COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATuRDAY, MAY 14, 2022
Dad’s bursts of enthusiasm collide with boys’ bedtime
DEAR AT A LOSS: Explain
to your husband that you are
“sorry” he’s upset at the lack of
enthusiasm he’s receiving when
he’s excited about something, but
his TIMING is off. If he expects
you and the children to be his
cheering section, it would be
helpful if he timed his announce-
ments so they don’t conflict with
bedtime, when everyone’s energy
level is low.
DEAR ABBY: My former hus-
band and I have been divorced for
more than two years. We had our
wedding reception in a club with
live music, and we would go there
every Saturday night to listen
to the music. We were divorced
shortly after our marriage because
he had frequent violent outbursts.
DEAR ABBY: My hus-
band gets very upset when our
4-year-old sons don’t share his
enthusiasm over something that
excites him. He wants them (and
me) to jump up and down or cheer
when he’s excited about some-
thing. The problem is, he tends to
share his news when we’re getting
ready for bed or just plain tired.
I feel guilty for not acquiescing,
but at the same time, I don’t want
to fake it. Any suggestions for a
compromise, please? — AT A
LOSS IN TEXAS
After our divorce, he called and
asked if we could have a date
night. When I went out with him,
it was great. We listened to the
musicians, and no one knew we
were divorced.
My ex had serious surgery,
which I helped him through, but
because of a subsequent violent
episode from him, I have now
severed all ties with him. I’d like
to go back and listen to the musi-
cians, but I don’t know what to
say when they ask me where he
is. Any advice would be greatly
appreciated. — UNCERTAIN
MUSIC LOVER
DEAR MUSIC LOVER:
When you are asked, all you
need to say is, “’John’ and I are
no longer a couple, so you won’t
a different form of investment.
The rub is that Grandma objects
to any changes to these gifts and
puts pressure on us. How do I
thank her for her generosity and
let her know we are handling our
finances now? — CUTTING
THE APRON STRINGS
DEAR CUTTING: Start by
telling your grandmother again
how grateful you are for every-
thing she has provided these
many years. Explain to her what
your investment plans are for
the money that has accumulated,
and your reasons for wanting to
change. If she has concerns, hear
them out and suggest she discuss
them with the financial adviser
you plan to employ, which might
put her worries to rest.
be seeing him with me anymore.
I may have split with my hus-
band, but I haven’t fallen out of
love with your music.” It isn’t
necessary to share any details
beyond that.
DEAR ABBY: My grandpar-
ents have been very generous.
They provided for me in ways
my parents could not when I was
a child. They allowed me to take
music lessons and vacations, let
me travel with them and paid for
my higher education. They also
started an investment fund for me
that has grown nicely.
Now I’m married (I’m 37;
my husband is 42), we are finan-
cially stable and obtaining finan-
cial counseling, and we have
decided to place those funds in
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Free community
Scientists grow plants in lunar dirt, next stop moon
workshops on
for plant-based milk.
The 82-year-old Oscar nom-
Blue Mountains
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
inee, known for “Babe: Pig in
— For the first time, scientists
the City” and “L.A. Confiden-
tial,” channeled his role as the
have grown plants in soil from
Trail planned
crotchety, anti-capitalist brother
the moon collected by NASA’s
The Associated Press
Apollo astronauts.
Researchers had no idea if
anything would sprout in the
harsh moon dirt and wanted to
see if it could be used to grow
food by the next generation of
lunar explorers. The results
stunned them.
“Holy cow. Plants actually
grow in lunar stuff. Are you kid-
ding me?” said Robert Ferl of
the University of Florida’s Insti-
tute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences.
Ferl and his colleagues
planted thale cress in moon soil
returned by Apollo 11’s Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin,
and other moonwalkers. The
good news: All of the seeds
sprouted.
The downside was that after
the first week, the coarseness
and other properties of the lunar
soil stressed the small, flowering
weeds so much that they grew
more slowly than seedlings
planted in fake moon dirt from
Earth. Most of the moon plants
ended up stunted.
Results were published
Thursday, May 12, in Commu-
nications Biology.
The longer the soil was
exposed to punishing cosmic
radiation and solar wind on
the moon, the worse the plants
seemed to do. The Apollo 11
samples — exposed a couple
billion years longer to the ele-
ments because of the Sea of
Tranquility’s older surface —
were the least conducive for
growth, according to scientists.
“This is a big step forward to
know that you can grow plants,”
said Simon Gilroy, a space plant
biologist at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, who had
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — The Greater Hells
Canyon Council is planning a series
of free community engagement work-
shops to talk with local residents about
the Blue Mountains Trail, the first two
scheduled in late May in Sumpter and
La Grande.
