COFFEE BREAK
6B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2021
Sibling wrestles with lingering effects of abuse
DEAR ABBY: I had a horrible
childhood with a mean mother who
berated and took her issues out
on me. I also had an older brother
who enjoyed making fun of me and
embarrassed me in front of others to
get his kicks. He still never misses an
opportunity to pull a “gotcha.”
I was raised at a time when child
abuse was considered making a kid
tough. What it did to me was break
me down emotionally. Does PTSD
ever go away, or do I have to live
with it to the end?
DEAR ABBY
go away on its own, and you do not
have to “live with it.” Distance your-
self as much as possible from your
bully brother. You can fi nd the help
you need by asking your physician
or insurance company to refer you
to a licensed psychotherapist who
specializes in patients with PTSD.
You won’t be the fi rst person to do
“couch time” after an abusive child-
— JUST GETTING BY IN hood. Trust me on that.
NEW YORK
DEAR ABBY: My father-in-law
DEAR JUST GETTING BY: I’m has spent every Friday night with
sorry for the abuse to which you
my husband and me for two years,
were subjected. PTSD does not
ever since my mother-in-law passed
BOUNDARY
away. My husband spends every
Tuesday evening with him at his
house. My sister-in-law is building
a room onto her house for him to
live in (he is selling his house). My
husband and sister-in-law call him
two or three times a day.
Abby, my father-in-law is healthy
and still drives. He never pays
for any food — my husband and
sister-in-law buy all his food. He’s a
wealthy man, but stingy. I think my
husband and his sister are obsessed.
What do you think? I’m so tired of
this. I don’t want him staying at my
house. I need privacy! Help!
and his sister appear to be devoted
to their father. Either that, or they
may anticipate a big payday once
their wealthy parent expires. More
than privacy, you may need a break.
Arrange to spend some of those
Friday nights with women friends,
and perhaps his presence will be
less onerous.
A notable example is the
border between Baker and
Grant counties. For more
than 30 miles the western
boundary of Baker County,
and the eastern border of
Grant, is defi ned by the
hydrologic divide between the
Powder River and the North
Fork of the John Day River.
This past Sunday, May 16,
I went for a hike with my
wife, Lisa, and our son, Max,
during which we crossed that
divide — and the county line
— in the mountains several
miles northwest of Sumpter.
Our route was on a forest
road with moderate grades
and occasional views of the
multiple mountain ranges.
It was a fi ne morning for
a hike, the penultimate day
of the summery stretch that
has since been rudely inter-
rupted by weather more typi-
cal of March than May.
Forest Road 900 branches
off the Elkhorn Drive Scenic
Byway northwest of Sumpter
(see “If You Go ...” box on Page
1B).
From the Byway it’s about
2.2 miles, with an eleva-
tion gain of 700 feet, to the
divide that marks the county
boundary. We drove up Road
900 for a little more than a
mile, starting our hike near
where the road runs beneath
the Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative power line that
goes to Granite.
The road runs through
a classic Blue Mountains
mixed-conifer forest. On the
warmer, drier south-facing
slopes big ponderosa pines
share space with grand fi rs
and Douglas-fi rs, while on
weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
DEAR SNUBBED: I think you
and your husband are more than
DEAR ABBY: We welcomed new
neighborly. I also think you are
neighbors and allowed them to use
blessed with common sense, some-
our garbage can until they got one,
and gave them a bottle of wine and a thing your new neighbors may lack.
housewarming card. We also offered My advice is to let this unfortunate
to let them use our downstairs bath- incident slide without holding a
grudge. Take the high road and
room until the contractor fi nished
move on. Nothing positive will come
— OVER IT NOW IN theirs. No one else on the block did
of allowing this to fester. Whether
TENNESSEE anything for them. Nothing.
the couple is worth knowing better
They then invited a neighbor
will become apparent with time.
