Category: Post Visit

The local Ellensburg newspaper has many photos, and names of many of the graduating class, of the high schools in Kittitas County. The Ellensburg HS with roughly 1,000 students, had about 250 graduates. A gathering with family and friends is too large for the school so the ceremony is held at Central Washington University’s Nicholson Pavilion (basketball).
My 1961 graduating class had 15 of us.
The University holds ceremonies at Tomlinson Stadium (football) and splits the activities. The College of Arts and Humanities, and College of Sciences meet at 9;00 AM. The College of Business, and College of Education and Professional Studies folks meet at 2:00 PM.
I skipped the ceremonies at Clarion and Iowa. We did go to the stadium in Cincinnati. There were National Guard troops on campus. 1967 was the “long, hot summer” of racial riots across the United States. I only remember that a large Collie dog was let into the stadium and he wandered onto the field and proceeded to pee on the platform. Diplomas were mailed, so there wasn’t a procession of the students.
Tuesday evening I went to a CWU sponsored presentation by local dentist Joshua Kirk, DMD, titled “A Bite of Dental Chemistry”. He is a CWU alumnus. Thursday evening was Pétanque.
Home is where the work is. I’ve been removing brush and trees in the area beyond 35 feet from the house and out to about 100 feet. The closer figure is ringed by a gravel road. Thus the house is in a fairly good situation. However there is an abundance of fuel in the zone beyond 35 feet and I am slowly removing some of that.
There is a lot of Red Alder. The name derives from the bright rusty red color that develops when the wood is cut or the bark is scraped.
I need another chemistry lesson. Fresh-cut wood is a pale off-white but changes quickly. Oxygen combines with a chemical called oregonin. That chemical has anti-inflammatory effects, and a web search get hits about studies of health interest, not what I want. Oh well.
The trees in my zone-to-be-cleared lean into the light, which is in the direction of the house. They grow, die, and fall, making a heap of burnable material. The trees are not large so my small battery-electric chainsaw makes that part easy. Cleaning up after that is the tedious part. The pieces in this photo are of a length to make 4 chunks of firewood for the stove. I’ll take them over to the shed and do that part with a plug-in chainsaw. Most of the pieces won’t need to be split, but I will do that to the larger pieces so they dry faster.

The last photo is of Horsetails, on the web as Equisetum. These, near where I’m clearing brush are about 18 inches tall. The pine cone on the left provides scale. I see these along roadsides and only ocassionaly on my property — where the soil has been distrubed.

Now it is time for a piece of apple pie.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

visiting with CWU faculty and students.

Last October I built a bird feeding station shown in my post #13872. Using two posts from an early fence and two new ones. The station got mounted about chin high. There was a cross-piece, a 2×4, about halfway up.
Recently, one or more of my resident Yellow-bellied marmot clan developed the habit of climbing up to the seed-placement level, moving the wire mesh aside, and having a breakfast of sunflower seeds.
The smart thing I should have done prior to placement of the feeder would have been to cut 4 pieces of rigid tube PVC {plastic} pipe and slid those over the posts. I didn’t. I might de-construct the set-up and do that. A few years ago, I saw such a thing on a web video regarding keeping racoons out of feeders.
For now, I have placed pieces of metal ridge cap, it takes two per post, around each. And I removed the 2×4 cross-piece. I watched one of the marmots approach and seemingly dismayed at the change. I did not see it trying to climb one of the covered poles, so I think it was using the 2×4.
I made the change Thursday morning and will confirm success after another few days. I hope.

Wednesday, the Joyals (from Marquette, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula) came to EBRG. The have relatives in Spokane. We meet at EBRG’s Red Horse Diner. Last year, my post #13741 of May 4th has a photo with Ann and me. This year, we had one of the servers take a photo of the three of us with a few of the diner’s signs as background. I expect Fred will send a copy when they return home. They have an intention to move to Tucson that will shorten the drive by 400 or 500 miles.

I returned to town for an early evening end-of-year and awards party with the Geography Department. Years ago the meal was sort of a pot-luck affair. At some point they switched to prepared sandwiches, chips, fruit, and canned drinks. There are a half-dozen sources of funds, some from now deceased or out-of-area donors. One donor has aged out and no longer comes. The daughter of a donor came this year for the first time. Nancy and I were regulars since, I think, 2011.
The dollar amounts vary from a few hundred to one of $2,500 with most $1,000. The total is $26,500. The relatively few students and the number of awards have the effect of some students getting 3 or 4 awards. After Nancy died, I have been giving the department money for 4 $1,000 awards, so I get my picture taken with four students. The University calls these “current use” funds in contrast to “endowment” funds. I’ve been working to fulfill that commitment made 4 years ago. A payment next January from a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) of retirement held mutual funds will complete that. Thus, in 2027 the “Hultquist Awards” might come from the endowment rather than current-use money. Sometime soon I’ll be meeting with faculty and CWU Foundation folks to discuss such things.