That’s the 566-mile route that runs
between John Day and Wallowa Lake
State Park. In between the trail, which
includes existing trails and roads, along
with short sections of cross-country
travel, passes through all seven of the
federal wilderness areas in Northeast
Oregon — Eagle Cap, Hells Canyon,
Wenaha-Tucannon, North Fork Uma-
tilla, North Fork John Day, Monument
Rock and Strawberry Mountain.
In the summer and fall of 2020,
Renee Patrick, an experienced long-dis-
tance hiker from Bend, became the first
person to complete a solo hike of the
Blue Mountains Trail.
In September of that year, three other
hikers — Whitney La Ruffa, Naomi
Hudetz and Mike Unger — also fol-
lowed the entire route.
Jared Kennedy, the development
director for the Greater Hells Canyon
Council and project lead for the Blue
Mountains Trail, is scheduling the
workshops.
The first is set for Wednesday, May
25, at the Sumpter Community Hall, 275
N. Mill St. from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Light refreshments will be served.
The second workshop will take place
Thursday, May 26 at the Cook Memorial
Library, 2006 Fourth St. in La Grande,
also from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
To register for either workshop, go to
https://www.hellscanyon.org/events.
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weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
Tyler Jones/University of Florida
In this 2021 photo provided by the University of Florida, Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences, a researcher harvests a thale cress plant growing in
lunar soil, at a laboratory in Gainesville, Fla. For the first time, scientists have
used lunar soil collected by long-ago moonwalkers to grow plants, with results
promising enough that NASA and others already are envisioning hothouses
on the moon for the next generation of lunar explorers.
such an experiment was finally
right, with the space agency
looking to put astronauts back
on the moon in a few years.
The ideal situation would be
for future astronauts to tap into
the endless supply of available
local dirt for indoor planting
versus setting up a hydroponic,
or all-water, system, scientists
said.
“The fact that anything grew
means that we have a really
good starting point, and now the
question is how do we optimize
and improve,” said Sharmila
Bhattacharya, NASA’s program
scientist for space biology,
The Florida scientists hope to
recycle their lunar soil later this
year, planting more thale cress
before possibly moving on to
other vegetation.
no role in the study. “The real
next step is to go and do it on
the surface of the moon.”
Moon dirt is full of tiny,
glass fragments from microme-
teorite impacts that got every-
where in the Apollo lunar
landers and wore down the
moonwalkers’ spacesuits.
One solution might be to use
younger geologic spots on the
moon, like lava flows, for dig-
ging up planting soil. The envi-
ronment also could be tweaked,
altering the nutrient mixture or
adjusting the artificial lighting,
Only 842 pounds of moon
rocks and soil were brought
back by six Apollo crews. Some
of the earliest moon dust was
sprinkled on plants under quar-
antine with the Apollo astro-
nauts in Houston after returning
from the moon.
Most of the lunar stash
remained locked away, forcing
researchers to experiment with
simulated soil made of volcanic
ash on Earth. NASA finally
doled out 12 grams to the Uni-
versity of Florida researchers
early last year, and the long-
awaited planting took place last
May in a lab.
NASA said the timing for
‘Succession’ star glues
hand to Starbucks counter
in protest
NEW YORK — Actor and
activist James Cromwell has
gone from “Succession’s” Uncle
Ewan to real-life supergluin’ —
pasting his hand to a midtown
Manhattan Starbucks counter
on Tuesday, May 10, to protest
the coffee chain’s extra charge
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
50/59
Kennewick
52/65
St. Helens
55/69
53/72
Condon
53/73
55/70
Mostly cloudy
Warmer; a p.m.
t-shower
A morning
shower; cooler
Baker City
42 74 45
Comfort Index™
La Grande
6
Comfort Index™
7
Low clouds may Cloudy and cool
break
9
10
2
51/69
64 40
60 40
57 40
8
10
5
55 40
9
9
3
9
ALMANAC
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High: 103°
Low: 4°
Wettest: 2.25”
59°
29°
63°
32°
62°
32°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
0.01
0.58
0.50
2.51
3.38
0.09
0.75
0.87
4.53
7.32
Trace
1.90
0.92
11.77
11.21
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
40%
S at 7 to 14 mph
0.4
0.13
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
Florence
12% of capacity
96% of capacity
46% of capacity
99% of capacity
52% of capacity
101% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Thursday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
6070 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
80 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
7 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
465 cfs
Minam River at Minam
794 cfs
Powder River near Richland
88 cfs
Presidio, Texas
Bodie State Park, Calif.
Quillayute, Wash.
OREGON
High: 68°
Low: 23°
Wettest: 1.27”
Ontario
Crater Lake
Florence
WEATHER HISTORY
The temperature at Climax, Colo., sank
to 10 degrees below zero on May 14,
1896. That is the coldest temperature ever
recorded in the United States in May.
SUN & MOON
SAT.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
5:24 a.m.
