Last Minute Decision

 I made a last minute decision.

I took off to Waldo Lake late this morning.  Today was not supposed to be very hot, unlike the two days prior, when we were in the low 90's.

Given the fact my right knee has been extremely painful when I drive lately, I wasn't so sure it was a good idea.  But I figured I could make it.  And I did--holding an ice pack on it the entire drive.

I don't have cruise control and if I drive much I can inflame my knee and the ligaments and tendons from my foot up to my knee.  It's that weird angle--bent knee, foot constantly cocked backwards, since my legs are too long for the car seat.  It won't go back far enough to be comfy. 

I made it, and had a blast.  It was windy there, with heavy swell and white caps.  Doesn't bother me.

I headed to the shore across from the boat ramp then down it to the island on the south end and Sandy Beach campsite, a popular place to camp by boat (or trail and backpack).   The Cygnus was moored in the lagoon other side of the campsite.  It's a small sailboat I've encountered many times at Waldo.

Hope and Charity were glowing in the sun, north of Waldo's north end.  Two of the Three Sisters.  The Middle and the South.

I went on down to the southwest corner of Waldo to the sandy beach there to eat my lunch.

There, a mountain biker said hi.  He was intent on riding the trail around the lake.  I told him I didn't think it had been repaired since the fires.  He went on anyway and I saw him over in the burn area and he had to turn around there.  Said there were too many trees across the trail.

After awhile, I meandered back towards the island.  The Cygnus was pulling up anchor and starting an electric motor, heading back to the boat ramp.

With the Sandy Beach campsite vacated, I lollie gagged around there for an hour.

The water is so beautiful

Anyhow, that's what I did today.  On the spur of the moment.

Summer Drownings Begin

 At least three people died by drowning this weekend.

It's always this way.   

A teenager drowned after he or she fell off a jet ski near Oregon City into the Willamette.

A teenager died after jumping off a rock into the Siletz outside Newport.  Couldn't make it back to shore.

Then word this evening the St. Helens city administrator was seen struggling in the Columbia River just off the docks by a city park.  He is presumed drowned, although it can be difficult to locate a body in the Columbia.

I didn't leave the house today.  It was over 90.  Still is.  The lake would be overrun with people.  I don't go there on weekends.

Yesterday I got two watermelons, on sale at the Grocery Depot because their refrigerated truck broke down so they had to sell all the fruit it held fast.   2 for $5!

I had seen a facebook reel on making watermelon slushies.  I cut one up into chunks and froze them overnight.

Today I put them first in the food processor on ice crush, then into the blender with some water and honey.  Oh my--delicious!

Cheers!

Lets hope no more young folk lose their lives in the water this summer.

The River Rising

 I went up to the lake today.  I think I arrived just after 1:00.   I just got back too at 7:30 p.m.

I got carried away.   I first paddled across the arm from the boat ramp.  I'd had to park my car in one of only two single car spots left available and it was a long way from the ramp.

Oh well.  I need the walk, I rationalized.  

I then paddled around the point and down the other side of it and finally cut across towards the 2nd bridge area.  I wanted to find a beach so I could eat my lunch.   But I got hungry and ate it out on the water.   These things happen.

So on I went, under the second bridge and past the Sunnyside campground boat ramp.   I decided to keep going up the Middle Fork.   The middle fork of the S. Santiam river runs roughly along Quartzville road up to Green Peter Dam, five miles from Sunnyside.

But rapids prevent going very far up it in a kayak.

I passed the three sets of mooring docks people can rent and leave their boats there, for convenience.

On I went.  Just a little further, I told myself.  But then, way off in the distance I saw something that looked like a light.  No two lights and one blinked.  I realized then it was probably the sun glinting off metal but I wanted to see what that was.  That was farther than I thought too.

Oh, its a bumper or maybe a side bar from a truck. You know, that thing you step on to get up into a truck.  I don't know.   

