COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATuRDAY, AuguST 13, 2022
Man’s controlling behavior still dominates ex’s life
illness in her teens that requires
24-hour care. Her illness didn’t
necessarily upset him; what did
upset him is the attention she
would require in the future. He
would say things like, “She’s
ruining our retirement. I was
looking forward to having you
to myself and not having to deal
with anyone.” This was when I
realized how controlling he was.
It felt like I had been wearing a
blindfold and then I could finally
see. I immediately filed for
divorce.
A year afterward, I started
seeing an old friend I’ll call
“Darren,” someone my husband
had often accused me of cheating
with. (He did that with any man
I knew.) I really like Darren and
can see a future with him. He
DEAR ABBY: I was married
for almost 20 years to a jealous,
controlling man. “Pete” was emo-
tionally abusive, which I didn’t
really notice because I’m not con-
frontational. I would just try to
make him happy and ignore his
controlling behavior. Toward the
end of our marriage, I realized
how isolated I had become. I had
pushed most of my friends and
family away. They didn’t want to
visit because of Pete’s negative
attitude.
Our daughter developed an
move forward. However, if he
isn’t, I’d find a licensed psycho-
therapist who could give me the
tools to avoid my ex’s manipula-
tions in the future.
DEAR ABBY: My partner and
I have a wonderful relationship,
but there is one area of contention
we don’t know how to solve. I like
a firm mattress. She likes a soft
mattress. We bought an adjustable
bed, so each of us could fine-tune
the settings to our desired com-
fort level.
It has been a month now, and
I hate the new mattress. I just
cannot get comfortable. It’s so bad
I find myself sleeping in another
room just to catch a good night’s
rest. As you can imagine, sleeping
apart causes anxiety between us,
and it has been confusing and
treats my daughter great and
doesn’t mind that when we go out
she has to tag along.
Pete is now saying that if I date
Darren, it’s proof that I cheated on
him. I don’t want my ex to think
for a minute that our marriage
ended because I cheated, because
it’s not true. So I broke up with
Darren because I refuse to accept
him being labeled as the person
who broke up my marriage. What
would you do? — KEEPING
THE STORY STRAIGHT
DEAR KEEPING: What
would I do? I would, once and for
all, quit allowing my ex to control
me! I’d call Darren and talk with
him about why I ended the rela-
tionship and ask if he would con-
sider resuming where the two of
us left off. If he is willing, I would
stressful for our animals. How
do you propose we solve this in
a way that restores peace in our
relationship? — YAWNING IN
ARIZONA
DEAR YAWNING: Pay a
visit to the store from which you
purchased that adjustable bed and
find out if you need a lesson or
two on how to operate the mat-
tress correctly. (You won’t be the
first, trust me on that.) If your
discomfort persists, sell the bed
and replace it with two twin- or
queen-sized mattresses so you and
your partner can at least share the
same room.
█
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren,
also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was
founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips.
Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com
or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
SNAKE
Continued from Page B1
“I was scrambling up the
cliff,” she said, “shooting
with the camera back over
my shoulder. I wanted to
get a good angle for the
pictures.”
That’s my girl.
I try to avoid snakes and,
for the most part, they try to
avoid me. A week before the
rattlesnake incident, we had
a brush with a puff adder on
a red dirt two-track in South
Africa. That snake, when
provoked, bit my photogra-
pher’s GoPro and venom slid
down the lens. But the puff
adder was so far from any
village it was no threat. We
took its picture and shooed it
back into the brush.
Usually, when I encounter
a rattlesnake it’s with a
fishing rod in my hand. I
hear a rattle and I jump.
One time I jumped over a
snake in the tall grass along
the river. I leapt so high in
my waders, I think I might
have caught the eye of an
NBA scout if one had been
there instead of my loutish
companions who got more
comedic value out of the
incident. I tried to point out
to them how much hang
time I had at the top of the
leap, but they were too busy
laughing.
Skirmishes with snakes
tend to be brief, adrenal-
ized and punctuated by pro-
fanity. Often the snake goes
the other way and there is
no need to shoot. But if the
snake is aggressive, it may
take one shot to slow it down
and another to finish it.
Often the snake is in a
trail and the first rattle goes
unheard. Or they don’t rattle
at all.
Once we packed into a
roadless area on a hunt in
Baker County. Bringing up
the rear was my friend Ken,
who didn’t have a bear tag
that year. He brought along a
Ruger Single-Six.
“In case we see a snake,”
he said.
When we started up the
trail, I noticed it was not on
his hip, and asked him about
it.
“It’s in the backpack. I’ll
load it if we see one,” he said.
“If you need it,” I said,
“you’ll want to have it
loaded, on your hip.”
He laughed.
A day later we were in
camp, making dinner. Ken
was sitting on a campstool
tending to his backpack
stove and a can of soup. We
spotted the rattler when it
was between his feet.
The usual things hap-
pened. Leaping. Profanity.
Flailing. Which contributed
ABOVE: A pretty little rainbow
that fell for a dry fly.
RIGHT: Before a morning’s
dry fly action, Jennifer Lewis
catches up on her adventure
reading — “Into the Wild” by
Jon Krakauer.
gary Lewis/Contributed Photo
to spilled soup and a small
grass fire when the stove
tipped over.