DEAR OVER IT: Your husband
and his wife over for drinks and
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
51/58
Kennewick
53/63
St. Helens
52/67
52/67
51/73
53/65
48/66
Condon
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
Partly cloudy
and chilly
Warmer with a
shower
Times of clouds
and sun
A shower in the
morning
Partly sunny
66 41
62 38
67 36
Eugene
10
4
8
48/64
65 43
63 41
69 40
9
8
10
La Grande
38 64 41
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
1
8
35 59 38
Comfort Index™
1
64 39
10
10
10
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Thursday
Low Thursday
High: 100°
Low: 21°
Wettest: 4.08”
53°
33°
57°
39°
60°
34°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Thursday
Trace
Month to date
0.03
Normal month to date 0.90
Year to date
1.69
Normal year to date
3.95
Trace
0.03
1.26
5.87
7.07
Trace
0.05
1.41
13.76
11.10
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
45%
WNW at 7 to 14 mph
3.2
0.12
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
50/62
17% of capacity
93% of capacity
51% of capacity
98% of capacity
59% of capacity
91% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Thursday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
5060 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder 107 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
102 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
222 cfs
Minam River at Minam
1270 cfs
Powder River near Richland
40 cfs
Phoenix, Ariz.
Crater Lake, Ore.
Lafayette, La.
OREGON
High: 68°
Low: 21°
Wettest: 0.51”
Hermiston
Crater Lake
Rome
WEATHER HISTORY
On May 22, 1804, a tornado ripped
through New Brunswick, N.J. A hotel, two
barns and three houses were destroyed.
Most tornadoes in the U.S. hit areas from
the central Plains through the Ohio Valley.
SUN & MOON
SAT.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
5:15 a.m.
8:24 p.m.
3:47 p.m.
3:27 a.m.
SUN.
5:14 a.m.
8:25 p.m.
5:07 p.m.
3:50 a.m.
MOON PHASES
Full
May 26
Last
Jun 2
New
Jun 10
First
Jun 17
38/58
Beaver Marsh
32/59
Roseburg
Powers
Brothers
45/59
Coos Bay
49/69
Burns
Jordan Valley
36/55
Paisley
36/60
Frenchglen
40/59
Klamath Falls
35/63
Hi/Lo/W
58/49/sh
64/38/c
62/45/c
60/47/pc
61/36/sh
58/45/pc
66/46/pc
57/41/c
64/41/pc
64/46/pc
77/51/pc
67/51/pc
60/41/sh
59/39/c
58/36/sh
80/49/pc
63/35/pc
60/33/sh
Hi/Lo/W
59/49/sh
66/41/sh
70/48/pc
59/48/pc
67/41/pc
60/47/sh
68/48/c
66/43/pc
65/40/pc
69/48/c
76/51/pc
68/52/sh
69/43/c
66/43/pc
60/40/c
78/51/s
68/43/pc
66/38/t
Grand View
Arock
42/67
39/58
Lakeview
31/60
McDermitt
37/58
RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Diamond
39/58
40/62
Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs.
MON.
Boise
41/62
Fields
47/73
SUN.
41/66
Silver Lake
36/58
Medford
Brookings
Juntura
37/61
47/75
47/60
Ontario
43/68
36/62
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Huntington
36/55
42/64
Oakridge
40/57
44/62
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
Council
36/63
41/59
43/63
Florence
THURSDAY EXTREMES
ALMANAC
33/53
John Day
41/64
Sisters
48/58
Comfort Index takes into account how the weather will feel based on a combination of factors. A rating of 10 feels
very comfortable while a rating of 0 feels very uncomfortable.
37/63
Baker City
Redmond
49/57
Halfway
Granite
47/66
Newport
50/66
60 38
44/67
45/58
51/67
48/54
61 40
4
Corvallis
Enterprise
35/59
38/64
Monument
47/71
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
4
Elgin
37/64
La Grande
44/65
Maupin
0
45/71
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
Lewiston
47/70
Hood River
40/71
TIllamook
36 63 39
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Walla Walla
45/80
Vancouver
51/66
50/58
Comfort Index™
— SNUBBED IN THE SOUTH
tallest peak between the Elk-
horns and Steens Mountain;
and fi nally a brief glimpse,
through a gap in the interven-
ing ridges, of Dixie Butte.
