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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2019)
20 Wednesday, June 26, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon The Bunkhouse Chronicle Craig Rullman Columnist No justice for Holden Dick Last week, while some Oregon legislators were resisting the cyanide pill of a <climate bill= 4 whose only certain result will be the destruction of of good jobs for mostly rural Oregonians 4 I bombed south through the desert to pick up a new horse for training. A two- year-old chestnut with brains and breeding, I9m honored to get this filly started for her owners. I loaded her early the next morning, serenaded by eager meadowlarks in the sage- brush and sprinklers ticking in the alfalfa. As we pulled out of the ranch there was a fine herd of pronghorn graz- ing their way into a field of rye. Farther down the road a family of Mennonite men were working feverishly on some project in a wheat field. The Mennonites bought their ranch from a fam- ily who arrived a few years before. That family was new to the desert, refugees from the sprawling disaster south of the I-80, full of world-sav- ing ideas, and their first act of salvation was to dry lot a herd of bison in a weed patch and sell the meat as <grass- fed, free-range= bison. They were dirt patch bison fed from round bales, to be cer- tain, but the episode is a use- ful reminder that marketing meat as <free range= and <grass fed= ranks right up there with the genius of the <light-beer= fraud. The Mennonites planted wheat under a pivot and turned the desert green. The bison follies remind me of a guy I knew in the Black Rock who lit range fires because he dreamed of bringing the bison back. Bison have been gone for 10,000 years from that part of the world, but he was ada- mant. Joe lived on a mining claim in the Calico Range, and was often seen wander- ing around the desert naked with a plastic jug full of water. He had some other ideas that stretched plau- sibility, but it was a bigger country then, and that sort of eccentricity was generally left alone to solve itself. At any rate, some summer mornings are so bright and easy and vibrant with life one can almost forget about the looming and mostly ignored cataclysm of our national debt, crazy Ayatollahs, or the endless parade of home- grown blatherskites who show up in our news feeds twisted into bizarre political contortions. Pandering requires endur- ance, it turns out, and today9s politicians can hold those poses, with a pearly white smile, just as long as it takes to con you into voting for them. But high-balling through the desert with a horse serves as a fine antidote. While mesmerized by the swirl of birds following a swather through a field, dive-bomb- ing for gophers, mice, and snakes, I could almost dis- miss the weird new prom- ise of reparation payments for people who were never slaves, by people who never owned them. And I could almost for- get the strange notion of laws that require virtually no sacrifice on the part of the people who write them, but demand severe concessions from everyone else. Reparations will no doubt remain under consideration for as long as it takes to conduct yet another end- lessly disputed election, which will no doubt result in dozens of disputed investiga- tions, followed by the requi- site round of investigations into the investigations. And no one should be surprised when the evidence from the bait-ball of inves- tigations gets sealed by ner- vous judges until the year 2150 4 when we will all be dead and the world, if it9s still here, will no doubt have been drum-circled and 5G9d into perfect Homo-Sapien harmony. Blasting north through the Madeline Plains, my mind kept running to the sad legacy of Holden Dick, a Modoc Indian who was prised from a Lassen County jail cell in the winter of 1886 by an angry mob and lynched, along with his cell- mate, in the woodshed next to the courthouse. No one was ever arrested or charged for the lynching, and no one ever found the stash of gold Dick had been living on after robbing a freight wagon rolling out of the Warner Mountains. One suspects the lynching wasn9t really rough justice for a murdered teamster, but instead a concentrated effort to torture Dick into reveal- ing the whereabouts of the stolen gold. Human nature A N N O U N C E M E N T S Especially for kids and families! OUTDOOR FUN Rhythm & Song in the Park Last year’s event was amazing! Kids danced and swirled in circles. People of all ages played drums and shakers. Plus there was lots of food. Join musician and music therapist Jodi Winnwalker of Earthtones Northwest for a special Sisters event. Free. BBQ included. Bring your own lawn chairs. Wednesday, July 17 in Village Green Park. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Contact and info: citizens4community. com. Bike Decorating & Mini Parade Celebrate Bike Day with Sisters Farmers Market on Sunday, July 21! Start off at Eurosports at 11 a.m. to decorate your bike and get your free raffl e ticket. Th en parade through town and over to Fir Street Park for a full day of market fun. Bring your swimsuit and towel for the splash pad, too. Details to come at sistersfarmersmarket.com. Free. All are welcome. Starshine Kids Performance Kids will perform original shows on the Songbird Stage at Fir Street Park. Ages 4-8 take the stage on Friday, July 26 at 11 a.m. and ages 8-13 perform on Friday, August 2 at 3 p.m. Th e shows will feature plays based on the theme of summer adventure written by the kids during their week-long Starshine Th eater camp through SPRD. Free. All are welcome. Details: 541-645-0688 or starshine- theater.com. GUIDED HIKES LIBRARY KIDS’ EVENTS Walk with a Ranger on Whychus Overlook Trail Join Discover Your Forest and the Sisters Ranger District in an informative hike along Whychus Overlook Trail. Forest Service rangers will be stationed along the trail to provide information about current topics and answer questions. Th ursday, June 27 from 5 to 7 p.m. Th is is a one-mile accessible trail. Free to the public, all ages. For more info www. discoveryourforest.org. Kids’ Butterfl y Walk, Metolius Preserve Bring your family to the Metolius Preserve for a kids’ butterfl y walk led by butterfl y guru Amanda Egertson and her kids, Lucy (12) and Eli (10). Th is Deschutes Land Trust hike is perfect for kids ages 6-11 with a grown-up in tow. Th ursday, July 11 from 10 a.m. to noon. Online registration is required at deschuteslandtrust.org/hikes. Info: 541- 330-0017. Fox Walk + Owl Eyes Susan Prince will lead a nature walk just for kids at the Metolius Preserve on Saturday, July 13 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Learn how to enter into wild lands like the animals do. Practice observation skills and group mapmaking. Th is Deschutes Land Trust hike is perfect for kids ages 8-14 with a grown-up in tow. Online registration is required at deschuteslandtrust.org/hikes. Info: 541- 330-0017. Family Fun Story Time Family Fun Story Time for kids of all ages takes place at the Sisters Library on Th ursdays, June 27, and July 11, 18, and 25 from 10:30 to 11 a.m., with songs, rhymes and crafts, all designed to grow young readers. Caregivers must attend. Info: 541-617-7078. Universe of Crafts All ages are welcome to join this journey around the world and into space through stories and crafts at 2 p.m. on Saturdays, June 29 and July 20 at Sisters Library. No registration required. Call 541-617-7078 for more information. Mission to Mars Explore life on Mars, get to know the rovers, and play with Mars mud with other kids ages 6-11. Wednesday, July 10 at 10:30 a.m. at Sisters Library. No registration required. Call 541-617-7078 for info. Pajama Storytime Stories and activities aimed at the early learning needs of birth to 5-year-olds. Pajamas optional! Sisters Library on Tuesday, July 16 at 6 p.m. No registration required. Info: 541-617-7078. To the Moon! Discover the moon’s phases and make moon dust with other kids ages 6-11. Space Camp is Wednesday, July 24 at 10:30 at Sisters Library. No registration required. Info: 541-617-7078. being what it is, that story seems more likely, and it was out there, in the long, brushy reaches of the Madeline Plains, that Sheriff CC Rachford rode Dick down and slapped him in irons. Forgive my suspicious nature, but <climate= bills carry the same stink as Dick9s lynching. From at least one angle they look a lot more like socialist redis- tribution than a legitimate plan to <save= our planet, our bluish orb that has somehow managed to survive the last 4.5 billion years without the feel-good fantasy of <carbon credits=. It9s likely that the best vaccine against climate change is to stop stacking so many mouths in the same feed trough, but that idea never seems to get much traction. Out on the desert, I kept the hammer down through Lakeview and Paisley, think- ing over my plans for that beautiful filly riding in the back, and remembering a rumor 3 not without evi- dence4that Holden Dick had a map leading to his bur- ied loot. Word is, he gave that map to his defense attor- neys shortly before meet- ing his sad destiny in the woodshed. The lawyers, naturally, denied it. See ad Announ ditional ce on page ments 10. Stuff ed Animal Sleepover Wear your pajamas, bring your stuff ed friend, and listen to a story, then leave your stuff ed friend for an overnight sleepover. Saturday, July 27 at 10:30 a.m. at Sisters Library for ages 0-11. On Tuesday morning, pick up your friend and a photo memory book. No registration required. Info: 541-617-7078. TEEN EVENTS Outlaw Gamer Group A new, non-religious youth group is meeting at the Episcopal Church of the Transfi guration on Saturdays from 4 to 6 p.m. Adult volunteers hang out with Outlaw Gamer Group (OGG), providing an environment where teens in grades 8-12 can socialize and get creative, as long as they’re willing to avoid electronic devices. To get involved, email Stephen King at skmyth.king@gmail.com, call Michelle at 541-549-7087, or show up on a Saturday. Mixed Media Workshop Blast off with this space-themed mixed media workshop with paper-cut artist Carly Garzon Vargas. Saturday, June 29 at 10:30 a.m. at the Sisters Library for ages 12-17. Call 541-617-7078 for info. Galaxy Slime Learn all about polymers as you make & take your own DIY galactic slime, Mars mud and moon dough at Sisters Library on Tuesday, July 30 at 3 p.m. Supplies provided, no registration required. Ages 10 to 17. Info: 541-617-7078.