OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015
A balm in Gilead and other
unexpected gifts in NW forests
W
hen it comes to “reading” a
forest, a lot of 21st century
Northwesterners (including me) are as
illiterate as an Amazonian tribesman
might be in the aisles of Powell’s City
of Books. At best, we
can tell a cedar from
a hemlock or an alder
from a maple. They
just form a visual
backdrop, a stage
set for our lives,
potential
lumber.
This is like seeing a
Gutenberg Bible but
Matt
only being able to
Winters
understand it might
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Native Trees of Western Washington,
by Kevin W. Zobrist for WSU Press is a
kind of phrasebook to begin deciphering
the resplendent complexity around
us. Even readers outside the book’s
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its descriptions useful and its purpose
inspirational. There’s a whole lot more to
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taking it along on walks, putting names
and traits to some of the anonymous
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ignored over the years.
Elderberry bushes also
are getting frisky, shaking
vividly green little
pompoms.
“to calm the bereaved … (and) to make
salve for sunburn, sores, and as a topical
for rheumatism and body pains, and as a
hair and scalp tonic.”
F
O
ur Medieval ancestors believed
spring began on Feb. 7 or 22.
That’s looking close to right this year.
Every living twig is a sophisticated
sensor, measuring when best to venture
into leaf. They don’t always get it right
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46th latitude, Arctic cold can invade as
late as March and assassinate tender new
growth. Even though we are still early in
2015, last summer seems to be lapping
itself with hardly a pause, deciduous trees
getting right back to showing off like
vain models hurriedly emerging from the
changing room after casting off last year’s
fashions.
By Christmas, some species
surrounding Beards Hollow overlook in
Cape Disappointment State Park were
displaying plump and green buds, just
a really warm day or two away from
unfurling. Two weeks later, aided by
the ability to self-generate internal heat,
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the swampy loam in the park’s lowlands,
each a coursing geyser of nostril-curling
aroma and eye-popping chlorophyll.
Elderberry bushes also are getting frisky,
shaking vividly green little pompoms at
the kickoff of this annual game of life.
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on forever have always been celebrated
by people and wild animals, all craving
something fresh after the growing
Washington State University Press
“Native Trees of Western Washington” is a valuable primer on the intricate variety of
forest species on the wet side of the Cascades.
season’s long recess. At the same time,
plants play chemical games to discourage
us from eating them or to gain some other
advantage; these strategies are especially
obvious now when the annual race for
survival is just getting underway.
T
raditionally, anything capable of
enthusiastically springing back
to life was also worth investigating
for medicinal — or even magical —
qualities. Two familiar local trees often
viewed as little better than weeds are
among the foremost stars in the folkloric
pharmaceutical inventory.
Red alders are much more interesting
than we realize. For example, in
partnership with a bacteria they host,
alders deposit a vast amount of nitrogen
in Northwest soils — about 285 pounds
per acre per year. Nitrogen is a vital
plant nutrient that is otherwise often in
short supply in local forests. Another
alder partner, whitish patches of lichen
embedded in its bark, is a natural
indicator of excellent air quality. And
from a pragmatic human perspective, in
her Radical Botany blog, Ellen O’Shea
observes, “As a healer of humans its bark
is used to sooth the acid stomach and
gallbladder, clean the lymph glands and
bowels, entice the poisons from the skin
and open up the lungs. A poultice of the
bark will bring forth the inner poison.”
Red alder bark and black cottonwood
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salicin that our bodies metabolize into
salicyclic acid, a potent ingredient of
aspirin. Along with the storied biblical
godsend of myrrh, cottonwood buds can
be processed into the balm of Gilead,
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The resinous essence the balm is made
from is what keeps buds from freezing
or rotting on the tree. Ryan Drum of
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coastal tribes used cottonwood bud tea
or a primer on harvesting buds and
making the balm, see http://bit.
ly/186xmFU or http://bit.ly/1xFk7BW.
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you can buy concentrated poplar oil
(cottonwoods are a kind of poplar) for
$48 a pint at tinyurl.com/poghl8n. Might
want to be cautious around ponds after
applying it: “Poplar Bud Oil creates
a strong poplar odor that is highly
attractive to beaver. Especially effective
during spring beaver season. Also good
for (attracting) raccoon and muskrat.”
