just like other walls in your home. Which is why anyone who
accidentally removes one, thereby inadvertently causing the total destruction
of an otherwise functional bathroom, should be forgiven for this oversight.
So, let’s assume the worst happens, and you find yourself
standing in the middle of the downstairs bathroom while surrounded by the
upstairs closet. And let’s assume your wife, in a show of support, still hasn’t
insisted on hiring a professional, such as a hit man.
The next step is to rebuild the bathroom — and your marriage
— as quickly as possible. To do this, you’ll need organization and a basic
knowledge of plumbing and electricity. If you don’t possess this knowledge,
don’t worry! You will quickly gain it through practical experience, i.e.,
connecting the wrong wires and practically electrocuting yourself.
Through this process of trial and error you will eventually
be able to flush the commode without causing the outlets to spark.
The first step, however, is to clear the area of debris.
Depending on the extent of damage to your bathroom, you may be able to do this
quickly and easily by shoveling the debris directly through the floor and
depositing it under the house. If a hole doesn’t exist, feel free to make one.
If your spouse catches you, feel free to crawl inside and seal it up behind
you.
Once the room has been cleared, it’s time to rebuild. Start
with the bearing wall. Aside from its structural significance, it will
symbolize the emotional healing process you are trying to foster with your
family — and help avoid the need for a physical healing process should the
bathroom be out of commission for more than 24 hours.
Next comes plumbing and wiring, which, I’d like to point
out, should never be done at the same time. Sure, it may be faster and easier
to run new wiring through an existing water line. But take it from me: if your
pet occasionally drinks out of the commode, it’s not worth the risk. The same
goes for any other shortcuts that could turn your morning bathroom visit into
what looks like an episode of “So You Think You Can Dance.”
That said, I hope this advice has been helpful. Feel free to
contact me if you have any questions. I’ll be happy to answer them as soon as I
fix this leak in the light switch.
(Ned is a syndicated columnist with News Media Corporation.
Write to him at nedhickson@icloud.com, or c/o Siuslaw News, 148 Maple St.,
Florence, Ore. 97439)
|
| February shifted gears mid-month, cold continues in March by on 03/01/2018
During the first 13 days of February, relatively dry and
mild weather prevailed and Government Camp had received only two inches of
snow. A dramatic weather pattern change followed with Brightwood recording a
four-inch snowfall and Government Camp six inches on Feb. 14. Several days with
snow have followed, and as of Feb. 22, Brightwood has received a total of 15.5
inches and Government Camp 32 inches of snow with the promise of more to come.
Quite a contrast with the mild weather in January.
The National Weather Service reports that on Feb. 12, a
negative Arctic Oscillation combined with an active MJO pattern and La Nina to
cause our current cold weather. The upper jet-stream pattern guides arctic air
from the Yukon directly into our area and is not expected to modify within the
next several days. Accordingly, they expect our area will have below average
temperatures and precipitation about average during March.
During March, Brightwood has an average high temperature of
52, an average low of 35 and a precipitation average of 8.82 inches, including
3.2 inches of snow. During the past 10 years, high temperatures have reached
the 70s twice, into the 60s five times and into the 50s three times. Low temperatures
dropped into the 30s three times and into the 20s seven times. On average,
March has eight days that record freezing temperatures. The record March
snowfall was set in 1960 with a total of 19.9 inches. The record 24-hour
snowfall of 10 inches was set on March 4, 1960.
During March, Government Camp has an average high
temperature of 41 degrees, an average low of 27 degrees and a precipitation
average of 9.30 inches, including 47.7 inches of snow. During the past 10
years, high temperatures reached into the 60s five times, into the 50s three
times and into the 40s twice. Low temperatures fell into the 20s during five
years and into the teens during the other five years. The record snowfall in
March of 127 inches occurred in 1962. The record 24-hour snowfall of 22 inches
was set on March 7, 2003.
|
| The MHGS: the new trend of Cradle to Cradle design by Mary Soots on 03/01/2018
Being a consumer these days is not an easy thing. It used to
be that you could just select an item based on what you needed, the quality
available and your budget.
However, we now tiptoe around a landmine field of
guilt-inducing decisions each time we purchase anything. Do we choose organic
produce from the farmers’ market because it’s less toxic and helps our local
economy? Do we select a new bed frame from the big distributor because it’s
less expensive?
Many of us struggle with decisions around consumption,
environmental degradation, etc. According to a couple of my personal heroes,
“The environmental message that consumers take from all of this can be strident
and depressing: stop being so bad, so materialistic, so greedy. Do whatever you
can, no matter how inconvenient, to limit your consumption. Buy less, spend
less, drive less, have fewer children — or none. Aren’t the major environmental
problems today — global warming, deforestation, pollution, waste — products of
your decadent Western way of life? If you are going to help save the planet,
you will have to make some sacrifices, share some resources, perhaps you can go
without.” [Michael Braungart, William McDonough, EPEA]
Businesses are equally faced with similar dilemmas and must
make decisions on best practices. Before manufacturing a new product, a “Cradle
to Grave” analysis is performed. This analysis allows producers to assess how
their product or service will move through its life cycle. As you can guess,
the life cycle refers to how the product is born, moves through its life and
finds its way to its grave. Understanding each product involves a Life Cycle
Analysis (LCA) which analyzes the product from the extraction of raw resources,
the processing of those materials, the product’s design, how the product is
manufactured, then distributed, how the product is used and reused, how it is
repaired and lastly, how we recycle and finally dispose of the product.
Generally speaking, LCAs study the use of materials, energy
and economic flows. Although each LCA is different, it will typically assess
the impact that the product has on the environment, including the use of fossil
fuels, non-renewable resources, water use, effect on water bodies and organisms,
toxins released on air and land. Some of these effects cannot be exactly
quantified for a specific unit of material, so estimates are used. The
importance of LCAs is not necessarily in the quantification of specific
environmental effects, but in the comparison of products and assemblies.
A different type of analysis focuses on the social and
socio-economic life cycle assessment (S-LCA) of products. They take into
account that our choices will have social and socio-economic effects as well,
not only on workers but also on entire communities where production takes
place. The United Nations has developed guidelines for conducting S-LCA’s.
The “Cradle to Grave” concept of design and production was
turned upside down by Braungart and McDonoguh, who came up with the concept of
“Cradle to Cradle,” “[a] model of industrial systems in which material flows
cyclically in appropriate, continuous biological or technical nutrient cycles.
All waste materials are productively re-incorporated into new production and
use phases, i.e. “waste equals food.” [Michael Braungart, William McDonough,
EPEA].
Basically, the idea is that when something is at the end of
its life cycle, it becomes a raw material at the beginning of a new life cycle.
There are now many businesses that are built on the “Cradle
to Cradle” premise and the numbers are growing. Innovative thinkers are
creating products made of plants instead of petroleum so that they can be
composted, thus creating food for new plants. This type of closed system
creates no waste that leaves a carbon footprint. Along with this, the health
costs to workers is reduced as the toxicity levels decrease.
It’s exciting to see what the future of the “Cradle to
Cradle” production design will bring. With less waste production and lower social
costs along the line, we can have more sustainable development. Then we can
become indulgent without the guilt. I’m looking forward to that.
|
| Episode XIX: Tallahassee Lassie by Max Malone, Private Eye on 03/01/2018
Max sat in his overstuffed chair, steam curling around his
head from a second cup of coffee, staring out the window at a Stellar’s Jay
couple which to no one’s surprise weren’t exactly getting along, able to focus
on the mystery of the Stardust Lodge demise for a change as Gloria Lovejoy was
having a morning time out after abusing a fifth of gin the night before,
listening to a Louie Armstrong vinyl trying to convince one and all of this
“wonderful world,” when the phone rang jerking Max back to reality like the
sudden return to gravity of a space station astronaut.
It was Nigel Best, the Wildewood World newspaper guy.
“She wants to see you,” Nigel said, getting to the point
like most bothersome newsies do.
“Who?” Max offered while gulping down the last of the cup of
coffee.
“Ida. Ida Cavendish. The U.S. Attorney in Tallahassee.”
“Let her know how she can find me.”
“No. You need to go there.”
“She needs to do better than that.”
“She already has, I believe. I told her how to motivate
you.”
“You think you know that, eh?”
“Think so. She’s carved out a line in her budget, with your
name on it.”
* * *
Max drew the short airline seat straw. He occupied the
middle seat from Hades. On his left, window seat, was a woman who, judiciously,
had to be an Olympian weightlifter – except she had abandoned her training
regimen long ago. On his right, aisle seat, was a detail man on a sales trip
that was not going to go well – his suit was the clue. It could have been a Pee
Wee Herman hand-me-down. It was five hours of North Korean torture. And once
released from the chamber, the Dallas-Fort Worth airport awaited – with open
catacombs. The only saving grace for this space was that, perhaps, one day, the
construction job would be completed. But that day had not yet arrived.
Quick turnaround for the 2 ½ hour flight to Tallahassee. A
delightful flight attendant named Rose renewed Max’s faith in flights.
Standing three deep in the Avis car rental line, Max’s
attention roamed to the Hertz desk where a splendid agent sat all alone,
propped on an elbow, tapping her pen against the rim of her stylish glasses,
making him wonder why in the world he had chosen Avis. Worse than that, the
Avis agent disappeared through the back door of her cubicle and hadn’t
returned. That was the only clue Max required. He bolted to the Hertz desk like
O.J. when it was still OK to bolt like O.J. Before he had completed his
transaction with Miss Hertz of the Year, a pair of paramedics had arrived,
entered the back of the Avis desk, and emerged with the Avis agent stretched
out on a gurney. The word spread quickly. She was dead. No wonder they were No.
2.
Tallahassee is the capital of Florida and so far-removed
from actual Florida that it’s only eight miles from Georgia. Capital Circle is
the round road around the city that was optimistically designed to allow easy
access to everything Tallahassee has to offer. Max quickly found out that
consisted of state government buildings that sprawled across green lawns laden
with acorns from ancient oaks that had witnessed the civil war; Chick-fil-A
restaurants that created backups on the circle route just to gain access to the
drive-up window somehow satisfying the southern appetite for everything
chicken; and a Waffle House on every street corner because the town folk also
required a breakfast warmup before the chicken chow-down.
* * *
Max stepped out of his Hertz rental car in the state capitol
parking lot, having survived a night in a Holiday Inn so undignified the bar
didn’t have Jameson’s. The exit from the air-conditioned car was jarring – like
walking into a jar of mayonnaise. There are many kinds of humidity, but
Tallahassee in August while outfitted in a black suit and fedora was as brutal
as being stranded on the Amazon without a paddle or piranha repellent.
Inside, Max toweled off in a restroom before being escorted
immediately into the office of Ida Cavendish, U.S. Attorney. She issued a
practiced professional smile as she arose from around her desk like a whisper
of night-blooming-jasmine and followed up with a breezy “Hello, Mr. Malone”
that prompted an immediate and equally professional doffing of his fedora.
This caper was looking up. After all, he is Max Malone,
private eye.
|
| New bill to reduce education gap by on 03/01/2018
On Feb. 20, the Oregon House passed legislation to identify,
research, review and assess programs used in school districts and education
service districts that support educators and reduce the achievement gap. House
Bill 4044 is a nonpartisan/bipartisan Chief Sponsored by Representative Jeff
Helfrich (R-Hood River) and Senator Chuck Thomsen (R-Hood River). HB 4044
requires the Chief Education Office (CEdO) to assess programs that are the most
effective for recruiting, retaining, mentoring and providing professional
development to educators who serve at-risk student populations.
HB 4044 was developed through conversations with school
administrators in Hood River, the Multnomah Education Service District and the
Clackamas Education Service District. The goal of this legislation is to
identify which programs are providing the kind of support educators serving
at-risk student populations need to best serve our children, and to find a way
to expand these programs to as many communities as possible. This bill is an
investment in our teachers, an investment in our students and an investment in
the future of Oregon.
HB 4044 specifically calls for the Chief Education Office to
“conduct a study on the recruitment, retention, mentoring and professional
development of educators who serve students in public preschool through grade
12 who are from student groups that may be at risk for experiencing an
achievement gap when compared to other student groups.”
The bill has a four-fold purpose: identify, research, review
and assess programs used in school districts and education service districts
that support educators. To unpack this, HB 4044 will:
Identify the programs assessed and funding sources that have
been most effective or efficient in improving the recruitment, retention, mentoring
and professional development of educators or have been most effective or
efficient in positively impacting outcomes for students.
Identify schools or school districts that have implemented
programs.
And for each of these identify the:
Reasons the program was effective or efficient or was able
to positively impact student outcomes,
Populations of educators or students served by the program;
and
Challenges and opportunities for success and improved
outcomes for educators and students.
Representatives from the Multnomah County Education Service
District, Clackamas Education Service District and the Reynolds School District
submitted testimony in favor of the bill. The bill is not expected to have a
negative fiscal impact on the state budget.
HB 4044 is also sponsored by Democratic Representatives
Diego Hernandez (D-Portland), Janeen Sollman (D-Hillsboro) and Janelle Bynum
(D- Clackamas). Having passed the House by a vote of 51-0, the legislation was
assigned to the Senate Committee on Education and was scheduled for a public
hearing in late February. We encourage the community to submit letters of
support and watch the hearing as well as subsequent steps of House Bill 4044.
To follow the progress of this legislation, please visit https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2018R1/Measures/Overview/HB4044.
|
| Two ultimate favorites by Taeler Butel on 03/01/2018
Sometimes you need to go that little extra mile, these
recipes don’t skimp.
Ultimate deep-dish pizza
This dish has layers of meats, cheeses and sauce, or make an
all veggie version if you’d prefer, this is pizza you eat with a fork.
Heat oven to 400 and oil a large cast iron skillet
For the crust:
1 package quick rise yeast
3-4 T olive oil
1/2 stick softened butter
1 T kosher or sea salt
2 cups flour
1 cup tepid water
1 T honey or brown sugar
Mix the yeast, water (should be warm, not hot) and sugar or
honey in a large bowl, let sit until frothy. Add in flour, salt and oil, and
stirring with a wooden spoon add in softened butter. Dough may be a little
tacky, add flour if too wet, cover with a damp towel. Let dough sit about an
hour, then press into well-oiled cast iron skillet.
For the filling:
1/2 cup each: sliced peperoni, salami, roasted red peppers,
black olives
1 cup whole milk mozzarella cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups marinara sauce
1/2 lb each cooked crumbled Italian sausage and ground beef.
1 egg
1 t Italian seasoning
Mix together the mozzarella cheese, ricotta, egg, Italian
seasoning and set aside. Layer the ground meat mixture first, then the cheese
mixture, followed by the sliced meats and peppers next. Finally, cover with
sauce, Parmesan cheese and olives.
Bake at 375 about 45-50 minutes.
Ultimate chocolate chip cookies
Who knew just a few simple changes could make such a
difference – these are decadent!
2 cups flour
1 cup melted unsalted butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 t kosher salt
Sea salt flakes for the top
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 t baking powder
Preheat oven to 365. With an electric mixer beat butter and
sugar until it becomes one – this is key, mix it for five minutes or more – add
in vanilla, eggs one at a time and dry ingredients just until dough forms.
Then, using a wooden spoon, add in chips and nuts.
Spoon rounded Tablespoon full balls of dough on a large baking
sheet, and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake 8-12 minutes, depending on your
preference. Let cool five minutes before transferring to a cookie plate.
(Taeler Butel writes exclusively for The Mountain Times.)
|
| The microcosm of the macrocosm and the need to detox by Victoria Larson on 03/01/2018
The onslaught of toxins is phenomenal in our chemically oriented
world. Many people think a “detox” means extra fiber and a colon cleanse. But
we each have a whole body, not just body parts. And toxic substances are all
around us, not just in the air, the water or our earth. There are toxic grocery
receipts, cosmetics, cleaning products. Also jet fuel chemtrails that fall all
over our planet daily. Positive ions are given off by clothes dryers,
dishwashers and HDTVs, to say nothing of the toxic dishwasher soap and popular
brands of laundry detergents capable of killing children and puppies who ingest
them. There’s a lot of toxicity on television as well.
With a nod to Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” series, where he often
mentions “billions and billions of stars in the universe,” I want you to
realize there are trillions and trillions of cells in your body. Each and every
one of you. Magic, not visible to the naked eye. We are wonders of creation!
In Chinese medicine we often contemplate how the microcosm
reflects the macrocosm. Every cell of your body reflects the whole being. Each
cell takes in nutrients and removes waste products just like the body does. All
the creatures on Earth. Perhaps we even reflect the universe with its billions
and billions of stars with our trillions and trillions of cells.
Like the skin that holds our bodies intact, each cell has a
membrane enclosing “organs” called organelles at the cellular level: a nucleus,
mitochondria, stands of DNA and others. Very similar to our organs of brains,
hearts, livers and other organs that keep us alive. If each cell is the
microcosm of the macrocosm, how in the world, how in the universe, do we begin
to detoxify?
We need to detoxify each cell. We must get the nutrients
into the cell, let the cell extract those nutrients for health and vitality,
and discard the leftover waste products lest they slow down the organism. The
cellular membranes fueled by trans fats, artificial chemicals and toxins will
become thick and hardened, reducing the ability for the cell to use the
available nutrients. Of course, there’s also the fact that trans fats,
artificial chemicals and toxins are not nutritious to begin with.
But nobody eats just trans fats and such, right? When useful
nutrition does get into the cell and it is utilized, the cell still must
discard the waste products, lest they accumulate in the blood and lymph to a
toxic level, causing illness, disease and early aging. Keeping the cell
membrane flexible is the goal then for efficient nutrient exchange and healthy
waste removal.
Since you cannot see your trillions and trillions of cells,
how do you know if you are toxic? First off, assume it. If you are alive now
and living on this earth, you are exposed to thousands of toxins every day.
Some more than others, but it certainly applies to all of us. Besides illness
and the signs of early aging, how can you determine the level of your cellular
health?
Remember, the microcosm reflects the macrocosm. Toxins are
eliminated via nose, mouth, urinary tract, colon and skin. If all these systems
are in tip-top condition you have less of a worry than the person who gets sick
often, is filled with mucous or noxious debris, has dull skin and hair, or may
have a bowel movement only every three or four days. If any of these signs are
the case, begin self-care. Now you can see why detoxification is recommended
for everyone, at the very least once a year, though twice a year would be
better for those who are more toxic. Now you can see why detoxifying is so
important – why you need water, why daily elimination is necessary.
Detox at the cellular level begins with the basics of good
water, good food, fresh air, enough rest, some exercise and especially
avoidance of toxins as much as possible. Dishwashers, clothes dryers and HDTVs
all give off positive ions, which are toxic to our bodies. So do cellphones.
Living lightly on the earth helps you avoid toxins but few people can give up
their dishwashers, clothes dryers and TVs. And especially those cellphones.
But living lightly is its own reward. It helps you avoid
toxins. Get rid of as much plastic that’s in your house as much as possible.
Replace or eliminate toxic cleaning products. Use safer choices or make your
own products. You’ll breather easier. Forget cosmetics or find simpler, safer
products. Get outside for a minimum of 15 minutes a day and breathe deeply.
Take a yoga class, walk or dance. Sleep eight to 10 hours a night to give your
body time to heal and detoxify. And eat those terrific detoxifying foods like
asparagus, avocadoes, citrus, dark leafies, spring onions and mushrooms that are
appearing in the stores now. And enjoy your deep detox without spending a
fortune on detox products.
|
|  Photo by Gary Randall.
Preparing for a trip, even a simple day trip, should be
pretty basic when it comes to packing your camera gear, or so it would seem.
It’s easy to throw your gear in the backpack, grab it and go.
You must know that photographers take their backpacks pretty
serious. For those who aren’t aware, I should explain that a photography
backpack is very much like a typical rucksack, but they have little padded
dividers that are fastened with Velcro in an arrangement decided upon by the
owner of the backpack to hold their various camera bodies, lenses and other
assorted accoutrement. With these dividers it’s easy to take a quick inventory
of your gear prior to heading out into the field. Zip open a panel, look inside
and zip the panel back up and off you go.
Taking quick inventory in this way is typically straight
forward. It’s easy to see if you have your camera and your lenses, but there
are always those little details that will trip you up as this little story will
show.
After taking my quick inventory on one day, I grabbed my
gear for a hike to a waterfall that I had been meaning to photograph for a
while. The hike was going to be about a five-mile trip, ten miles altogether. A
good day hike but still a bit more laborious due to my backpack full of gear.
It’s usually like me to pull my camera from my backpack at the trailhead and
carry it separately and take snaps along the way, but on this day the hike was
familiar and I figured that I would just wait until I arrived at the spot that
I had in mind. Besides, it would make the hike easier without carrying
something in my hands.
I hiked with certain urgency as I was on a mission. I walked
the five miles with no break for rest as I knew that where I was going would be
a great spot to snack on the peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the apple
that I had brought along with me. How perfect. A beautiful waterfall to
photograph and a nice little picnic all at the same time.
