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… and more.

This was a busy and confounding week. I only screwed up twice. I forgot I was to help bottle wine on Tuesday and go to a luncheon at CWU on Friday. I found out about the bottling after the fact. On Friday, I got a phone call at T+15 minutes and had time (driving fast) to make an appearance, visit, and get some food.
So, what was going on?
I’d been having a tooth problem (lower left, #18) and had that looked at in EBRG on Monday morning but had to go to Yakima Thursday morning for a 9 AM “root canal” appointment. Meanwhile, I was getting my Pétanque playing area ready for Wednesday. This included cleaning the covered deck, tables, and a bit of the house.

Folks arrived beginning at 1:00 and stayed until 6:00-ish. There was food, wine, and three rounds of play. The recent rain allowed grass and weeds to grow, and we played while ignoring that. However, I was prepared to spray grass and weed killing chemicals but didn’t want to do that until after the visitors came and went. It was on my mind, but Thursday was windy so I waited. Friday I was out working but within sound of the land-line phone when a call came at 12:15 from the CWU lunch crew. I had e-mailed that I would be there. Oops! This coming week should be a lot simpler. I have spraying, firewood making, and a Wednesday Pétanque evening across the Columbia River.
One of the advantages of living in the country is that I get to watch the animals, most recently (on Friday morning) a small mule deer headed up the covered ramp toward the front door. Why?

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

A week ago there was an inch of rain. This week there are inch-high weeds sprouting all over. Last year I ignored this phenomenon. Bad choice.

Much of this is the invasive weed commonly called “Cheatgrass” or just “Cheat”. It is a problematic weed in sagebrush steppe ecosystems, where it reduces native plants and increases fire potential. It grows fast in the spring, dries, and is ignored by grazing animals. I don’t want it close to any of the buildings.
I went to town and bought a quart of concentrated weed killer chemical. I have visitors coming on Wednesday, so will wait until Thursday to spray.
The right-side photo above is on the edge of my Pétanque playing surface. I’ll work that with a rake before Wednesday when the pétanque crew is coming to inagurate my “boulodrome” and have a pot-luck meal.

Wednesday was FLUAD day; Fluad is a standard-dose, inactivated influenza (flu) vaccine, recommended for people 65 years and older that contains a non-aluminum adjuvant called MF59. Happy that!
Supposedly it takes about 2 weeks for immunity to start. CWU classes start this coming Wednesday, so I should have gotten the shot earlier. An influx of germs arrives. Horror. I need to go to campus on Friday.
I’ll get a Covid vaccine next week. I like to not get them simultaneously so that, if there is a reaction, I’ll know which one is the culprit.

Yesterday was the White Heron Winery’s 40 anniversry. There was a small party. A “jeroboam” bottle [3,000 ml; 101.44 oz.] from 1986 grapes {bottled in 1988} was a featured wine. There was a music group and lots of finger-food.
Here on the Naneum Fan, the (September) Autumn Equinox and the start of the Fall Season begins Tuesday at 5:05 pm PDT. If you stand on the Equator, the sun’s rays will appear directly east and rise to be straight up, then set directly west. At Noon, you would have a tiny shadow under your body. Other than that, it is a rather non-event. Here, my shadow will be about 6 feet 6 inches.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

For a minor project, I was moving equipment and pieces around when preparing to sand a board. I turned back to the target board and thereon was a Woolly Bear. This is the larval form of the Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella). From the Wikipedia site I learned: “… larva emerges from the egg in the fall and overwinters in its caterpillar form, by allowing most of its mass to freeze solid. First its heart stops beating, then its gut freezes, then its blood, followed by the rest of the body …” This helps explain the name.
Pyrrharctia Isabella translates to fire cold gray/yellow moth. Pyr is Latin for fire, while arctia means cold, as in the Arctic. Isabelline, is a pale grey-yellow, to pale cream-brown, color. Isabelline describes the coloration of the woolly bear’s adult form, and a gown in the first Queen Elizabeth’s wardrobe. The web has a photo of “light Palomino” horse described as isabelline.
The two forms are shown here:

I gathered the critter and placed it in the leaf litter under a Lilac bush. I hope it is happy there. I returned to the sanding.

