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THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM
SATURDAY EDITION | JANUARY 23, 2021 | $1.00
Community Voices
—
Siuslaw News Natural Perspective
ditions may not seem ide- In contrast to the duck’s
Community
&
Lifestyle
By Emily J. Uhrig, Ph.D
ODFW REGIONAL
FISHING REPORT
Special to Siuslaw News
Grebes of a feather
www.dfw.state.or.us/RR
LAKES and PONDS
North Coast lakes are done
with trout stocking until next
spring, but many lakes have
holdover trout from earlier sea-
son’s stockings. Warmwater fish-
ing should be over for the year
as water temperatures are too
cold to keep those species active.
Mid-coast lakes will receive
trout stockings the first couple
weeks of February. These lakes
include: Cleawox, Munsel, Alder,
Dune, Thissel, and Big Creek
Reservoirs.
RIVERS and STREAMS:
Steelhead season is in full
swing on most north coast rivers
(when conditions allow). For the
third straight week the North
coast is experiencing a high-wa-
ter event that has most rivers
blown out. If the weather and
flow predictions are correct,
however, most of them should
be back in shape by the week-
end. During high water, fishing
large presentations and bright
colors, while targeting areas with
softer water (less current),
should increase the odds of suc-
cess.
The Siletz, Alsea and Siuslaw
Rivers will all have steelhead in
them when the river levels drop
back into shape later this week
and into the weekend.
SIUSLAW RIVER: Winter
steelhead
Winter steehead fishing has
been blown out on the Siuslaw.
The river will be dropping
through the weekend and will
fish well next week. Expect fish
See
I
n true Oregon coast style,
winter has brought gray
skies, crashing waves, and,
of course, rain. These con-
By Lloyd Little
Special to Siuslaw News
Hot Wired
During stormy weather
there may occur an elec-
trical outage in and around
the Florence community.
The electricity in your
household make flicker on
and off. It may also shut
down completely.
Central Lincoln PUD
will send out repair trucks
By Christopher Schwartz
Special to Siuslaw News
High Tide
My Close Encounter
with COVID-19
Jan. 23
1:09am / 3.6
2:55pm / 1.2
Jan. 24
8:17am / 7.3
10:24pm / 5.6
2:13am / 3.8
3:43pm / 0.6
Jan. 25
9:05am / 7.5
11:07pm / 5.9
3:10am / 3.9
4:26pm / 0.1
I
think for me to say I
dodged a bullet would be
an understatement.
One of my golfing four-
some is one of the most
cautious people I know
4:01am / 3.8
5:06pm / -0.3
Jan. 27
10:33am / 8.1
4:46am / 3.6
5:44pm / -0.7
By Karen D. Nichols
Special to Siuslaw News
Jan. 28
12:20am / 6.4
11:15pm / 8.3
5:28am / 3.3
6:21pm / -1.0
Challenge of the Imps
W
Jan. 29
12:54am / 6.6
11:57pm / 8.3
6:11pm / 3.0
6:57pm / -1.0
FEATHER 2B
to repair the electricity as
quickly as possible.
An MS warrior may also
experience a momentary
shutdown of their nervous
system. There are no repair
teams sent to fix the nerve
signals in the warrior.
When I wake up, I expe-
rience a heat sensation in
both my legs. I imagine it
as similar to an overloaded
electrical circuit that heats
up. When an electrical cir-
cuit in the home overloads
a circuit-breaker shuts
down the lights to prevent
a potential fire.
I have no circuit breakers
in my body so the nerves
just continue to heat up.
This heat sensation is in-
ternal only as my skin does
not feel warm.
During the years my three
daughters all used their
hair dryers at the same time
our circuit breakers were
shutting down on a regular
basis.
Inserting a larger circuit
reduced the number of out-
ages considerably. I wish
my nervous system could
insert a larger breaker to
get my system working
again.
Cardiologists
speak
about alternate blood path-
ways that sometimes enable
a heart attack victim to sur-
vive as the blood bypasses
the blockage through the
alternate path.
There are no such alter-
native nerve fibers to go
around the lesions (scar tis-
sue). Even as I feel the heat
See
MS 2B
when it comes to being
careful about COVID-19.
My 62-year-old friend, Jim,
was an elementary school
teacher for 30-plus years.
The reason for his cau-
tion is that his wife’s health
(they just celebrated their
40th) is extremely com-
promised due to previous
health issues.
They saw the handwrit-
ing on the wall last spring
(2020) and both took leaves
of absence before spring
break to avoid possibly
contagious people in the
schoolhouse setting.
Also, they did not think
the local school adminis-
tration was taking this pan-
demic very seriously.
They isolated at their ru-
ral home through the sum-
mer and grew very appre-
hensive as the new school
year approached. When Jim
was called to start the new
year of teaching, he simply
could not put himself in the
situation he witnessed in
his school building where
masking and social distanc-
ing lacked serious practice.
So, he took what he con-
sidered the best step for
himself and his wife by re-
tiring from teaching.
Sometime shortly after
that he felt that we, his pals,
were playing it safe with
social distancing and ap-
propriate use of masks even
while on the golf course,
so he rejoined our thrice
weekly game. All went well
See
US 2B
The Moral of the Story —
Jan. 26
9:50am / 7.8
11:44pm / 6.1
See
Us TOO Florence —
Tide Tables
7:29am / 7.1
9:29pm / 5.2
flat bill, grebe beaks have a
pointed tip.