After the morning hike I arrived at my destination. The spot
that I had in mind for the photograph that I had imagined since my last hike
there. I walked to the creekside, peeled off my backpack, set up my tripod,
unpacked my camera, set it up on the tripod and turned it on to check my
settings. As I look at the digital display, which shows me everything that I
need to know to adjust my camera, I notice the available exposure count. It
reads 0. Zero??? What?
As I stand there looking at the display the cold realization
that I forgot to check that I had put the memory cards back in after I had
pulled them out to reformat and clear them to prepare for more photos of this
trip. I was literally standing there with a camera without “film” in it. All at
once I felt emotions welling up inside. I’m not sure if they were feelings of
frustration, anger or dismay or a combination of them all. It really didn’t
matter as they weren’t good. I dug through my pack to see if I had stashed a
spare card, but found nothing. I felt pretty dumb. Without much more than a
thought or two about what more that I could do, I packed my gear back into the
backpack and sat down to eat my sandwich.
As I sat there I lectured myself. I berated myself for
forgetting to reinstall the card, and again for not checking when I packed the
backpack, but in time I resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to take
a single photograph, and that I was in an incredibly amazingly beautiful place
in a terrible state of mind and that I just needed to realize how my priorities
were out of order.
I had to ask myself how taking the photo became more
important than the experience of being there and experiencing the tangible part
of the hike that a photo can never capture. At that moment I closed my eyes and
paid attention to those non-visual components of this beautiful location that
make the experience complete. I listened to the water as it tumbled over rocks.
I listened to the breeze in the trees above my head. I felt the moss under me.
Once I did this I started to pay attention to things that I may have ignored. I
heard birds singing and squirrels quarreling. I smelled the fresh fragrance of
a forest in the morning. I felt the mist from the falls on my face. I could
feel the stress leave as I concentrated. My feeling of frustration changed to
resignation and then to a feeling of satisfaction as I realized the complete
beauty of my surroundings.
In time I stood back up, grabbed my backpack and started
back down the trail with the thought in my mind about lessons learned. Practical
thoughts about how to prevent forgetting memory cards or batteries, but even
more the thoughts and wonder if I would have taken the time to enjoy the
experience of the waterfall if I had remembered to bring them.
To this day when I head out to hike to a waterfall I will
check everything, including the details. I haven’t left a card or a battery at
home since, but more importantly after this experience, the first thing that I
do when I arrive at a location is to close my eyes and experience everything
that being there has to offer, and I think that it shows through the photos
that I take afterward.
|
| Cold February with near average precipitation expected by on 02/01/2018
Temperatures during January were close to average except a
warmer period during mid-month resulted in slightly above average temperatures
for the month in both Brightwood and Government Camp. Interestingly, no
measurable snow fell this January in Brightwood, compared to 14.75 inches a
year ago, and Government Camp received less than half the 52.6 inches measured
a year ago, despite both years being under the influence of La Nina patterns.
The National Weather Service expects a continuation of the
La Nina pattern, coupled with active Madden Julian Oscillations to result in a
lower than average temperature level for our area during February, with precipitation
near average.
During February, Brightwood has an average high temperature
of 47, an average low of 34 and a precipitation average of 8.76 inches,
including 5.9 inches of snow. During the past ten years, high temperatures have
reached the 60s two times and into the 50s eight times. Low temperatures
dropped into the 30s once, into the 20s seven times and into the teens twice.
On average, February has 12 days that record freezing temperatures. The record
February snowfall was set in 1986 with a total of 32 inches. The record 24-hour
snowfall during February of ten inches was set on Feb. 26, 1971.
During February, Government Camp has an average high
temperature of 38 degrees, an average low of 26 degrees and a precipitation
average of 9.65 inches, including 41.8 inches of snow. During the past ten
years, high temperatures reached into the 50s four times and into the 40s six
times. Low temperatures fell into the 20s for three years, into the teens for
five years, and into the single digits two years. The record snowfall in
February of 112 inches occurred in 1990. The record 24-hour snowfall of 25
inches was set on Feb. 24, 1994.
|
| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: how to replace all paper products by Mary Soots on 02/01/2018
There is a trend which I have become increasingly aware of
when it comes to disposable paper products. That is that people are finding
ways to forego them. Like paper towels. Since paper towels aren’t recyclable,
what happens to the 13 billion pounds of paper towels that we use each year?
They go into the landfill. That’s more than 45 pounds of paper towels per
person, each year. Last year I purchased some brightly colored super absorbent
fabric squares to use instead of paper towels. I keep them under the kitchen
and bathroom sinks to wipe off counters and mirrors, clean up messes, etc. When
I’m finished, I simply toss them in with the laundry. And for me, the best part
is that I no longer have to shop for and find a place to store all those rolls
of paper towels. You can also save money, space, and trees by cutting up old
kitchen towels.
In the past I have written on how wonderful it is to use of
cloth napkins instead of paper ones, so I won’t expound on that. The only stack
of paper napkins in my house now are the handfuls I receive at the fast-food
restaurant drive-through. (Don’t judge me!) But they stay in the drawer for a
long time as I prefer fabric napkins now. What’s not to love??
Another paper product that is seen as “old school” is the
facial tissue. Ironically enough, it is now chic to use a fabric handkerchief.
In some parts of the world, they never went out of style. But in the U.S., they
were replaced by their paper alternative around the middle of the 20th century.
All things are not equal, and some of the paper alternatives offer quite
inferior quality, so the claim that they are more hygienic doesn’t quite hold
snuff. Theoretically, one would use a tissue one time and then dispose of it.
However, quite often the reality is that the tissue is replaced into your purse
or pocket where you forget about it until you’ve washed your jeans and find the
pieces of tissue throughout your clothes. The younger generation is now
realizing that the fabric alternative is stronger, smarter, equally hygienic and
more cost-efficient. Sales of handkerchiefs has seen an increase. They come in
men’s, women’s and even children’s sizes (about the size of a paper tissue).
They come in different colors, designs and some are embroidered like
grandmother’s.
At Christmas, a friend delighted me with a unique gift that
also is built on the idea of replacing paper products. It was a reusable makeup
remover cloth (along with a travel size one about the size of an eye mask).
This wonderful little invention is a soft fleece-like fabric that you simply
run under warm water and use to wipe away the makeup, cleaning your face
without soap. It is only one of many alternatives to the commercial makeup
remover wipes. You can make or buy small pieces of fabric and keep them in a
jar containing a makeup removal solution. Again, just toss them in with the
laundry and you never run out.
Finally, the dilemma of toilet paper. I know, I know. Truly,
I do. I love my Charmin! When it comes to paper products, I’ve always been a
very loyal brand consumer. I didn’t have a problem leaving the paper towels
behind when I found the fabric that worked even better. Didn’t blink an eye
when I fell in love with the makeup remover wipes. And although I confess that
I’m still transitioning from paper tissues, I’m waiting for an online order of
handkerchiefs to arrive. However, I never imagined that I could make a change
with the toilet paper. Short of installing a bidet, that is. According to a
source cited in an article in Scientific American, “Americans use 36.5 billion
rolls of toilet paper every year, representing the pulping of some 15 million
trees. Says Thomas: ‘This also involves 473,587,500,000 gallons of water to
produce the paper and 253,000 tons of chlorine for bleaching.” In comparison,
the cost of water used in a bidet would be negligible. And that doesn’t even
account for the energy that it takes to produce, package and transport the
stuff.
Still, it was something that I thought about - so much paper
going down the toilet! And then one day, an ad popped up on social media for a
product with the unfortunate name of “Who Gives A Crap.” The brand is one that
produces toilet paper from 100 percent recycled paper. You place your order
online and a box (yes, bearing its name!) is delivered to your home. The
selling point for me was that 50 percent of the profits are donated to help
build toilets around the world. While I avoid promoting specific brands, this
company is making a difference with a unique business model. It’s that kind of
thinking outside the box that is making the world a better place to be. So
until we can all get bidets, this is a nice alternative.
|
| Episode XVIII - Twiggy, Liz and a Nutty Squirrel by Max Malone, Private Eye on 02/01/2018
It’s not often that Max Malone, private eye, spends a decent
part of his day scratching his head.
But these aren’t normal days. Consider:
First there was Maggie McGee, whose murder remains unsolved.
Then there was Hope, who ventilated a perfectly good Max fedora, and was now
clad in an orange jumpsuit in state prison. Then there was the most recent
escapee Valerie Suppine – the meanest little woman in thirteen western states –
who coughed up a split for Max of a quarter million large. Then came the
notorious Natasha – from the pink stucco soulless mansion in Reno – who was now
among the wandering souls due to a well-placed hole in her forehead, in France
of all places. Then, Dolly Teagarden, the British consulate turned double
agent. And now, the escapee from the Easy-Inn Motel, Gloria Lovejoy, who was
ensconced in Max’s cabin, making herself as comfortable as a never-ending
supply of gin could provide. And we haven’t mentioned Anna Belle Wilde, who had
taken possession of both banks of the Ruby River, and continued to be as
enigmatic as an unfathomable hot tub full of present-day politicians.
And those are just the women.
But Max has his saving graces, which often act as curses. He
can’t walk away from a mystery any more than Mickey Spillane could turn his
back on another two-day novel. (It should be noted that, by his own admission,
Mickey knocked out one book in ten hours.)
The FBI, supposedly led by Agent Mike D’Antonio, was
dragging its feet like a drag chain on a semi knifing its way through
Wildewood. After all, the FBI had real work to do, apparently.
* * *
Even with the Gloria distraction, which can not be
overstated, Max went to work. Despite his globetrotting from Nevada to Belgium,
Wildewood still mattered. The goal was a simple one: who was/is Beau Kimatian?
Certainly, Gloria was a key, but did it fit the lock? Max never trusts needy,
even when his resistance wears as thin as a Twiggy poster.
So, what did Max have to work with? He thought: according to
Nigel Best – the local newsie – his U.S. attorney friend in Florida reported
that she had “spotted” Beau Kimatian in the Cayman Islands. So why did he buy
the Ruby River property, marry Anna Belle Wilde, and build the Stardust Lodge,
then blow it up with some imposter in his place? Wildewood had as much in
common with the Cayman Islands as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the
throes of one of their multiple, dodgy divorces.
The only possible answer swirled around an international
coverup. Yet, why Wildewood? Perhaps it was a perfect cover. Who in their right
mind – which at this point would suggest there were few or none – could make
that international connection?
Ahh, Max thought: follow the money, with a nod to Ben
Bradlee of the Washington Post. The Caymans were as notorious for storing
purloined money as a dedicated Wildewood squirrel with both cheeks full of
nuts. But there didn’t seem to be much of a money connection with the Stardust
Lodge. After all, it was blown up. The next step came more easily for Max. Beau
couldn’t possibly access his stash, if he was dead.
Perhaps Beau made a mistake. He didn’t count on Nigel Best’s
U.S. Attorney friend in Florida.
All Max had to figure out was, who died in the lodge
explosion? The only thing he knew for sure, for a short period of time, this
dupe was Anna Belle Wilde’s husband. And, of course, Max had worked for him for
a spell, although calling it work was doing our private eye a disservice.
Which raised another obvious question: is it possible that
the dizzy Anna Belle was in on it from the beginning? After all, she now owns
the Ruby River after it had been taken away from the family for failure to pay
property taxes, inspired by the shenanigans of her father, Randy Wilde – who
was now languishing in jail without bail awaiting trial on, of all things,
robbing a gas station. Throw in Anna Belle’s grandfather Chance Wilde – who had returned to Colorado because he
“loved the winters” – and there wasn’t enough conspiratorial dynamite to blow
up an out-of-date outhouse.
It was a lot to think about, coupled with that Gloria
Lovejoy distraction, and would have been the match for any average chap off the
streets.
But after all, this wasn’t any chap. It was Max Malone,
private eye.
|
| Coaching kids? Starts with jelly donuts by on 02/01/2018
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not very athletic. I made this
realization in the third grade, when I was knocked unconscious 32 times playing
dodge ball. After that first game, I remember waking up in the nurse’s office
and being told of a special program for “gifted” athletes who were so special they
got to wear a football helmet during recess. Of course, I eventually figured
out there was no “special program,” and openly expressed my feelings of
betrayal when I slammed my helmet on the desk of my high school counselor.
After which I was taken to the hospital with a broken
finger.
I live with the memory of being an unathletic child on a
daily basis. Particularly when I look in the mirror and see a man whose head
still fits into a third-grade football helmet. For this reason, many years ago
when my daughter asked me to coach her fourth-grade basketball team, I smiled,
took her hand and began faking a seizure. I panicked at the thought of
providing guidance to a team of fourth-grade girls, any one of whom could take
me to the hole. This includes my daughter, who has inherited a recessive
“athletic” gene I call the “monkey factor” because, apparently, it leaps entire
family trees.
You see, neither side of our family is particularly
athletic. This is officially documented in a video of their mom and me playing
one-on-one basketball. To the outside observer, it appears to be footage of two
heavily-medicated adults trying to catch the Walmart happy face.
Of course, none of this mattered to my daughter; she just
wanted Dad to coach her team. Knowing this attitude would eventually change
(possibly by the end of our first practice), I made the decision to put aside
my own petty fears and be her team’s coach. In addition, I also put aside some
petty cash for psychological treatment later.
To prepare myself as coach, I read books about fundamental
basketball skills. I talked with other coaches. I installed a tiny basketball
hoop over the trashcan in my office. Before long, I had gained confidence
knowing that with hard work and determination, someone would be able to undo
the damage I was doing.
For our first practice, we worked on free throws and
lay-ups. I chose these areas because, as everyone knows, they are the most
common — and easiest ways — of scoring a basket.
Unless you are me.
As it turns out, repeatedly sending a wad of paper through a
six-inch hoop over your trashcan doesn’t mean you’ll be able to sink a
regulation basketball from the free throw line. Particularly if your entire
team and most of its parents are watching, in some cases using their iPhones to
send live images to friends while laughing hysterically.
Confident that I had taught my team an important lesson in
determination, humility, and the value of having a “shared minutes” plan, we
moved on to lay-ups. It was at this point I asked parents to please put their
phones away. In addition to the distraction it was causing, there were also
safety issues to consider since many parents had now moved under the backboard
to get a better angle.
When practice ended a week later (okay, but it felt like a
week) we joined hands and reached an important understanding as a team:
The coach has no “game.”
Apparently, my players don’t see this as a problem. What
mattered to them most was whether I could be trusted, as their coach, to
coordinate the snack rotation. I assured them I could, and things went pretty
well; they brought “game,” and I bring jelly donuts.
This year, I am coaching second- and third-graders again,
with help from my daughter, who is now 23.
Her first assignment as assistant coach?
Get jelly donuts.
(You can write to Ned Hickson at nedhickson@icloud.com, or
c/o the Siuslaw News, 148 Maple St., Florence, Ore. 97439)
|
| Meet House District 52 Representative Jeffrey Helfrich by on 02/01/2018
My name is Jeffrey A. (Jeff) Helfrich and I am the
Representative for House District 52, which was formerly represented by Mark
Johnson. The District includes communities of the Mountain/Hoodland area,
Government Camp, Sandy, Hood River, Cascade Locks and Gresham; more broadly
covering Hood River County, north Clackamas County and east Multnomah County.
It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your
Representative.
As your State Representative, I will continue leading efforts
started by former Rep. Mark Johnson to improve education, the economy and
protect our environment and way of life in the District’s communities and
Oregon.
Thank you to Rhododendron CPO President Steve Graeper for
the invitation to be the Guest Speaker at the Jan. 20 meeting. I appreciated
the opportunity to share my experience and ideas for the Hoodland communities’
and District’s success, hear community concerns including those about housing
and transportation, celebrate great community gains including the welcoming of
new businesses, and hear updates from County Commissioners Humberston and
Fischer. Thank you.
For over 30 years, I have dedicated my life to making my
community and country better and safer places to live. I am a public servant,
Air Force-Gulf War veteran, former Cascade Locks City Councilman, retired
police sergeant, devoted father and husband.
My personal interest in serving as the House District 52
Representative is my family and I love living here, and I want to have a larger
impact and contribution to it thriving educationally, economically and
environmentally. For over 11 years, I have lived in District 52 with my wife.
My wife, a naturopathic physician, and I are avid hunters, fishers and stewards
of the land who are raising our young children to be the same.
I bring over 30 years of knowledge and experience gained
from:
Four years in the Air Force which included deployment to
Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm;
Over 25 years in community policing;
Four years as a Cascade Locks City Councilor, working to improve leadership and funding for the fire department, management and services provided to the community, serving on the Public Safety Task Force Committee and the Joint (City/Port) Work Group on Economic Development; Over three years as a Mid-Columbia Economic Development District (MCEDD) board member, and representing MCEDD on the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee for the 2015 Oregon State Parks Columbia River Gorge Management Unit Plan; Over two years as a Cascade Locks Planning Commissioner, including being Vice Chairman and working to improve downtown development and support of local businesses; and Two years as a Cascade Locks Budget and Charter Review Committee, and Comprehensive Planning Review member.
As your Representative, in addition to continuing Mark’s
efforts, I vow to work on improving our community’s economic viability,
housing, health and safety and disaster preparedness, as well as increasing
government transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility.
I and my staff are available to help identify and address
community concerns to ensure that the community’s voice is heard and responded
to not only in Salem but directly in the District as well.
I believe that together, through collaboration, regular
communication and commitment, we can plan and actively work towards ensuring a
better tomorrow for our communities in the Mountain/Hoodland area, throughout
our District and Oregon.
Please contact me directly at
Rep.JeffHelfrich@OregonLegislature.gov or my Chief of Staff, Dr. Brandy
Ethridge-Lipke, PhD, at Brandy.EthridgeLipke@oregonlegislature.gov. Visit
www.oregonlegislature.gov/helfrich, call the Salem Office at 503-986-1452 or
visit us in Salem at 900 Court St. NE, H-489, Salem, Oregon 97301.
We look forward to hearing from and working with you to make
a better tomorrow today for HD52.
|
| Meet House District 52 Representative Jeffrey Helfrich by on 02/01/2018
My name is Jeffrey A. (Jeff) Helfrich and I am the
Representative for House District 52, which was formerly represented by Mark
Johnson. The District includes communities of the Mountain/Hoodland area,
Government Camp, Sandy, Hood River, Cascade Locks and Gresham; more broadly
covering Hood River County, north Clackamas County and east Multnomah County.
It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your
Representative.
As your State Representative, I will continue leading efforts
started by former Rep. Mark Johnson to improve education, the economy and
protect our environment and way of life in the District’s communities and
Oregon.
Thank you to Rhododendron CPO President Steve Graeper for
the invitation to be the Guest Speaker at the Jan. 20 meeting. I appreciated
the opportunity to share my experience and ideas for the Hoodland communities’
and District’s success, hear community concerns including those about housing
and transportation, celebrate great community gains including the welcoming of
new businesses, and hear updates from County Commissioners Humberston and
Fischer. Thank you.
For over 30 years, I have dedicated my life to making my
community and country better and safer places to live. I am a public servant,
Air Force-Gulf War veteran, former Cascade Locks City Councilman, retired
police sergeant, devoted father and husband.
My personal interest in serving as the House District 52
Representative is my family and I love living here, and I want to have a larger
impact and contribution to it thriving educationally, economically and
environmentally. For over 11 years, I have lived in District 52 with my wife.
My wife, a naturopathic physician, and I are avid hunters, fishers and stewards
of the land who are raising our young children to be the same.
I bring over 30 years of knowledge and experience gained
from:
Four years in the Air Force which included deployment to
Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm;
Over 25 years in community policing;
Four years as a Cascade Locks City Councilor, working to improve leadership and funding for the fire department, management and services provided to the community, serving on the Public Safety Task Force Committee and the Joint (City/Port) Work Group on Economic Development; Over three years as a Mid-Columbia Economic Development District (MCEDD) board member, and representing MCEDD on the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee for the 2015 Oregon State Parks Columbia River Gorge Management Unit Plan; Over two years as a Cascade Locks Planning Commissioner, including being Vice Chairman and working to improve downtown development and support of local businesses; and Two years as a Cascade Locks Budget and Charter Review Committee, and Comprehensive Planning Review member.
As your Representative, in addition to continuing Mark’s
efforts, I vow to work on improving our community’s economic viability,
housing, health and safety and disaster preparedness, as well as increasing
government transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility.
I and my staff are available to help identify and address
community concerns to ensure that the community’s voice is heard and responded
to not only in Salem but directly in the District as well.
I believe that together, through collaboration, regular
communication and commitment, we can plan and actively work towards ensuring a
better tomorrow for our communities in the Mountain/Hoodland area, throughout
our District and Oregon.
Please contact me directly at
Rep.JeffHelfrich@OregonLegislature.gov or my Chief of Staff, Dr. Brandy
Ethridge-Lipke, PhD, at Brandy.EthridgeLipke@oregonlegislature.gov. Visit
www.oregonlegislature.gov/helfrich, call the Salem Office at 503-986-1452 or
visit us in Salem at 900 Court St. NE, H-489, Salem, Oregon 97301.
We look forward to hearing from and working with you to make
a better tomorrow today for HD52.
|
| February food for love and football by Taeler Butel on 02/01/2018
Putting together a memorable meal for lovers and for friends
can be inexpensive and stress free, unlike love and football.
