8B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2020
COFFEE BREAK
Beau feels like odd man out as girlfriend socializes with family
DEAR ABBY: I have been
divorced for three years. I have
been dating a woman, “Steph-
anie,” whom I love and believe
can be my next wife. We talk
about marriage and
have been very good
for each other.
We each are
blessed with
three grown chil-
dren, and we love our families
immensely. The difference is,
Stephanie socializes only with
her family and has few friends
who aren’t related to her. I, on
the other hand, have a wealth of
friends and like to do a lot with
them — dinner parties, sporting
events, concerts, traveling, etc.
My friends are great people, and
she agrees with me on that, but
when we make plans with them,
she says she feels like an out-
sider and prefers to be with her
family.
Currently,
Stephanie sees her
DEAR
daughter at least
three times a week
ABBY
and her oldest son
twice a week. In
addition, her ex-husband and his
wife host family events almost
every other weekend — birth-
days, holidays, game nights, etc.,
and she never wants to miss them.
They are so close that there are
no secrets and lots of “inside
jokes.” I feel very much like an
outsider at times.
I love her family, and they have
welcomed me with open arms,
but I can’t seem to get used to this
much “togetherness.” Once my
kids were grown and out of the
house, I wanted to enjoy my life
while they pursued their own fun.
I’m at the point that I’m tired of
her family, especially since her ex
always seems to be the organizer
of these get-togethers.
I don’t want to hurt her or
her family’s feelings, but I would
prefer more private time traveling
or visiting with my friends and
family, and we are not fi nding a
good balance.
They all attend the same
church every week and even sit
together as if they were still one
big, happy family, even though
it has been 20 years since their
divorce. She tells me that I am
No. 1 in her life, but her actions
say otherwise. What do I do?
— DIFFERENT IN MISSOURI
DEAR DIFFERENT: I suggest
you stop listening to what Steph-
anie says and concentrate more on
what you see she’s doing, then act
accordingly.
DEAR ABBY: I have a good
friend who, every time I invite her
and her husband over for dinner,
always assumes their 20-year-old
daughter can have a plate as well.
They make her a plate before they
serve themselves and take it to
her.
I guess I don’t mind, but I wish
they would ask before assuming
it’s OK. Most of the time I make
enough food so I have leftovers
for my boyfriend to take for lunch
the following day. Is she being
rude? Or am I just being a not-so-
nice friend?
— NO LEFTOVERS
DEAR NO LEFTOVERS:
What your friend is doing is rude.
But don’t blame her for it. This
is your fault for not speaking up
when this fi rst started happening
and explaining that the leftovers
are intended for your boyfriend’s
lunch the next day, which is why
you would appreciate her not
taking them.
A way to avoid this in the
future might be to plate the food
yourself rather than let your
guests do it, and immediately
refrigerate whatever is left. Out of
sight, out of reach!
Climate change aff ects upper regions of Hells Canyon the most
By Steve Tool
EO Media Group
ENTERPRISE — Hells
Canyon, North America’s deepest
gorge, is sequestered in Ore-
gon’s far northeastern corner. It is
renowned for its diverse wildlife
population, including a vulner-
able population of Rocky Moun-
tain bighorn sheep and elk herds
that frequent higher elevations.
The effects of climate change in
this 7,000-foot deep canyon are
varied, and not entirely agreed
upon by the biologists who work
here.
Pat Matthews, Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife district
wildlife biologist, is a skeptic. Jim
and Holly Akenson, wildlife biol-
ogists who worked for ODFW for
years, including large animals in
Hells Canyon, see the beginnings
of signifi cant changes, especially
in higher elevations, as the cli-
mate warms.
Matthews has decades of expe-
rience in the area. He’s not buying
climate change, at least not out
in the canyon country of north-
eastern Oregon.
“You hear a lot about climate
change in the news, but as far as
what we’re seeing on the ground
right here in Hells Canyon, every-
thing, we’re just not seeing any
kind of changes yet,” he said.
“I provided quite a few com-
Photos by Ellen Morris Bishop/EO Media Group
Morning at Hominy Bar along the Snake River in Hells Canyon.
ments for our draft management
plan that probably are contrary
to a lot of the other biologists’
opinions. Climate change models
are one thing. But you have to be
able to verify that model on the
ground and see if what the model
tells you is really happening, and
that’s one thing we’re not doing
— we haven’t been able to see
any difference,” he said.
The Akensons, wildlife biolo-
gists who have worked for ODFW
across Eastern Oregon, including
Hells Canyon, see things differ-
ently from Matthews.
Holly Akenson, who serves on
the Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife Commission, said
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it’s hard to notice climate change
effects on animals day by day
and year by year because of the
amount of variation.
Akenson said in the higher
elevations on both sides of the
canyon the big change she’s seeing
is losing the alpine biome because
of increasing temperatures.
“Species like pikas (a small,
furry animal that lives in higher
altitude talus piles) are affected
because they could get isolated on
a smaller area and have areas less
suitable in which to live,” she said.
“They need deep snow cover
in the winter to keep them warm,
and in the summer they don’t tol-
erate warm temperatures very
Prickly pear and cheatgrass above
the Snake River in Hells Canyon.
well, which is why they gener-
ally live in higher elevations,” she
said.
She said if the habitat can’t
keep the pikas warm, they move
elsewhere. Akenson said she’d
like to do a study of where they
reside now.
Jim Akenson, who is the con-
servation director for the Oregon
Hunters Association, said climate
change has modifi ed ungulate
(hoofed animal) migration in the
canyon.
“There’s a distribution of sea-
sonal range use, especially with
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elk, that is different than 20 or
30 years ago,” he said. “They’re
spending more time at high ele-
vation and less time at low — the
nature of the warmer winters.”
Akenson said during a jet
boat trip up the Snake River in
February a decade ago he saw
plenty of elk at lower elevations.
Recently, fl ying to check elk dis-
tribution for the Oregon Hunters
Association, Akenson noted elk
were at much higher elevations in
February than years before.
“They couldn’t get to mid-
high elevation (in the past) in the
canyon because of snow depth,
but now they bounce around with
a three or four thousand-foot ele-
vation change,” he said. “I don’t
know if that affects their sur-
vival, but it could affect range
utilization and hit those higher
elevation range lands a bit harder
than before. It could be a factor
if you’ve got 4,000 head of elk.”
Climate change evidence can
be hard to fi nd in this rugged and
remote landscape. But Akenson
also noted the canyon’s topog-
raphy, which includes zones of hot
desert to the alpine elevations can
serve as a harbinger of things to
come.
“If there’s a piece of landscape
in our region that’s going to be a
barometer for change it would be
Hells Canyon,” he said.
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