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A wildfire in a city in the middle of winter? No way. The Emergency Manager who urged people to prepare for that would probably have been laughed out of town, before December 23rd. That was when the Boulder, Colorado, suburbs of Louisville and Superior lost over 900 homes to a fire that burned 6,000 acres in half a day. 35,000 people were evacuated, and thousands remain without housing
Homes in Louisville, Colorado, leveled by the wildfire are seen covered in snow on the morning of Sunday, January 2.Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images
The fire, driven by strong winds, played out over a few hours. Like the Almeda fire, it was initially fueled not by forest, but by grass, brush, scattered trees – and then buildings.
Residents did not have the benefit of Alert Level 1-2-3 warnings; many decided to evacuate minutes before the flames reached their homes. Most got out alive, but only with what they wore, what was readily available to be picked up, or already in the car. There was only time for reaction, not planning or packing.
Do the newly homeless have basic personal items and information, money, medicines, and other desirable supplies? It depends on their home and car go-bags, and their reflexes.
Like the Almeda fire, it’s suspected that human agency was involved in the initiation. Under conditions of high wind and ready fuel, one person with a cigarette lighter and ill-will, or with a BBQ grill and carelessness, can cause immense damage. It’s a social no-no to talk about, but one person with a car and a case of Molotov cocktails could start a transect of fires that would be out of control before the first responders arrived.
But it couldn’t happen here.
by Connie Kent, photos by Fran Yates
Uncommon bird alert! Not rare, like the Costa’s Hummingbird, but still, uncommon. Fran Yates first began seeing the Red-shouldered hawk last November, first in the Plaza Parking lot, later in the parking area behind the Manor, and finally, just this last month, once again in the Plaza parking lot, perched on a street light (the photo with the moon).
In both John Kemper’s Southern Oregon’s Bird Life (2002) and The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America (2003), the bird is listed as rare in this area. The Rogue Valley Audubon Society’s 2001 Birds of Jackson County, Oregon, shows them as present, though not common, during the winter months and rare and irregular during the summer. Of course, these three publications are all twenty years old.
But Kemper observes that, while they are common in California, Red-shouldered hawks seem to be expanding their range. And that may explain why we’re seeing them more now. In the last four years, 32 sightings have been reported on the RVM campus, starting with Kay Wylie’s report in October of 2018.
Carolyn Auker, of the RVM birding group, says Red-shouldered Hawks are year round residents in the valley now. If Kemper is correct, we may begin seeing them more regularly. Look for them at this time of year. You’re not likely to see them in the summer.
*-Do you want to get a personal email notification of a new Complement issue or new material? Email us at openinforvm@gmail.com and we will put you on the mailing list
Past articles are all on display; If there is a “Load More” link at the bottom of the page, clicking it will bring up the older articles.
Peace Corps Adventures in Ecuador with David Guzetta and Carolyn Auker, by Joni Johnson
– A mid-career adventurous detour
Betsy Portaro- An Early Peace Corps Volunteer Who Danced with Belafonte, by Joni Johnson
– In Africa? Read to the end to find out how.
Billiards at RVM, by Tim Miller
– Interested in the pool scene? Here is your cue-and-A
COVID News and Update, by Bob Buddemeier
– Old problem, new solutions — read and act!
Our Celebrity Costa’s Hummer, by Connie Kent
– Beautiful, exotic — and trapped in an alien world!
3550: the Portland Mirabella quarterly magazine (most recent issue)
Mirabella Monthly, Newsletter of the Seattle Mirabella (January issue)
Winter Wonderland, photocollage by Reina Lopez
– Beauty in the cold
Owls of the eastern Ice — a book review, by Bonnie Tollefson
– A magnificent animal, a wild environment, and a dedicated human
Down the Shore, by Eleanor Lippman
– Memories of an East Coast childhood
Nit-Wit Newz: Romantic Valentine’s Day Entertainment Set, by A. Looney
– In case you wondered what to do in February….