Make your own torta bar
2 lbs grilled carne asada beef (see below)
1 thin sliced grilled onion
2 cups shredded lettuce
Salsa, guacamole, refried beans
Pickled, sliced Jalapeño
24 small rolls
Marinade:
1 T each onion powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder
1 t Chile powder
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t salt
1 black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup vegetable extra oil
2 lb flank skirt steak
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Slice steak thinly, set aside
Toss ingredients in a large bowl, set aside half of the
marinade.
Marinade steak in one half of the marinade four hours. Heat
grill pan, using tongs take meat out of marinade, grill steak on grill pan
until charred but still slightly pink. Toss out marinade from steak. Next grill
the onions.
Place grilled steak and onions on a large platter, spoon
some of the marinade that was put aside onto meat and serve alongside all of
the accoutrements.
Cheesecake dip
1 T lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 T vanilla extract
2 cubed room temp cream cheese
Whip all above ingredients until fluffy and serve in a bowl
surrounded by some of these suggestions:
1 package lady fingers
1 lb cake, cubed
1 lb strawberries
1 package graham crackers
Pretzel rods
1 jar hot fudge
Pineapple spears
1 bunch Bananas
(Taeler Butel writes exclusively for The Mountain Times.)
|
| The Toxic Trap, part 1: toxins may come from any direction by Victoria Larson on 02/01/2018
After reading last month’s suggestions for taking charge of
your health, I hope you’ve made some progress. Many people find the “basics of
health habits” difficult enough. Things like eight to ten glasses of water,
exercise, organic food, more sleep. Take care of those and the rest comes
easier. Yet some people deny that they’re even “toxic” or think “it’s all in
your head.”
I personally feel that doing the basics is a good way to
prepare the body for a cleanse, a detox. We’re not yet in springtime when
fresher fruits and vegetables become more available, so keep working on the
basics until we get there.
Some people need convincing of the need to detox. Well, we
are ALL toxic! Few people can eat all organic food. We still love our snacks
and sugar. Plus there are hidden and unknown sources of toxins. These ones, as
well as the obvious ones, need to be enumerated and identified.
Toxins are poisons. They are all around us, causing us to
become sick before our time, aging us and causing illnesses to linger. Drugs
are toxins. All of them have detrimental side effects, whether pharmaceutical
drugs, over-the-counter drugs or recreational drugs. Even the children who hear
the drug ads on TV ask “why would anyone take that?” With side effects like
ruptured spleen, fecal incontinence and the quickly spoken word “death,” one
does have to wonder.
The drug may cause death! Over 250,000 people per year in
the United States alone die from prescription and non-prescription drugs. Over
15,000 of these deaths occur with over-the-counter drugs that are taken as
directed! Is this a bit worrisome, I ask you? Well, it is to me. We are not all
alike. Most testing of pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs is done on
200-lb men. That’s not the same as a 100-lb woman. Americans take more drugs
than any other nation on earth, yet we are sicker than the people of most other
nations. While we want life-saving medicines for emergencies and traumas, we
might be missing some of the ways that toxins get into us.
There are toxins, poisons, in cleaning products, cosmetics,
carpeting, paints, city water, grocery store receipts, the air, the ground,
food, well the list just goes on! Some of you reading this remember home milk
delivery. Ever wonder why it passed out of favor? After all, what could be more
convenient? In those days, milk was not homogenized or pasteurized. The cream
rose to the top of the milk bottle and the enzymes were still fully
functioning, making digestion easier. But those live enzymes caused the milk to
spoil within a few days. In order to sell more milk by keeping it on grocers’
shelves longer, it was homogenized and pasteurized. More profit. But not for
you or me or the milkman.
Virtually all human breast milk is contaminated. An
independent study found that almost 100 percent of the women tested had
residues of jet fuel in their breast milk. Now how could that be? Jet fuel
residues were also found deep in the ice of Arctic regions. Every airplane
flying overhead leaves a chemical trail. Sometimes you see them, sometimes you
don’t. But these chemicals fall to earth, landing on fields, houses, children
playing outside. They affect our air and our water supply. While breast milk is
still the food of choice for infants for other reasons, we need to know that we
are all subject to this chemical onslaught.
Eating an apple a day is still good for you, if it’s
organic, for its fiber content and vitamins and pectin. But in order to get the
same amount of nutrients today that you would get from an apple 50 years ago,
you would have to eat five or six apples a day to get the same benefit! Not all
fruits and vegetables are genetically modified, but do you know which are and
which aren’t? They aren’t labelled. And most packaged food contains genetically
modified ingredients. Why? Because it’s cheaper to produce and the manufacturer
makes more money.
I love shopping at farmers’ markets where you sometimes get
to talk to those who do the actual growing. But do you actually get to go to
the farm where the produce is grown? Is it a farm that has been in production
for years which still may have residues of DDT in the soil? Has the soil been
tested for residues? Are the seeds being grown organic, open pollinated,
heirloom? Are ammonium nitrate fertilizers being used or organically based
fertilizers? No insecticides and no fungicides make the farm sustainable but
what about things like fertilizers? If the farm is not certified organic, and
you haven’t looked around at the growing operation, how do you know what you’re
getting?
There are lots of toxins in our environment and thousands
more added to our lives every year. Why are we putting up with this? So that
large corporate entities can make more money at the risk of our health and our
lives? So the big question becomes, what can you do to get some of these toxins
out of your body? Next month, some suggestions.
|
|  Get your settings right.
Well, it’s a new year and Christmas has come and gone. With
the popularity of photography lately I’m sure that there will be some readers
who have received the gift that they wanted: a new digital camera. Because of
this I have decided to brush up on how to use it to more of its potential. So
let’s talk about manual camera operation.
You have a new camera that, unlike your phone’s camera, was
designed exclusively for making photos. I am going to assume that the reason
that you wanted your new camera was to make photos that are even better than
you could with your cell phone. To do this you will need to move away from the
point and shoot mindset and decide to be the computer that controls the camera
instead. Switch to Manual Mode.
Let’s start with the “Big 3”. Exposure time - Aperture
Setting - ISO/Film Speed. When you’re taking a photo you will want to
understand what all three are, how to control them and how they affect each
other.
Shutter Speed – Your shutter is a gate that opens and closes
to allow light from the outside to come inside of the camera and fall on the
film/image sensor. The longer your shutter speed is the more light that’s
allowed in and, conversely, how much can be stopped or blocked from coming
inside. Consequences of both being a twofold. The first is the exposure of the
image, or how bright or dark that it is. The second being the allowance or
elimination of movement in your photo. The primary concern typically is to get
a photo that’s bright enough without movement being blurred, but there are
times when you will want to show movement or blur in your photo such as a
waterfall. A fast shutter speed freezes movement while a slower one will blur
movement.
Aperture setting – The aperture is a mechanism in the lens
that you can adjust to vary the size of the hole that the light goes through as
it passes through the lens and into the camera. The larger the hole the more
light that can come through in a set amount of time (shutter speed). You can
have the same shutter speed but control the amount of light with the aperture.
The second consideration when adjusting your aperture is how
it affects the depth of field, or how deep the focus is in the photo. When you
choose a larger hole, which is represented by a smaller f/stop number, it will
give you a smaller or shallow depth of focus, whereas a smaller hole with a
larger f/stop number, will give you a larger or deeper depth of focus. One will
realize that with a smaller hole for the light to come through a longer shutter
speed will be needed to get the same light inside. With a longer shutter speed
you will have a chance to blur, as mentioned previously, which will require you
to use the third setting in our big three adjustments to further affect the
exposure.
The third and last adjustment that we will add to the
formula is what was once called “film speed” in film photography, which is
indicated by the ASA rating of the film, whereas in digital photography, where
there is no film, we adjust the ISO. The film speed indicated how sensitive to
light the film is. A lower rating such as 400 ASA will be less sensitive to
light than a film rated at 1000 ASA. When the film is more sensitive to light
it takes less light to expose the film so you can use the film in darker light
or it will allow you to use a faster shutter speed or a smaller aperture
opening.
With this understanding we can translate the application of
this information to digital cameras easily. In digital cameras the film is the
image sensor and the film speed is translated to the ISO setting of the camera.
The ISO setting varies the sensitivity to light of the image sensor.
The beauty of shooting with a digital single lens reflex
camera is that you can vary the light sensitivity of the camera using a dial,
whereas in film you had to change the whole roll of film. The one consideration
when setting the ISO is that the higher the ISO the more grain/noise that you
will have in your image.
Let’s summarize what has been covered. You have three
settings: shutter speed, aperture opening and ISO or light sensitivity. All
three will affect the each other so you will usually need to adjust another, or
both, when one is changed. We can now use this knowledge to set our exposure
considering movement, depth of focus and acceptable image noise.
Next, your digital SLR camera comes with a built in light
meter to show how close your exposure is to being proper. As you set your
camera, you can keep an eye on the light meter and balance it in the center.
Once you have your shutter speed, aperture and your ISO set according to your
light meter take your shot.
Once you take your photo you will have a display on the back
that will show you a preview of the image. You can check your focus and your
composition with this preview of the photo, but you can’t get a real indication
of the exposure therefore, the next and last step is to check the exposure with
the histogram. The histogram is a graphical representation of the range of
light that was captured in your photo. If the histogram doesn’t show
automatically with the preview, you can find a setting that will allow it.
The histogram will look like a rectangular box with a bar
chart inside. The left side will be the dark part of your photo such as shadows
while the right side will represent the highlights. What you will want to
attempt is to balance the highlights and the darks with your “Big 3”
adjustments using your histogram as your way of verifying your success. If the settings were a little off, make an
adjustment and take another photo. Film is cheap when you’re shooting digital.
All of this may sound a bit confusing at first but the
confusion leaves with practice. Like I mentioned previously film is cheap when
you’re shooting with a digital camera so go out and take a lot of photos.
Therein lies the secret to improving your photography. Practice and
experimentation.
It’s my hope for you that your new camera, or your old one
for that matter, will provide you with as much fun and life enriching
experiences that mine has for me.
Happy New Year.
|
| 12 months in a year means 12 chances to make some changes by Victoria Larson on 01/02/2018
A new day, a new week, a new year! Though many start a new
year with resolutions, I’ve always found them either too stringent, too vague
or just too overwhelming. So this year, let’s try something different. Since it
takes 28-30 days to make or change a habit, we actually have twelve chances to
improve our lives!
In order to not be too stringent, we can pick only the ones that
apply to our individual lives. But we won’t be so vague as to let the new
knowledge or habit fade out of consciousness. And by choosing only the ones
that apply to each individual, it will not be so overwhelming.
Twelve months to make changes, somewhere:
1. Let’s start with forgiveness. Forgiveness comes from
within the forgiver and benefits that person just as much as the person being
forgiven. And remember, the forgiven person is you, the one who ultimately
needs it.
2. On a more practical side, avoid trans fats and vegetable
oils as much as possible. Trans fats and vegetable oils are in all fast foods
and virtually all packaged foods, including cakes, chips, crackers, cookies,
breads, etc. Unless you are gluten sensitive, concern yourself more with trans
fats and vegetable oils than gluten content. Oils such as coconut oil, fish
oils, flax oil, nut oils and olive oil are all better for you than canola, corn
and soy oils.
3. Fish – now there are new worries about plastics in
seafood. A very valid concern. Ultimately, it’s our fault. Many plastics are
not recyclable so we need to stop using them so much lest they end up in the
ocean. Think plastic grocery bags, straws and cups, take-home containers from
restaurants.
4. Turmeric needs to be warmed in order to be of benefit
(anti-oxidant, arthritis). Warm your spices in a pan before using to make meals
or tea. Pills taken cold just won’t do the trick.
5. If you prefer coffee to tea, drink no more than two to
three cups per day. At that amount coffee appears to be protective against
diabetes. Take your coffee with a smidgen of butter and some coconut oil, but
no sugar. It’s called “bullet coffee” and helps your brain to function because
of the good fats in it.
6. Try to avoid sugar as much as possible. Sugar is the
preferred fuel for cancer cells to grow. This also means only one or two
servings of fruit per day. You may have more in the summer as it will keep you
cooler.
7. Back to the good fats. Don’t bother with low-fat
anything. It’s a longtime experiment that didn’t work and many people bought
into it. So many Americans bought into it that it undoubtedly contributes to
the near epidemic of Alzheimer’s that we now have in our nation. Though
lowering fat intake is not the only cause, it’s looking like a definite poor
choice. Be like the French--enjoy anniversaries, birthdays, feast days and
holidays. Then go back to avoiding sugar. Knowing that you can have some sugar
in small amounts on special occasions will make avoidance more tolerable.
8. Detox. Your skin is the largest organ of your body. It
takes 15-30 days for skin cells to reach the epidermis layer to be sloughed
off. Try skin brushing, using perhaps a baby hair brush or a soft clothes
brush, to help remove those top layers of already deceased skin cells. You
don’t need them and this will help you to detoxify through your largest organ.
9. Then get into a detoxifying, relaxing bath of Epsom salts
to which you may gently add a few drops of a favorite essential oil. Depending
on the oil, start with four to five drops and don’t go over 12 drops as it may
burn, sending you running down the hall in your altogether!
10. If you are a smoker, STOP. It is the single worst thing
you can do for your health, guaranteed to shorten your life. Any smoking.
Period.
11. The second worst thing you can do for your health is
sitting, just sitting. Couch potatoes, get up. If you’re already up, do
something. Every hour. If you are in a wheelchair, wave your arms, lift
weights, wiggle your feet every hour. Get rid of your “clickers” except the dog
training one. That will get you off the couch as it is. In fact, get a dog.
Also guaranteed to make you move.
12. Get more rest. Lack of sleep raises the possibility of
illnesses, reduces efficiency, and is estimated to cost our economy $280
billion per year. Employers, get tough. Employees, listen to your body. Quit
the frazzle-dazzle which often leads to late nights and increased alcohol
consumption. Before electricity people slept ten to twelve hours a night. They
had less cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
I’ve left out the really obvious changes we all know about
like eat more vegetable (6-10 servings per day), drink more water (to reduce
risk of headaches and stroke), exercise more (or at least move more). But those
ones you already know. Just pick one of the above to work on each month, adding
a new challenge the next month. In a year you will be healthier. Just remember
#1 and forgive yourself if you fall back. You’ve got a whole year to make
changes!
|
| Episode XVII: Gloria, Gloria - But no hallelujah by Max Malone, Private Eye on 01/02/2018
While Max relaxed – knowing it might be his last chance in
the near future – taking in the dulcet tones of Ella Fitzgerald scatting
through “Mack the Knife” from the needle nestled in the tracks of the vinyl,
the mysterious Gloria Lovejoy was simultaneously exiting the rutty parking area
of the Easy-Inn, the lonesome motel in Wildewood, guiding her red Jeep
Renegade, that was only made more noticeable by its New Jersey license plates,
for his cabin. It’s safe to say, however, that she would quite likely be an
improvement over the day before visit from FBI agent Mike D’Antonio.
Ella was interrupted by a phone call from the newsie Nigel
Best.
“I have some news,” Nigel said, not surprisingly for a
newspaper guy. “My U.S attorney connection has traced Beau Kimatian to a hotel
in the Cayman Islands. That’s gettin’ around pretty well for a corpse.”
Max was close to forgiving the Ella interruption. Who was it
who was consumed by the explosion in the Stardust Lodge? Was Anna Belle’s
husband ever actually Beau Kimatian? And how could what was obviously a
complicated and sinister plot have found its way to Wildewood?
Max had some mulling to do, which included getting Valerie
Suppine, the meanest little woman in thirteen states, out of his way, all the
while Gloria Lovejoy chugged closer to his already overcrowded cabin.
Val complied, and pointed her pink Cadillac back to Reno
where she belonged like a koala rolling in a pile of eucalyptus leaves.
Mere moments after the pink Cadillac departure – and only a
single mere moment after Max had issued his sigh of relief – up pulled the red
Renegade. Max had a weak moment where he stole a glance to heaven, but shrugged
it away knowing he had nothing on the ethereal books. His disappointment was
momentary as Gloria Lovejoy unfolded from the Renegade and approached Max’s
cabin door with one arched eyebrow and a tangle of dark brown hair that was
caught by a zephyr of mountain air and frolicked in the wind like the mane of a
fine filly.
This is going to be interesting, Max thought, and he wasn’t
far off the mark. Max pulled open the door with Gloria’s arm raised in an
almost knock.
“You’re Max Malone,” Gloria rasped, and there was no hint
that it was a question.
“And you’re Gloria Lovejoy,” Max countered in a tone that
matched hers like a tuning fork. “Enter at your own risk.” This line delivered
with Max’s well-practiced private eye smirk dissolving into an irresistible
smile.
Max quickly noticed that Gloria had some rough edges – the
type that had to carry enough stories to fill a medium sized town library – but
the edges were burnished by a slight cock of the head that would have made even
the most jaded cocker spaniel wag his tail like a snare drum riff from Gene
Krupa.
“Have a seat,” Max offered, pouring himself a man-sized
Jameson’s.
“Gin,” Gloria said, not waiting for another offer.
“What’ya want in it?”
“Gin.”
So, the happy moment was easily solved. Max delivered the
drinks and sat opposite Gloria.
“You worked for Beau Kimatian, right?” Gloria explored.
“Not so anyone would notice,” Max came back over a sip of
the Irish.
“Do you know who died at the Stardust?” she asked.
“According to the FBI, Beau, his bodyguard and a cook.”
“Do you believe that?”
Max shrugged.
“I know Beau,” Gloria said, keeping it curiously in the
present tense. “There’s no one here in Mayberry that could have taken down
Beau.”
“And you know this how?” Max kept the conversation rolling.
Gloria slowly crossed her legs and laughed. “You’re a
private eye. Figure it out.”
So, if Gloria is saying that wasn’t Beau in the lodge, Max
mused to himself, and if she is connected to Beau and there’s no reason to
doubt that, then what is she doing in Wildewood, when Nigel Best’s U.S attorney
says Beau has been spotted in the Cayman Islands.
As Max was running this through his mind, Gloria flashed a
jagged smile that looked like an aerial photo of the Snake River.
Max vaulted over the smile, and refilled Gloria’s drink.
And, of course, his own. He was certain Gloria wasn’t hanging out in Wildewood
to hook up with a private eye.
Still, after all, he was Max Malone, private eye.
|
| The Mt. Hood Green Scene: smelling science and your health by Mary Soots on 01/02/2018
When you enter the house to be met with the fragrance of
your favorite cookies baking or smell the cedar or fir from the Christmas tree,
it triggers what is known as “olfactory memory.”
Smells can create emotions, bring back memories and affect
our mood. Our sense of smell is so much a part of humans and other animals that
even a fetus begins to recognize the smell of amniotic fluid while in the womb,
and a baby recognizes its maternal milk as part of the bonding process with its
mother.
At the same time, our puritanical culture’s obsession with
equating cleanliness with the smell of “freshness” was well illustrated in some
commercials a while back, where people were blindfolded and placed in a very
unclean room. Because the heavy fragrances masked the bad odors, they
proclaimed that the room was “fresh and clean.”
Did you know that more than 3,100 fragrance chemicals are
used to make consumer products smell “fresh” or to mask unpleasant odors?
Things such as shampoo and dryer sheets could also be polluting your indoor
air. As a result, each day we inhale, ingest and absorb through our skin a
variety of toxic chemicals, putting a massive burden on our bodies.
Especially at this time of year when our windows are closed
against the cold and rain, we hope to keep the air from getting musty, so we
look to household cleaning items, candles and room deodorizers. We often turn
to artificial fragrances. Artificial fragrances may smell nice, but they can
also cause damage. According to the National Institutes of Health, a “survey of
selected scented consumer goods showed the products emitted more than 100
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including some that are classified as toxic
or hazardous by federal laws. Even products advertised as ‘green,’ ‘natural,’
or ‘organic’ emitted as many hazardous chemicals as standard ones.”
Trying to artificially recreate those moods or memories
through artificial fragrances can cause serious health risks, especially to
children. The National Resource Defense Council tested fourteen air fresheners
and found that most contained chemicals known to cause hormone imbalance, birth
defects or harm reproductive development.
Chemical fragrances are found not only in air fresheners,
but in soaps, our laundry and in our personal care products. The Environmental
Working Group found that one in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in
personal care products are industrial chemicals, including carcinogens,
pesticides, reproductive toxins and hormone disruptors. Further, many cleaners
contain harmful chemicals that have specifically been linked to cancer, reproductive
disorders, asthma and severe allergies.
In one research project, nearly half of the fragranced
products emitted one or more carcinogenic ‘hazardous air pollutants,’ including
1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde, neither of which has a safe exposure level, according
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Research by Environmental Defense
and the Environmental Working Group also found an average of 10 sensitizing
chemicals in perfumes, colognes and body sprays that can trigger allergies and
asthma, and cause headaches, wheezing, and a rash.”
There are natural alternatives to keeping your home air
purified. A spider plant or peace lily, among many fresh plants will naturally
clean the air. Dried plants such as eucalyptus, incense cedar, juniper have
been used since early 17th century France. Baking soda is not just for your
refrigerator.