Then I thought, its not that far to Deliverance Beach.   I call it that because I had something of a Deliverance experience trying to get by a bunch of hooting hollering threatening campers there once long long ago.

On I went.

Warning sign number one.  There are three of these signs.  They warn water level could increase suddenly, if water is released from the dam.

Ok, I thought, maybe I'll get lucky and get to ride a water release back, give me a little surge help.

Deliverance Beach was there but lots of debris in the water and everywhere.   Warning Sign number two here.

After warning sign number three I thought ok, the rapids are very close.  I could see the big rock up ahead on the left.  The rapids are just beyond that.  I could also see a lot of debris in the water.  On I went to have a look.  I knew I couldn't go farther than the rapids.

But as i approached I heard the change.  The rapids were suddenly bigger and louder.   Wow, I thought, I lucked out.  A water release from the dam.  I can ride that back towards the lake.   Indeed I did get quite a boost for awhile on the way back.   It sent the debris field moving too so I just had to make sure I stayed ahead of it.

Perfect timing I'd say.  I appreciated the boost.

If that water hadn't come down, and helped me back, I don't know if I would have made it before like 10:00 p.m.  The wind had come up and was in my face as I paddled back from the 2nd bridge to the point and around it, to the boat ramp.  Then the long walk to get the car.   Ahh, finally, back home.  

I had a blast.

June Weather Today and in Recent History

 

Above is June phone app weather forecast for next few days.  Originally we were to get into the 90's this weekend, but the heat wave has been downgraded.   I thought I'd review weather in June, from blog posts for the past few years for fun.  It's been pouring here, but we'll have sun by Thursday.

Saturday, June 07, 2025

Hot

Today it was 88 degrees high here.

Tomorrow and Monday it will be mid 90's.

Wednesday and Thursday it should be near perfect, in the mid 70's, then it drops down into the low 70's for awhile

Tuesday, June 04, 2024

Latest Cats and a Whole Lot of Rain


It's been raining here since Sunday. An atmospheric river type event.
Today its supposed to taper off and stop. By tomorrow we should be back to 70, then hotter the days after. Low 80's maybe, I'm not sure, haven't kept up like I should.

In June of 2024, I took a 24 hour trip to Bend, to see my Idaho brother.  He and his wife were visiting their daughter who lives there.

Sunday, June 18, 2023

Scewed Any Which Way

Summer! Tomorrow we may end up with record setting lows here. But that should be over with by Wednesday. Today its just clouded over, with a bit of wind and now and then some spurts of rain.

June 2023 was the month I was going to go to Idaho to see my brother, but pouring rain that left the road washed out between Bend and Ontario, buses that cancelled, broken down AC/heater in car, and a head cold ended that plan.  Instead later on in the month I went on a four day camp trip to Crescent Lake, but ended up at Waldo Lake, when I had unpleasant neighbors at Crescent.  I had a great time, snow still on the ground in spots at Waldo and nobody else in the campground!

June 12, 2022

It's pouring this morning. You have to turn the sound on for the video above to appreciate how hard its raining.

We were hit with the old atmospheric river again. I think some places near Portland got more rain in one day than is normal for the month of June. As you can imagine, we may once again break rain records for all time for June. Great.

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Heat Wave Over. Only 96 Today.

Heat wave is over. Only going to top out at 96 or so today.

In what new world, do I say such a thing, with relief?

Well, in the world that produced 117 degree heat yesterday just north of here, in Salem.

I was there too, in it. My sandals melted apart in fact. I was at a friends place who had a small pool.

I don't suppose I'll ever forget that heat wave of June 2021, it was so unusual for Oregon and extreme.

Monday, June 08, 2020

A Very Wnter Weekend

Temperatures fell in the state Saturday and the rain came down like winter.

I am not sure we even made 60 degrees on Saturday. Or Sunday.

Meanwhile, coronavirus cases are increasing in the state since our re opening. But we continue to re open.