Grebes spend most of
their time in water. They
aren’t often seen on land,
and when they do come
ashore, they’re quite awk-
ward. The Latin name for
the grebe family means
“rump foot,” in reference to
their feet being far back on
their body.
This arrangement is great
for swimming but gives
them an odd gait for walk-
ing.
In water, grebes paddle
agilely along and are expert
divers. While most birds
Life with MS —
FISHING 3B
Entrance Siuslaw River
al for wildlife viewing, but
this can nonetheless be a
good time for birdwatch-
ing.
Look to the river, and
you’ll likely see waterfowl
bobbing among the white
caps. Some are ducks, but
look closer, and you might
notice others are a bit dif-
ferent — these are the
grebes.
During winter, it’s possi-
ble to see all 6 of Oregon’s
grebe species on the coast.
Grebes are similar in size
to ducks, and have rather
drab plumage in winter, so
observers may find beak
shape to be the most dis-
tinguishing characteristic.
hat more could hap-
pen in the wake of
2020 distress? However,
important things occur.
Often, they arrive in
threes. (I’ll number them.)
The printer doesn’t work!
Pox! I am bereft! After an
extensive search, my Print-
er Basics Manual has been
confiscated by the imps
that live in my world.
Okay, maybe the ink sup-
ply of a new printer is mar-
ginal in volume. One color
of ink ran out after printing
a couple of cards. Order
new ink.
Install the ink.
But the imps have invad-
ed my printer. My brand
new, expensive, super,
duper, Sure Color printer
printed my cards in a blur
of faded colors. Who would
think to nozzle check and
clean the heads after min-
imal use?
1) Abruptly, I find my
manual right in a very log-
ical place. Yeah! A techie
number! He recommended
a thorough all-day process,
then turn off the printer
and let stand overnight.
Repeat the process the
next day.
This morning I wake up
to face the weight of my
secondary all-day process.
Dark clouds encircle my
mind. I turn over in my
warm bed and stare out the
window into the forest that
surrounds my house.
2) The brilliant sunshine
suddenly bursts through
the clouds and glistens on
the diamonds of raindrops
resting on the leaves.
One dazzling Cobalt Blue
droplet catches my eye.
Involuntarily, a smile cap-
See
MORAL 2B
Time
Out
By Lloyd Little
Retired teacher, coach and
game offi cial
With more than55 years as an
athlete, coach, parent and specta-
tor, Lloyd Little has gained some
insights and perspectives regarding
athletics. Each week, he shares
what he's learned about sports
from his multiple points of view.
Let It Snow
From 1957 until 1963 I lived
in Hermiston, Ore. Th ere was
snow and cold weather. My
sister, brother and I would ice
skate on frozen ponds and sled
down local streets, closed for
sledding.
We did not ski.
From 1963 until 1970 I lived
in Warrenton. We occasional-
ly had snow, so we sledded or
used our nylon jackets to pro-
pel down a hill on our backs.
Th e fi rst one down would
catch or slow down the rest of
us as the tracks became swift er.
In 1975, I was invited by a
friend to go skiing at the An-
thony Lake Ski Resort. I had
no skies but Steve said he had a
pair for me. As we drove to the
mountain, I was given a tuto-
rial on how to ski. I dressed as
warm as I could.
My attire did not include
any current snow wear. Th e
long-johns, bib overalls, cotton
gloves under leather gloves, a
Christmas sweater, coat and a
ski hat. It was a chilly 15 de-
grees.
Th e skis I was given were
over six feet long. Steve adjust-
ed my bindings, so when I fell
— and it would be oft en — my
legs would be free to move and
avoid potential injury if a ski
got stuck.
My fi rst obstacle was the
rope tow. I was expected to
hold onto a rope and my ski
poles as I was pulled up a gen-
tle slope to the top of what was
called the “bunny hill” for be-
ginners.
When I reached the top,
Steve was already at the bot-
tom motioning me to “come
on down.” I moved as he had
instructed me but failed to re-
alize how fast I would be going
as I neared his location. Not
knowing how to stop, I threw
my body onto the snow.
It was funny for him but not
for me.
My next trail was called
Broadway. We approached the
ski lift and were pulled onto
the chair and up the mountain.
I got off and Steve continued
up the mountain for more dif-
fi cult trail. I fell no less than a
dozen times trying to get down
Broadway.
Th e trail was wide, gently
sloped and smooth. It was so
much fun — except for the
cold.
As I got in position for my
second chair lift ride, I was
unable to hold onto my poles
as I grabbed for the chair. I
dropped them and then I dove
off my chair into the snow to
get them. Th e lift operator
looked down at me and asked,
“Why did you do that?”
I replied, “Mister, I had a
very hard time getting down
the trail with my poles, I would
not make it without them.” He
answered that my poles would
have been sent up on a follow-
ing chair.
I thought they should have
put that on the instruction
sheet:
Number 1 — If you drop
your poles, they will be sent up
to you on a following chair.
Well, I had my poles and
went up the mountain again.
Each time went down the hill,
I fell fewer and fewer times un-
til, eventually, I went without
falling. Th en I got overconfi -
dent. Aft er lunch Steve asked if
I wanted a more diffi cult trail
to try.
See
LITTLE 3B