You can also create safe smells in your home. Try decorating
some oranges with clove spikes and ribbons as part of a festive décor piece.
Use cinnamon sticks as decorative pieces. You can make sachets of lavender and
other fragrant flowers when they’re in season, or combine them in a potpourri.
Boil lemon slices and rosemary in a simmer pot on top of the wood-burning
stove.
Use essential oils alone or in combination to create your
own signature fragrances or to give as gifts. Look online for recipes to create
a misting spray with water and alcohol. Essential oils may be sprayed on rock
or allowed to wick through diffusing sticks that will slowly release the
scents. There are electric diffusers too, of course.
And of course, you can always bake cookies.
|
| Swearing off coffee can only lead to one thing – more swearing by on 01/02/2018
Today, like every day since the start of the New Year, I’ve abstained
from my morning cups of coffee—a decision I reached during a moment of weakness
sometime around midnight on New Year’s Eve.
I know this because I was told so by my wife, who swears
that, along with taking the trash out without being asked, I vowed (after
several glasses of champagne) to take better care of myself. While this
decision has certainly made me a healthier person, it has also made me a
crankier one.
This is due, in part, to the decaffeination process itself,
which can cause headaches, drowsiness, constipation, Tourette’s syndrome, and,
in the case of Lizzy Borden, involuntary manslaughter.
After doing some research, I realized that there was more to
beating this thing than just dealing with the physical craving, which, for
someone who drinks coffee all day, is similar to the craving one might have
for, say...
Breathable air.
I also had to take into account the mental aspect of my
addiction—which is really about me having an excuse to leave my desk. On a good
day, between coffee refills and trips to the bathroom, I can spend as little as
eight minutes actually working at my desk. Because of this, it was clear that
conquering my physical addiction wouldn’t be enough—I’d need a replacement
beverage.
While I briefly entertained the idea of decaffeinated tea, I
decided against it, mostly because I can never figure out what to do with the
tea bag once it’s done steeping.
Do I throw it out? Save it? Put one over each eye and take a
nap?
The truth of the matter is, men are not “steepers.” A man
wants to wake up, fill his mug with something close to 8,000 degrees Fahrenheit
and immediately drink it. A man doesn’t have time for steeping. In fact, he
hardly has time to get to the hospital after drinking his 8,000-degree
beverage.
This left me with three viable alternatives: 1) Hot
chocolate; 2) Some kind of soy drink that, according to the label, can be
consumed either hot, cold or as a grilled patty; or 3) “Postum.”
After reading the label on the hot chocolate canister, I
realized that, based on my average daily hot-beverage consumption, replacing
coffee with hot chocolate would result in an estimated weight gain of just
under 600 pounds in five weeks. This, of course, would defeat having an excuse
to leave my desk since I would no longer be able to leave my house.
I considered the soy-drink-patty-thing, but couldn’t get
past the idea of consuming something that can be referred to as the
soy-drink-patty-thing.
This left me with “Postum” as my morning beverage of choice.
For those who are unfamiliar with this product, it is a coffee alternative that
is completely caffeine free because it is made from “all natural” ingredients
like wheat, corn, sea weed, yarn, tree bark, bone meal and simulated wood
paneling, all of which is then ground up and allowed to “steep” before it is
eventually freeze-dried to resemble Taster’s Choice.
I’ve been drinking it for a little over a week now, and it’s
not all that bad. Still, I’m not convinced that Postum’s claim to be “The Truly
Soothing Hot Beverage” is true.
To be honest, I’d kill for a coffee-drink-patty-thing right
about now.
(You can write to Ned Hickson at nedhickson@icloud.com, or
c/o the Siuslaw News, 148 Maple St., Florence, Ore. 97439)
|
| Cooking for a week at a time by Taeler Butel on 01/02/2018
It’s a new year and a new chance to get it together in the
kitchen!
These recipes will warm you up while you mix and match
simple ingredients (some even pre- made). Cook it all at once or over a couple
of days, store in the fridge and enjoy the feeling of having it all together.
The full menu: chicken and dumplings, stroganoff, hamburger
soup with biscuits and chicken corn chowder.
The grocery list
2 lbs. ground beef or turkey
Roast chicken
1 lb. bags frozen mixed veggies (carrots, corn, peas, green
beans mix)
Beef and chicken bouillon cubes
Couple sticks of butter
1 medium container of half-and-half
1 medium container sour cream
Flour
Baking powder
Baking soda
Dried Italian seasoning
1 can tomato sauce
1 lb. egg noodles
1 bag frozen corn
1 lb. sliced mushrooms
1 bag Yukon gold potatoes
Salt and pepper
One onion
4 celery stalks
The plan
In a large pot brown all the meat with salt and pepper to
season. Boil all of the chicken using broth and shred the meat, save the broth.
Chop all of the onion, celery and potatoes, set aside.
Boil the noodles.
Make double batch of biscuit dough: in a large bowl whisk
together 4 cups flour, 2 t salt, 2 t baking soda, 2 T baking powder and 1 t
Italian seasoning. Mix in 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup
half-and-half. Scoop out onto cookie sheet with ice cream scoop and freeze.
The meals
Hamburger soup: in a large pot add 1/4 of the onions and
celery with 1 T butter and 2 cups of the diced potatoes. Cook until onions are
wilted and then, while stirring occasionally, add in 1 lb. of the cooked meat
and canned tomato sauce. Season with 1 t each salt and pepper and 1 T Italian
seasoning. Cover with broth, bring to boil and reduce to simmer, adding in 2
cups of the frozen veggies. Simmer about 20 minutes.
Heat oven to 365, place half the biscuits in the oven and
bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Chicken n dumplings: in a large pot add in 1/4 of the onions
and celery and 1 T butter, cook 5 minutes. Add in 1 T flour, 1 t each salt and
pepper, and 1 T Italian seasoning, then stir cooking about 2 minutes more. Add
in 1/2 the shredded chicken and 2 cups frozen vegetables, then cover with broth
and bring to boil.
Reduce slightly and add biscuit dough. Cover pot leaving
room to vent. Simmer until dumplings are cooked thoroughly, around 15 minutes
Chicken corn chowder: follow the chicken and dumplings
instructions only instead of frozen veggies, add diced potatoes and corn. Boil,
then simmer about 15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Mix 1 T flour into 1/2
cup of half-and-half, then stir in and let simmer until thickened slightly.
Stroganoff: Add the remaining celery and onion to a large
skillet along with 1 T butter and mushrooms, then cook until browned. Add salt,
pepper and 1 T each Italian seasoning and flour, cook one minute more. Add in 1
cup broth, 1 cup sour cream, 1 lb. cooked ground meat and cooked egg noodles,
then heat to simmer, about 10 minutes.
(Taeler Butel writes exclusively for The Mountain Times.)
|
| La Nina pattern to dominate the weather during January by on 01/02/2018
According to the calendar, winter starts Dec. 21, but
Government Camp couldn’t wait and got a 10-inch snowfall the day before.
Brightwood got its first snowfall of the season with a 2.5-inch measurement on
Dec. 23.
Below average temperatures prevailed from Dec. 20 through
Christmas before moderating to seasonal norms the rest of the month. In fact,
both Brightwood and Government Camp recorded average temperatures nearly
identical with long-term averages for the month. But both locations fell well
below the average precipitation levels for December. As of Dec. 19, Government
Camp had received only 19 inches of snow, compared to an average for the month
of 50.9 inches.
The National Weather Service expects the La Nina pattern to
dominate our weather in January but has its eye on the trending pattern which
is at odds with the Madden Julian Oscillations activity.
In any event, our area is expected to have above average
precipitation with temperatures about average for January.
During January, Brightwood has an average high temperature
of 43, an average low of 33 and a precipitation average of 10.63 inches,
including 8.7 inches of snow.
During the past 10 years, high temperatures have reached the
50s eight times, and into the 40s twice. Low temperatures dropped into the 30s
once, into the 20s seven times and into the teens twice.
On average, January has 14 days that record freezing
temperatures. The record January snowfall was set in 1968 with a total of 47
inches. The record 24-hour snowfall during January of 29 inches was set on Jan.
9, 1980.
During January, Government Camp has an average high
temperature of 36 degrees, an average low of 24 degrees and a precipitation
average of 13.30 inches, including 57.8 inches of snow.
During the past 10 years, high temperatures reached 70
degrees once, into the 60s twice, into the 50s three times and into the 40s
four times.
Low temperatures fell into the 20s during three years, into
the teens during three years and into the single digits four years. The record
snowfall in January of 155 inches occurred in 1964. The record 24-hour snowfall
of 35 inches was set on Jan. 9, 1980.
|
|  Derek Trucks.
Low light, no flash, hand held photography is something that
needs to be understood by any photographer of any genre or style. There are
many times where one will need to get a shot but a flash or a tripod are not an
option. A great way to practice this method is to take photos at a concert. If
you can master photographing a concert, with bright lights and deep shadows,
and quick movements you can skillfully photograph a wedding, for instance. The
primary challenge is to get photos with a fast enough shutter speed to prevent
blurring the subject.
The Grammy award winning Tedeschi Trucks Band came to
Portland on Nov. 3 to play to a sold-out show at the Keller Auditorium. I was
able to secure photo passes to the show which allowed me to move to the front
to take photos of the band during their first three songs and to bring my pro
level camera inside. Many concerts will not allow pro style cameras inside
without a pass, but many others will, so call ahead of time and ask what their
policy for photos are. I’ve been able to bring my camera into smaller venues
and clubs in the past. I’ve even used these techniques at informal live shows
at backyard parties.
Before the Tedeschi Trucks Band took the stage the crowd was
fully warmed up by the Hard Working Americans (in photo above), an American
rock “super group.” The Hard Working Americans consist of lead singer Todd
Snider and bassist Dave Schools from the group Widespread Panic, Neal Casal of
Chris Robinson Brotherhood on guitar and vocals, Chad Staehly of Great American
Taxi on keyboards and Duane Trucks, who was also a member of widespread Panic
and brother of Derrick Trucks, on drums. The Hard Working Americans put on a
powerful show with songs that were a mix of classic hard rock, blues and
traditional roots Americana. While the Hard Working Americans were on stage I
took that time to make sure that my camera settings were correct before the
Tedeschi Trucks Band hit the stage. I used my Nikon D810 and my 70-200mm zoom
lens for most of the photos.
I set the camera on Aperture Priority with the aperture set
to f/2.8 and Auto ISO with the max ISO set to 6400 and turned my Vibration
Reduction on the lens to ON. Aperture Priority means that I set the camera’s
aperture manually and then the camera sets the shutter speed for me. It’s
semi-automatic. Next my decision to set the camera to Auto ISO was to allow the
camera to lower the ISO if possible and to not move past a set maximum ISO,
6400 in this case. I set my aperture to f/2.8 to allow the most light into the
camera, which allows a faster shutter speed. The one drawback to a wider
aperture is a shallow depth of field but this can be used to a certain effect
by isolating the subject from others in the background.
Although I used a single lens reflex camera, many consumer
level cameras (and even some mobile phones today) will allow one to make
adjustments to the aperture and ISO settings for better low-light photos.
I shot the first three songs and then went to my seat, sat
back, relaxed and enjoyed the show.
Once the Tedeschi Trucks band hit the stage, led by guitar
prodigy Derek Trucks and his extremely talented singer and guitarist wife,
Susan Tedeschi, it was obvious of their following and fans in the Pacific
Northwest. The crowd was enthusiastic as the band played through a dozen songs,
a mix of original tunes as well as classic covers from “Sailing On” by Toot’s
and the Maytals and the country classic by George Jones, “Color of The Blues,”
to “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” by Jazz pianist Billy Taylor
and “How Blue Can You Get?” by the popular 1940s and 1950’ African-American
vocal group Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers.
A diverse array of music brought together and played in the
iconic style that the power couple, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, has
developed with their extremely talented lineup of musical masters backing them
up. They finished the show with a three-song encore that included the classic
Leon Russell song, “Song for You,” the traditional classic “Will the Circle Be
Unbroken” and the original song “Bound For Glory.”
Being able to be successful at taking concert photos, for
me, enhances my concert experience, especially when my shooting time is
relegated to the first three songs. The limit allows me to let the photos go
and enjoy the rest of the show knowing that I have great souvenirs from the
evening. |
| Wet winter, with average temps, on tap through February by on 12/01/2017
November got off to a cool start with snowfall accumulating
on the mountain and leading to high hopes for a great Thanksgiving weekend for
skiers and boarders. Unfortunately, Pineapple Express weather patterns melted a
good portion of the snowpack, along with hopes for an early ski season. By the
end of the third week, Brightwood had already recorded precipitation exceeding
its average amount for the entire month, and Government Camp had received 25
inches of snow in addition to the rain. Temperatures averaged near normal at
both Government Camp and Brightwood. Weather for the last few days of the month
turned a bit brighter.
The National Weather Service reports the expected
development of a La Nina pattern and the Madden Julian Oscillation activity has
weakened, but the Weather Service is keeping its eye on it. A new addition to
their concerns is the Arctic Oscillation but it is not expected to affect our
area during the coming month.
Their best guess for our area expects temperatures to be
near average, and precipitation a bit higher than average during December.
Their outlook during the December to February period for our area continues to
expect lower than average temperatures and above average precipitation.
During December, Brightwood has an average high temperature
of 42, an average low of 33, and a precipitation average of 11.52 inches,
including 5.9 inches of snow. During the past 10 years, high temperatures have
reached the 50s nine times, and into the 40s once. Low temperatures dropped
into the 20s five times, into the teens three times and into the single digits
twice. On average, December has 12 days that record freezing temperatures. The
record precipitation amount for December was set in 1964 with 28.09 inches. The
record December snowfall was set in 1968 with a total of 48.8 inches. The
record 24-hour snowfall during December of 12.5 inches was set on Dec. 8, 1968.
During December, Government Camp has an average high
temperature of 36 degrees, an average low of 25 degrees and a precipitation
average of 13.80 inches, including 50.9 inches of snow. During the past 10
years, high temperatures reached the 50s during four years and into the 40s the
remaining six years. Low temperatures fell into the teens during four years,
into the single digits during four years, one year recorded zero and the other
year minus one. The record snowfall in December of 122 inches occurred in 1971.
The record 24-hour snowfall of 26 inches was set on Dec. 18, 2008. The total
yearly snowfall average is 271 inches. |
| MHGS: what food means to us and the environment by Mary Soots on 12/01/2017
Several years ago, we had a series of snow and ice storms at
Christmas that kept many on the mountain unable to move about. A friend had
come to visit and with the help of our neighbors, we made our way into Sandy
between storms to restock our supplies and settled in to spend a quiet
Christmas on the mountain. On Christmas Eve, there was a knock on the door.
Neighborhood kids had brought us some homemade fudge. Their gesture was so kind
and meaningful.
The holiday season is the time of year when we focus much of
our attention on food. Food can represent so many aspects of our culture. How
food is produced, distributed, prepared and consumed are all aspects of our
relationships with the earth, between countries and between individuals. Food
can conjure up memories and recreate emotions, such as “comfort food” that
reminds us of home or of loved ones. These can be very simple meals such as
macaroni and cheese. And then there are foods associated with specific holidays
such as the traditional Thanksgiving Day meal of turkey and all the side
dishes.
Generally speaking, when we provide food to others, it is
not because they can’t get sufficient sustenance on their own. Rather, it is
meant to express solidarity, to assess the other’s social status through their
manners, etc., and provides a means of interaction while focusing on food.
Like the gift of fudge brought by my neighbors, a welcome
basket or a holiday gift of food can express friendship between people. When a
neighbor held a baby shower, the invitation asked guests to bring a frozen meal
in lieu of a baby gift in order to feed the family while the mother was
recovering from labor. We often share food also at times of hardships as well.
Recently, I delivered a meal to the family of a friend who is away caring for
her dying mother. Similarly, when someone passes away, food is delivered to the
family. This is a way of reinforcing relationships between people.
When we entertain, food speaks volumes about us. In a bygone
era when women primarily were homemakers, entertaining meant making everything
from scratch, usually starting days prior to prepare a heavy meal that everyone
sat at a dining table to enjoy. The lavish production was meant to impress the
invitees. The message to guests was that “You are important guests and we have
taken care and trouble on your behalf.” If a guest does not consume the meal,
it is considered offensive to the hosts.
Modern entertaining has changed as working couples have less
time to prepare lavish meals. The multiple course dinner has been replaced with
a potluck where everyone is invited to bring a dish. The premium is on being
innovative with new combinations of simple foods over time-consuming meals. The
meal is consumed casually standing, sitting in the living room or as guests
mill about.
One common theme around entertaining is the demonstration of
excess food. Like 21-course meals for dignitaries, lavish presentations are
meant to impress guests with conspicuous consumption. The excess food is a way
of demonstrating social status. A shortage of food would be seen as an
embarrassment, and it is preferable to throw out the excess than to run short.
There are environmental costs to food waste. Decomposing
food creates methane gas. According to the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), more than twenty times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide.
Wasted food also consumes limited landfill space and leads to water pollution
through run-off.
Wasted food involves the waste of all of the resources that
went into producing it in the first place – water, fertilizers and pesticides,
fuel and all of the associated human capital and labor. Together, the
environmental harm and the wasted resource inputs associated with food waste
carry great financial cost. Further, some reports note that the U.S. spends
another $1 billion annually just to haul excess food away. |
| Episode XVI: A Private Eye And The FBI by Max Malone, Private Eye on 12/01/2017
It was difficult for Max Malone, private eye, to completely
ignore the digging of the Wildewood World’s editor Nigel Best – despite the
fact that Max often referred to him as Nigel Pest.
The possibility that it was not Beau Kimatian who died in
the explosion of the Stardust Lodge would be an absurdity along the lines of
political decency. Best may have been many things – the first strike being a
journalist – yet there was no denying that his connection to a U.S. Attorney
who had plenty of dirt on Kimatian was as undeniable as believing that the
Stardust Lodge’s proprietor, and husband of Anna Belle Wilde, was dirt-free.
But before Max could spend too much time on Best’s theory,
he was forced into a tete-a-tete with FBI Agent Mike D’Antonio who arrived –
unannounced, what other way? – at Max’s cabin before breakfast but not before
Valerie Suppine, the meanest little woman in thirteen western states, had
emerged from the shower, barefoot, bathrobed, with her hair tumbling down in
rollicking ringlets.
“Miss Suppine,” Mike said, acknowledging Val with a drop of
his eyelids as only a man of Italian persuasion or ancestry can muster.
“Hi, Mike,” Val shot back with a shake of her hair and a
smile that could drop any man of Italian persuasion or ancestry.
Meanwhile, Max just peered over the top of his coffee cup,
marveling at a scene that could only be replicated by the last spring hookup of
a pair of twitterpating house wrens.
Shaking off Val’s spell, Mike emerged shaken, but
surprisingly serious under the circumstances.
“I need to go over a few things with you,” Mike said, only
turning toward Max halfway through the sentence.
“Sure thing,” Val responded like the house wren of spring.
“Uh, Val, I think the agent was referring to me,” Max
offered, not entirely certain he was right.
After Mike stole one more glance at Val, as if staring
across their newly fashioned nest, he ripped himself away, tail feathers and
all.
“Have a seat,” Max offered with no trace of sincerity.
Mike sat down on the front edge of an easy chair, while Max
flopped on the sofa, and Val leaned across the back of the sofa, dispelling the
unseemly squalor of Max’s dystopian digs.
“Max. What do you know about this Gloria Lovejoy woman?”
Mike said, apparently recovered.
“Never heard of her,” Max said flatly, giving no hint of
truth or otherwise.
“Me neither,” Val said, but she could have been speaking to
the wall. The two men were now locked into investigative combat.
“Well, she was seen near the scene of the lodge in the early
morning of the explosion,” Mike said. “And I have it on good authority you knew
her.”
Max, his eyes fixed on the FBI agent, said nothing.
“You need to understand, Mr. Malone, that we’ll figure this
thing out,” Mike said, keeping to his script.
“Yeah?” Max said, issuing an unsuppressed chortle. “Kinda
like Ruby Ridge and Waco?”
Mike stood up, but Max continued to stare him down.
“You need to understand something as well, pal,” Max
continued. No sign of a chortle. “I don’t have any use for your agency, or your
kind. As for your ability to figure this thing out, I’m pretty sure there are
already two or three people who have lapped you.”
“And you’re still sticking to your alibi of Mr. Malone for
that night?” Mike said, eagerly turning to Val after he arrived at the door.
“Yeah,” Val said, leaning one-handed on the sofa back. “I’m
pretty sure of things like that.”
It was uncertain if Valerie Suppine was talking about an
alibi any more.
Mike exited without a glance in Max’s direction. Had he done
so, he would have been highly disappointed. Max was grinning ear-to-ear in
Val’s direction over the top of his coffee mug.
“Whew,” Val exhaled. “What do you suppose that was all
about?”
Max knew the FBI game. It was all about intimidation and
misdirection. But he said nothing, not wanting to disturb Val’s nest.
* * *
Chance Wilde and Anna Belle (now Wilde again) sat on Randy
Wilde’s front porch, gazing out on the Wildewood forest of firs and cedars,
each deep in their private thoughts.
