3C
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2015
in the
garden
FLOWERS
FROM THE
STORM
Q&A
with
Jan Nybakke
“
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Jan Nybakke in her garden. Before the 2007 storm, Nybakke’s property was forested.
E VERYTHING I DO IN THE GARDEN HAS ORIGINATED FROM MY EARLY YEARS ON THE FAMILY FARM .
Q: What are you doing in
your garden this month?
A: Weeding, watering, cut-
ting back excessive growth
and watching daily changes.
Q: What has been your
biggest gardening chal-
lenge this season?
A: Deer! The number of
deer continue to increase. We
no longer have the occasion-
al few we enjoyed. Deer now
appear in larger numbers,
foraging, trampling and de-
stroying plants.
Q: What’s the most
recent gardening book
you’ve read that you would
recommend?
A: “Creative Propagation,”
by Peter Thompson. This is
not an easy read, yet reading
it may encourage the gar-
dener to be patient. Garden-
ing failures often occur when
we do not allow plants to be
natural. We must learn to re-
lease control.
“Deep-Rooted Wisdom,”
by Augustus Jenkins Farmer.
This should be required read-
ing for everyone. Our discon-
nection from the earth grows
as we are digitally drugged.
This book draws the reader
back to one’s sense of place
and the wisdom of genera-
tions on the earth.
Q: What part of your per-
sonality is reflected in your
garden?
A: I think this might be
better answered by a friend.
Everything I do in the
garden has originated from
my early years on the family
farm. I treasure those years,
learning a work ethic, learn-
ing how living on the land
successfully demands know-
ing one’s community, and a
citizen’s role within a healthy
community.
Q: What is your favorite
plant? Why?
The persimmon tree. The
wild persimmon trees on
the family farm produced
only enough pulp for holiday
puddings during Thanksgiv-
ing and Christmas. They are
very different from the Asian
persimmon common in the
Northwest. The wild persim-
mon is only edible after the
first frost. It has many seeds,
and is small. Once ripe it falls
to the ground and is enjoyed
by cattle, therefore a chal-
lenge to gather enough for
pulp.
Q: Describe the pleasure
you get from working in
your garden.
A: Endless pleasure — time
alone, shrouded in various
weathers, colors, birdsong,
dragonflies, breezes, away
from digital interruptions and
realizing at day’s end the tired
body senses renewal.
Jan Nybakke and her hus-
band forged a sprawling garden
on their property off 15th Street
in Astoria after the Great Coast-
al Gale of 2007 knocked over
many trees.
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Daisies in Jan Nybakke’s garden in Astoria.
THE SHIP REPORT
Surviving fun on the water
By JOANNE RIDEOUT
Special to The Daily
Astorian
I
t’s summertime, the sun is
out, the air is warm, and
in the 3aFi¿F 1orthwest,
the water beckons. It looks so
beautiful and inviting with the
sun glinting off the surface of
the river, lake or ocean.
At this time of year I hear
many people say, “We live in
paradise.” I agree with them.
I love being on the water.
When we’re relaxing, we
want to be carefree and leave
our responsibilities behind.
So it’s perhaps not a surprise
that when we go out on the
water in boats, or swimming,
or just playing, maybe the
last thing anyone really wants
to think about too much is
safety. It seems like a down-
er, right? After all, how could
anything go wrong in all this
sunshine?
Well, just ask the U.S.
Coast Guard. They have the
grim stats. I see the sad press
releases almost daily. Each
year, they rescue more than
300 people here in the Lower
Columbia region alone. Some
are happy endings, many are
not. Many of those people
are recreational boaters who
were intending to have fun.
‘Boat Mom’
The sad thing is, the solu-
tion to this tragic situation is
not rocket science. People die
needlessly on the water on a
regular basis because they
don’t do a few simple things.
So it’s time for me to put
on my “Boat Mom” hat, like I
do at least once a year on The
Ship Report, climb up on my
maritime soapbox brieÀy and
say — hey!