I will use that board to anchor a hanging “welcome” sign over the entry ramp.
That roof has long tongue-&-groove boards. The sanded board would not fit because the ceiling boards have warped and are coming undone. The dark line in the photo is the gap between the “tongue” and the “groove”. Oops!
This spot is almost 10 feet above the sloping ramp. Such a great place to work. When I thought of hanging a sign, I figured the project would take about 2 hours. But my ladders were not adequate, so I had to build scaffolding. Not a problem, but now I have to fix the twisted boards. I am now into the project for about 8 hours, maybe 10. Uff da!

The Pétanque group settled on the 23rd to come over and initiate my attempt of a playing surface – a boulodrome or bowling terrain. We’ll gather about 3:00 for pot luck, wine, and pétanque. I’ve not got lights so the early start time is a good choice and we’ll finish before dark so getting back to familiar roads can be done while watching for critters.
I stopped by the University’s surplus sale yard and got five more chairs for 50¢ each. One is a rolling desk chair, two of the others have arms; all are nicely padded. While there, I got 7 five-gallon paint buckets, also 50¢ each. The University has an unlimited supply of such things and Apple computers. The almost new iMacs appear to be the All-In-One Desktop type that retail for $1,500 to $2,000. Surplus price is $50 and they always have dozens. I have a better computer and now I have an abundance of nice chairs.

I was getting mail and a neighbor stopped to report a cougar sighting, crossing Naneum Road about 100 yards north of me. I’m not usually in the loop for such neighborhood information and this was just a chance occurrence because I was along the road as they came by. It is known that the cougars are in the region but I’m more apt to see a Woolly Bear or similar critter. In 2024 I saw a Hawk Moth Caterpillar in a plum tree. It is a drastically different looking animal.

Critter in a Plum Tree

Now back to projects.
Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

On Wednesday, Phyllis, Cameron and I walked to the Ellensburg Rodeo arena. Some preliminaries were going on but the real activity began on Thursday. We watched three riders in the steer wrestling (bulldogging) event where a horse-mounted rider chases a steer, jumps off the horse, on to the animal and wrestles it to the ground. Two of the three managed the feat, the third missed.
I was more impressed with what followed. The young steer and the participant’s horse had to be dealt with. So, an accompanying rider caught the horse and another -seemed to be young ladies — followed the steer {note the animal knew where to go} across the arena where it exited to the holding pens where about 80 such animals were in temporary abundance. In the 37 years of residency in the Kittitas Valley that is the second time I have seen any rodeo activity. We went many years ago to a practice session when a student wanted us to watch her participate in barrel racing. I remember her last name began with a Z. (both photos are snagged from the web)

We went because Cameron wanted to visit with Yakama Nation folks that set up tepees near the grounds. His off-day is Wednesday and the Rodeo and County Fair don’t officially open until Thursday. The tepees where set up but there wasn’t a single person to be found.
Cameron is an avid reader of history of the natives of the Columbia Basin and coastal Washington State. Since 2014 there has been a campaign called “We Are Still Here” to raise awareness about the ongoing issues faced by Native Americans. The tepee encampment is (now) promoted to advance that agenda, Cameron hoped to learn about how they think about the future of the Tribes.
Photos can be found by searching with:
“Yakama Nation Ellensburg Rodeo”
A story is here: Yakama Nation
As a final note: It rained on the opening, Saturday and Sunday – cool and wet. Monday (the biggest day) looks to be nicer … 68° and mostly sunny.

Meanwhile, I have been working on railings for the deck and to design a fail-proof warning and exit from the deck for those over 6 feet tall. More on this next week. The problem exists because, as an addition to an existing house, the height was constrained because I didn’t want a step-down to the deck from the room.
Nancy’s need for a “walker” and sometimes wheel chair made me think of the accessibility of houses. So, I had the ramp installed in the front as part of the remodel, and the deck surface is compatible with the floor of the room it is adjacent to. This stuff would be easy and less costly if done as new construction. With a house originally built in 1980, all remodeling is more complicated and compromised.

Keeping Track
On the Naneum Fan
John

In Philippine mythology there is a moon-eating dragon-like serpent named Bakunawa, believed to be the cause of eclipses, earthquakes, rains, and wind. {Image found on Pinterest} When a lunar eclipse was in progress there would be attempts to chase the Bakunawa away with shouts, banging on things, and torches. You can find this on the web.
Thursday of this week was a 96% percent devouring of the Moon — before we chased the dragon away. Thursday is the evening we gather at 6:30 to play Pétanque. As dusk came, the sky darkened and the Moon appeared to our southeast. Shortly after that the event began. The maximum coverage of the shadow occurred at about (9:13 Pacific Time). There were multiple interruptions in the games for picture taking.