Chance was wrestling with the need to hang around to protect
his granddaughter, or return to the gentle notion of a Colorado winter, while
Anna Belle was wondering how long it was going to take before the Stardust
Lodge insurance settlement arrived.
Chance’s thoughts were of the spirit. Anna Belle’s were of
revenge. Meanwhile, Max was itching to get after someone who had upset his
chosen town of Wildewood – no matter how sinister a place it could be.
After all, it was his town. And he was still Max Malone,
private eye. |
| Gifts from the kitchen! by Taeler Butel on 12/01/2017
Inexpensive and fun to make, a gift of your time and
thoughtfulness will be felt with these gifts from the kitchen.
Homemade chocolate bars
You’ll need parchment paper to wrap, twine and pretty tape
to wrap these up.
2 cups each several types of chocolate: white chocolate,
semi sweet (dark) and milk melted separately in a double broiler.
Accouterments, such as dried cherries, pistachios, crushed
sandwich cookies, caramel chips, sea salt, roasted almonds, toffee bits or
crushed espresso beans.
Coat the bottom of small loaf pans with oil and place a
strip of parchment down the middle.
Pour in about 1/4 cup of the chocolate, then (accouterments
about 2 T each) then top with another 1/4 cup of melted chocolate.
Smooth over and refrigerate until solid, wrap and place in
cool dry area until ready to give.
For the milk chocolate I’ll do the almonds and toffee bits,
for the dark I like to chop the cherries and pistachios and for the white,
crushed cookies and crushed espresso beans.
Olive oil bread dip and pomegranate balsamic vinegar
You can find pretty corked bottles and a nice table cloth to
wrap these in. Throw in a basket with crusty bread and cured meats such as
salami and cheese, and maybe a jar of olives or pickles.
For the oil:
2 cups best quality virgin olive oil
1 T each dried oregano, parsley, rosemary, dehydrated garlic
1 t red pepper flakes, black pepper, sea salt.
Mix together the spices and divide into small jars (about 2
t each) or bottles.Top with olive oil about 1/4 cup and seal with lid or
topper.
For the pomegranate balsamic syrup:
4 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar
Bring to a boil all ingredients in a medium sauce pan,
stirring until honey dissolves, and reduce to simmer. Let reduce by ½, then
cool and jar or bottle.
(Taeler Butel writes exclusively for The Mountain Times.) |
| Influenza – the virus that is nothing for us to sneeze at! by Victoria Larson on 12/01/2017
Antibiotics first came into being in the 1930-40s and really
blossomed after WW II. Now we have resistance to antibiotics creating an even
bigger problem. But the flu is different, as the flu is caused by viruses and
therefore will not respond well to antibiotics. If you demand antibiotics for
colds or the flu you may be creating your own personal antibiotic resistance.
For the record, most of us have antibiotics in our systems even if we’ve never
been prescribed them. 80 percent of antibiotics are in our industrial food
system, especially meat. An argument for a more plant-based diet then.
The most lethal influenza (flu) in history occurred in 1918,
which was the worst, coldest winter the US Midwest had ever experienced. This
strain of flu killed more people in one year than all of the Bubonic Plague! We
were headed into WWI and both politics and money reared their dubious heads.
Medical schools in the late 1800s didn’t require any science
courses! There were no labs for testing anything. Hardly any students ever even
saw a patient. All that medical schools offered was a series of lectures.
Except for the homeopathic schools this was all there was. An epidemic is local
or national. A pandemic is world-wide. In 1918 some of the elderly had been
alive in the great flu of 1889-90. They had either been exposed enough to fend
off this epidemic or perhaps they were the ones who used homeopathics and
survived. Other major rounds of flu have occurred in 1957 and 2003.
Influenza (flu) is still classified by the CDC (Center for
Disease Control) as one disease with pneumonia. Pneumonia was classified as the
leading cause of death in the US until 1936. Even today with antibiotics,
antivirals, oxygen therapies, etc. influenza/flu is still the fifth or sixth
cause of death. This is nothing to sneeze at!
Sneezing and coughing are not the only method of spreading
influenza/pneumonia. Close proximity/crowding, hand-to-nose contact, even
common surfaces may spread the disease. But carrying around antibiotic wipes is
not the solution (see last month’s column). Not only would that be unwieldy and
costly, but it would not counteract viruses. It’s why the fist pump is now as
popular, or more so, than a handshake.
The incubation period is 24 to 72 hours. Hence, early on the
influenza outbreak was called “the 3-day fever.” The influenza virus attacks the
immune system, both directly and indirectly. During the flu epidemic of 1918 it
was not just the young and the elderly who succumbed, but people in the middle
stages of life. It was noted, however, that those with already lowered immune
systems, for instance soldiers living in crowded and intimate contact, were
likely to succumb.
It appears that the fear of the disease caused as many
deaths as the disease itself! Even in 1918 it was noted that the first to
succumb were the weak and fearful. Also those who were malnourished. Even today
we have malnourished people such as the homeless, school children, the elderly
and those who make poor dietary choices.
It is important to remember that despite the horror stories
of that time, most people with influenza/pneumonia survived! Perhaps they were
the ones who had the milder cases that accorded some immunity, they had
stronger immune systems or they simply recovered. My primary bouts with flu
were in 1957 and 2003. Whether or not you get a flu shot is your choice (so
far) but even today the scramble to get the right flu strain is, well, a
scramble.
During the influenza/flu epidemic of 1918 the US Surgeon
General suggested what we all know to be true: to avoid disease cover your
sneezes and coughs, breathe through your nose (to warm your breath), wash your
hands before eating, avoid constipation, avoid other persons who are sick, get
bed rest and keep reasonably clean and well-nourished. Some things haven’t
changed!
There is no cure for influenza. Vaccines and antivirals may
protect but they really just reduce symptoms. Perhaps leaving you feeling
healthy enough to go to work, much to your co-workers angst. But antiviral
foods (herbs, garlic, ginger) also do so. Decreased use of antibiotics in
livestock, packaging and disinfectants would be good too. Good old soap and
water and a little friction will go a long way in keeping you healthy. Eat the
best food you can afford and avoid sugar (it is food for viruses to grow). Eat
truly fermented foods to feed the good microbes in your gut (like sauerkraut
and yogurts with live bacteria). Do these things so you can avoid illness and
have a healthy holiday. |
|  Photo by Gary Randall.
With the spring and summer months behind us and the fall and
winter months ahead, many people start planning ahead for the next season’s
warm weather activities. Many of these plans will revolve around weddings and
wedding engagements. Because of that, I’ve decided to try to provide some
information that will help in deciding what photographer would be best for you
from a photographer’s point of view.
First and foremost is the misconception that all that a
photographer does is show up, take pictures, go home and send them in an email.
That’s no different than thinking that all that the caterer does is show up and
put some food on a table, serve it up and throw away the paper plates. That
food needs to be carefully prepared, delivered carefully and served in a
beautiful way and then the dishes need to be done. It’s a process as
photography is a process. It’s certainly true that you can hire someone to come
and take pictures inexpensively; you can also hire a caterer that will serve TV
dinners.
When you hire a professional photographer you will expect
more than snapshots of the wedding. A photographer can take hundreds or
sometimes a thousand or more photos at a single event. Once back at the studio
they will need to sort out all of the stinkers before starting the processing
phase of the project. Out of focus, closed eyes, redundancy, etc. are all
considered in this phase. This all takes time. After the initial sorting of the
photos there are still many more left to consider whether they’re worthy of
being a final photo.
If the photographer is using film, which some still do, they
will have shooting time plus processing and developing time. If they shoot
digital they will also have processing time. Modern professional photographers
photograph their images in what’s called a RAW file, which is considered a
digital negative as it will need to be converted into a usable image format for
printing or digital display. This RAW format gives the photographer the same
form of adjustment ability that the film photographer does in a darkroom;
primarily brightness, contrast and color adjustments, such as white balance and
saturation, plus a lot more. Because each photo is unique each will typically
require separate attention from the rest. In other words, each photo is
typically processed in its own unique way.
In many cases a professional photographer will have a second
or third photographer at the event. The second, or assistant photographer, is
helpful in capturing fleeting moments that come and are gone in a flash. This
assistant is also helpful in setting up any equipment such as lighting and
backdrops as well as posing people, seeing overlooked details, as well as
sorting the photos after the event. Once sorted, the primary photographer will
process the final photos. A second shooter will also help with any video
captures of the event. Today most professional wedding photographers provide
video service as well.
A professional will also have a backup photographer who will
cover for him if he becomes ill or is unable to photograph the wedding for
unforeseen reasons. The last thing that you want is a sick photographer at the
event or one that’s too ill to attend.
What do you get for your money?
All of this can add up when considering cost. Generally
speaking one can expect to pay from $2,500 – $10,000 for a true professional
wedding photographer. Most photographers will have packages at different levels
of pricing. The packages will typically provide a specified amount of final
photos provided as well as other products, such as specialty printing like
canvas or acrylic prints, a hard bound portfolio album or a video of the event.
I know what you’re thinking. Holy macaroni, right? I know
because I’m asked a lot about photographing weddings and have seen the look in
a few faces when they start to think about their budget. First consider this.
Will you remember or enjoy the catered food in twenty years? Will you remember
the DJ or the wedding planner or the venue manager? In my mind photography is
the most important part of the wedding besides the vows. The photos will be
with you for the rest of your lives and will help you to remember the details
like the fabulous food and great music. Why compromise on what will truly be
heirlooms for you and your family?
I also understand that a professional, in many cases, is
impractical. In those cases my advice is to look for a photographer who is
trying to make a mark or one who is trying to gain experience and a
professional portfolio. Most aspiring photographers are not only willing to
work for less they’re also usually enthusiastic. In this day and age, in many
cases, one will know someone that’s either a friend or a family member that has
a nice camera that would be willing to do this, sometimes for free. Ask to see
their photos. You may be surprised.
And a final word concerning attendees with their own cameras
or cell phone cameras who are tempted to snap photos during the ceremony or
during the professional photographers time.
Please consider that if there’s a hired photographer working
please allow them the freedom to work. There have been many times where I’m
unable to get the photo through or between guests trying to get the same photo.
It also makes it difficult when eyes are straying while a group of people are
all looking at different cameras all at once. Many weddings ask attendees to
not take photos during the ceremony and to relax and enjoy the event. If the
bride and groom ask or if there’s not a professional working photographer there
some brides and grooms want their attendees to snap photos. They figure that 25
photographers working for free are better than one or two pros working for a
wage. That’s a valid approach which I give as an option when I discuss a job
with a potential client.
I hope that this helps those who are considering hiring a
photographer for their wedding. And may I be the first to congratulate you. |
| Contradictions on November forecast, hot next summer by on 11/01/2017
The first 18 days of October were typical early fall
weather, with periods of sunny days followed by cloudy, showery days and
temperatures near their seasonal averages. During the next four days,
Brightwood was soaked with 7.97 inches of rain, while Government Camp received
7.28 inches of rain, melting the remains of snowfall that added up to nine
inches. We were rewarded the rest of the month with sunny, mild weather. As the
rain year ended Sept. 30, Brightwood recorded 107.12 inches of precipitation,
which is 137 percent of the long term average of 81.70 inches.
The National Weather Service is frustrated with different
indicators giving contradictory signals, in addition to keeping a wary eye on
expected development of a La Nina pattern and continued Madden Julian
Oscillation activity. Their best guess for our area expects average temperature
and precipitation levels during November. Their confidence is much higher in
forecasting a La Nina pattern to develop during the winter months, and somewhat
colder than average temperatures for our area during December through March,
with precipitation about average. Further beyond, our area is expected to have
above average temperatures during next summer.
During November, Brightwood has an average high temperature
of 48, an average low of 38, and a precipitation average of 11.78 inches,
including 2.5 inches of snow. During the past 10 years, high temperatures have
reached the 60s seven times, and into the 50s three times. Low temperatures
dropped into the 30s five times, into the 20s four times, and into the teens
once. On average November has six days that record freezing temperatures. The
record precipitation amount for November was set in 2006 with 24.44 inches.
The record November snowfall was set in 1973 with a total of
27.7 inches. The record 24-hour snowfall during November of 8.8 inches was set
on Nov. 5, 1973.
During November, Government Camp has an average high temperature
of 41 degrees, an average low of 29 degrees and a precipitation average of
12.15 inches, including 33.5 inches of snow. During the past 10 years, high
temperatures reached the 60s five years, into the 50s four years and one year
ended in the 40s.
Low temperatures fell into the 20s during six years and into
the teens the remaining four. The record snowfall in November of 125 inches
occurred in 1973. The record 24-hour snowfall of 20 inches was set on Nov. 18,
2010, followed five days later with another 19 inches on Nov. 23. |
| Stardust Melody: Chapter 9 by on 11/01/2017
FBI Agent Mike D’Antonio was back in the Portland bureau,
down in the trenches with Bureau Chief Ted Grayson.
Although having come up empty after interviewing all
possible suspects, with the exception of the mysterious Georgia Lovejoy who was
now in custody as a material witness, D’Antonio was being told to hand over the
case to local authorities. According to Grayson, who was more and more
protective of his time on the job due to the recent addition of his much
younger fourth wife, the bureau simply didn’t have the resources to continue.
After all, there were terrorists in the world.
But unlike Grayson, D’Antonio had a control-freak wife,
Sophia, and seven kids, and he wasn’t ready to give up on an out-of-town
assignment, even if he had to work weekends – which he was actually looking
forward to doing.
Besides, ATF and Homeland Security had determined the
explosion at the Stardust Lodge had nothing to do with them, and the thought of
turning the investigation over to Wildewood’s Police Chief Gandy was, in
D’Antonio’s mind, tantamount to turning loose the Deputy Dogs of Hooterville.
* * *
Max Malone pulled off the road twenty yards before the
wooden bridge that yawned across Ruby River, fifty yards upstream from the picayune
remains of the Stardust Lodge.
Nigel Best, editor and owner of The Wildewood World
newspaper, was waiting, leaning against the back of his Prius, with one foot
planted on the insubstantial back bumper, yet posing no threat due to the
equally insubstantial weight he was applying.
Downriver, insurance investigators were walking through the
wreckage of the lodge, faces covered with masks against the foul odor of
Tannerite, stepping carefully along with inadequate footwear.
Max approached. Nigel pushed his wire-rimmed glasses higher
on his nose in what was more reflexive than required.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Max offered.
“Right, Mr. Malone,” Nigel managed with only a slight
hesitation. “I believe we were both back in the woods where Maggie McGee’s body
had turned up.”
“Right. What do you want?” Max said, somehow not making it
sound like a question. “And it’s Max, not Mister Anything.”
“Sure, uh, Max,” Nigel said, pulling a reporter’s notebook
out of the belt behind his back, thumbing through a few pages, presumably
finding his place. “The FBI agent, D’Antonio, asked me if I knew if you were
working for Beau Kimatian. I said no.”
“No, I wasn’t working for him, or no, you didn’t know?”
“That last one,” Nigel said, turning another page in the
notebook. “Were you?”
“Are you interviewing me? Cuz if you are, I don’t do
interviews. Not for the Wildewood World, or any actual reporter in the real
world.”
“I probably should explain,” Nigel backtracked.
“That’s a start,” Max snorted.
“Uh, I’ve been digging into Beau Kimatian ever since he
acquired the Ruby River property. At first, I just didn’t think it was right
that the Wilde family, Anna Belle in particular, should lose the property, then
I got more concerned when I saw the Stardust Lodge get built, and, of all
things, Anna Belle and Beau got married, followed by a confederacy of
politicians and polecats coming in and out of the place, and I had a hard time
believing that you were working for someone like him, even though your
reputation was, um, not exactly whistle clean, but at least you’d never done
anyone wrong here in Wildewood. Best I knew. I don’t know about France.”
All this without coming up for air.
“You’re about as long-winded when you talk as when you
write,” Max said, pushing the fedora back on his forehead and almost smiling.
Nigel reset his glasses.
“He’s dead, so it doesn’t really matter,” Max went on.
“Yeah, I unshackled Beau from some of his sheckles, pretending to follow Anna
Belle for him. But I wasn’t. For such a supposed high roller, he was pretty
easy to deceive.”
“Maybe he had another motive,” Nigel jumped in. “There’s
this other woman, a Georgia-something, I’m still checking on that. Anyway, I’ve
traced Beau quite a ways back. He’s connected to – and protected from as well –
a lot of, uh, businesses in the South. Riverboat casinos, strip clubs, shopping
malls, bars, restaurants, overseas accounts. I’ve pulled this off through a
college friend of mine who’s now a U.S. Attorney in Florida, and …”
“You’re not old enough to have gone to school with a U.S.
Attorney,” Max interrupted.
“I’m forty-three,” Nigel snapped. “And this old friend of
mine is pretty sure Beau Kimatian is no more an Armenian than the Pope of
Greenwich Village. She’s come up with another name from his past. Makes you
kind of wonder if that was him in the lodge? Interested yet?”
He was.
After all, he is Max Malone, private eye. |
| MHGS: not so fantastic – China looks to cut plastic imports by Mary Soots on 11/01/2017
There is a crisis unfolding in the global recycling scene
that will have profound effects on all of us down to the household level. In
the world of trade, ‘Scrap and Waste’ is the sixth largest U.S. export to
China. Now China says it doesn’t want our garbage any more.
The following is an article reprinted from The Conversation,
a British site which explains our situation:
“The dominant position that China holds in global
manufacturing means that for many years China has also been the largest global
importer of many types of recyclable materials. Last year, Chinese manufacturers
imported 7.3m metric tonnes of waste plastics from developed countries
including the UK, the EU, the US and Japan. However, in July 2017, China
announced big changes in the quality control placed on imported materials,
notifying the World Trade Organisation that it will ban imports of 24
categories of recyclables and solid waste by the end of the year. This campaign
against yang laji or “foreign garbage” applies to plastic, textiles and mixed
paper and will result in China taking a lot less material as it replaces
imported materials with recycled material collected in its own domestic market,
from its growing middle-class and Western-influenced consumers.
The impact of this will be far-reaching. China is the
dominant market for recycled plastic. There are concerns that much of the waste
that China currently imports, especially the lower grade materials, will have
nowhere else to go. This applies equally to other countries including the EU27,
where 87% of the recycled plastic collected was exported directly, or
indirectly (via Hong Kong), to China. Japan and the US also rely on China to
buy their recycled plastic. Last year, the US exported 1.42m tons of scrap
plastics, worth an estimated US$495m to China.
Plastic problems
So what will happen to the plastic these countries collect
through household recycling systems once the Chinese refuse to accept it? What
are the alternatives? Plastics collected for recycling could go to energy
recovery (incineration). They are, after all, a fossil-fuel based material and
burn extremely well – so on a positive note, they could generate electricity
and improve energy self-sufficiency. They could also go to landfill (not ideal)
– imagine the press headlines. Alternatively, materials could be stored until
new markets are found. This also brings problems, however – there have been
hundreds of fires at sites where recyclable materials are stored.
Time to change our relationship with plastic?
While it is a reliable material, taking many forms from
cling film (surround wrap) to flexible packaging to rigid materials used in
electronic items, the problems caused by plastic, most notably litter and ocean
plastics, are receiving increasing attention. One way forward might be to limit
its functions. Many disposable items are made from plastic. Some of them are
disposable by necessity for hygiene purposes – for instance, blood bags and
other medical items – but many others are disposable for convenience.
Looking at the consumer side of things, there are ways of
cutting back on plastic. Limiting the use of plastic bags through financial
disincentives is one initiative that has shown results and brought about
changes in consumer behaviour. In France, some disposable plastic items are
banned and in Britain, leading pub chain Wetherspoons has banned disposable,
one-use plastic drinking straws. Deposit and return schemes for plastic bottles
(and drink cans) could also incentivise behavior. Micro-beads, widely used in
cosmetics as exfoliants, are now a target as the damage they do becomes
increasingly apparent and the UK government has announced plans to ban their
use in some products. This follows similar actions announced by the US and
Canada, with several EU nations, South Korea and New Zealand also planning to
implement bans.
Many local authorities collect recycling that is jumbled
together. But a major side effect of this type of collection is that while it
is convenient for the householder, there are high contamination levels which
leads to reduced material quality. This will mean it is either sold for lower
prices into a limited market, will need to be reprocessed through sorting
plants, or will be incinerated or put in landfill. But changes to recycling
collections and reprocessing to improve the quality of materials could be expensive.
Alternatively, recycled plastic could be used to provide chemicals to the
petrochemical sector, fuels to the transport and aviation sectors, food
packaging and many other applications.
The problems we are now facing are caused by China’s global
dominance in manufacturing and the way many countries have relied on one market
to solve their waste and recycling problems. The current situation offers us an
opportunity to find new solutions to our waste problem, increase the proportion
of recycled plastic in our own manufactured products, improve the quality of
recovered materials and to use recycled material in new ways.”