Meanwhile, the weather has been cool and gusty. Winds into the high 30’s mph. I haven’t seen the resident skunk for about three days. There are a couple of young male deer about with spike antlers. I’ve only seen one older with a large set. I saw 6 elk on my trip to the pétanque gathering on Thursday — on the slope going into the Columbia Gorge, 10 miles east of me.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

Because of a forecast of nasty weather, the Thursday pétanque event was canceled. I went to EBRG instead. That takes a gallon of gas.
Scheduled was a presentation at the Audubon group about Nightjars and Common Poorwills: https://ebird.org/species/compoo
… and similar birds. Spend 5 minutes on the linked-to page and you will have a better experience than at the meeting.
As usual the audio-visual hookup didn’t work. This time “because he used a Mac and the Hal Holmes system was Microsoft“. In a dozen tries, I have never attended one of these when it did work.
The presenter — a man about 65 — was told to use a microphone which he held everywhere except in front of his vocal apparatus. The voice and loudness might have worked for a child sitting in his lap. The room, big enough for at least 60 people, had about 30. I was in the middle. Had he stood close to the front row and talked straight at us, we could have heard him. Instead, he wondered around, frequently looking at the screen. I estimate I caught about 50% of his words.
The AV-system could only show images of text and a couple of photos. When they tried to show a video, the whole thing went blank. They made no progress in the next 5 minutes. Over the next 5 minutes or so, people left one or two at a time. I was the 5th.
The text was about half-a-page in small print and poorly formatted. He used it as speaking notes — while looking at it and away from the audience. This was a complete disaster. We trained college students about how to do these things because it was assumed they would take jobs that required them to do such presentations. The technology changes but the basic skills do not.

The mentioned nasty weather did materialize — all east of me, although I could hear thunder. Acquaintances in the Quincy area are getting the entire mix of rain, wind, and lightning.
The area had full sun and 90 degree temperature. That heated the ground, produced rising air, with moisture coming up from the Pacific Ocean across eastern Oregon. The combination produced the atmospheric activity. It was predicted well in advance. The high Friday is expected to be 30 degrees cooler.
{posted late Thursday evening}

Keeping Track

On Wednesday, Phyllis, Cameron, and John visited the hilly area of NW Grant County and south Douglas County on a wildflower excursion. About 12 miles northwest of the vineyard, we entered Rock Island Grade at 650 feet elevation. This is near the north end of the parking spaces at Rock Island Dam. Eventually we got up to about 3,700 feet. We stopped at Duffy Creek (dry) for photos just a couple hundred yards through the gate, at about here:
47.526712, -120.05115
Google Earth shows considerable patterned ground. My friends were impressed {Yeah Right?} that I knew something about this. Mostly grass and sage on the mounds, but otherwise flowers were everywhere. Along with a dozen types, the Bitterroots Roots were plentiful and in full bloom. The flowers are about 2.5 to 3 inches across. {Note to self: next time use something for scale.} The Wiki page is informative.
We had a lunch a mile or so NW, from where — on a distance ridge — two white objects (“looked light light bulbs”) said Phyllis. We continued on for a tour of Waterville — Home of the Shockers**, and then back south via Badger Mountain Road. Going south, on the west, we approached the prior seen objects. Cold-War Radar installations, I assume. I can’t find information.
**Shockers – – this was/is a major dryland wheat area and young folks learn to shock wheat as well as play football. In the past they did; not so much now.

Thursday was a nice weather day, so we met for Pétanque where my performance was lacking.

Friday was the funeral of a man I’ve met but hardly remember. One of the Orcutts. I know many of the family, especially a sister Suzy and a daughter Dannica. Suzy and Bob West have been friends for 20 years. Dannica has be working for the College of the Sciences – Dean’s Office – doing relationship things, but has recently taken a broader university role in the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships. She is one of my go-to people at CWU because of the student awards I provide, so that and the family friendship (others I know less well) makes the funeral connection.
I went to the late-afternoon event but not the afternoon Catholic mass. The event was held at a venue (Sweetwater Ranch) that mostly hosts weddings just 0.8 miles north of me.

Saturday and Sunday – – just busy with some outside things and kitchen chores.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

Canceled (cancelled). Of the four things planned for this week, only the first happened.

