Keeping track

Christmas morning on the Naneum Fan

Early in the fall I was with folks interested in seeing the Northern Lights. On one occasion they drove 30 miles to look for a display over a lake. Pictures on their iPhones showed faint blue and green streaks. The viewers expressed that the phone videos were more colorful than their unaided eyesight views. We tried it later, and sure enough, the phone video always looked more impressive.
I think my sunrise photos suffer from the same technicality. The colors are intense – almost like there was a wildfire on the horizon. My perspective was not quite so intense. I ought to run the image through a filter to make it more realistic – less flashy.
I wonder if there is and “app” for that?

Phyllis and Cameron had me for Christmas (lunch time). There was some snow on the ground but about one o’clock snow began. This is a place that only get 9 inches of precipitation per year and this is the time of year for it. The heavy snow lasted for 2 hours. Very pretty and impressive. When I got home at dusk – expecting sever inches – there was none.
30 miles NW of me the area near Roslyn, where the TV series Northern Exposure was ‘filmed’, they got a foot or more.

Other than keeping the fire going in the wood stove and not winning the big Mega Millions lottery (I didn’t have a ticket), the week was uneventful.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

A few weeks ago while pulling out of a tight spot at an EBRG gasoline station I scraped the rear passenger side of the truck on a pole with both gray and red paint. Both colors spread across the panel in multiple thin streaks. Ouch. There were more streaks than I wanted for a DIY job so I was ignoring it.
Thursday: While searching for a parking space in the Union Gap COSTCO a man saw this paint job and caught up to me. He was a paint fixer and so we talked. While I shopped he fixed. He had all the necessary stuff in his truck – except [we learned] his credit card (manual) imprinter. Without a checkbook we were flummoxed.
Using a phone search we located a branch of my bank 4 miles away, and so away we went. I explained the problem to the clerk, signed a withdrawal slip, took the cash, handed it to Mr. Fix-it, and was headed home.
Of course the question remains: Was this cheaper than going to an EBRG paint shop or the Ford Dealer? He said so! This will remain one of life’s mysteries. The truck looks like new.
That morning I stopped by the CWU Parking office to check about an odd email they had sent. That came because Nancy’s free retirement sticker information needed to be updated. That was easily solved. That info was deleted. The one I have now is via the Foundation and begins in September of a year.
Alan came and plowed the snow out into the pasture. That was Wednesday morning. A total of about a foot of snow had fallen during the previous five days. It was sagging and wasn’t a problem but the issue was a cold period that would freeze the wet snow into an 8 inch ice cover. We can drive over that but it’s not fun. His drive way (220 yards) is twice as long as mine. He did his and then came and cleaned places where he knows I drive and need to get to – the firewood, for instance. His news was about another neighbor that had a heart attack while working in a shed. He was saved by the good timing of someone looking for him – CPR – and a rush to the EBRG ER and then Yakima Heart Center. We are 25 minutes, or more, away from an EMT rescue so personal transportation saves time – if possible.
Weather into January is stable – near freezing with a little rain and or snow, with fog.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

My Ford 150 is a 2019 with Goodyear original tires. I ruined one of those by getting a Washington Hawthorn tree thorn through the sidewall. Les Schwab had a similar replacement. With 37,000 miles on the original tires they are more than halfway into their life. I figure I will never buy another truck but doing nothing about the tires would mean from now on I would be running on less than adequate tires. That might be for 5 years.
My choice was to replace all four tires with new ones or ignore the issue and run the old tires.In two or three years I might need the replacements and then only, for me, get a couple of year’s use of them. On Tuesday, I went to Les Schwab and got new tires with a 70,000 warranty. They are a little more aggressive tread than the original but still meant for year-round use.
The various costs per tire, except for $107.17 Tax and a $4.00 tire fee (?), are listed on the diagram. The total for 4 tires is $1,387.01. The psychology for the costs ending in 0.99 eludes me.
If I keep and drive the truck for 10 years (not likely), I can wear them out at a cost of $138 per year. I drive only about 7,000 miles per year. If I drive for 5 years, the truck can be sold with still decent tires.

There was 3 inches of snow this week, now sagged to about 2 inches. Today, Sunday, is bright with the sun on the new snow. Tomorrow the sun goes away and “rain and snow likely” – but not much here, for a week. The Cascades may get a foot. On Monday night through Tuesday night Mt. Rainier might get a couple of feet. On Friday into Saturday a wind passage took power out for about 100,000 places in the area north and northwest of Seattle. Sunday afternoon the number is under 3,000. Generators and chainsaws have been selling well in the region.