(https://theconversation.com/us)
In Oregon, the Department of Environmental Quality states
that it “is following the proposed China ban of post-consumer plastics and
unsorted paper closely and is engaged in ongoing conversations with local
governments, collectors, processors and industry representatives. Given the
major market disruption this is causing, DEQ and its partners are preparing for
different possibilities and developing strategies to maintain recycling
collection and processing where possible as we update those systems to recycle
more effectively in the future.
These challenges also present an opportunity to develop
long-term plans to strengthen local processing capacity, identify and grow new
markets, reduce contamination and deepen partnerships.
The DEQ is
encouraging residents to continue recycling as much as possible, but to stop
“wishful recycling,” which is putting an item into a recycling container that
doesn’t belong, wishing it will be recycled.
On a more local level, our mountain community has had
challenges with recycling since its inception. The Mt. Hood Green Scene has
been working with Clackamas County’s Resource Conservation & Solid Waste
management to address the current issue and will continue to work with our
community to find solutions to our local challenges. |
| Teaching children to bowl is leading cause of sterility in men by on 11/01/2017
Teaching a child to bowl is truly a bonding experience —
meaning that you should really consider taking out a bond before entering the
bowling alley.
As someone who escaped the experience with only a minor
skull fracture and minimal orthodontic surgery, I feel I’ve acquired a level of
expertise that could be helpful. First of all, don’t change into your bowling
shoes while in the carpeted area. It will give you a false sense of security —
and make you less prepared for the realization that walking in tractionless
shoes on a highly-waxed surface is a lot like strapping soap bars to your feet
and trying to cross a wet mirror.
Ironically, your children will have a natural ability to
perform double axels over the same surface. That isn’t to say that you won’t,
it’s just that theirs will be on purpose.
When it comes to selecting a bowling ball, remember: At some
point it will be hurled backwards and into your stomach, chin, and/or groin. So
go light, and make sure your child’s fingers fit the holes snuggly. A ball
that’s moving out of control but still attached to a small child can provide you
with an extra two seconds of reaction time.
As most bowlers know, delivery style is a crucial element to
success. A curve or spin placed at just the right arc can mean the difference
between a strike or split. Fortunately, you won’t have to worry about either
since your child’s delivery will be closer to something like this:
Walk up to line.
Lift ball over head.
Throw ball straight down.
Get soda while ball is moved by earth’s gravity toward pins.
It’s at this point that the manager will offer your child
free, personal instruction that begins immediately.
Next, don’t forget to ask for bumpers, which are metal gates
about six inches high that extend to block the gutters and keep the ball in
play. In addition to that, consider bringing along some extra fencing
[chain-link is best] that can be attached to the bumpers. Though the metal
gates keep the ball in play, the fencing will ensure that play remains in your
lane.
Finally, it’s inevitable that your child will become
infatuated with the ball-return mechanism, which is sort of like a giant throat
that hacks up bowling balls from somewhere beneath the lanes. At some point,
your child will begin hovering around it in spite of your warnings that
ball-return machines have been known to suddenly switch into reverse and suck
small children into them, where they are forced to live as pin-setters until
released by an 800-series bowler.
This makes no difference to a 5-or 6-year-old drawn to the
mystery of the ball-return machine — which brings me to my final suggestion:
If you have a child who bowls, always keep a spare.
(You can write to Ned Hickson at nedhickson@icloud.com, or
c/o the Siuslaw News, 148 Maple St., Florence, Ore. 97439) |
| A farewell: thank you for the opportunity to serve HD 52 by on 11/01/2017
When I first ran to be your State Representative seven years
ago, I did so because I was concerned about the future of our state. I felt
that I could make a positive impact for all Oregonians. Since being first
elected back in 2010, I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish and
contribute to the legislative process, and for the service I’ve been able to
provide to my constituents.
Recently, another service opportunity has come my way as I
applied and was hired to be the first President and CEO of Oregon Business and
Industry. OBI is the largest business association in Oregon and represents more
than 1,600 businesses, from major international corporations to small
businesses throughout our state. I chose to take this position because of many
of the same reasons that I originally ran for the Oregon House: my concern for
our state and the need for Oregon’s businesses to have a stronger voice. I
believe my time in the legislature has prepared me to provide the leadership
that OBI needs at this time and I’m looking forward to this new challenge.
Because of this new opportunity, I will be resigning my seat
in the legislature in early November. After the resignation, an appointment
process outlined in state law will begin to choose my replacement. I plan to be
actively involved in that process to ensure that the appointed Representative
is prepared to serve our district and to help him or her become familiar with
all of you. The communities on the Mountain need a representative who
understands your local needs and someone who will work with local and state
partners to find solutions on your behalf.
It has been an honor to advocate for the Mountain
communities, and all of House District 52, in the state legislature. As I move
on, I will miss the wonderful people and the relationships I’ve made with many
of you. From the Ant Farm in Sandy to the Mt. Hood Lions Club in Welches, this
area is home to service organizations that help make the Mountain a truly
special place. I want to personally thank the Mountain Times for allowing me to
use this forum to communicate directly with residents of the area about issues
of importance to them and to the state of Oregon. It has been a rewarding
experience and I thank you for all of your support these past years. I’ll still
be a resident of HD 52, so I might see you in the coffee shops, hiking trails
or on the slopes! Thank you for allowing me to serve you as your State
Representative.
Sincerely,
Mark Johnson
(Mark Johnson is the State Representative for HD 52.) |
| Sides, Glorious Sides! by Taeler Butel on 11/01/2017
My favorite thing to make for Thanksgiving is an invite to
someone else’s home. There are a couple rules to this game – you must bring
something amazing that adds to the menu and a hostess gift of sparkling cider
or wine is a nice way to get invited back.
Here are a couple of scrumptious sides anyone will
appreciate:
Roasted Maple Butternut Squash Dressing
2 lbs butternut squash peeled and chopped to 1/2” dice
1 T kosher salt 1/2 t cracked black pepper
1 t chopped fresh Rosemary
1 t fresh chopped sage
1/8 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fresh pomegranate kernels
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 cup cooked wild rice
2 stalks green onions sliced on the bias
Heat oven to 400 degrees
In a small bowl, whisk syrup with herbs and pomegranate
kernels and set aside.
Toss remaining ingredients together on a sheet pan. Roast
for 20 minutes stirring at least once. Coat with the maple mixture, place in
oven another five minutes and toss in wild rice.
Root Vegetable Gratin
1/2 lb Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1 bulb fennel sliced thin
1/2 lb sweet potatoes sliced thin
1 T crushed garlic
2 leeks sliced thin
1 t salt and pepper
1/2 cup gruyere cheese
1 stick butter softened
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup half and half
1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
Toss together vegetables, Gruyere, cream, garlic, salt and
pepper in a gratin dish, and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.
Mix together Parmesan, butter and panko. Place crumb mixture
on top and bake another five to ten minutes, until golden brown.
(Taeler Butel writes exclusively for The Mountain Times.) |
| The gut punch: antibiotics and the role of good microbes by Victoria Larson on 11/01/2017
The word microbiotic means “tiny living thing.” It used to
be blanketed with the moniker “germs.” The germ theory claimed that all disease
was caused by germs, so we grew to believe that all germs are bad. But germs,
or the more currently politically correct terminology, microbiota, can be good
or bad depending on the amount, the location and who or what they land on!
The germ theory convinced us that we needed to fight the
“battle of germs.” A battle we will never, ever win. There are more microbes in
each and every human gut than there are stars in the Universe! About nine or
ten microbes per human cell, and we have trillions of cells in each of us. But
we’ve been manipulated into spending huge sums of money on anti-bacterial
soaps, hand sanitizers and anti-microbial packaging on just about everything we
touch or ingest. Despite the fact that we’ve lived on this earth without these
“germ fighters” for thousands of years.
Now don’t get me wrong, anti-biotics have saved many a life
and we’re grateful to have them when we really need them. But no anti-biotic
kills all the bacteria that cause an infection. The surviving microbes that
weren’t killed by the anti-biotic go on to confer their genes to other
microbes, telling them to avoid that particular antibiotic in the future. Thus
we have antibiotic resistance. That’s a very real danger. For the record, 90
percent of antibiotics are given to animals (whether they need them or not) to
increase their weight or cause them to give more eggs or milk. A case for more
vegetables and less meat!
In the early 1940s penicillin became the antibiotic of
choice. Resistance to penicillin began showing up by 1965. Tetracycline came to
the fore in 1950 but lost its oomph by 1960. Erythromycin was the answer in the
mid-1950s, but became resistant by 1960. New antibiotics since after 1970 are
already showing resistance, some being beneficial for only a brief period of
time. This is a big problem now especially in hospitals. In New York City
hospitals the antibiotics have to be changed about every four months in order
to avoid resistance.
Researchers at Oregon State University previously discovered
that not only do antibiotics kill the microbes (bacteria), but they are also
capable of destroying some of the cells lining the colon. While antibiotics do
reduce infections, both chronic and autoimmune diseases have rapidly increased
in the last fifty years. Any kind of doctor in practice for twenty years or more
can attest to this. We are now treating different problems. In 1900 infection
represented 53 percent of disease, chronic disease was only 36 percent and the
rest of disease was attributed to other causes. By 2011 infection represents
only three percent of disease but now chronic disease has risen to a whopping
88 percent. And doctors now see 40 percent more gut dysfunction than we did
just 20 years ago.
This is not to say you should extend the “five -second rule”
to five minutes or stop washing your hands. But maybe just rinsing your root
vegetables rather than peeling them, or washing your clothes with water and
soap that isn’t necessarily antibacterial is the way to go.
We can see the problem but how do we fix it? Everything you
touch has microbes on it. Every doorknob, person, pet or other object. Microbes
are inescapable. Even the much-advertised sprays which do indeed kill 99
percent of “germs,” do so for approximately sixty seconds. So that’s clearly
not the answer.
Now let’s go back to those trillions of microbes that exist
in everyone’s body. Our gut (mouth to ... the other end) does a great job of
destroying most of the bad microbes unless there are just too many of the wrong
kind in the wrong place or unless the interior of the gut has had all the normal
flora (microbes) destroyed. So how do you protect yourself?
We’ve been trained to take an antibiotic for what ails you
even if it’s a virus (most colds and flu) or other cause that antibiotics won’t
even address. What if, instead, you ingested pre-biotics to feed the good
microbes in your gut. Increasing the good microbes automatically confers
resistance to the wrong ones. Pre-biotics contain inulin from onions and
garlic. Their polysaccharides provide food for your good gut microbes. Also
potatoes, carrots, the skins of apples and pears. Your internal flora ferment
these foods for good gut health.
Pro-biotics benefit particular parts of the gut system.
These include strains such as Bifidus, Bulgaris and Lactobacillus, found in
foods like aged cheeses, kimchi, pickles, sauerkraut, sourdough bread and
yogurt. And some of these foods should be eaten on a daily basis in order to
confer healthy immunity to your gut system.
We have a very wide variety of healthy foods in America. We
have an even wider variety of unhealthy foods available that we should try to
avoid as much as possible. All we have to do is eat the proper foods, opt for
free range and grass fed animal products, increase vegetables for their complex
carbohydrate content which is good food for your interior gut microbes. Avoid
water during meals as this dilutes enzymes necessary for proper digestion and
assimilation. Eat for health but don’t destroy your microbes. And replenish
those good microbes if you do have to have antibiotics. |
|  Photo by Charlie Riter, Big Tree Images
Here on Mount Hood we are literally surrounded by
forestlands. Our homes touch the edge of the Mount Hood National Forest and
with increased recreational usage and in light of the recent Eagle Creek Fire
in the Columbia River Gorge, concerns about wildfires and overuse are
increasing. Many people aren’t aware that our local village is less than 20
miles from the Columbia River Gorge and the Eagle Creek Fire boundaries. A wind
in a different direction was the only thing that prevented that fire from
becoming a direct concern to our community. In this day and age recreation is increasingly becoming the
purpose and primary use of the forest. The amount of people using trails and
camping areas has increased dramatically on public lands, especially in areas
such as the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area and the Mount Hood National
Forest. Local and federal governments are trying their best to develop and to promote
these areas to increase the usage, and with this increased usage comes an
increase in the impact on these areas. This makes our personal responsibility
to, and the assumption of stewardship of, these lands important. We can’t have
the attitude that it’s just the outdoors and that it will grow back or that the
government will just repair or rebuild it. We must take care of it or lose it. Most all of those who are coming out to use the forests are
prepared, capable and aware of the responsibility involved in the use of these
public lands, but there’s also an increased chance of having someone that’s not
aware making mistakes or bad decisions that could prove costly or dangerous. There
are many people who haven’t had the opportunity to live or to be taught the
outdoor experience during their childhood. We can’t assume that everyone that
is visiting the forest is aware of responsible forest use. There are some basics that anyone that’s going to spend time
in the forest should be aware of and they should be understood by anyone that
goes out into the forest to recreate. The US Forest Service website has a
wealth of information such as this that can be used to raise your awareness or
of that of your friends and family before they go to play. They call it
Responsible Recreation: - Camp responsibly – use existing campsites or use an area
without vegetation if possible. Keep the site small to minimize your impact.
Don’t chop down or into trees. Camp at least 200 feet away from lakes, streams
or wetlands. Use biodegradable soap or just plain water to wash.
- Answering nature’s call – human waste can cause all kinds of
problems if it’s introduced into the water. When you must go find a place
that’s at least 200 feet from any water source. Dig a hole at least 6-8 inches
deep to bury human waste. Pack out your toilet paper etc. Carry zip lock backs
for this purpose. It’s kinda icky, but you’ll get used to it.
- Be fire safe – first and foremost check with the ranger
station in the area that you will be about any fire restrictions. Have a
shovel, axe and a bucket of water available before starting the fire. Use
existing fire rings. Remove flammable material from a ten foot diameter area
around the fire. Keep fires inside of the fire ring. Don’t feed large logs into
the fire. Never leave a fire unattended. Keep fires small and bring your own
firewood. If you must collect wood from around your camp collect downed and dry
wood only. Extinguish your fire properly. Pour water slowly into the coals
while stirring with your shovel until the area is cool to the touch. Do not
bury the fire as it can smolder for days. Never bring fireworks into the forest
no matter the conditions.
- Keep the forest creatures wild – don’t approach wildlife.
Don’t feed wildlife. Keep your dog completely under your control or on a leash
to keep wildlife safe.
- Don’t erase the traces of America’s past – archaeological
and culturally significant sites are protected and must be preserved for future
generations. Anyone disturbing such areas can be dealt a substantial penalty if
caught.
- Be considerate of others – this should be a given in this
society but unfortunately some folks don’t consider how their action affect
others. Be courteous on trails and in the backcountry. Yield to others on
trails. Take breaks and make camps away from trails and others who may want to
experience the solitude of the area. Keep noises down and let nature’s sounds
and noises dominate.
And last but not least, don’t forget to take your camera.
It seems like a lot of ‘do not do’s’ but trust that the do’s
far outweigh the do not’s, so go out and enjoy the outdoors. |
| Trick, or treat? October expected to be warm and wet by on 10/02/2017
Similar to the previous month, September got off to a hot
start with four of the first five days reaching the 90 degree mark in
Brightwood. Temperatures slowly cooled, reaching seasonal levels by the start
of the third week and falling below average a few days later. Temperatures
rebounded during the final week, ending the month reaching above average levels
again. Heavy rain fell during a four-day stormy period from Sept. 18-21
resulting with totals far in excess for the month’s total average. As many of you
may have suspected, this summer set a record with an unbelievable total of 25
days reaching 90 degrees or higher, compared to an average of ten in
Brightwood.
The National Weather Service is keeping an eye on
indications that an El Nino pattern may return and is again facing
uncertainties caused by an active Madden Julian Oscillation observation. Their
forecast for our area during October calls for above average temperatures and
above average precipitation also.
During October, Brightwood has an average high temperature
of 59, an average low of 43 and a precipitation average of 6.82 inches. During
the past ten years, high temperatures have reached the 70s seven times and into
the 60s three times. Low temperatures dropped into the 40s once, into the 30s eight
years and into the 20s once. Chances for a freezing temperature in October are
favorable two times out of three.
The only recent record of snowfall in Brightwood during
October was a remarkable seven inches measured on Oct. 31, 1994. Of interest,
last October, Brightwood recorded 17.86 inches of precipitation, although not a
record.
During October, Government Camp has an average high
temperature of 53 degrees, an average low of 36 degrees and a precipitation
average of 7.03 inches, including 5.5 inches of snow. During the past ten
years, high temperatures reached the 70s five years and an equal number of
times into the 60s. Low temperatures fell into the 30s during four years and
into the 20s the remaining six. The latest date to reach a freezing temperature
was Oct. 22, 1975, but the mean date is Sept. 23. The record snowfall in
October of 34 inches occurred in 1984. The record 24-hour snowfall of 15 inches
was set on Oct. 21, 1961, compared to a more recent total of 12 inches measured
on Oct. 27, 2009. |
| Stardust Melody: Chapter 8 by on 10/02/2017
Max Malone chugged his old Suburban past the police station
and slowed just long enough to gather in a scene the likes that the mountain
community of Wildewood had never seen:
Every conceivable type of law enforcement officer had
arrived in town, with the mass of humanity overflowing from the police station
into the street, coupled with a morning crowd of local onlookers huddled
together on the opposite side of the street, some with cups of coffee, others
puffing through their second morning cigarette, chatting among themselves about
absolutely nothing, but nevertheless dressed similarly in various versions of
Levis and Wranglers as if they all played for the same denim bowling team.
In other words, it resembled a presidential nominating
convention that somehow got mistakenly booked in Boise.
For those important, and possibly unlucky, enough to be
inside the one-horse town of a police station, FBI agent Mike D’Antonio was
droning on about what he knew so far, by way of catching up the really
important agents from Homeland Security and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Homeland Security personnel – there were four of them, three
men who blended into the knotty pine paneling and a woman so stern looking her
first name had to be Sam, and as it turned out, it was – plus the ATF boys,
hopelessly outnumbered as there were only three and their demeanor reflected
this fact as they shuffled their feet like penguins rolling an egg.
* * *
Max Malone pulled up at the former residence of Randy Wilde,
who at the moment was languishing in what might have actually been better digs,
that being county jail, where he was a government guest awaiting trial for
robbing a gas station.
Randy’s daughter, Anna Belle Wilde, was rocking gently on a
porch swing that complained like a hog trapped in a bog, while her grandfather,
Chance Wilde, leaned in the doorway, one boot holding open the screen door. As
Max swung open the gate that seemed to harmonize with the hog, Anna smiled
broadly and Chance almost nodded.
Max barely settled into a wicker chair on the porch, keeping
his weight forward to avoid the broken slat at the back of the seat. He looked
at Anna, who was still grinning like a Cheshire cat, then Chance, who might
have been the Mad Hatter if he’d ever been to Danville, Connecticut.
(Over the years there had been women who knew if Chance ever
took off that Stetson, but none of them were talking.)
“That FBI agent talked to you yet?” Max asked, shattering
the looking glass.
“Yep,” Chance responded with his usual eloquence.
“Oh yes he did,” Anna answered breathlessly.
“Well, you were both here when the Stardust Lodge went up,
right?” Max again.
“Of course,” Anna again.
“Where were you Max?” Chance said through a smile so narrow
you couldn’t slide a credit card without it getting refused.
“Home.”
“Good,” Chance expounded. “Anyone see ya there?”
Max stood up, but before he could reply Anna broke in.
“C’mon Gramps. You know he was with that uptown Reno gal.”
“That’s good,” Max said, ignoring Anna. “So, the authorities
have nothing to go on. Locally anyway.”
Max shrugged, thinking how Valerie Suppine actually had not
arrived in Wildewood until the morning after the explosion.
Max, to Anna: “The FBI agent said there were three bodies in
the lodge. But Beau only had one bodyguard.”
Anna called Max’s shrug with one of her own, and raised him
the other shoulder.
Max drifted away with a one-finger private eye salute from
his fedora, a familiar bounce returning to his step.
* * * D’Antonio’s briefing of Homeland Security and ATF can be
summed up by: There was no one in town sophisticated enough to successfully
blow up that lodge, not to mention all the players connected to the lodge had
alibis – including the owner’s wife who was staying at her dad’s house with
gramps in the other room, and a mystery woman named Georgia Lovejoy who was
convincingly shook up that her paramour, the lodge’s owner, was dead, and the
two-bit private eye who had been working for the lodge’s owner, but really
wasn’t.
At this point, the FBI agent didn’t have a good fix on the
price of Max Malone, private eye. |
| MHGS: fall is the time to get your yard and garden in order by Mary Soots on 10/02/2017
The nights are beginning to cool, which is wonderful for a
good night’s rest. The mornings are chilly, but the days are still warm. Fall
is in the air, the leaves are changing colors and the deciduous trees are
beginning their decline. We mountain denizens know it’s time to get ready for
whatever comes our way during the coming winter.
But before we start moving into winter, fall is also the
best time of year to think about our yards and gardens. A little work this time
of year can make for a healthier yard in the spring and summer. Here are some
sustainable yard tips:
- Leaves – If you want to get rid of your leaves and feed your
lawn at the same time, run the lawnmower a few times. The leaves will decompose
faster and provide nutrition for the soil. Alternately, you can rake the leaves
and compost them so that you’ll have rich nutrient-filled soil in the spring.