The Organ Recital, by Asifa Kanji
– Reverberating through the cathedral of mind and body
January Library Display, by Anne Newins
– On the road again…
RVM January-April Event & Entertainment Schedule
Stress Vibrations – a cartoon by Liz Argall
It Couldn’t Happen.., by Bob Buddemeier
– …so no need to prepare
The RVM Campus Snow Route (map): SNOW ROUTES-022411
Surviving Winter: Driving on Ice and Snow, by Joni Johnson
– How-to videos for brushing up slippery-surface skills
The RVM Campus Snow Route, by Bob Buddemeier
– Now that you know how to drive in snow, this is where to drive
by Marty Smith via Tom Conger
Nectar Bartender: My new hummingbird feeders got no takers all summer. Now, in late November, I’ve suddenly got hummers galore. If Portland is where they migrate for winter, they must spend their summers at the North Pole. Is this yet another harbinger of climate doom?
Anonymous Birding Consultant: I’m glad things are finally working out with your feeder, Bartender, though obviously I’m disappointed to learn that Hummers Galore is not, in fact, Pussy Galore’s even more popular big sister. That said, I do have to correct a few of your assumptions.
Anna’s Hummingbird
What you’re seeing is probably the species known as Anna’s Hummingbird, and your climate fears may be partially allayed when you learn that, unlike every other hummingbird in North America, this one is nonmigratory. Despite their tropical appearance—the males’ faces shine an iridescent fuchsia in the right light—these hardy little bastards butch out the Northwest winter as far north as British Columbia.
Granted, they’re newcomers. Native to California, the Anna’s hummingbird wasn’t seen in Oregon until the 1940s. However, it wasn’t a changing climate that brought them north, but a revamped menu.
Our native trees (think Doug fir or Sitka spruce), for all their stately majesty, suck at producing the nectar hummingbirds crave. The advance of civilization’s plow, however, brought with it lots of non-native flowering species (as well as a not insignificant number of easy marks like you) upon which the birds could thrive.
Thus, while the earth and its climate are certainly doomed, the presence of hummingbirds in Portland in December is not, in itself, a direct sign of that doom. Enjoy!
Rubber Duckies took on new significance at the Manor when they were distributed on Rubber Ducky Day. January 13th is a holiday that’s dedicated to the rubber ducky and is aptly named National Rubber Ducky Day.
At the Manor, the Rubber Duckies arrived in all sorts of disguises. Some wore the traditional yellow outfit with orange beak. But many represented a multitude of characters. One of ours was a woodland duck and the second was a unicorn duck. Some people at the Manor found the gifts silly and childish and others loved them.
Duck Collection 1
I’ve been collecting ducks since 2003 when a hotel in San Francisco gifted each of its guests with a medium sized duck with their name imprinted on the front. I thought it was cute as did my compatriots. I bought a few more during the year. And all of a sudden, I had a collection. It gave my
Duck Collection 2
friends something to give me. Now I have about 50 different ducks that adorn the counters of my two bathrooms. This does not even touch the 5,631 different ducks of Charlotte Lee, who has the largest Rubber Duck Collection in the world. Her name appears in the Guinness book of World Records. I couldn’t believe that the two ducks that appeared in my box were new to me, and so they have joined their compatriots.
All of a sudden, thanks to their hosts, many of the Manor ducks were involved in a variety of activities. People found them snow shoeing, ice boarding, swimming, and so much more. Some ducks were so bad that they spent some of their time in jail.
Ducks in Jail- Naughty Ducks
Ducks on Snowshoes?
Species experiments
So is the Rubber ducky just a silly little toy for children or is it more? It has engendered massive world wide Derby Duck Races with prizes over $1,000,000 a race. These are often used as a fundraising method for organizations. I believe someone also suggested that we hold a derby race here in the spring. In Aspen, Colorado, the derby now features 30000 ducks and takes place each August. Other cities include Fort Wayne, Indiana; Knoxville, Tennessee; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Lumsden, Saskatchewan; and Estes Park, Colorado. There are races in Australia, Scotland, Germany and other countries.
