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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 22, 2020)
6 Wednesday, July 22, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon SCOUTING the Northwest By Scout Arnone Stream health I stood waders-deep in an urban stream, running my net back and forth through the water, squinting and studying the sparkling rip- ples that blinded me. I felt eyes on me; curious park- goers who hoped to interact with me in some way. <Hey, you look like you9d know! Is that a nutria or a muskrat over there?= A man shouted to me and pointed. His granddaughter stared at me blankly and continued to lick her ice cream cone. <Over where?= I looked around. <Over there! What is it, do ya think?= I scanned the neatly man- icured landscape attempt- ing to spot any movement amongst the willow thickets. <Oh yeah! Definitely a nutria!= I called back to him. I didn9t see it; I was trying to focus on the task at hand, but a nutria was very prob- able for that area. <Really? Looked like a muskrat to me,= he replied skeptically. The kid had mint chocolate chip on her nose. <Ha! Definitely nutria!= I said without looking up from the streambed. <How can you tell?= <Because of 4 uh 4 the way it is&.= My answer surely didn9t satisfy them, but they dropped the sub- ject and stared at me in the creek. The sand forming neat, wavy lines was lus- trously golden. Nothing moved. I check my net for any sign of benthic macroin- vertebrates (the tiny snails, beetles, and fly larvae that indicate stream health). The man piped up again, this time to his granddaugh- ter, <Look at how clean it is!= The kid stopped lick- ing her ice cream just long enough to glance at the water, <Doesn9t it look nice and cool?= The girl shrugged. I didn9t have the heart to tell them that it wasn9t nice and was far from cool. The water was warm (by stream standards) without the shade of trees to chill it, no plants sprang up in its muddy banks to cool the rocks that would serve as homes for the macroinvertebrates I sought. Not to mention the stream was quietly swallowing the runoff of nearby streets, the moss killer of nearby roofs, and the gum someone spit out in a fit of laughter. The strategic placement of a few large cobbles might have worked to churn oxygen into the water, but all I could see was soft, golden sand. My initial intent was to secure evidence of the pres- ence of pollution-intolerant benthic (<bottom-dwell- ing=) macroinvertebrates (<large and spineless=) like the caddisflies and dob- sonflies, the beloved scor- pionesque mayflies and their fascinating subaquatic PHOTO BY SCOUT ARNONE A successful benthic macroinvertebrate survey complete with high-tech ice cube tray. cocoon-mastering friends, the stoneflies. Hell, I9d even have settled for a gilled snail. My net turned up nothing. Readjusting my expecta- tions, I readied my heart to find any sign of the moder- ately pollution-tolerant indi- cators of stream health: My fishflies, craneflies, craw- dads, skuds, clams, beetles, dragon and damselfies. Still, nothing. < O k a y, = I r e s i g n e d myself. <We9ll at least hunt for any living thing, even if it9s the pollution toler- ant creatures that don9t rely on dissolved oxygen in streams.= I skimmed and skimmed and waded for water striders, midges, Make us your natural & organic foods destination! Located in the Cascade Village Shopping Center, Bend Open every day, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Isolated shopping hour: 6 to 7 a.m. worms and leeches. Even in the filthiest streams, these small players can survive. All I retrieved was a solitary leech, sucking the rubber on my boots. A righteous fury and abiding sadness bubbled inside me. Ice cream girl looked on and the melted sugar ran down her hands. Her grandfather wiped her face with a napkin as she squirmed and writhed trying to lick the sugary residue on her cheeks. I wanted to tell her grandfather that clean was not good, a blank slate is not natural. There is so little to be gained by wiping ice cream from dirty faces and enjoying streams without bugs. The river was clean by his standards because he lived by what he could see. But the water is toxic to those of us who live by what we taste: me, Ice Cream Girl, and the fish. • Large organic produce selection • Huge organic & natural selection storewide • Meat cut & ground fresh daily • Huge bulk-foods department • All your favorite local brands & items • Only 20 minutes from Sisters • Proud to be 100% locally owned The Nugget Newspaper offi ce is open to visitors! Saturday, August 1, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sisters Recycling Center 328 W. Sisters Park Dr. Our hours continue to be limited, so we do recommend making an appointment if an in-person meeting is required. For the well-being of our staff and clients we are heeding CDC guidelines for social distancing and masks are required. The Nugget Office: 541-549-9941 Items NOT accepted: B USINESS -G ENERATED H AZARDOUS W ASTE , explosives, fi reworks, ammunition, gas cylinders, drums, radioactive and medical waste. HELP PREVENT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 — PLEASE WEAR A MASK. Deschutes County Department of Solid Waste 541-317-3163 | www.deschutes.org/sw News & Letters to the Editor: Jim Cornelius, 541-390-6973 (cell) editor@nuggetnews.com Classifi eds, Subscriptions, Announcements, Events: Lisa May, lisa@nuggetnews.com Display Advertising: Vicki Curlett, 541-699-7530 (cell) vicki@nuggetnews.com Offi ce hours are Mon. & Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Tues. & Thurs., 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The Nugget Newspaper