- Plant trees – Fall is the best time to plant new trees. The
hot summer is behind us, the rainfall will help establish new trees, bushes and
flowers, so they have a better chance of survival than if they were planted
when it was hot. Make sure to select those trees that are native to this area
so that they can support native habitats and watersheds. Native trees are best
adapted to our soil type and more resistant to drought and pests. Keep in mind
the amount of sunlight you have available on your property.
- Plant perennials – Don’t spend extra money buying new plants
year after year. Choose perennials that will continue to get larger each year
until you can divide them and have even more beautiful plants. Planting them in
the fall is the ideal time, after the heat and while they still have plenty of
time to get established before the cold of winter. In the spring, your plants
will thrive. As our summers are getting warmer, select drought-resistant native
plants that will thrive without having to be watered.
- Fertilize your lawn – If you have a lawn, that is. Many of
us prefer to have a more natural, low-maintenance yard. But if you are going to
fertilize your lawn, fall is the best time of the year to do it. In fact, you
can fertilize now and you fertilize again in the late fall for best results.
And of course, use an organic fertilizer.
- Remove weeds – You know those pesky weeds like dandelions,
thistles, and ivy? Fall is the best time to attack. You can pull them by hand,
pour boiling water on them, or even use an organic broadleaf herbicide to
prevent their return in the spring.
- Remove the lawn – More and more, landscapers and homeowners
are moving away from the idea of lawns. They are high-maintenance, and the cost
to maintain can be astronomical, especially with the rising costs of water.
Lawns that are not maintained through organic fertilizers can be detrimental to
our water systems, creating algae blooms and raising toxicity levels for fish.
Replacing the lawn with native vegetation such as bushes, flowers, and trees
can enhance the beauty of your yard.
- Fertilize organically – When preparing your soil for next
year, add organic, slow-release fertilizers that will help enhance your soil
over time. These fertilizers are made of natural materials, contain vital
nutrients to help your plants grow, and prevent plants from getting nitrogen.
Most garden stores today carry a wide variety of organic fertilizers; many
catalog companies also sell organic products, or you can use the compost you
processed yourself.
With a little planning now, we can start enjoying our yard
with less work once the winter has come and gone. Happy gardening! |
| First step to good golfing: Get a grip by on 10/02/2017
When our publisher
began looking for someone to captain our golf team for a recent fundraiser, it
only made sense that she came to me first. That’s because, being that I was
once a sports writer, I’m naturally a great golfer. Just like I’m a great
shot-put thrower, quarterback, point guard, stock-car racer, Extreme
skateboarder, free-style swimmer and calf roper. In fact, I sometimes wonder
where I might be today had my sports career not been tragically cut short by my
complete lack of athletic talent. This discovery was made as early as first
grade when, during a dodgeball game, I was knocked unconscious and rushed to
the nurse’s office after being hit by the ball.
Forty-seven times.
(And I should mention that recess only lasted 10 minutes in
those days.)
After agreeing to captain our golf team, I gave myself a
crash course on golfing — beginning with golf terminology. I immediately went
online for help and, thanks to the power of the Internet, found myself on an
inappropriate website after typing in the first term on my list: Mixed
Foursome.
For anyone else who might be looking to the Internet for
golf-term clarifications, I’d also suggest avoiding Scotch Foursome, Shag Bag
and Loose Impediments. While these are all legitimate golfing terms, try
explaining that to your wife when she finds you doing an Internet search for
the term Double-D.
(Which, by the way, means when a driver is used on the
fairway after it has also been used to tee off — so THERE, Mrs. Smarty Pants.)
After getting a handle on the game’s terminology, the next
thing on my list was golf etiquette. I know for a lot of people, one of the
things that keeps them from actually trying golf is the fear of unintentionally
doing something that, as a result of not knowing the proper etiquette, gets them
clubbed to death by someone with a 9-iron. That’s because, to the outside
observer, things that seem to warrant a good clubbing are actually no big deal.
You want to swing your club and take a six-inch gouge out of an otherwise
perfect lawn?
Fine.
Want to drink a beer AND drive an electric go-cart through
the woods?
Perfectly acceptable.
However, walk between someone’s ball and a small hole in the
ground, and there’s a good chance you’ll be found floating in a water hazard.
The thing to remember is that you will undoubtedly make some
mistakes your first time on the course, and that’s to be expected. What won’t
be expected is a hollowed-out golf club that can be loaded with tees and used
as a blowgun should you need to defend yourself.
But you didn’t hear that from me.
This brings us to the actual fundamentals of playing golf —
which begins with finding your “natural swing.” Ask any golfer the secret to
doing this, and they’ll tell you it’s all about having the proper grip. To
achieve this, simply make sure the back of your left hand as well as the palm
of your right hand are both facing your target. Then, using the thumb of your
right hand as a guide, wrap your fingers around one side, then do the same with
your left while, very slowly, bringing them both back into a perfect arch so
that your beer doesn’t spill on the way to your mouth.
After a couple of practice swigs, place your beer back in
the cooler and you’re ready to tee-off.
This may not improve your swing much, but it will provide
you with a legitimate excuse as to why you shot a 167 on a par-72 course.
And if that isn’t enough, you can always claim that playing
in a mixed foursome was just too darned distracting.
(Write to Ned Hickson at nedhickson@icloud.com or c/o
Siuslaw News, 148 Maple Street, Florence, Ore 97439) |
| Eagle Creek Fire highlights need for better land management by on 10/02/2017
We’ve had quite an exciting fall season already. For the
other side of the Mountain and the Columbia River Gorge region, the Eagle Creek
fire dominated most of my September. As citizens evacuated their homes and I-84
remained closed for an unprecedented amount of time, local businesses suffered
from loss of sales. I’m proud of the coordinated effort between the Oregon
Department of Transportation, Forestry, State Fire Marshal as well as the first
responders that aided from across the state to protect what they could of our
Nation Scenic Area and its residents. This fire, and the many others that have
swept across Oregon this past summer, continue to point out the need for better
management of our state and federal forestlands. I’m hopeful the legislature
will convene hearings on this topic soon that will lead to much needed action.
In other September news, I attended part two of an Energy
Conference (part one was in July). During this conference, I developed an even
deeper understanding of how our state can maximize its current investment in
renewable energy and return that benefit back to you as a consumer. As a member
of the House Energy and Environment committee, I’m focused on ensuring that we
get the most out of our current policies in place before considering any
further costly legislation.
I had a great time celebrating the rebuilding of the iconic
“Swinging Bridge” in Rhododendron last month. Thank you to the Rhododendron CPO
for the invitation. It is important to make sure that our Mountain communities
are part of the planning process of the Hwy 26 corridor. I know that the CPO
used this celebration to encourage community engagement in the future growth
and development of Rhododendron. I plan to continue to remain engaged as well
and am open to assisting in any way I can.
In addition, I’m researching whether there may be a need to
address the safety corridor issue with legislation. With so much additional
traffic now on Hwy 26 the corridor is an important component of public safety
on the Mountain. I want to make sure that local communities have a say in the
creation and preservation of the corridors and not a state agency.
Lastly, on Sept. 23 I was honored to once again serve as
judge for the Mt Hood Lions Club 3rd annual Chili Cook Off. I’ve got to admit
this is one of my favorite in-district activities to be a part of! I’m sure
it’s no secret to residents of the area, but there are some talented chefs from
local restaurants! They really came up with some tasty chili for the event.
Hats off to the Lions for their great work on this event and to the entire
community that came out to support a great cause.
The time between legislative sessions is important for me to
have discussions with my constituents, attend local events, and take ideas back
to Salem. Please feel free to contact me with any ideas or issues you may have:
503-986-1452 or rep.markjohnson@oregonlegislature.gov.
(Mark Johnson is the State Representative for HD 52.) |
| Is it fall yet? by Taeler Butel on 10/02/2017
Welcome back chilly nights with these simple scrumptious
meals:
Fall fondue
1 cup Swiss cheese cubed
3 oz cream cheese
Salt & pepper 1/2 t each
1 crushed clove garlic
1 cup milk or 1/2 & 1/2
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup dry white wine
Pinch of nutmeg
1 T each butter and flour
Start by heating a heavy bottomed pot over med heat, then
add butter, flour and salt and pepper and whisk for about a minute.
Add in garlic and wine, then stir until thickened. Add milk
or cream to mixture as well as cream cheese and Swiss cheese. Stir and add to
fondue pot, then sprinkle nutmeg on top.
Serve with roasted butternut squash, toasted cubed bread,
cauliflower, sliced sausage, pickles, fingerling potatoes and roasted peppers,
and a salad.
Rueben casserole
1/2 lb pastrami chopped
1 package cooked ziti pasta
1 jar Alfredo sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 slices rye bread crumbs
1 cup sauerkraut
3 T Thousand Island dressing
1 T butter
Salt & pepper
1 T melted butter
Heat oven to 350
In a large bowl toss cooked pasta, pastrami, Alfredo sauce,
1/2 cup cheese, 1/2 t salt and pepper.
Pour mixture into casserole dish, then sprinkle on
sauerkraut and drizzle dressing over the casserole.
In a small bowl mix bread crumbs, butter and 1/2 cup
shredded Swiss cheese, then sprinkle on top of casserole. Bake 25 minutes.
(Taeler Butel writes exclusively for The Mountain Times.) |
| The Milky Way – how milk has changed and changed us by Victoria Larson on 10/02/2017
Milk, it does a body good, doesn’t it. Well, unless you are
lactose intolerant or vegan or hate milk. But that’s not the issue here. As far
back as 1929 John Crewe, MD of the Mayo Clinic, wrote an article entitled “Raw
Milk Cures Many Diseases.” In those days most doctors approached disease by
providing advice for diet alteration, homeopathics, hydrotherapy or prayer.
This was way before the Big Pharmaceutical companies persuaded many doctors to
use drug therapies instead. After all, there’s money in drugs.
From the 1800s until the 1950s most families consumed fresh
raw milk, not pasteurized or homogenized. In fact, most households still had a
cow, even in the cities, or got milk from a neighbor who had a cow or a goat.
In the 1940s raw milk was a staple in the American diet. The operative word
here is “raw” milk. By the 1950s most milk in America was pasteurized. So
what’s the story here?
Pasteurization came about in the early 1900s but people
still had a choice – store bought pasteurized milk or neighbor’s raw milk. The operative
word here being “choice.” In a nation where choices dwindle every day let’s
take a further look at some history.
When the Pilgrims landed in 1620 there were no livestock on
board the ships, leaving them woefully unprepared for survival, until later
landings brought butter, cheese and milk. At that time most dairy products
arriving were from the Dutch. Jan Kaas, or John Cheese, became the word
“Yankee!” Churches in early settlements were located within areas where the
farmer could walk home to milk his cows twice a day!
The famous Boston Common began as a cow pasture, and
continued pasturing cows until 1850. Cows were kept on common ground even (or
especially) in the cities. But here’s where a change comes to animal husbandry.
When distillation and fermentation of grains into alcohol
(whiskey) became popular, it was discovered that feeding the slop, or swill, to
cows greatly increased milk production. Somehow the image of tipsy cows doesn’t
thrill me. But the bottom line was that someone made more money.
But swill milk, as it became known, lacked the healing
properties of fresh raw milk. It could not even be used for making butter or
cheese. The slop, or swill, milk industry led to a rapid rise in infant
mortality. Half of the infant deaths in cities were caused by diarrhea, caused
by the vastly inferior product produced from these “industrial” cows. Thus,
pasteurization of city milk made sense.
Let’s face it, just as with humans, the cow’s diet largely
determines its health. But slop milk was thin and somewhat bluish so it was
“pumped up” with substances to give it the right consistency and color.
Substances like chalk, flour, sugar, starch, and even plaster of Paris. Not so
“yum,” huh? Laws to end these practices did not come about until the 1850s.
But now we have confinement cows in our industrial food
system and they are not so healthy either. Instead of a natural diet of fresh
pasture grasses, cows are now fed grains, bread, cakes, pastries, soybeans,
etc. – leftovers from our industrial bread supply. Most cows will only live an
estimated quarter of their natural lives as this is not a healthy diet. Not for
the cows and not for humans.
Louis Pasteur’s germ theory became an accepted idea and made
sense given the conditions of the cows and the increase in infant mortality.
However, the mechanistic view of disease took away an individual’s choice to
prevent their own afflictions, as touted by Dr. Crewe (mentioned in the first
paragraph). Interestingly, on his deathbed, Pasteur acknowledges that the condition
of the body determines disease, not the germs of his own “germ theory.”
The bottom line is, whether you prefer raw milk, pasteurized
milk, soy milk, almond milk or no milk you should make your own decision
regarding your own health. Just keeping yourself healthy will go a long way
towards avoiding disease.
It may make more sense to keep healthy than to rely on
pharmaceuticals, prescribed or over-the-counter, unless in extreme,
life-threatening situations. |
|  The Great American Eclipse.
Motivation, purpose and reason. Why do we do what we do,
especially when it’s doing something that we love? To me, photography is more
than taking photos.
It took me a while to understand this as it applies to my
own work and how it affects my life, but the realization was life changing.
I just returned from an event in Eastern Oregon where 25
photographers gathered at a ranch just east of Baker City in Eastern Oregon to
photograph the total solar eclipse. I organized and conducted a solar eclipse
workshop and campout. During the organization phase of the event I had no idea
how it would all turn out. There’s always so much to worry about it seems. Will
the clouds show up and blot out the eclipse? Will there be enough water? Will
there be enough porta-potties? Will there be something that I’ve forgotten?
Will everyone be happy?
When it comes to worry, I seem to be a pro.
The day of the event comes and the photographers start
arriving. There were young, old, men, women, children, varied races,
nationalities and ethnicities. People who, if they were in their own element,
may not even meet, let alone sit and share a campfire, food, drink, dance and
conversation. Our lives were diverse. Our common catalyst is photography. Our
reason for gathering is the eclipse. A perfect formula.
The event could have formed into smaller social groups
defined by our differences but instead everyone came together into a hive of
gracious sharing.
We created our own village there of people who concentrated
on their one common goal, in this case something as simple and as innocuous as
getting a photograph, albeit a very special photograph. Everyone helped those
who were less skilled or prepared. We all shared our experience, expertise,
equipment, food and drink, anything freely and selflessly.
Even the children ran and played completely disconnected
from their electronic devices as if it was 1965. I saw no conflict that the
children weren’t able to resolve themselves.
It was an amazing convergence of love, happiness and
cooperation.
I describe this event only to make a simple point that has
taken me some time to realize. The secret to happiness and mutual cooperation,
I think, is not finding our differences but, rather, to find our common
interests. It doesn’t have to be photography.
It can be a myriad of other things but if we stop for a
moment and realize how much we help ourselves when we help others the world
would be a better place.
I don’t mean to preach, nor do I mean to act as if I’ve discovered
the secret to world peace, but I would like to express how much I have realized
that photography for me is the tool that opens doors to the things that make me
happy.
It’s the tool that allows me to affect others in a positive
way, and the more that I receive the recognition and gratitude of others, the
more that I realize it’s more than the photography or vanity that could come
with notoriety. It’s about affecting people's lives in a positive way with what
I love to do.
I have a lot of people ask me what is the most important
element or method of my photography that allows it to stand out so that they
too can learn how to do it themselves.
I’m convinced that what will make anyone’s photography stand
out can’t be taught but must be discovered through a journey of practice,
mistakes, realization and discovery.
It’s a process that allows you to be able to see the world
through your heart and soul and not your eyes and practical mind.
A realization that will bring a feeling of relief and
relaxation that will allow you to do what you do in a much more creative way.
My personal realization of these principles has completely
changed everything that I do that involves how I approach my work.
It has brought me happiness where there once was
frustration.
It has brought a new inner peace that translates through my
photos.
It has even brought a certain amount of success that I
wouldn’t have had otherwise. I feel that it all comes from sharing what I love.
I may not have discovered the secret to world peace, but
what I’ve discovered is helping me with my own. |
| Energy and education both a focus as the summer turns to fall by on 09/07/2017
Summer in House District 52 is a beautiful thing. Whether
you’re picking fruit, enjoying a hike or riding your bike, there’s no end to
the activities. As a legislator, I do like to take advantage of the summer,
especially after the long session and having a break from the commute to Salem.
But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped working!
In addition to being a legislator, I continue to run my own
construction business in Hood River. Being able to work on the home front also
keeps me grounded because I can talk with residents and business owners around
town about day-to-day issues.
There is no better way to understand the needs that people
have and their feelings about state government than sitting down with them for
a cup of coffee. Sometimes these conversations lead to the introduction of a
bill, and fairly often I can assist a constituent through my office contacting
the appropriate government office. I also use this time between sessions to
learn and develop a deeper understanding of the issues facing House District 52
and Oregon.
Last month, I attended a legislative conference in
Breckenridge, Colo. called “Creating a Clean Energy Economy.” For three days I
joined with legislators from 20 other states and learned about new trends in
energy policy from various experts in the field. I really enjoyed this
conference because it was non-partisan and the purpose was to be presented information
that could be helpful to us in our roles as legislators.
As Vice-Chair of the House Energy Committee, it’s important
that I stay aware of new developments in the energy sector so that I can not
only be informed when discussing issues at the committee level, but also bring
new ideas to the conversation. I will use this information to create good
energy policy that protects consumers in Oregon and maintains our history of
having access to abundant and affordable energy for our homes and businesses.
As we look ahead to the fall, I’m excited to see what the
new school year will bring. This year, we will see the implementation of
Measure 98 supporting dropout prevention strategies and investments in career
and technical education. During the legislative session, I participate in a
workgroup to outline the rules for applying and using the funds allocated. We
secured $170 million for the next two years to be distributed to school
districts apply and submit plans and are approved by the Department of Education.
This investment will benefit all students by increasing graduation rates and
allowing for greater participation in career and technical education.
I hope that you are all enjoying your summer (and were able
to witness the eclipse!). Please feel free to contact me with any questions or
comments you may have: rep.markjohnson@state.or.us
Thank you for the honor of serving House District 52.
(Mark Johnson is the State Representative for HD 52.) |
| Stardust Melody: Chapter 7 by on 09/07/2017
Lead FBI investigator Mike D’Antonio swung out of his
ordinary Buick, patted his hand on the top of the door, tucked his jaw onto the
half-Windsor knot of his blue necktie, flipped the door closed with authority,
and proceeded resolutely toward the scene that had gathered inside the crime
scene tape that surrounded what remained of the Stardust Lodge – which wasn’t
much.
D’Antonio assessed the players as he approached.
CSI members were rummaging through charcoal chunks of
timbers, grey ash that fluttered in the air under their footfall, creating the
lasting impression that the charred remains of the Stardust Lodge were going to
surrender clues of the explosion with a genuine degree of reluctance;
The Wildewood police chief, Barney Gandy, held a non-filter
Camel in one hand, while the other hand held desperately to his pants belt less
it abandoned completely the substantial obstacle that intruded upon it from
above. Gandy rocked dangerously on his heels while enveloping a deputy and what
must have been a reporter with enough cigarette smoke to set off an alarm from
the Lodge, if only there was one;
And there was a woman standing off by herself who was able
to maintain a certain appeal despite her reddened eyes, rumpled hair, and
snagged left leg of her pantyhose.
With one hundred eighty pounds of reluctance, D’Antonio
ducked under the yellow tape and headed toward Gandy.
“And you must be the FBI. Do I have that right?” Gandy
wheezed, calling down echoes of Andy Devine.
D’Antonio stared at Gandy’s extended hand until the police
chief finally picked up on the insult and planted his thumb back in his pants
belt.
“Who are you?” D’Antonio said, turning to the bespectacled
lightweight with a reporter’s notepad and poised pen.
“I’m Nigel Best. Editor of the Wildewood World,” Best said
in a surprisingly unflinching manner.
D’Antonio looked around at the tops of Douglas firs and
cedar trees, scanned the October sky with puffs of fair-weather cumulus clouds
dancing in the brilliant blue ballroom of clean mountain air, chuckled so
quickly you had to wonder if you’d actually heard it, then said: “Wildewood
World? Whose idea was that, to call it the World?”
“My father,” Best said, almost answering the challenge.
“I see.”
“And what’s your name?” Best kept pace.
“Mike D’Antonio,” he shot back. “Would you like me to spell
it?”
“That’s OK. I’ll assume it’s classic Italian.”
D’Antonio was not accustomed to being stood up to,
especially from one hundred forty pounds of pasty white skin and thick
eyeglasses. He turned away and honed in on Chief Gandy, shooting a look at the
woman of ruined hose, knowing this was to be his easiest day as the invasion of
ATF and Homeland Security loomed on tomorrow’s horizon.
* * *
Valerie Suppine peered over her pillow and watched
suspiciously as Max Malone whistled through an expertly crafted breakfast of
French toast with bacon sizzling in an adjoining fry pan.
“Must you whistle?” Val intoned through a healthy helping of
morning voice.
“I must,” Max responded sharply. “Must you wake up? The
house was so enjoyable.”
“You call this a house? Where are the rest of the
Clampetts?”