I have a cat issue — no dragons**. About 10 days ago the behavior of Tzar-the-cat changed. He became less active, less vocal, passive. If it is possible for a cat to become more sedentary than they normally are, that happened. I thought he might die, but 3 days later he hadn’t, so I took him to a veterinarian on Wednesday afternoon. From previous discussions with others, I suspected a thyroid issue. The symptoms only partially suggested hyperthyroidism – overactive thyroid.
In addition to the visit, a Thyroid Test would be $50. If nothing was learned, then what? So I went with the full blood exam, called a CHEM 17/CBC, looks at red and white blood cells, and a chemistry profile covering organ and electrolyte values. Equipment that analyzes such things are $2,000 and up. Guess what? This test is $145. So, a half hour and $275.50 later, we learned nothing. The print-out was more complete and detailed than what I get for my annual test. Only one item was borderline low and many were centered in the expected range. Via the tests, Tzar is healthier than am I. ‘Twas hard not to be disappointed but easy to be pleased.
On Sunday morning Tzar ate and drank some and then went back to sleep in a soft chair.

**But …. Years ago, I chased a coyote away from a neighbor’s cat. It was a very close call. I later learned the cat returned home and stayed inside on the couch for a week before regaining some of its activities. Maybe Tzar had an encounter of some kind.

Our weather is transitioning to a more fall-like situation. The Cascade Mountains got 0.22 to 0.33 inch of rain and temperatures below 50° in the last two days. Helpful for the fire suppression efforts.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

Friday:
Kathy, Francisco, and I had lunch at the new restaurant in the nearly new Windrow Hotel in Ellensburg. The Hotel Windrow became the first downtown hotel in 38 years when it opened in January of 2020 in a new building on the north side of the remodeled Elks’ Tempel. The historic building’s south-side entrance is shown below. The hotel was build on an empty space on the north side (“behind”). The main entrance to the Windrow Hotel is on the west side (sun-lit with flags in the photo). Upon entering one goes right and down steps to the Maelstrom Noodle+Bar.

An earlier food place failed. Called the Basalt Restaurant, it was contracted to the Seattle-based hospitality management and consulting company Columbia Hospitality. Bad timing with the Covid hysteria. It folded a couple of years ago. I was never there, know it wasn’t popular, suspended operation for a time, and then closed. Maybe this new one will enjoy success.
The main selling point of the Maelstrom appears to be noodles and stuff served in a deep bowl and including “dippy egs” (soft boiled served halved, sunny side up). My stuff included chunks of roasted pork belly, fresh spinich, shreaded green onion, pickled ginger, and white rice. I bequeathed the eggs to Kathy.
{Web photo of the deep bowl service.}

Joys of country living
Late in July a noticed the “Death Smell”. Something had died and was decomposing. I didn’t find the source until this week. A spot between the old Pace Arrow motor home and a small shed was the chosen spot for the demise of a smallish Mule Deer. It has been there long enough that most of the body has been consumed by whatever. I am left with some hide and bones. Oh, and still a bit of smell.

I did notice the hair and hide was gone from the ears. Note the arrow pointing at the white piece. That’s the cartilage that gives the ear structure and the upright and independent movement to the ears. I spent an hour reading such things on the internet.
I have found several dead deer on the property and have always been able to move them to a far corner before deterioration started. This one I missed. If I tried to drag it now, parts would scatter. So, I will wait another couple of weeks and load it in a cart for the move.

Also this week, a tree-trimming crew cut branches near the utility lines along Naneum Road. Much of what they cut was taken to a chipper — but not all. Why, I don’t know. If they don’t come back I will clean it up. There is some that will make fire wood in a year.
There was regional lightning and a brief rain early today, Saturday. I have not found a report of new fires but smoke comes and goes as the wind changes direction
Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

Haze from distant wildfires made for a dull day so the yellow and greens are not bright. The hills are 15 miles south. On Thursday they would not have been visible. Three miles was about as far as things could be discerned.
This field is about 100 acres of sunflowers and over one mile north-to-south. It is 4.5 miles south of me. There were boxes of bees on both sides of the entrance to the field. I had time to make three clicks on the phone’s camera before several of the bees noticed and came to check out the intruder. I’m curious about how active and effective they have been with the smoke. If it gets real smokey in the near future I’ll stop and check. Harvest may be a few weeks away as, still, the bees seemed active.