On Tuesday, Jocelyn (Jos) Akins came up from Hood River and presented in the Geography slot for “A Bite of Science” — the monthly informal gathering of College of the Sciences’ folks from Biology, Chemistry, and Geography. I met Jos a couple of years ago. She is a wildlife biologist {and a good geographer} that studies and works to conserve elusive mountain carnivores in the high Cascade Mountains.
Via email, I introduced Jos to Megan and Jennifer, geography profs, and when it was Geography’s turn to fill the Bite of Science slot, Jen made it happen. The cover story of the Smithsonian is actually about the photos and photographer Gretchen Kay Stuart, while Jos and the Cascades Carnivore Project are mentioned. I saw one of the small foxes in 2006 while doing trail work with Washington Trails Association — about 4 miles NW of Mt. St. Helens.
I was also able to transfer the Orca cooler to Jos {it fit in the back seat of her F150. I won the cooler in October of 2024.
Thursday is the regular day for the Pétanque gathering. Cool and windy caused cancelation.
Friday was on the scheduled for one of the monthly Scholarship Lunches at CWU. Only three of us were available, so it was canceled.

Saturday is still on the agenda, but I will have to cross the Cascades, and the weather is winter-like. The trip would be to Kathy & Fran’s 3rd annual Barn Party. Distance is about 140 miles, with Snoqualmie Pass involved. Overnight temperature is expected to be 32°F with rain and snow – accumulation not expected. Rain and snow to continue with a high of 41 on Saturday. Further, once into the Puget Lowland, Hwy #18 is involved. Traffic on 18 is usually crazy. The combination of traffic and temperature is not conducive to a visit. Besides the high at the destination is 51° with rain. Well, the gathering is in a nice barn, but I guess I’ll go another time.
I keep brushing, mowing, and working on firewood. Nothing new.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

The two activities this week were: 1 – a visit to the community of Hutterite Brethren Marlin; the last being the common name of Krupp, WA., and 2 – a dinner at CWU to honor the top students of the College of the Sciences. Geography is one of the named departments and because I donate a bit of money for awards, I get invited to such things. This year the geography students will learn of their award on June 3rd at a 5:30 gathering with food and picture taking ceremony.

The Tuesday visit to the Hutterite community was a trip via the EBRG Adult Activity Center (AAC). We left at 8 AM and got back at 3:40 PM. This community raises potatoes for bulk sale and has a large herd of dairy cows. There are many communities in the USA and Canada. Given an opportunity, I recommend a visit.
In a straight line from my place the distance is 70 miles. Actual road distance is about 110 miles.

Saturday I had lunch in EBRG with Kathy and Fran. They brought a horse to an EBRG area trainer and then we met at a restaurant called The Porch. If the weather stays nice I’ll visit them next Saturday — just 23 miles south of Tacoma. I don’t look forward to the traffic and will try to use rural roads as much as possible.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

Much of the Nation is having unsettled atmospheric phenomenon. Here in Washington, May is starting with a few days of summer-like weather. At 4:45 Friday afternoon the local airport recorded 77° F. The forecast for Monday is for 80. Low wind speed and no rain complete the sunny forecast. By the end of next week, the low 70s are expected. Flowers are looking nice and the region’s millions of apple trees are now blooming. WA produces too many. Buy apples!

I bought two tomato plants. Now I have to care for them. Key terms in the text below are indeterminate and determinate.

A determinate tomato plant is a type of tomato that grows to a certain height, produces all its fruit within a short period, and then stops growing. These plants are often bushy and are ideal for gardeners looking for a concentrated harvest, making them suitable for canning or preserving.
The Willamette tomato is a determinate growth variety that matures in about 70 days. It is well-suited for cooler climates, making it a favorite among gardeners in the Pacific Northwest.

Indeterminate tomato plants are vining varieties that continue to grow and produce fruit throughout the growing season until frost kills them. They require support, such as trellises.
Early Girl tomatoes are known for their early ripening, high productivity, and indeterminate growth, meaning they continue to produce fruit until killed by frost.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

I’ve long known there was a fence between the house and the east branch of Naneum Creek. About 1/4 of this 20-acre parcel is on the other side of the creek.
I’ve cleared the brush to the remains of a rock crib but not enough to see the creek or beyond it. That’s a goal. The left image below shows an aerial view. The fence did not follow the property line. It is on the east side of the creek that comes onto the property from the north and takes a southeast bend after getting past the house.

There was another rock crib along the north property line and 120 yards from this one. It too was burned and I have carted the remains away, although the barbed wire is still along that line, attached to other posts. I suspect others but there is too much brush for easy inspection.
I want to find when the fire occurred and how widespread it was.