I intend to bake a Pecan pie early evening, right after I take roasted chicken thighs out of the oven. I have a book to read in front of the stove.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

After a 10 day period of fog and near or below freezing, the sun has returned. It took a push of air from over the Pacific Ocean. Once reaching the crest of the Cascades and headed down slope the battle of air masses has now ended. Most of the Kittitas Valley was clear by 6:00 AM. On the northern edge, I still have a few scattered clouds.

I’m the yellow star and 40 miles south is Yakima – orange star. Because of the low Sun angle there are large shadows at 9 AM. There is snow in the mountains; none here. Current temp is 41°F with a bit of wind.

I had a teeth-cleaning appointment on Wednesday and then stopped at the place where I get my hair cut. I was only expecting to make an appointment but there was a no-show so I was seated immediately. I always like it when multiple stops can be made on one trip. BiMart and Grocery1 rounded out the stops on Wednesday.

The US Postal Service expected to deliver a Social Security letter Saturday. The delivery is now after dark so I didn’t go get it. I already know the increase is 2.5% and the standard monthly Part B premium will increase by $10.30. Still, it is an increase but WA’s gas price is 3rd highest in the nation, behind Hawaii and California. Ellensburg regular is $3.50.
Because Social Security [22% of Federal budget] Medicare and other health care [28%] take over half the budget, other things are being squeezed. Interest on the National debt is a huge cost. What, if anything, Congress does about these issues will affect many millions of folks. How we in the elderly group will be impacted is a mystery.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

Did not have a roast Road Runner or turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.

https://www.offthemark.com/

I did have chicken, at the neighbors Kathy and Dale and kids and grand kids. Wednesday A.M. I met Kristin at the Super1 deli to exchange news and give her the too-small slipper-boots. She likely will pass the pair on to one of the stressed veterans she mentors.
It has been foggy and near freezing this week. The coming week looks better – not as cold and some sun.
I did finish a temporary fence that should keep deer away from my plum trees in the spring when new green growth starts. Then I will need a plan for aphids and ants.
Meteorological winter began today. This is ignored by most who think Winter in the NH starts on the December Solstice, the 21st this year.
Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John H.

This was the week of the strong winds, down from the Cascades into the Seattle area. Large trees broke or tipped over and took out power for thousands of homes and businesses. The idea of not having electricity for days is something that doesn’t occur here on the east side of the mountains.
The problem began late evening Tuesday and on Sunday morning there are still about 28,000 places with no electricity. That’s down from many thousands on Wednesday. In addition to the power issues, there are trees on houses, over roads, and blocking driveways. Most of the big problems will be solved by Monday. Interestingly, it appears that Thanksgiving Day and a few days after will have the nicest weather in weeks.
Here, I had snow overnight. Mostly gone now with a drizzle at 37°F.

Related to trees: The twisting beams supporting my decks were replaced this week. Of the many, two twisted badly. The image below left, shows the end of one. Middle image shows the new look. The beam twisted so much it was splitting the post to which it was attached with long (stout) screws. The other end was pushing out on another vertical post.
The other deck had a similar but lesser problem. Two short beams that met over a center post have been replaced by one long one and heavy steel brackets have been added to help keep things in place. That’s shown in the right side image.

The College of the Sciences at CWU entertains grade school kids and their parents with an annual event called “Nature of Night”. It is promoted in the schools for many years – that’s why I never heard about it. This year, via a connection to the local Audubon group, I volunteered to cut bird silhouettes on Thursday and help with the event on Saturday. The birds were taped to the ceiling of large room (dark inside) and we led groups in with flashlights to view “the overhead migrations” underway in the night sky. Kids were given flashlights and they were asked to find the birds and count them. Meanwhile the leaders could talk about the shapes of wings, tails, and the thousands of birds migrating south. Back at the Audubon table there were cut-outs of bird faces (owls mostly) for anyone to color and make a mask. We volunteers cut out the image, the eyes, and holes for an elastic (head) band. There were several types of different sizes to match the width between the eyes of little to larger faces.
A dozen CWU groups had tables and rooms to allow the folks to learn of the night time activities of other critters, and different environments; jungle, desert, polar, rivers. A man with a Cosmos display was there and the astronomy club had scheduled trips to the planetarium – in a different building. Folks started coming at 10 AM and the place swarmed until about 2 PM. There was a room with pizza, snacks, and drinks for the volunteers.