“You’re about as funny as a pay toilet in a diarrhea ward.”
“That might be funny if you had indoor plumbing.”
And so it went between the meanest little woman in thirteen
western states and Max Malone, a suddenly unemployed private eye due to the
untimely and fiery departure of Beau Kimatian from his mortal coil.
* * *
Chance Wilde scuffed along a dirt road, his well-worn Tony
Lama cowboy boots raising puffs of clouds in his wake. Anna Belle Wilde,
Chance’s granddaughter, kept pace but avoided the rutty road, choosing instead
to glide with her bare feet through the grassy verge.
“You don’t seem too upset,” Chance said, peering under
suspicious lids.
“Oh, but I am,” Anna said breezily.
“Your husband, err, late husband?”
“Heavens no,” Anna responded vigorously. “I despised him.”
“Yet you’re upset?”
“Yes,” she said, resorting to her previously airy manner.
“That was a wonderful piano. I’ll miss it.”
Chance stopped, planted his fists into his hip, and dared
Anna to stop and turn around to face him.
Of course, she did exactly that. She, too, was a Wilde.
* * *
“Better get after that bacon before it gets cold,” Max slung
the words over his shoulder as he clomped out of the cabin.
Val peeked around the door as Max got into his Suburban.
“Dammit. Where are you going?”
“None of your business.”
“I hate French toast,” Val bellowed at the indifferent rear
end of the SUV. |
| If a man is attacked by his tent, should he make a sound? by on 09/07/2017
Our family loves to go camping. In fact, we make sure to get
out and pitch our tent — without fail — once a year. Traditionally, this takes
place during the busy Labor Day Weekend so that as many people as possible can
witness a 51-year-old man being attacked by his own tent.
In my defense, I have to say our tent is very large;
especially when it is laying flat on the ground.
If I hadn’t lost the step-by-step instructions that came
with it, I’m sure the assembly process would be a lot easier because, as a man,
I could use them to, step-by-step, blame everything on having lousy
instructions. What this means is that over the Labor Day Weekend my handiwork
will again be mistaken for a hot air balloon that has crash-landed into our
family’s campsite.
I bought our tent many years ago while living in Texas. As
you know, everything is bigger there — including tents — which is why we tried
to find the smallest model available. This turned out to be a tent called Quick
Camp, which was a handy, two-compartment structure roughly the size of a jet
hanger. Despite its size, the salesman assured us that the assembly process was
very simple. He said that the entire thing could be erected in less than 20
minutes with a little planning.
And he was right.
As long as our plan included staying out of the tent.
For some reason, it collapsed on us every time we got
inside. I’m not talking about an inconvenient buckling of the walls; this was
more like an instantaneous implosion of water-resistant nylon that required the
assistance of a search and rescue team.
In spite of this, we still feel it’s important for our
family to go camping together. That’s because, as parents, we know our kids
really hate it. I mean, sure — it’s pretty exciting while Dad is flopping
around under 200 yards of nylon. But once that’s over, and I’ve decided that
we’re all going to sleep out under the stars LIKE REAL PIONEERS! they begin to
realize that everything they know about civilization has been left behind.
And by “everything,” I mean the television and devices.
In the primitive world of camping there is no Bachelor in
Paradise or Netflix.
There is only dirt.
And time.
And if they’re lucky, enough fire to cook a marshmallow.
Eventually, as the shock of not having their devices wears
off, teenagers enter what I feel is the most important phase of their camping
experience: Realizing that we, the parents, are the key to their survival.
This epiphany starts the moment I pull out the old camp
stove, give it a few pumps, then light the picnic table on fire. In that
instant, the only thing that matters is reaching out together as a family and
finding the nearest fire extinguisher.
So, during the Labor Day Weekend, our family will once again
be camping out. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, feel free to stop by.
The rescue team could probably use your help.
(Write to Ned Hickson at nedhickson@icloud.com or c/o
Siuslaw News, 148 Maple Street, Florence, Ore 97439) |
| MHGS: preserving food allows us to enjoy fruits of our labor by Mary Soots on 09/07/2017
This might be one of my favorite times of the year in the
great Pacific Northwest – harvest season.
Even as I write, the sweet smell of figs wafts through my
home as they are drying out. Figs are one of my favorite fruits; the dried ones
are delicious with yogurt and granola for breakfast. Years ago, a friend
delighted me on my birthday with the gift of a fig sapling that he had grafted
from his own tree. Truly a gift that kept on giving. Alas, I later moved away
and now have to depend on the kindness of those who will allow me to pick some
of their excess fruit.
Our region of the world is one where so many things grow
abundantly.
When I lived in southeast Portland, there were fruit trees
overhanging into public areas from which you could pick the fruit. There were
Asian pears, apples, cherries, figs and more. My dog loved plums, and learned
to eat the fallen ones on the ground and spit out the pit.
Once I met a woman who grew a quince tree and invited
neighbors to pick the fruit. Another woman with hazelnut trees invited me to
take a bag of hazelnuts. In the coming weeks, I look forward to dehydrating
apples and pears for snacks.
I’ll make my annual expedition to the Hood River valley to
pick from the vast selection.
Also, the freezer has been stocked with frozen peaches and
strawberries that I will use in the coming months for smoothies. There is
nothing sweeter than Oregon strawberries, and if you can catch the Hood berries
during their three week growing season, all the better. They will join an assortment
of fruits and vegetables that I will freeze for the winter.
Food preservation is something of an art that has been
fading over time. It’s so much more convenient to run to the grocery store to
pick up packaged foods in the frozen section than to freeze our own. But I find
so much enjoyment recalling that the fresh basil that I preserved in a frozen
cube of chicken broth came from my own garden. In the winter, I just drop that
little cube in the stir-fry I’m making to give it life again. I love freezing
the heirloom tomatoes that will give sauces so much more flavor than the
hothouse tomatoes we can get once summer is gone.
There was a time that I enjoyed making jellies, and I would
spend the harvest season making exotic jellies like cantaloupe, quince,
jalapeño or combinations such as peach-strawberry, etc. It was a great way to
spend a day preserving summer in a jar.
There are so many different ways to preserve summer
harvests. One year, I made flavored vinegars with nasturtium flowers. I placed
the vinegar in pretty bottles and dropped flowers from my flower bed to add a
peppery flavor to the vinegar. They made beautiful and inexpensive gifts.
Another fun gift I’ve made in the past was cherries
preserved in brandy. The cherries were fabulous served over ice cream or cake,
and the cherry flavored brandy was exquisite.
Whether you prefer to freeze, dry out, can, make vinegars,
jams and jellies, or other ways of preserving summer’s bounty, we should take
advantage of our wonderful farmer’s market to obtain locally grown produce that
has not been harvested long before it is ripe in order to make it to the market
before it spoils. Find the local organic producers so that your off-season food
is the healthiest for you and the earth.
This is the time to take advantage of the bounty of our
natural environment. By doing so, we will enjoy the best of our local food
during the long days of winter. It’s so much less expensive than paying for
imported fruits and vegetables later.
However you preserve your food, make sure to do it with a
friend or a group of friends. The work is enjoyable by itself, but is so much
more fun when the work — and the fruits of its labor — are shared.
And you’ll have good memories to accompany the food. |
| Going back to school and keeping up with kids’ health by Victoria Larson on 09/07/2017
No more hot dogs,
No more s’mores,
No more extra summer chores!
If there’s an end-of-school chant, shouldn’t there be one
for back-to-school too? Not just for kids but also for the many adults headed
back to school as well. As we move gently to cooler weather, which sends us to
sleep sooner and less time outdoors and also less exercise, we need to think of
boosting our immunity.
Less time outdoors and more time indoors increases the
chances of “coming down with something.” This does not always have to be the
case though. Naturopaths, and many others, believe that it’s rarely “the germs”
that cause the disease. After all, germs are everywhere all the time. It’s the
“field” that the germs land on that causes the diseased state. Germs enter your
nasal passages, ears, eyes, but mostly through your gut, that term referring to
the long tube that goes from mouth to ... the other end.
If your child, or you for that matter, is the one who
“always gets sick” or “brings every illness home,” it’s time to consider “the
field” that those germs land on. While in the United States we use more
vaccines than any other country in the world, we still have some of the highest
rates of chronic disease. Without getting into a further discussion of
vaccines, let’s consider immune support for all of our children, all of our
citizens for that matter. While the medical community and pharmaceutical
companies continue to increase their profit margin, those of any income level
can do their part to combat illness.
In the US we’ve come to accept disease states as “the norm.”
Allergies, Autism, ADHD, the list goes on. It always amazes me that there are
people who shrug off type 2 diabetes when there is so much evidence showing
that diet and exercise are as effective in the treatment of diabetes as drugs
like Metformin.
Yet there are people who complain more about the cost of
their food than the cost of pharmaceuticals.
The appropriate expression here might be, “pick your
battles.”
The complaint of food costing so much in a nation where only
10 percent of income is spent on food (less than most other countries) and
throws away nearly 40 percent of the food they buy is sort of backwards.
In many countries food is purchased daily or nearly so, and
locally, not trucked in from thousands of miles away. The markets are not
“super” markets or big box stores with entire aisles devoted to boxes of cold
cereal or plastic bottles of salad dressing.
So where does good nutrition start? At home, fixing
breakfast for your kids and foregoing the office goodies. Or worse yet, that
candy bar and energy drink that many teens think constitutes a breakfast. Try
to wean children off cold cereals (any brand) perhaps by letting them sprinkle
some on their oatmeal (which does have nutritional value) or yogurt. Add fresh
fruit (endless choices these days) and nuts and proper protein of cow’s or
goat’s milk. Almond, rice and soy milk may be appropriate for some instances
but make sure other nutrients are still being supplied. Perhaps some wheat germ
(readily available in the cereal aisle) or nutritional yeast (not baker’s
yeast) which is a little harder to find but often in bulk food sections of the
store.
Children need plenty of carbs because they are still growing
and building their bodies, and these needn’t be the empty carbs of cookies,
crackers or hydrogenated peanut butter or chocolate on white bread! Better
sources for growth and health would be nut proteins, fruits and veggies.
Healthy fats include avocado oil, butter, certain cheeses,
eggs, flax seeds, olive oil and animal fats from pastured-raised animals.
Expensive? Yes, but so is medical healthcare and those pharmaceuticals. Since
most pharmaceuticals have side effects leading you to need more drugs, you
should know that by the time you are taking a third drug it’s to take care of
the side effects of the first two!
Whereas the side effect of good nutrition and a healthy
immune system is ... good health! |
| Cook for an hour – eat for a week by Taeler Butel on 09/07/2017
Lemme tell u somthin bout my best friend ... it’s a freezer.
Lemon chicken tenders for the freezer
1 lb chicken tenders, thawed
2 t lemon zest
1 t lemon pepper
1 t kosher salt
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 T olive oil
Place flour with salt & pepper in a gallon-sized plastic
bag, crack the eggs in another bag and whisk with a fork. In another bag place
the panko bread crumbs and lemon zest.
Shake the chicken tenders in the flour mixture, then shake
one chicken tender at a time in the bag with whisked eggs, and then one at a
time again into the lemon panko mix.
Lay out the chicken tenders on a baking sheet and freeze.
When you’re ready to cook them sprinkle with olive oil and bake at 350 for 20
minutes.
When they are golden brown sprinkle with lemon juice.
Freezable roasted veggies
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled & diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 t each salt & pepper
2 T olive oil
1 sweet onion or red onion, diced
Toss all ingredients together on a pan and bake at 375 for
30 minutes turning the veggies every 10 minutes. Freeze.
Hamburger meal starter
Cook 1 lb ground meat of your choice with 1/2 t each of salt
and pepper. Add in 1 small diced onion, 1 celery stalk and cook for 5 minutes.
Next add in 1 T minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add in 2 T tomato
paste, and cook for a minute more. Remove from the heat, and stir in 1 can of
diced tomatoes. Scoop into freezer bags. Lay them flat pushing out all the air
and allow to cool completely. Freeze.
Put it together - Harvest Chili
Add the veggies and hamburger meal starter in a pot with 2
cans of beans. Add 1 t chili powder, 3 cups of chicken broth and 1/2 cup quinoa
and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer for 20 minutes. Enjoy!!
(Taeler Butel writes exclusively for The Mountain Times.) |
| Warmer weather pattern continues on into September by on 09/07/2017
August got off to a very hot start with the high temperature
average in Brightwood during the first ten days recording 93 degrees and
hitting a high of 103 degrees on Wednesday, Aug. 2, followed by 102 degrees the
next day.
Government Camp peaked with 91 degrees on Friday, Aug. 4.
Temperatures returned to seasonal averages during the following ten days, but a
return of hot weather followed for the last weekend of the month. Precipitation
remained much below average, and fire danger continues to be critical.
Following a familiar forecast, The National Weather Service
expects our area to have above average temperatures with precipitation near
average during September. The overall weather pattern is expected to continue
much as it has during the past month.
During September, Brightwood has an average high temperature
of 70, an average low of 48, and a precipitation average of 3.45 inches. During
the past ten years, high temperatures have reached into the 90s three times,
and into the 80s seven times.
On average, September has one chance in two of reaching a
high of 90 or more. Low temperatures dropped evenly into the 40s and 30s with
five years each. Chances for a freezing temperature in September are one in 20.
When 0.02 inches of precipitation was measured Friday, Aug. 11, it ended a
record-breaking stretch of 51 days without measureable rain.
During the year 2013, July was also completely dry, preceded
only by four dry days at the end of June.
During September, Government Camp has an average high
temperature of 63 degrees, an average low of 43 degrees and a precipitation
average of 3.49 inches, including 0.2 inches of snow. During the past ten
years, high temperatures have reached the 80s during eight years and into the
70s twice. Low temperatures fell into the 30s during nine years and one year
ended in the 40s. The record snowfall in September of three inches was measured
on Sept. 23, 1984. More recently, during 2013, trace amounts of snow were
recorded on each of the last five days of September. |
|  From top down: 20, 50 and 85 mm.
The most asked question of me is typically advice in what
camera that one should get. I have addressed this in a previous version of The
Viewfinder. (March 2016) The second most asked question may be what lens to
choose.
In SLR photography there are two types of lenses that one
can choose. Fixed focal length and zoom lenses. It was common back in the old
days when I first started for photographers to have a whole set of fixed focal
length lenses. A full set typically consisted is a 20mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm.
Beyond those focal lengths one bought large telephoto lenses such as a 200mm or
a 300mm. We had zooms back then but they were of poor quality. After the 1970s
zoom lenses became much better and soon became the choice of most
photographers, especially hobbyists. Today the quality of a zoom lens is
fantastic.
A zoom lens allows you to magnify the scene that you’re
photographing, enlarging an area to give a closer view. It will also help in
aiding your composition. You can start wide and zoom in until you have removed
all that you don’t want in the shot creating a much more solid and stronger
composition. A zoom lens is very handy as it allows you to have one lens
instead of a set. Zooms are available that will allow a range from 28mm-300mm
in one lens.
The most valuable tool in my bag is the right lens for the
right scene. In landscape photography the most common lens used is a wide angle
lens. A focal length range from 24-70mm on a 35mm camera or a full frame
digital camera, or 18-55mm on a cropped sensor camera, is the most effective
and most used range for landscape work. Although it’s the most commonly used
range it’s certainly not the only one that a landscape photographer can use. I
love to use my 70-200mm zoom to get some details of the scene of more abstract
interpretations of the scene.
The next consideration in choosing a lens is how fast the
lens is. Fast meaning how wide that you’re able to open your aperture. The most
common maximum aperture setting is f/3.5, but better lenses typically will
allow f/2.8 to f/1.8. This means that you can use a faster shutter with more
light coming through the lens at the maximum aperture setting. The wider the
opening the more light that’s able to make inside the camera. Another
consequence of the wider maximum aperture opening is a narrowing or decrease in
the depth of field which will allow one to separate the subject from the
background by keeping the subject sharp while blurring the background. The
better lenses will usually have a wider maximum aperture but with the quality
and extra feature comes an increase in cost and quality.
I have been talking a lot about landscape photography but
the same principles apply in all forms including portraiture, for instance. A
typical prime focal length for portraiture is 85-105mm. When you own a zoom
lens, you have that range. A note concerning portraiture use a wider aperture
to narrow the DOF to separate your subject from the background by blurring the
background as described above.
For those who don’t own a camera with removable lenses, all
of this applies to your camera as well. A typical prosumer camera will have a
built in zoom as well as the ability to switch to manual and set your aperture.
Learn to manually adjust your camera and use the aperture to control the DOF to
allow you to enhance the look and quality of your photos.
It’s easy to complicate photography in one’s mind with the
perception of mathematical complication. I leave the math to the engineers and
learn simple practical application. Experiment, practice, make mistakes,
experiment more and in time it will all come together into an instinctual
understanding. In this day and age of digital photography film is cheap. |
| Pack your bags, it’s time to get the dog neutered by on 07/31/2017
It was a foregone conclusion that we would have our dog,
Stanley, neutered once he was old enough. Just like it was a foregone
conclusion that, when it came time to deliver him into the hands of the vet, I
would be playing the role of “Judas.” I thought about disguising myself and
borrowing someone else’s car so that Stanley would not associate me with his
loss of malehood.
My wife told me I was being silly. He’s a dog, she reminded
me, and capable of recognizing my scent no matter how I was dressed.
It didn’t help the situation that my then four-year-old son,
after overhearing our conversation, had reached the conclusion that something
serious was happening, and that it involved — but wasn’t limited to — Stanley
turning into a girl and biting daddy.
Naturally, as responsible parents, we then sat down with our
son and, together, convinced him that he had a hearing problem. We informed him
the problem could be solved by allowing his ears to “rest,” which he should do
by covering them as much as possible.
However, we’re rational adults. We realized our son would,
from time to time, need to use his hands for something other than covering his
ears. So, as rational adults, we also developed a secret code language in order
to safely continue our discussion about Stanley. Using our new code, I
explained that I was concerned how Stanley would react once he got home and
discovered his luggage had been lost, and how he might hold me personally
responsible since I was there when his bags were checked in.
My wife argued that dogs lose their luggage every day, and
none of them go after the pilots.
I admitted she was right, but that most pilots aren’t
standing next to a passenger when they’ve just realized there’s nothing waiting
for them at the baggage claim.
That’s when my wife took me by the hand and gently told me
that if Stanley missed his flight today, my luggage would be waiting for me on
the front porch when I got home.
As I sat in the vet’s office that afternoon, I avoided all
eye contact with Stanley, who, at 10 months old, still hadn’t learned to fear
people wearing latex gloves.
When it came time, the vet explained that it was a simple
procedure. That Stanley wouldn’t be conscious during the operation and that, as
a male veterinarian, neither would he. But his assistants were perfectly
capable of doing whatever is supposed to be done “down there.”
When they took Stanley away, he was happy.
When I picked him up a few hours later, he was still happy.
Even though, with the cone over his head to keep him from licking his stitches,
he looked like a dumb cousin to the RCA dog who had gotten a running start and
gone headfirst through the small end of a Victrola speaker.
My wife called a short time later, and it was obvious that
my son was with her because she asked how Stanley’s flight went.
I told her the plane landed safely, and that we would be
home just as soon as I determine the physics necessary to fit a three-foot
diameter cone through a two-foot-square car door opening.
Ironically, we’d probably still be there if Stanley hadn’t
fit in the luggage compartment.
(Ned is a syndicated columnist with News Media Corporation.
Write to him at nedhickson@icloud.com) |
| MHGS: organic produce making its mark in the marketplace by Mary Soots on 07/31/2017
Our state — and more specifically, our area — had the
opportunity to shine recently. I had the privilege of being a fly on the wall
during a conference in July hosted in Portland by the Oregon Trade Association.
Members of the Commission of Inter-American Organic Agriculture (C.I.A.O.)
attended the conference, including representatives from the respective
Ministries of Agriculture from 13 different countries such as Argentina,
Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Spain, along with several staff
members from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. and Oregon.
At the annual meeting of the Commission, member countries
shared information about the advances and the challenges that have been made in
the areas of organic farming and ranching in their respective countries.
Sharing information and resources is key to the promotion of sustainable
agriculture as most countries receive little support in this area. Faced with
the task of fighting against mega-corporations that through the use of mass
media promote the use of non-sustainable farming practices, these producers are
changing the way that we produce our food. The group was hosted for breakfast
at New Seasons where they were able to see how consumers have access to natural
products and healthy alternatives. Across the world, people are beginning to
choose organic options, and Oregon is one of the highest in consumption.
Organic producers argue that the Green Revolution, which
began in the mid-20th century as a way of increasing agricultural production,
has failed. The use of agrochemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides, and
herbicides to intensify production has seen negative consequences to both the
earth and its inhabitants. In the case of farming, the soil’s nutrients are
depleted and must be replaced with more inputs.
The use of toxic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides
leave residuals that kill off species such as bees and pollinators. In humans,
they have proven to cause many illnesses such as diabetes and cancer, not just
in the consumers, but in the producers as well. By contrast, producers of
organic agriculture that do not depend on the use of toxic chemicals have seen
that after they have transitioned to organics, the soil has become heal |
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