Having seen these burn scars and having seen fires within a few miles of the house, and knowing of all the fuel on my and adjacent properties – – I think a serious fire is possible but of low probability. Fire response is much better now than when the last fire was, whenever it was.

Morning temps have been below freezing. Blossoms seem not to have been damaged.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

There have been reports of bird deaths from the spinning blades of wind power facilities. East of me, along Old Highway 10 between Ellensburg and Vantage, there are two large sets of towers and one tiny tower.

On Friday, returning from vine pruning at White Heron Cellars, the wind wasn’t blowing and the blades were still. I saw two interesting things. There was a Bald Eagle cruising over the towers on my left. I could watch for only a few seconds even though I was going only about 50 mph. The small home-sized tower had a visitor. Where the red star is on the image (web sourced) a small bird was perched. She was about sparrow or finch sized. When the tower came into view, I realized the point of the upper left blade had an unidentified non-flying object.
As I got nearer, I realized a small bird was perched on the tip. Below is a photo from Google Street View with the homestead with the tower off to the right side. Note, also, the two large towers on the left, at a distance.

I did not see anything but a dark color (brown) on the little bird. With a strong wind those 3 little blades whip around in a blur. Over the past several passages I have not seen them turning while the commercial ones do. It makes me wonder if the small one is broken.
There was a quick sprinkle this morning (Saturday) but by mid-afternoon the day turned nice with some clouds and blue sky. That atmospheric band made it over to central Montana, causing a storm there.

Visitors season has come to Seattle and White Heron’s tasting room at the Market is now opening on Tuesdays. This weekend is Cameron’s rotation, so he won’t return for pruning until Wednesday. My plans are weed control and a trip to the transfer station – the dump.

Other news: On the road to the vineyard just west of Quincy, there is a rest area. This is a 2019 image. Note the red star on the upper left and the leafless branches.

By 2023, half the branches were lifeless. I stopped in 2024 and got seed pots and leaves. The trees are all Honey Locust, and they become host to a beetle that uses the tree as a nursery. The larva tunnel and kill the tree.

An images search for “honey locusts borers” returns many interesting images.
In 2024 I contacted the DOT in
Wenatchee and alerted them to the dying trees. Last year only one tree was still producing leaves and some were shedding bark. Now – April 2025 — none are alive and it is time for them to go.
The closure is all of next week. The Rest Area will change from shady to sunny.
Maybe they won’t plant trees of all one species if they do replant.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

Here on the Naneum Fan, nothing much happens other than the wind either blows or it doesn’t. Today it did. Mostly it was in the mid-20s but the gusts went to 41 mph with many in the high 30s. That’s at the airport that is 5.2 miles southwest of me and 500 feet lower.
We’ve been pruning and I went early for lunch on Friday. Compared to previous years we are short one volunteer. He is staying home with his wife who had a surgical procedure. We have missed a couple of days because of rain. The vines are still dormant even though other plants are waking up. A neighbor to the vineyard has apricot trees and they were pretty pink early this past week. A bright yellow Forsythia is blooming next to the vines.
At home I am on average 3 to 4 degrees cooler and a month later in bloom-time. Some of the early flowering bulbs are showing about 3 inches above ground.
I have been cutting more small trees to make ‘Y’s for staking up grape plants. These to replace the 100 or so that I dropped off last year at the edge of the vineyard. Someone carried those off. The larger part of the tree will be fit for the wood stove in a year. The 2-to-3-inch thickness when cut into 16 inch lengths dry quickly in our low-moisture environment. I have to find small trees with a ‘Y’ for the grape stakes.

While nothing much happens here, Ellensburg seems to be in a crazy zone. The first episode was a woman and husband bringing multiple guns to a church service. She was thinking of shooting people. He had a revolver to take her out if she started. I don’t understand that. Neither did the judge. He locked them both up.
Next, two young teen girls (14ish) were making plans to shoot classmates in their middle school. School officials, friends, and police were able to put enough evidence together that the judge also locked the girls up. How this story unfolds will be interesting, although because of the young age, we may never learn.
Tonight’s paper has a story of a 19 year old killing his wife. There was a no-contact order, but she went to his apartment to retrieve her things. She went alone (mistake!) and ended up dead. The specifics are confusing, but he is now in jail. Drugs were involved.
Being a taxpayer in the county with under 50,000 people, I wonder how many dollars these three cases will cost the fine citizens of Kittitas County, such as me.
The truck reached 50,000 miles this week. I got the idea to treat myself with something expensive, so I filled the F150 up with gasoline. $4.89 per gallon. Ouch!

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John