The story that Queen Elizabeth has a rubber duck in her bathroom wearing an inflatable crown caused the sale of rubber ducks in England to increase by 80% for a period of time. In 2013, along with the game of chess, the rubber duck was inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame.
Sculptor Peter Ganine created a duck made of vinyl in the 1940’s, patented it, including the famous squeaker, and reproduced it as a floating toy. More than 50 million were sold. What started out as the birthday of the character Rubber Ducky from Sesame Street has now bloomed into a holiday that’s celebrated all over. In Sesame Street, Ernie’s favorite toy is his rubber duckie, and he sings about it in the song by that name. The song was recorded in 1970 and charted at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Scientists are studying them in global tidal currents. In 1992, 28,800 Rubber Ducks were washed off a ship during a Pacific storm. About two-thirds were found three months later in Indonesia, Australia and South America. Most were finally recovered by 2007 after having been through the Bering Strait, Greenland and/or Iceland. Donovan Hohn wrote a book about their travels called Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,000 Bath Toys Lost at Sea., available in paperback from Amazon for $18.
There’s a Rubber Duck Project in Pittsburgh that considers the rubber duck a symbol of happiness and childhood memories, giving comfort to people regardless of their nationality, age, and race, and without political distinction.
The University of London advises computer programming students to use a rubber duck to help them debug their code. If they attempt to explain the program out loud, line-by-line, to a rubber duck, they will often discover where a problem exists, and then they can resolve it. Clearly, the concept of Rubber Duck Debugging need not be confined to programming.
Personally, I find Rubber Duck Debugging to be quite useful when applied to my writing. If you are looking for some problem-solving help, perhaps you should try teaching rubber ducks!
In a 2006 article in The Journal of American Culture, Lotte Larsen Mayer writes, “Shared by adults and children in a symbiotic relationship, the irrepressibly ‘cute’ toy that fueled ‘duck mania’ brings pleasure and learning to children and leaves memories of childhood innocence and joy that are re-kindled in adulthood, promising fun as the duck reaches out to the inner child in all of us.”
Our Rubber Ducky experience at the Manor started small but grew and certainly has allowed us to reconnect with that wonderful inner child. May we continue to do so because that is what keeps us young.
Women read while men watch football
Even Ducks need water
Duck in Hawaii on infamous rug
by Anne Newins
NIT WIT NEWZ
(Nit Wit Newz is an unauthorized, often unreliable, on-line news source designed to keep Manor residents abreast of the inconsequential, trifling, and superficial events that dramatically shape and inform our everyday lives here at Rogue Valley Manor.)
ROMANTIC VALENTINE’S DAY ENTERTAINMENT SET
Manor Entertainment Committee inks famed romance poetess for extended engagement.
In month-long Valentine’s Day celebration, Gladys Hummingthorpe, to be on stage at Manor auditorium each weekday evening during February—the “Month of Love.”
Ms. Hummingthorpe will be reading selections from her book-length, epic poem, “Meet Me ‘Neath the Rose Arbor When Vesper Bells Ring.”
Incidental music by husband, Myron, on his 18th century Venetian lute, will accompany these rapturous, ninety minute recitations.
Early reservations recommended (ticket clamor certain to swell as February nears.).
To insure all residents are able to attend, please limit your reservations to just six performances during the month.
Should Covid protocols prevent in-person auditorium attendance in February, Ms. Hummingthorpe’s performances will be telecast live each evening on Channel 900. Streaming will be available to accommodate your viewing schedule as well as your binge-watching pleasure.
Fill your February with love, wonder and awe.
Join the Hummingthorpes in a packed-month of enchanted evenings.
—A. Looney
photo collage by Reina Lopez
As is our custom, my kids, grandkids, and I converged in Seattle to spend the Christmastide with their stepdad at his lovely place in Issaquah. This time we all flew in—nine of us from different locations, all on separate flights, arriving just before a substantial snowstorm. They all stay at his home, and I with old friends in Bellevue, thus were only able to actually get together for a few hours on Christmas Eve plus some “quality time” the next day. Then off we all flew like the down of a thistle.