I briefl y considered making
a loop hike — I generally
abhor backtracking — but
after a quick look at the map
I decided against that option.
To get back to the 900 Road
junction we’d have had to
walk nearly three miles on
the shoulder of the Elkhorn
Byway. Returning the way
we’d come was both shorter
and, perhaps more attractive
on a day that had warmed
into the 70s, much shadier.
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
The grandest viewpoint
The Greenhorn Mountains seen from Forest Road 900, near the Baker-Grant county border.
turned out to be almost
within sight of where we
the shadier north and east
As we didn’t want to
was no need to perch its
sight — the Greenhorns, with parked. We came round a cor-
slopes, where snowdrifts de- regain several hundred feet lookout atop a tower to afford the naked pinnacle of serpen- ner and suddenly the eastern
fi ed the balmy air, the stand of elevation, we opted to stay the fi rewatcher an expansive tine, the actual green horn,
horizon was dominated by the
is a denser, more diverse
on Road 900, which is mostly view.
standing conspicuous below
Elkhorns, and in particular
combination of tamarack,
fl at as it contours along a
At each bend in the road
Vinegar Hill, the range’s apex; Rock Creek Butte, highest in
lodgepole and grand fi r.
slope.
another range came into
then Strawberry Mountain,
the range at 9,106 feet.
The road switchbacks a
I’m glad we did, not so
couple times before reaching much for the easier hiking
the 5,800-foot crest of the
but because of the views
ridge in a wide saddle. This
from the relatively lofty
is the sort of remote moun-
vantage point. First to appear
tain intersection that always between gaps in the forest —
intrigues me because it is
mostly young lodgepoles that
such a natural rendezvous
recolonized this area follow-
spot. I wonder how many
ing bark beetle outbreaks
gatherings have happened
and fi res decades ago — was
here, how many times hunt- shield-shaped Desolation
ers have paused on a snowy Butte, its fi re lookout tower
November day to talk about barely discernible.
elk, or fi refi ghters have
As the road continued
stopped to spread a map
south we had a fi ne view of
across a pickup truck’s warm Mount Ireland, another sum-
hood while searching for a
mit capped by a fi re lookout
reported plume of smoke.
that’s staffed each summer.
Another road — the 850
Ireland’s lookout, though
— joins Road 900 here. Road several miles closer, isn’t vis-
850 descends for a mile or so ible from this point, though
to Bull Run Creek and Gold — unlike the thickly forested
Center, where a pipe spills
(if curiously named) Desola-
frigid spring water at a turn- tion, Mount Ireland’s summit
out on the Elkhorn Byway.
is mostly bare rock, so there
Continued from Page 1B
Baker City
didn’t invite us. My husband says I
shouldn’t be offended by this. I cer-
tainly would have had the neighbors
who had welcomed me over fi rst.
What do you think?
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
SUN.
MON.
Hi/Lo/W
70/54/pc
63/48/pc
64/41/pc
73/47/pc
54/47/pc
63/46/pc
68/47/c
79/51/pc
71/50/pc
65/50/pc
62/44/pc
64/38/c
69/47/pc
67/47/pc
69/47/pc
73/53/pc
60/37/c
71/52/pc
Hi/Lo/W
74/51/c
63/50/c
65/38/pc
75/52/pc
55/47/pc
60/46/c
74/51/pc
79/52/s
73/48/pc
67/52/c
72/50/pc
68/42/c
73/52/c
69/51/c
69/45/c
73/54/c
63/39/pc
72/51/pc
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
Rain and snow
Spotty showers
37
31
57
35
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Spotty showers
A stray shower
51
37
63
42
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Spotty showers
Spotty showers
44
26
58
38
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Spotty showers
A shower; warmer
58
36
69
49
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
A shower; warmer
A shower; warmer
63
39
64
41