The balm of Gilead is only one
of a constellation of gifts scattered
through the forest for those with eyes
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this natural generosity that inspired
religious feelings in humankind. The
deepest healing doesn’t come out of a
prescription bottle, but from knowing
we are integral elements in a world
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harmonious subtlety.
A once-popular gospel song speaks
to us across time (listen to it performed
by Mahalia Jackson at tinyurl.com/
ovg8uk5):
There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin-sick soul
Sometimes I feel discouraged
And think my work’s in vain
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again
A little more of this sense of
appreciative awe would not be remiss in
the modern world.
— MSW
Matt Winters is editor and publisher of the
Chinook Observer and Coast River Business
Journal. He lives in Ilwaco with his wife and
daughter.
Open forum
Do justice
I
am troubled by the coverage in the
Daily A and the Seaside Signal about
the effort to recall Mayor Dianne Wid-
dop of Gearhart. Headlines have been
misleading and more attention-grab-
bing than necessary to describe the
workings of the Gearhart City Council
and Mayor Widdop’s role.
Coverage has been fairly factu-
al but, to me at least, slanted to give
the impression that Mayor Widdop,
a longtime Gearhart resident and a
member of the Gearhart city govern-
ment for many years, has made un-
forgivable mistakes. The truth is she
IN GRATITUDE
Christmas smiles
has done nothing illegal, unethical
or immoral in this instance. She has
acknowledged her mistakes and has
apologized sincerely.
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When one takes on this role, one
learns quickly that one has multiple
constituents and can’t please them all.
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can do is act in the best interest of the
agency to which one is responsible.
One must have a very thick skin to be
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What troubles me most, particular-
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kickoff in which we discussed how to
improve the health of our community,
is that city and county governments
are often painful places to work and
serve because of the injured feelings
of those who don’t get their own way
and decide to make the lives misera-
ble of those who serve. The health of
our larger community is damaged be-
cause of the behavior of small groups
who attack committed individuals
who serve the community.
As a Unitarian Universalist minis-
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the misery of being attacked by a
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silience and causes unnecessary pain
to a person who is only trying to do
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ly troubling to me that a person with
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formance is being treated cruelly for
no good reason.
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universal wisdom of representatives
of many religions and humanitarian
agencies: Do justice, be kind, be hum-
ble. Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you. Love your neigh-
bor.
5(9.,7.(7&+$0
Gearhart resident
Where to write
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D): 2338
Rayburn HOB, Washington, D.C., 20515.
Phone: 202- 225-0855. Fax 202-225-9497.
District office: 12725 SW Millikan Way, Suite
220, Beaverton, OR 97005. Phone: 503-326-
2901. Fax 503-326-5066. Web: bonamici.
house. gov/
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313 Hart Sen-
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Phone: 202-224-3753. Web: www.merkley.sen-
ate.gov
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Capi-
tol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373, Salem, OR
97301. Phone: 503-986-1431. Web: www.leg.
T HE
state.or.us/witt/ Email: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us
• State Rep. Deborah Boone (D): 900 Court
St. N.E., H-375, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-
986-1432. Email: rep.deborah boone@state.
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Beach, OR 97110. Phone: 503-986-1432. Web:
www.leg.state.or.us/ boone/
D AILY A STORIAN
Founded in 1873
T
oys for Tots would like to take this
opportunity to thank the donors
of toys and monetary value in this last
collection campaign, and the toys drop
places. We raised $1,250 to purchase
toys and books. We put smiles on the
faces of a large number of children this
past Christmas. The toys, books and
games given out not only to children, but
also to senior adults, total 20,871 distrib-
uted items.
Remember Toys for Tots here on the
North Coast covers Clatsop County only.
We do not distribute gifts, we collect and
give them to the area food basket pro-
gram, Wishing Tree program and Giving
Tree program.
The area coordinators, William and
Pat Kankkonen, Tim Flynn, Beverly
Neubecker, Curtis and Florence Peugh,
Tanya Wammack, Tricia L Lichtenfels,
Kimberly Wright and the Coast Guard
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all of you.
LOU NEUBECKER
Toys for Tots county coordinator
Seaside
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
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