On December 28, I awoke with a very sore throat, mild headache, body aches, and a low-grade fever (101°). Inasmuch as I had spent 10 hours the prior day waiting for my (1-hour) flight back to Medford, then marching back & forth on the tarmac, in the rain, as the airline shuffled planes on us, eventually flying almost to MFR before diverting back to Portland because “a cargo door had not latched properly,” I figured I had the flu, or possibly strep throat. We had all been vaccinated, and the kids boostered, so thoughts of Covid were vague at best. But during the day, I learned that the kids’ had each tested positive before reporting back to work or school. And I suddenly found myself so sick I couldn’t even get out and get tested. Somehow, another day went by – lost forever, a blank. Or was it two days?
A friend called. “Are you OK?”
“No.”
“Do you want me to take you to the hospital?”
“NO!”
“OK. But I’m going to call every day to make sure you’re alright.”
“Just let me go back to bed.”
And so she did. Every day. I had to d-r-a-g myself out of bed to answer the phone.
One day, I just couldn’t make the effort when the phone rang. Mistake. The troops arrived in the form of Bob. Muttering imprecations and holding on to the walls for support, I wobbled slowly and carefully to the front door. Blearily, I motioned for him to go away through the screen door, and I staggered back to bed.
On New Year’s Eve, I dragged self out of bed and drove to the Fred Meyer parking lot, where I heard drive-by testing was being done. Once I finally located the test site (reportedly “amply signed”—there were no signs whatsoever) and drove around until I found what appeared to be the end of the line, it was obvious that, at the rate the line was moving, there were several days’ worth of cars waiting to be tested. I drove home and took a nap.
Next day (New year’s Day) I learned that Valley Immediate Care was offering test with no wait, so drove to the VIC facility at Barnett & Ellendale, and received prompt service—and equally prompt results: I had Covid. These tidings were promptly relayed to Melissa Preston and Belle at the front desk.
The report forms did not identify which strain/variant of the infection I had. And by then my temperature had returned to 98.6°. But I was far from “cured.” The sore throat had dissipated with the fever, but several MD friends had suggested Mucinex, to relieve any congestion I might be experiencing (had an occasional little hack—what I’d call a “nervous cough”); so, when dear friend Nancy called from her PT session and asked if there was anything I needed from the Manor Mart, I requested Mucinex. Seemed to get some relief from that OTC Rx, and eventually consumed the entire packet plus about half of a refill.
By then, symptoms were mostly a relentless sense of fatigue—no energy whatsoever—and I found myself dozing off repeatedly. As I was mostly just lying in bed reading, the spontaneous naps were facilitated. This did not seem to interfere with night-time slumber, so I figured there was no harm in nodding off at will. But it was damned annoying. I kept having to reread to figure out where I had been before I dropped off.
But time was passing. It had been over two weeks since the symptoms had first appeared and I had tested positive. During this interim my neighbor Cleve, who had gathered my mail while I was out of town, was also fielding items from my box in the Manor; this help was greatly appreciated. Hope you have a neighbor who would do likewise.
Slowly I began to notice that I was feeling less ”foggy” with each passing day, and was able to perform small household chores. I could fix myself something to eat and wash up afterwards without needing to lie down and rest afterwards. I was still not taking my accustomed daily walks, especially as I like to go early in the day—but it’s been cold out…! Some brilliant soul suggested I walk later in the day.
My medical service is at the VA clinic in White City, and they did not receive their booster serum until December, my shot scheduled for 1/18. By last Tuesday, I was feeling as close to normal as I could recall, and the booster itself had no side effects. I now face the ordeal of getting back onto my walk regimen—am going to have to start slowly, and adjust the to time frame to the afternoon, at least until we get out of the 20s in the mornings.
Other than that, there’s not much advice I can offer: if you somehow get exposed, and actually contract the infection, there’s little you can do other than rest—and keep isolated from others = easy in the independent cottages, but more of a task in the towers. Malama pono!