On the north side of the county road, a long driveway leads to Brightside Vintage Farm. The photo on this page

About Brightside Vintage Farm

shows the farm and a view up towards where I live. About 4 miles in the direction of the ‘V’ in the ridge. News to me, but promotes itself as a place to have your wedding.

On Wednesday I went east to George, WA and met Phyllis and Cameron in the Park & Ride lot. From there we went 130 miles east to Spokane and toured the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. Current exhibitions include (a) armor, helmets and all things about the gear worn by knights during the 15th through the 17 centuries, (b) basketry of the Columbia Plateau, (c) European paintings: 1500-1900, (d) America at 250 – artifacts from the late 1700s to current baseball caps, and more. We also walked through the historic house constructed for a rich Silver miner named Amasa Campbell, built in 1898. You can view photos by searching for “Campbell House – Spokane, WA.” The name Amasa is new so I looked that up. He was a nephew of and commander in King David’s army.

The Thursday evening Pétanque group met. The smoke was light and the game was intense. Nah, it was fun. There was a fly-by of a C-17 Globmaster, a large four-engine military transport aircraft, based at Joint Base Lewis–McChord {125 miles west}. They appear to practice low level slow flights in central Washington. There was just one over the Columbia River going south. Often there are three.

I bought a jar of Nature Made(R) Vitamin D3 at the local grocery store. Cost was $29.99. The same jar is $15.99 on Amazon and there are other brands for less. Horse-feathers!

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

I’ll get to the window in a bit.
Folks I know needed a favor. The lead-in: Last year an older couple in EBRG bought 3-wheel bikes (trikes). A few days later the man (79) had a stroke and the trikes became un-needed. Last week people I know learned of the listing on the web, came to EBRG, and bought them. The problem was they live 50 miles east, in Quincy. They asked if I could use my truck for the job of getting the trikes to their house. Sure.
The truck has a Leer High Rise canopy under which was five years of accumulated wood chips, dirt, spare tire, and assorted odd things. Getting into the bed is difficult and the tire is more than I can lift. The plastic liner of the bed is uncomfortable to be on — standing up is not an option. I got most of the things out easily enough. The tire came out on wood 2×4 skids to a set of saw-horses — I slid it but did not have to lift it. I delivered the trikes Thursday afternoon, then went to Costco in East Wenatchee. The return trip was via Blewett Pass (4,124ft). For a few miles I was above the smoke from the Little Giant Fire in the mountains 50 miles to the north.
While the truck bed was empty I decided to try and clean the windows — one of the canopy and the rear window of the truck. The canopy fits close to the rear window so that cleaning the glass is not doable from outside. Dirt and dirty rain can get in there but not much in the way of cleaning instruments. After 5 years the glass was sufficently dirty the visibility was only about 50%.
I was on my knees trying to clean the glass and noticed two small levers along the top. More inspection and I found “Careful -removable window” near the lower left edge. Who Knew?
After swiveling both levers, I was able to lower the entire window on to the truck bed. Whew. I could easily clean both sides AND the back window of the truck. Fitting the window back in its frame was more of a struggle than getting it out. From start to finish (about an hour) the temperature went from 85 to 87. Other than that — what’s not to like. I may never have to do it again and, if I do, April seems a better time.

Tour: Upper Yakima System Storage [UYSS]
Twelve miles west of me, a new dam and reservoir is in the very initial stages of implementation. Two dozen agencies (local, state, national, and private) are involved with the cost being covered, ultimately, by citizen tax payers. The lead person and manager of the Kittitas Reclamation District (KRD) is an acquaintance of many years {1990?} and, thus, I got invited on an informational tour. About 30 people met near the site and rode on straw bales in a large wagon to near the center that will, at a future date {2030?}, be about 300 feet under water. That spot is near the blue star in the image.
I-90 is on the lower SW corner and north of the Yakima River is Old Hwy #10, running between Cle Elum and Ellensburg. The distance from corner to corner is about 3 miles.