Protests continue in some areas of the state, particularly in Portland where vandals contribute more pain to the already pained business community.

We here in Oregon can never forget the summer of 2020.  Labor day weekend, fires roared through many of our mountain canyon, with hurricane force winds, consuming all in their path.  Covid was raging at the same time.

That's my recap of June weather since 2020, from a few sentences in random June blog posts.

Sad Day

 My old gal Juno died suddenly yesterday.

She'd been living in the cat yard and I didn't know she was struggling, although I did know she was very old.

She came from a seed warehouse colony a few miles south of Corvallis.  I spent a lot of time out there catching the cats to be fixed a long time ago.  I had finally caught her and her kittens.   She was an adult then.

Juno at the warehouse with her kittens before I caught her

This photo is from November of 2012.  She was not a young cat when she came to live here.

She loved Teddy.  This was from 2013

So long old gal.  Juno had a good life here and many many friends over the years.

She went to a friend in another town as she could not return to the warehouse with harvest in full swing.  But it became very very hot and the lady had a metal roof.  She brought Juno here, with heat stroke and blindness from heat stroke.  I took her to the vet who said she might get her sight back and got her temp down from 106 but warned me not to return her to the warehouse as heat stroke is easier to get once you get it once.

So she stayed here.  She loved Sam and playing and running in and out to the cat yard.  She remained feral.  I found her yesterday in the bathroom, when she lived mostly in the cat yard and knew immediately she had come in to die.  I touched her for the first time yesterday.  She died within a couple hours.

I had made an appointment Tuesday in Corvallis for her and for Tugs end of days.  Tugs is my tiny torti who has been here almost 20 years.   It is hard for me to give up on Tugs, I love her so much, but there is no cure for old age.   She is beyond skinny, requires fluids to be alive, and I have to let go.

I was trying to get rid of that huge chair yesterday.   I cleaned it well and took it to Habitat Restore and they said they didn't want it.  I could not figure out why since its in good shape compared to much of what they have but it was near closing and that alone could have been the reason.  So I just took it back to the neighbor woman.   I knew she'd either give it away on marketplace or need it there.   She's got two former homeless folks living there now.   Costing her lots to even feed them but they help her out around her new place.

Her family is coming to see her soon, two of her daughters and at least two grand daughters.  I can tell she's excited about that.  I think she has 3 daughters.  Her sister comes to visit a lot too.  

I did not yet find a box big enough to ship back that useless mattress.  Today I'll try again.   

Our weather will be lousy, gray and unseasonably cool, with rain, until Thursday.  So said the weather report.

I have two cat spots for fixing at Radpets on Wednesday.  I got them at the request of the lady who traps where she works but I have not heard back from her, regarding the upcoming appointments recently.   My nonprofit will also pay for another group out just south of town to be fixed but they'll trap and transport.   I also have five traps loaned out in Scio, to a family helping a Crabtree man get the cats he feeds fixed.

So although personally I have not been trapping, my nonprofit is still paying for quite a lot of cats to be fixed and loaning out traps on a consistent basis here and there.

Early Summer

We had a couple of warm days Monday and Tuesday.

Monday I had the molar pulled.   It had to be drilled apart to come out.  It caused me almost no pain as a result of being pulled at least. I now will be unable to chew anything on the right side but can't cry over what's done.

 Tuesday, the 2nd nice day, I went to the lake.  It was wonderful to be out again on the water.   

Wednesday it rained lightly off and on.

Today the temp is down 20 degrees or more from Tuesday.  Tomorrow will be the same, with rain.  It will be Thursday before we get warmth again, according to the weather app, but its always changing.

Gigi in the big chair, and I mean HUGE chair, with Smudge in the background.

The neighbors left this chair for me when they moved, out on the front sidewalk.   It's like a throne its so huge.  I need to get it out of here.   I hope the Habitat Restore will take it today in fact.   It's an office chair style, swivels, but WAY too big to even fit inside my exclusion room where my desk is.