Friday noon was a monthly luncheon that I attend, mostly secretaries and staff. This time there were two main topics. One being the care of elderly – several folks were involved with parents or others needed care. And Ruth H., the person that started these gatherings, fell a couple of weeks ago and broke a hip. She is near 90 and probably will not be returning to her long-time home.
The second topic was the in-progress contraction of the University brought about by fewer students. There is a Covid/pandemic aspect to this but, also, a general demographic part – fewer collage age folks and fewer attending colleges.
Retiring faculty are not being replaced and very preliminary talks of combining programs have started. Faculty is adapting by being flexible in adjusting current degree requirements. One thing being tried is to eliminate departmental secretaries/office-managers. No one seems sure of how this will work. Perhaps, there will be a central phone service for a group of departments. There always has been a general phone number for the university but whether that office could handle all communications hasn’t been tried. There won’t be a person to meet & greet someone coming to a department. All this is in progress. The current Geography secretary is in our group. She has been scheduled to retire at the end of December. With no one to replace her and a new academic quarter beginning with classes on January 7th she is staying through January. Spring quarter classes start on April 1st.
Our group’s next luncheon is on January 24. News update then.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

Saturday evening about supper time snow began at the house. Before dawn there was an inch, and then it started to melt. By Noon most was gone. A ski area, Crystal Mountain at 6,850 feet elevation (45 miles west of me) has several cameras and I snagged an image shown here. Their other cameras show mostly fog.
At the EBRG airport there was a cold mist registering as a trace of snow. It didn’t stick and that was the situation just a couple miles south of me. A few miles up in the hills, there is about 3 inches. More, a few inches, is expected here Tuesday evening. I’m not planning to go anywhere, so it doesn’t matter.

For an hour or so the turkeys have been searching under the Ponderosa Pines for, I guess, pine seeds. I’ve had to fence places where I put seeds for birds or the deer and the turkeys would get most of the sunflower seeds. I don’t know if they would get the tiniest seeds.

The big local news this week suggests there is a mental health problem in the region. One Corey Burke hacked and killed her father because he wouldn’t turn off the lights. This had something to do with the election. A Yakima driver led police on a 70 mile chase into the Ellensburg area on I-90. Not related to the election. It reads like something from a TV “cops” show. A Cle Elum woman pointed a gun at folks she knows, then fled to EBRG and behaved strangely in a downtown street. No harm done, except she scared the folks in both places. Topping these strange stories is the capture of “Notorious P.I.G.” in Tacoma.
https://news.yahoo.com/news/video-shows-tacoma-police-chase-232216923.html

I realized I was missing all these interesting stories,so with a half-price subscription, I am back to getting a paper copy of the EBRG Daily Record. This, also, gives me paper to start a fire in the wood-burning stove, when needed.

I cut a dozen small trees, including several that have been dead for three or four years. The bark is falling off. Being tall and thin, I can now just cut to length for the stove. No need to split them. I guess there are too many trees close together that causes the tall, thin, and nearly non-branching growth form. Side limbs are not more than an inch thick.

I’m now headed out to cut those up. I’ve an hour or so of good light before the sun sets over Crystal Mountain and the Crest of the Cascades.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

I had only a bottling of wine event scheduled for this week, on Friday morning. That was canceled, so I’ve only home things to chronicle.
I used the opportunity to cut up trees that I had dropped last year or the year before. All I think I need for this winter is under cover. Some needs to be cut to length – 15 to 18 inches. Some is the right length but needs split.
If I get a chance, I’ll drop several trees for future use. The advantage is I can cut tall thin ones that won’t need to be split. Older and larger ones that die are more troublesome to prepare for fire wood. And the bigger they are the more dangerous they become.

The weather is supposed to be damp, rain, or snow. Lots of snow in the Cascades, but I think not here. Temperatures are fall-like.
The picture of the week is below.

Late in the afternoon, with the sun behind me and a dark sky to the East-North-East (ENE), this small tree lit up. It is interesting that it has all its leaves, while the walnut trees have dropped theirs. Established small plum trees still have green leaves. Western Larch, a deciduous needle-leaf tree, are also golden now. I have some, but the natural habitat is on the north-facing slopes of mountains. Web photo is a typical scene.

