\nMy 1961 graduating class had 15 of us.
\nThe 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.
\nI 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.
\nTuesday 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 P\u00e9tanque.
\nHome 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.
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Alder-branch-300x192.png\")
However there is an abundance of fuel in the zone beyond 35 feet and I am slowly removing some of that.\nThere 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.
\nI 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.
\nThe 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.
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Alder-wood-275x300.png\")
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. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Horsetails-220x300.png\")
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. <\/p>\n