Now that we’ve had some rain, and we’ve dropped to the Moderate Fire Danger level, and the Watch Duty Ap shows mostly “mostly contained” fires vs. “The entire state is on fire!” let’s look back on some historical Oregon wildfires, early detection and the challenges firefighters faced back then.
Paintbrushes (Castilleja). Fascinating name for these plants, the flower inflorescences look like fluffy paintbrushes that have been dipped in paint. We are going to look at two different groups of Castilleja.
Above my cabin door in Packers Gulch is a weather-and-time-worn, but artistic, wooden sign that says “Wolf Den.” It is there not to discourage visitors, nor to scare away evil spirits, but as a proud display of a treasured souvenir from a distant mountain peak where it graced the entrance to a doorway that is now more battered and out of plumb than my own.
In honor of Labor Day this week we’ll meet some social wasps – the ultimate example of working hard and working together!
There are at least 208 species of social wasps in North America. Nearly all those species have the same life cycle, type of nest, assignment of work duties, etc. However, we’ll focus on paper wasps to keep things relatively simple.
Welcome back to “Cri learns about the Universal Cat Distribution System Pt. II” If you need to catch up on Pt. I – click over now. We’ll be here when you get back.
Caught up? Great!
After a lengthy series of delays, (keep in mind I left Oregon on a Saturday afternoon and it is now Wednesday) my oldest daughter, youngest son and their spouses and daughters were all reunited in Connecticut. For those keeping score, it was two little girls, one from my oldest child and one from my youngest child.
n this week’s All Things we’re going to revisit our exploration of the history of Labor Day!
Wait, why? It’s a national holiday, what does that have to do with Oregon?
We’re so glad you asked!
Cornus – Most commonly known as Dogwoods
To me the flowering dogwood trees give a bold announcement that spring is here! In the local area from Medford to Diamond Lake we can find 3 species: Cornus nuttallii, Pacific Dogwood; C. sericea, Red-osier Dogwood; C. x unalaschkensis, Bunchberry or Western Cordilleran Bunchberry.
Ben and Lola, a pair of mountain-loving, dune-dwelling friends of mine, who make their home on lower Pistol River, south of Gold Beach, have a small reservoir of friends down in their section of the coast who are not only sympathetic to our ideas of getting a lot of fun and satisfaction out of life, but who join right in with us from time to time and help to make real lively parties of our nature jaunts in the mountains.