Monday is Veterans Day. Shout-out to all.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

Monday:
A member of a family we’ve known for many years is an insurance agent. I learned this while visiting with her sister last spring. Sister #1 said you need to talk to sister #2 (there are 7 girls in that bunch). This had to do with changing the Medicare supplement plan and can be done in Washington State only after Nov 1st.
Things come and go, and one of the things that went a couple of years ago was coverage in my area by Kaiser Permanente, a company that acquired WA’s Group Health in February 2017. Almost immediately relations between the local hospital and clinics and Kaiser deteriorated.
On July 31, 2021 we became “out-of-network” and needed to pick a new provider. I wasn’t paying much attention and the WA Health Care Authority via its Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB) made that choice for me. I think they chose “the best” and the most expensive. Much later – conversation with Sister #1 – I became aware that I likely needed to change. After two meetings and a lot of paperwork, 2025 will see me with a different and cheaper provider. I will save just a bit more by having my “meds” sent via mail on a 90 day cycle. I can still get yearly vaccines at the local pharmacy.

Tuesday:
Ownership of the local phone company changed. The new name is Lightcurve. Tuesday evening, they hosted a community get-to-gather with food and prizes. . I got a good meal (brought a little home) and
won 2 items. The company mascot is an Otis the Otter — I won a small stuffed mascot. Next, I won the grand prize of the evening.

Suggested retail price is $359.95. I sat with neighbor Alan. He said if I loan it to him he will bring it back with a salmon in it. He has “indian-fishing-rights” and does come by with a salmon now and then. He plows my driveway snow and occasionally adds a helping hand when needed.

Wednesday
The truck got a service, including an oil change, and no issues were discovered. The specifications call for 8.85 qts of oil but they charge for 9 quarts. I wonder where the other 0.15 goes. The dealership has lots of pricey trucks with many claiming $5,000 off. Still the prices go from $60,000 to $90,000. I’m happy with mine.

Friday
We worked on sparkling wine. I’ve found a short video that shows the steps. White Heron’s equipment is a little different, although the processes are similar. We used an old freezer Nancy purchased at a farm auction many years ago near Troy Idaho. The initial chill from the freezer is completed by a short time in crushed dry ice (solid CO2). This week the dry ice was in short supply at the grocery outlets because folks where buying it to use in their Halloween displays. My position was cleaning the bottles after the wire cage was put on.

When not running and doing the above, I have been preparing for winter by putting mulch on some new trees, putting garden hoses away, and making some firewood. Here is a photo of my companion on Saturday.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

The National Weather Service claims an 80% chance of a little rain during the early hours of Sunday. I’ve had three projects underway and didn’t want rain before I got the Black Walnuts gathered and all the flower bulbs in the ground. I planted in three different locations along the driveway. Two have been done for a couple of days. The last bed got done this afternoon, except I need to cover with more dirt, sand, and mulch. Then I will put leaves and pine needles on top for the winter.
There are different types of Daffodils and Hyacinth, and red Tulips. I’m thinking of adding (annuals) Marigolds and Zinnias next year, starting plants from seed in the house because of our cold springs.

I got a packet of Allium Ostrowskianum (or Pink Lily Leek); a brilliantly colored, short allium (think onion family) which produces quarter-sized, deep magenta flowers which are unparalleled in the allium family! (So someone wrote.) Its short height makes it great for borders or for planting among other spring blooming perennials. The bulbs are small and I got 100. Rather than trying to “plant” them, I roughed up the soil and threw them around the base of a pine tree. Then I covered them with mulch. I’ll add more on top (fine dirt, sand, and mulch). If It doesn’t rain, I’ll have to water. Hoping that works.
A similar plant is native to the area – Douglas’s Onion {Allium douglasii} although the color is light violet/pink. I don’t want to dig them up and put in a bed with the others.

I’ve had fire in the wood stove for most of October. I have lots of wood, it just needs split and some needs cut to the proper length. I’m also burning small pieces from my use of the radial arm saw, collected over the past three years. Also, the remodel of house and shed generated lots of stuff not fit for re-use. Much of that I can cut up to feed the wood stove. Pieces with paint or nails has to go to the landfill, although I can burn stuff in an outside fire when conditions permit. Friends have taken lumber for their projects.
Maybe I’ll build a “greenhouse” and try to grow tomatoes. 😇

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John