Smoke? Blame the Three Queens Fire
A fire 40+ miles NW of me sent smoke over the Ellensburg area this afternoon — August 8th. It is on the SE side of the “Three Queens” — a triple summet set of peaks, East Peak at 6,693 feet. A recent report claims it is 1,200 acres.
The EBRG wind was 7 mph at 6:00 AM out of the west but switched to the NW about 7:00 and jumped to gust of 30+ mph. Up at 6,000 feet? Who knows. At EBRG, the code for the sky is OVC060 meaning the sky is completely overcast at 6,000 feet with no clear areas visible. This morning it was completely blue. I’m at 2,240 ft, the airport is at 1,740. There is no smoke-smell at ground level. The wind direction is expected to remain the same until Noon next Thursday.
The photos show where it was, not where it has gone. It is now lower and near the upper end of Kachess Lake.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

The 8th month has arrived. The name suggests we should be looking for good things. I’ll settle for less heat, less wind, and no fires.

July ended with 95° and August starts at 82; 64 was the night low so cooling the house was easy.
Saturday (8/1) is windy. Last night at 8:00 there was just 5 mph wind from the East. By 9:00 the switch happened and the wind was out of the NNW in double digits. By morning the steady wind was 25 mph with gusts to 40. That increased to 40 and 51. On the Beaufort Scale of winds, that is called a Severe Gale. I have not found any reports of wind damage or fires near me. Other parts of WA and OR are not as fortunate.

Those pleased with the wind are the owners of the facilities harvesting power from it. The green line in this chart shows the fast ramp up from near none to 3,000 MW – – equivalent to the power needed to run approximately 3 million 1,000-watt light bulbs simultaneously. The chart is from the Bonneville Power Administration representing sources in WA & OR.

My brother’s 2nd son, Eric and wife Jen, are in WA State at a park east of the Tri-Cities and about 100 miles from me. They are seasonal workers (poorly paid volunteers) for a couple of months, get trailer parking, and do park things a few hours for 4 days a week. This is the 5th year they have been vagabonds, traveling, working, visiting friends and relatives, and seeing much of North America.
They came up on Thursday. We went to EBRG’s Red Horse Diner and then out here for a visit, although they had a motel room in town. Friday morning I went in and we had breakfast at the Country Cafe (in the downtown area). We talked family and they shared stories of their life on the road, and of the others they have met. There seems to be a world of fascinating others we know little about.

I managed to do a few yard chores this week but because of the heat not much. I did build 10 inch high sideboards for the garden cart. The cart holds 4 cubic feet and will carry much weight but for grass & weeds, or pine cones it lacks volume. Now better.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

A replacement credit card arrived at 7pm on Tuesday — having been ordered on Saturday morning. Last week’s post explains.

I haven’t done much outside this week. By 10AM the temperature gets to 80°F and I don’t have anything important enough to work therein. I would have to start at 6::00 to get much accomplished That’s for younger people. Friday’s high was 97. Expect 10 degrees cooler for the next 5 days.

The most recent fire happened Wednesday about 32 miles SE of me near the unincorporated community of Beverly (pop. less than 300). Likely human caused, a few houses or structures burned, no injuries. Here is a satellite view with spots where the fire was.

The red dots are where the sensors detect a current hot spot (fire) and these change to orange after 12 hours. There have not been new ones so apparently containment has been achieved. The upper dot on the left covers an access to a cross-State trail for hikers and riders (horses & bikes). I have seen the remains of “camp” fires there in the parking area. Once, several wood pallets (the remains with lots of nails) were there. We would go there to ride the trail east and then turn off north [natural area] or south into a large sand dune region. The red in the image is about 7 miles west to east.
Below shows the nature of the landscape from the gravel road up to the trail access. There appears to be a porta-potty there. I don’t recall one. The annual precipitation is about 7 inches.

A larger fire, 65 miles north of me was started in rugged mountains by lightning on July 15th. It has been named the Little Giant Fire, being near Little Giant Pass. See a photo here:
https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/little-giant
There is a long description of the trail on this WTA page that will give an idea of why fighting fires in the Cascades is so difficult. WTA also has noted the area is now closed and shows a map of the fire area.

I had a local {2 miles from my place to his} person over today (Sat.) to discuss replacing 35 years of mis-matched fencing. The activity won’t likely get underway until October. Plenty of time for people to send cash to cover the expense.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John