Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (July 26, 2017)
Page A-8 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, July 26, 2017 Winding Trails: by Al Hobart Thursday, July 27, 1967 Illinois Valley News Searching for Brodiaeas near Camp Oh-Hell! Half a mile beyond Camp Oh, Hell! and 7 or 8 miles from home, I decided to call a halt to my brodiaea hunt. I’d been browsing among the lilies in my wildplant manuals and discovered that there are, or should be, two or three members of the fascinating genus Brodiaea in the upper Illinois River region that I haven’t had the pleasure of encountering on my wildplant excursions. So last Sunday I decided to go on a special brodiaea hunt, in search of one species in particular, the yellow brodiaea, Brodiaeacrocea. Flowerwise my hunt was unsuccessful, but otherwise of real value – I had a wonderful 15-mile hike, discovered the delightful little camp I’ve mentioned, and made a hasty determination of a flower I found along the way that I later had reason to wonder about, and this nagging doubt prodded me into making another hike of 10 miles over the same trail a couple of days later. An interesting little episode occurred on this unscheduled re-hike that made the trip worthwhile even though the brodiaea idea fizzled out: I was suddenly stopped in the trail by an excited mama ruffed grouse, which threatened and pleaded with me to give her ROGUE VALLEY little new babies a wide berth. I saw several of them skittering about among the weeds while their mama was trying to distract the attention of the monster in the trail. Usually a mother bird will try to lead an intruder away by feigning a broken wing or some such disablement deigned to make her capture appear so easy that the supposed enemy will pursue her while the little ones are overlooked and permitted to safely conceal themselves. But this one disdained to use the hackneyed old broken wing tactic, but stood her ground only a few feet away and put up such an alarming demonstration I had to laugh. Quivering violently and alternately raising and flattening her ruff, she kept up a continuous whining sound that was the most unbirdlike I ever heard, as though shewere beseeching me to go back, or a long way around. I took several pictures of her, and wished I had a movie camera and a tape recorder to capture her agonized capers and sounds. The brodiaeas, that I happened to be pursuing at the moment, constitute one of the most beautiful and interesting genera of the large lily family. The flowers, usually an inch or more long, are borne in sometimes dense clusters at the top of bare slender scapes, or stems. Usually the plants are quite tall, although some species are no more than a foot high or less. On my Sunday trip I saw one, multiflora, whose leafless scape was more than 4 feet high. The somewhat bell-shaped flowers of the brodiaeas are, collectively, quite conspicuous and very attractive. They may be, according to the species, dark or light blue, of a violet hue; one species is white with a longitudinal green stripe on the outside of the perianth parts (the petals and sepals); one is yellow with a violet stripe; another yellow one, the one I was hoping to find Sunday, has a green stripe. The flower of the Firecracker-plant, Brodiaea Ida- Maia, most exotic of the brodiaeas, has a quite long and slender perianth tube of bright red, with the lobes a pleasantly contrasting green. I have made the acquaintance of eight of our local native brodiaeas. Two or three others are waiting I know to join the group. Where I went Sunday, away up the Mud Lake trail, is the proper environment for at least one of them, and I still think it’s up there; I just happened to call when it was not home. Nobody was home in Camp Oh, Hell! either, but the evidence of much activity was everywhere about (probably performed a year or two ago), and as I ate my lunch at the rough rustic table I imagined the boys were all about me, laughing and jabbering and enjoying their temporary wilderness home. From the evidence at hand I suspected my imaginary companions in Camp Oh, Hell! were a group of Forest Service surveyors. It beats all how from a decision to search for a little wildflower such a series of interesting events can grow. Senior SPoTLiGHT SPonSoreD BY i.V. Wellness resources SCAMS! (PART 2) COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS Food & Friends Menu FRIDAY – JULY 28 MEATLOAf W/ CREOLE SAUCE MONDAY – JULY 31 TURkEy PATTy W/ gRAVy WEDNESDAY- AUG 2 DICED BEEf STROgANOff Call 541-955-8839 to volunteer or if you need meals. On a beautiful afternoon... The telephone rings- “Hi Grandma, can you guess who this is?” “Is that you Susie?” “It sure is Grandma!” Well, it might not be Susie. It might be a highly skilled trickster who now has you thinking you are talking to your granddaughter. Soon you will hear a story that will make you proud of Susie because she is trying to help someone in need. Perhaps Susie has gotten herself unwittingly into trouble and you become frightened for her. It will evolve that you need to help Susie out of the problem by sending her money or giving her your credit card numbers. There will probably be a request not to tell her family because they will be angry at Susie. If you send money it will be taken and the law will be totally ineffectual in retrieving it. Perhaps you are tricked into giving ‘Susie’ your credit card numbers by something like the requirement of a confusing method of using the numbers to solve the problem. Here you may not only loose money but you will have to cancel your current credit card and get a new one. Things like this happen over and over again to kindhearted seniors. We grew up in times where distrust was looked down upon and there wasn’t as great a need to be distrustful. Times have changed. Today there are so many ruthless people who now have access to you through the internet, mail, in person or telephone. These people have no qualms about tricking you and are continually scheming to develop more and more new ways to dishonestly separate you from your money or other valuables. Tricksters will pose as government, banking, charity, financial institution or utility employees. Tricksters will pose as family members, old friends or clergy. There are so many ways to trick you into giving out your money or financial information that your only protection is to become hyper-vigilant. Perhaps the best advice is to TRUST NO ONE WITH YOUR MONEY OR FINANCIAL AND SOCIAL SECURITY INFORMATION UNLESS YOU ARE SURE YOU KNOW WHO THEY ARE. I do not mean, “I think I am sure.” I mean I have adequately checked and am now CERTAIN. You can contact I.V. Wellness Resources at www. ivwellnessresources@gmail.com or 541-592-9781 and please like our Facebook Page @ facebook.com/ ivwellnessresources. Senior BULLeTin WELLNESS CHECKS ROOMMATE FREE ADS HOME SAFETY If you know a senior that WANTED If you are a senior and EVALUATIONS you are worried about and If you are in need of a home Looking for a live-in want to place a FREE AD helper, room & board for a living or health care safety evaluation with a feel they need a wellness provided, woman, need call Laura Mancuso registered nurse please call check. Please call Laura cooking, cleaning, 541-592-2541 or email I.V. Wellness Resources for at I.V. Wellness Resources background check, call laura@illinois-valley- an appointment. at 541-592-9781. news.com. 541-592-9781 Call 541-592-9781. reSoUrCeS