I've been trying to get the new old car fitted to sleep in, in case I can go camping this summer.   I did get a board, with the help of a friend with a pickup.  Everyone needs a friend with a pickup.  I haven't cut the board yet to fit the back.   

I ordered what was billed on wayfair as a four inch thick mattress, that rolls up and has a washable cover to use to sleep on in the back.  What I got was a useless piece of 2 1/2 inch foam that I can easily compress together with two fingers.   What a completely fabricated product description!!!   Now, as a customer, I have to go to all the trouble of returning something that was falsely advertised.

You can squeeze this useless "mattress" together with no effort and 2 fingers.  This would not even be considered comfy as a cat bed.

In the meantime I found four inch foam on the internet, 2' x 4" x 72", for under $30 and ordered it.  It's mainly sold to create new chair or couch seats or redo upholstry.  I can cut it in 30 or 32 inch long pieces, for a wider sleep pad, make covers for those "slabs" and attach the slab covers together, so the bed folds up.

Nemo is an old man cat.  His fur again needs shaved of mats.  Nemo has a close group of younger friends and two old lady friends--Huckleberry and Mona Lisa adore him, as do Clover and Tball.  I have several who need mat shaving but none of them are tame or easy to catch in the maze here.

Gigi, who did get a summer haircut, is bored with the weather and contents herself watching birds and neighbors.   However, not much human action on our street lately.   I haven't ever seen the new neighbors except that one time, when family was moving one of them in.   I only see their cars.

Rascal, the black boy I got fixed a few months back, comes by daily.  He's here so much I think he must live in my yard, or maybe he has a home really close.   Last night I let him come in the garage.  He's a talker, makes soft chirping greetings and comments.

That's all the news from Catland for today.   

All Over Again---Simpson Park Homeless Clean Out

 When the news hit, that Albany is cleanng out the homeless camps at Simpson Park, it brought back the memories, some not so great.

It was a long time ago, over 20 years ago in fact, but I can't recall just when, that a city councilman from Albany requested that little old me, who lived in Corvallis then, clean out the multitude of cats left behind when Albany got the rights from Millersburg for the area known as Simpson Park.   There were homeless camps back in there, lots of them and lots of trash too.

The Park runs along the river behnd the railroad trucks between Albany and Millersburg.   I don't know who really owns it.  Albany now I guess, but enforcement issues fall to Linn County.

I had no money then and wasn't a nonprofit, although I got cats fixed under a Hillsboro based nonprofit.  They did not pay for anything else however, just spays and neuters.   How could someone without money living in a tiny teensy shack basically and driving a run down old car, accomplish this?   

I suppose I agreed to it simply out of low self esteem and because it made me feel wanted, useful, to have such a request of little old me made by a city councilman in another city.  Me?  I thought.  

So I did it.  It was really hard on me.   The costs, the physicality of hauling cats and kittens out over trains sitting on tracks.  It was hot too.   And I had no help.

I finally recruited booted out homeless folk to help, who risked arrest going back into their former home, to help and show me where the cats were at.  Nobody else was going to help. 

I don't even recall how many I got out of there.  Lots.  Or the year.

I called it Camp Boondoggle.  I had one homeless man take a photo of me in the midst of the trash, for fun, but I can't find the photos.  Been trying all morning to retrieve those off CD's that are themselves over 20 years old.  No phone.  No digital camera back then.  I don't think I even had a computer.

I'm not surprised at all homeless campers are back in there.  Probably there are homeless now cats there too.   

Ah well.   Here's the current story on the clean out.

I think the same news station did the story on it way back then, and even a story about the cats.

I remember a local nonprofit lady came when she heard the news was coming and threw one of her nonprofits shirts at me, ordered I put it on, which I didn't, and tried to scam donations towards her, when she hadn't lifted a finger to help.  Par for the course.

The news lady ended up adopting one of the kittens.