This won’t take long; just a
few simple things and you’re
good to go. Do them and you
stand a great chance of mak-
ing it home safe no matter
what. That means you get to
come back tomorrow, or next
weekend, and the weekend af-
ter that, and do it again. That
means no one agonizing as
they search for you and don’t
¿nd you. 1o one crying at your
funeral. 1o one missing you
on holidays. Shall I go on?
Here’s my painless sum-
mer checklist for you, some
tips for surviving fun times:
• Wear a lifejacket. There,
I said it. I’ll say it again. Wear
a lifejacket. Call it what you
want, call it a PFD if that
sounds more sexy. Whatever
you call it, don’t go out on the
water in a boat, a kayak, a ca-
noe, or any watercraft without
one. I don’t, and I wouldn’t
dream of it. I like being alive.
PFDs come in all shapes and
sizes. If you fall into our cold
Paci¿c 1orthwest water, your
survival time will be expo-
nentially longer if you have
something to keep you aÀoat.
That’s because after a few
minutes your ability to swim
will be impaired by the chilly
water, no matter how ¿t you
are. In some places on the Co-
lumbia where there are strong
currents and undertows, peo-
ple should even wear PFDs
when they’re swimming.
With a PFD, you might be un-
comfortable Àoating around,
but you’ll probably live long
enough for someone to get
help. If they know you’re in
trouble. Which brings me to
my next point.
• Let someone know
where you’re going. The
Coast Guard calls this ¿ling a
“Àoat plan.” I don’t care what
you call it or how you do it,
just let someone know where
you’re going and when you
expect to be back. It can be as
simple as calling or texting a
friend and saying, “I’m going
swimming (kayaking, canoe-
ing, sur¿ng, ¿shing at so-
and-so place, and I’ll be back
by dinner time.” That way if
something goes wrong and
you do end up Àoating around
out there for awhile in your
PFD, they’ll know where to
send someone to look for you.
It’s a lonely and potentially
deadly thing to be in trouble,
and realize that not a soul
knows where you are.
• Have a VHF radio or an
EPIRB and know how to use
them. Both of these devices
are for people who might end
up in the water too far from
shore to swim to safety. With
an EPIRB (that’s Emergen-
cy Position Indicating Radio
Beacon, the Coast Guard can
home in on your exact loca-
tion in a matter of minutes if
you’re within a few miles of
shore. It looks like a big walk-
ie talkie. A little pricey, but
what’s your life worth? VHF
radios are much less expen-
sive, and if you have a water-
craft of any kind you should
have one on board. The Coast
Guard can also use the signal
from a VHF radio to ¿nd you.
Many lives have been saved by
both of these devices, but they
don’t work unless you have
one.
And please don’t tell me
you have a cellphone. While
cellphones have saved some
boaters’ lives, they’re an un-
reliable substitute for a VHF
radio in this situation. That’s
because cell towers are orient-
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
KMUN General Manager Joanne Rideout is the voice of
The Ship Report.
ed to work over land areas, not
over the water. You may only
have one chance to call for
help before whatever craft you
are on sinks out from under
you. A wet cell phone won’t
work at all. Use your one shot
to call the Coast Guard on your
VHF radio.
Save the alcohol
Well, that’s pretty much it,
my very short checklist — oth-
er than the no-brainer advice
to save the alcohol (and other
intoxicants for later. Boating
under the inÀuence is just as
bad an idea as driving on land
that way, and it’s also illegal.
As I frequently say on the
radio, thanks for listening.
Safety doesn’t have to be a
downer. You can do these few
things and then forget about
them until you need them. I
hope you never do.
But if the time ever comes
that you do need the PFD, the
VHF radio or the Àoat plan,
you’ll be really, really glad
you risked feeling perhaps a
little dorky. It’s a small price
to pay, a tiny price in fact, in
exchange for the wonderful
and inestimable privilege of
getting to live another day.
Joanne Rideout is general
manager of Coast Community
Radio (KMUN-FM) in
Astoria. She’s also the cre-
ator and producer of The Ship
Report, a radio show and pod-
cast about All Things Maritime.
You can hear The Ship Report
on Coast Community Radio at
8:48 a.m. weekdays at 91.9FM,
streaming at www.coastradio.
org. Podcast available on The
Ship Report website at www.
shipreport.net.
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