8:14 p.m.
6:48 p.m.
4:40 a.m.
SUN.
5:22 a.m.
8:16 p.m.
8:11 p.m.
5:05 a.m.
MOON PHASES
Full
Last
New
May 15 May 22 May 30
First
Jun 7
41/68
Roseburg
52/66
44/77
Beaver Marsh
50/63
Powers
Brothers
50/70
Coos Bay
53/73
Burns
Jordan Valley
46/81
Paisley
42/76
Frenchglen
46/80
Diamond
Grand View
Arock
47/81
47/88
47/85
Fields
52/76
47/81
Klamath Falls
41/73
Lakeview
40/76
McDermitt
45/82
RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
MON.
City
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
Astoria
59/47/r 55/43/c
Bend
77/43/pc 69/38/pc
Boise
82/53/s 77/49/pc
Brookings
59/47/r 57/45/pc
Burns
77/44/t 71/39/pc
Coos Bay
63/46/c 57/40/c
Corvallis
66/49/c 62/39/pc
Council
79/52/c 72/47/pc
Elgin
77/47/t 63/39/c
Eugene
69/50/c 64/39/c
Hermiston
77/57/c 71/48/c
Hood River
72/54/c 67/47/c
Imnaha
79/57/c 66/44/t
John Day
79/49/t 69/41/c
Joseph
71/48/t 64/39/sh
Kennewick
78/58/c 76/49/pc
Klamath Falls 73/39/pc 69/34/pc
Lakeview
76/40/s 70/36/pc
Boise
49/82
Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs.
SUN.
48/83
Silver Lake
42/71
Medford
Brookings
Juntura
42/77
50/74
50/59
Ontario
47/82
39/74
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Huntington
43/74
46/77
Oakridge
45/79
48/80
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
THURSDAY EXTREMES
High Thursday
Low Thursday
47/79
45/75
Council
42/74
John Day
44/77
Sisters
52/69
59 36
44/79
Baker City
Redmond
52/60
Halfway
Granite
40/69
49/66
53/68
50/57
Eugene
61 38
47/81
50/66
Newport
58 37
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.
Thursday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
Corvallis
65 40
10
40 75 49
WED
Enterprise
40/75
45/77
Monument
49/75
Idanha
Salem
67 40
10
45 77 51
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
4
TUE
Elgin
44/77
La Grande
48/70
Maupin
MON
50/73
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
53/67
Lewiston
48/76
Hood River
49/74
51/61
SUN
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Walla Walla
53/78
Vancouver
53/69
TIllamook
TONIGHT
of a billionaire media mogul
for the protest organized by
the animal rights group People
for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals.
Cromwell sat on the Star-
bucks counter wearing a “Free
the Animals” T-shirt and
read a statement denouncing
the surcharge for vegan milk
alternatives.
“When will you stop raking
in huge profits while customers,
animals and the environment
suffer?” he demanded as fellow
activists streamed the protest on
Facebook.
Cromwell glued his hand to
the counter, then later used a
knife to scrape it off. Police said
there were no arrests.
Starbucks outlets in the
United States charge 50 cents to
a dollar more drinks made with
plant-based milks.
“Customers can customize
any beverage on the menu with
a non-dairy milk, including soy-
milk, coconutmilk, almond-
milk, and oatmilk for an addi-
tional cost (similar to other
beverage customizations such
as an additional espresso shot
or syrup),” a Starbucks spokes-
person said in a statement.
“Pricing varies market by
market.”
The spokesperson said Star-
bucks respects customers’ right
to voice their opinions “so long
as it does not disrupt our store
operations.”
Cromwell, nominated for an
Academy Award for his role as
the farmer in “Babe,” is a vet-
eran protester who was charged
with trespassing in 2017 for
interrupting an orca show at
SeaWorld in San Diego.
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
SUN.
MON.
Hi/Lo/W
76/54/t
65/51/sh
74/48/t
76/51/pc
57/47/r
61/47/sh
82/54/c
76/56/c
74/57/t
70/55/sh
66/50/c
77/45/c
73/53/c
68/51/sh
68/48/c
73/53/c
76/47/t
73/52/t
Hi/Lo/W
70/49/c
58/41/c
63/38/c
72/45/pc
55/40/c
60/38/c
80/51/c
75/47/c
65/46/c
65/47/c
59/45/r
68/36/pc
65/42/c
65/45/pc
64/43/c
70/49/c
61/35/sh
67/46/c
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
A p.m. t-shower
A p.m. t-shower
51
37
72
47
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
A p.m. t-shower
Warmer
63
45
80
55
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
A p.m. t-shower
A p.m. t-shower
55
40
70
44
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
A p.m. t-shower
A p.m. t-shower
71
48
74
53
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
A p.m. t-shower
A p.m. t-shower
74
45
77
51