By the time the fire was
stomped out, the snake had
made a quick exit between
boulders. Ken unzipped his
backpack, unwrapped his
revolver and loaded the gun
with shaky fingers.
█
Gary Lewis is the author of Fishing
Central Oregon and Oregon Lake
Maps and Fishing Guide and other
titles. To contact Gary, visit www.
garylewisoutdoors.com.
weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
56/73
Kennewick
56/80
St. Helens
59/85
TIllamook
58/88
55/86
Condon
59/92
60/84
SUN
MON
Clear
Sunshine and
pleasant
Sunny and hot
45 89 46
90 49
95 52
97 56
Eugene
7
5
5
54/88
Baker City
Comfort Index™
La Grande
8
50 88 51
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
8
8
92 55
8
Comfort Index™
9
97 59 100 63
6
48 87 54
WED
4
2
96 61
98 60
5
3
3
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Thursday
Low Thursday
High: 115°
Low: 29°
Wettest: 4.59”
95°
54°
91°
62°
94°
59°
0.00
0.10
0.15
4.57
6.14
0.12
0.16
0.23
9.14
10.89
0.00
0.07
0.22
17.83
15.45
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Thursday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY
20%
NNW at 6 to 12 mph
12.9
0.27
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
9% of capacity
54% of capacity
23% of capacity
79% of capacity
3% of capacity
42% of capacity
OREGON
High: 97°
Low: 34°
Wettest: 0.35”
Ontario
Lakeview
Meacham
Hurricane Connie dumped up to 9.85
inches of rain on eastern Pennsylvania and
New Jersey on Aug. 13, 1955. Hurricane
Diane followed six days later with 10.75
inches of rain.
SUN & MOON
SAT.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
5:51 a.m.
8:03 p.m.
9:25 p.m.
7:37 a.m.
SUN.
5:52 a.m.
8:01 p.m.
9:46 p.m.
8:56 a.m.
MOON PHASES
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Thursday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
Burnt River near Unity
Umatilla River near Gibbon
Minam River at Minam
Powder River near Richland
Death Valley, Calif.
Bodie State Park, Calif.
Pensacola, Fla.
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
56/75
694 cfs
83 cfs
137 cfs
49 cfs
150 cfs
35 cfs
Last
Aug 18
New
Aug 27
First
Sep 3
Full
Sep 10
Brothers
52/88
47/86
Beaver Marsh
46/86
Roseburg
57/89
Jordan Valley
56/92
Paisley
44/88
Frenchglen
53/93
Diamond
Grand View
Arock
51/91
62/96
55/93
Fields
59/94
55/93
Klamath Falls
48/89
Lakeview
44/90
McDermitt
54/93
RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
MON.
City
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
Astoria
73/56/s 72/57/pc
Bend
89/53/s 90/57/s
Boise
97/66/s 97/68/s
Brookings
70/57/pc 73/58/s
Burns
93/53/s 94/55/s
Coos Bay
68/54/s 70/57/pc
Corvallis
85/56/s 91/58/s
Council
95/58/s 97/58/s
Elgin
88/52/s 92/57/s
Eugene
88/54/s 93/58/s
Hermiston
91/58/s 95/59/s
Hood River
88/64/s 93/64/s
Imnaha
90/60/s 93/63/s
John Day
91/56/s 93/57/s
Joseph
87/55/s 89/58/s
Kennewick
91/59/s 95/62/s
Klamath Falls 89/49/s 92/53/s
Lakeview
90/45/s 93/54/s
Boise
63/97
Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs.
SUN.
55/96
Silver Lake
48/87
Medford
Brookings
Juntura
49/93
60/92
54/70
Ontario
65/97
Burns
41/88
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Huntington
48/88
Bend
Coos Bay
57/95
64/96
Seneca
51/89
Oakridge
Council
45/89
51/91
49/90
Elkton
THURSDAY EXTREMES
ALMANAC
47/83
John Day
46/91
Sisters
Florence
Powers
53/92
Baker City
Redmond
52/64
55/65
Halfway
Granite
53/85
Newport
55/68
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.
55/90
53/84
56/86
55/84
89 56
7
Corvallis
Enterprise
48/87
50/88
Monument
54/90
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
Sunny and very Partly sunny and
hot
very hot
Elgin
49/88
La Grande
54/84
Maupin
TUE
60/89
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
60/92
Hood River
57/90
53/73
Lewiston
Walla Walla
58/91
Vancouver
57/84
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
SUN.
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
MON.
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
92/61/s 95/66/s
80/58/pc 84/59/s
85/48/s 89/51/s
94/60/s 96/61/s
64/53/s 65/52/c
82/54/pc 83/54/s
97/65/s 99/63/s
92/57/s 95/60/s
90/59/s 93/62/s
84/60/pc 90/62/s
75/57/s 75/57/s
91/49/s 93/54/s
89/59/s 91/62/s
86/57/s 93/61/s
88/59/s 90/61/s
92/62/s 97/64/s
83/46/s 86/50/s
89/63/s 92/66/s
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
Sunny
Sunshine and warm
67
44
86
49
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Sunny and pleasant
Plenty of sunshine
76
50
92
57
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Sunshine and nice
Sunny and pleasant
74
43
80
41
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Plenty of sunshine
Sunny and pleasant
87
55
89
59
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Sunny and pleasant
Nice with sunshine
89
46
88
51