COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATuRDAY, JuLY 2, 2022
Young mother careening through stressful life
DEAR ABBY: My step-
daughter, “Crystal,” has a toxic
relationship with her mother.
Both have battled alcoholism. The
mother did some extreme damage
that has ended the possibility of
Crystal regaining custody of her
6-year-old son. My husband and I
hired a lawyer to help her fight for
her rights, and we have brought
her to our home twice. The last
time was right out of the hospital
after she nearly killed herself with
alcohol poisoning.
Fast-forward: Crystal is trying
FUNGI
Continued from Page B1
The following week took us
to my territory: the Blue Moun-
tains east of Dayton, Washington.
A good strategy when hunting
unknown territory is to do so with
friends. We typically scatter in dif-
ferent directions and communicate
via handheld walkie-talkies. Which
begs the question: how many
morels do you harvest before you
turn on your radio or yell and invite
a share in the bounty? One, two,
a dozen, or after you have filled a
grocery sack? Let your conscience
be your guide.
After a slow start we ended the
day with a basketful of morels and
several pounds of corals. More
than once, a cry of “I found one!”
caused the other two searchers to
backtrack and circle around the
source like turkey vultures after a
roadkill.
But today’s hunt will be solo.
A chance to connect with nature
all on my own. After all, I know
these forested slopes well enough
that someone doesn’t need to
point me to a mushroom. As
a friend once said, “I’ve eaten
enough dog food from other
bowls to know I don’t have to
to mend her relationship with her
mother, and now we have become
second fiddle. What used to be
a daily phone conversation hap-
pens now only when I call. When
we try to visit them, they make
excuses, and they have visited us
only twice in the last six months.
Her latest plan is to stay overnight
with us and spend the following
day with her mom.
We are swallowing our pride
so we can see our 6-month-old
granddaughter, but our feelings
are so hurt. Please help me take
the high road. Do we talk to her or
just feel crushed? — WOUNDED
IN MICHIGAN
DEAR WOUNDED: Your
troubled stepdaughter is trying to
mend fences with her mother. Try
not to take personally that she has
tunnel vision right now. I do not
think you should address this with
her at this time. Let more time
elapse, and if her distancing con-
tinues, talk to her about it then.
DEAR ABBY: My husband
and I live in southern Florida. My
problem is our children, grand-
children and their spouses. When
they come to visit, they only eat
certain foods and need “healthy
this” and “healthy that.” I feel like
we’re being used as a hotel and
restaurant. I want to see them,
but it is becoming exhausting.
What should I do? — ROLLING
BACK THE WELCOME MAT
DEAR ROLLING: Roll back
that welcome mat. Talk to your
children, grandchildren and their
wait for more to slop over.”
A review of past journal notes
indicates peak harvest in the
Blues occurs two weeks before
the summer solstice. However,
there’s snow in the shade and the
bloom of arrowleaf balsamroot
is delayed. A snowshoe hare that
runs across the road, fur patched
white and brown, also appears
confused by delayed phenology.
Regardless of these signs, I weave
past rock slides that threaten to
block Summit Road and park near
a favorite spot.
The first found morel always
amuses. “Ha,” I say to the local
wood gnome. It helps when they
are bigger than your thumb and
in plain sight. Working the edge
of old growth fir and huckle-
berry bushes yields several morels
and dozen more where dark soil
humps up alongside a downed log.
A heavy basket reminds of child-
hood Easter egg hunts.
Driving down the road to flat
terrain where sunlight filters
through tall fir yields a trio of
fresh corals followed by several
oversized morels in a damp swale;
what I call a “vein” of favorable
moisture, temperature, soil type,
and vegetative cover. This same
vein never fails to produce a find.
Don’t ask me to share its location.
My final stop is along a steep
east-facing slope. I follow deer
tracks to three plump morels that
find their way into my canvas
bag. Then, working downgradient
through scattered huckleberry
bushes, I pick up another dozen.
The largest weighs 3.7 ounces at
the Alpine Outpost in Tollgate.
I don’t need a GPS to tell me
where I am or where I’ve been.
My search begins a stone’s throw
from an old toilet seat left by elk
hunters. I slow my pace where
deadfalls lay crosswise across
rotten stumps and stop to look
around where conifer duff accu-
mulates. The edge of stands of old
growth fir and ponderosa pine,
where wild strawberries and wood
violets thrive, is favored, as are
worn animal trails. A long slow
walk through uncharted territory
can also lead to reward.
Did guilt creep in for not
inviting friends to share in my
bountiful harvest? I can honestly
say, never at the point of each
find. Elation trumps self-reproach
when it comes to hunting the elu-
sive morel.
█
spouses. They may not realize the
extent to which they have been
imposing on you. Tell them that if
they have special dietary require-
ments, they should buy their own
foods, and you will make room in
the refrigerator to accommodate
them. If their presence in your
home is becoming too taxing,
provide a list of affordable hotels
or rentals in the area they might
consider.
DEAR ABBY: I am a
91-year-old, 4-foot-8 woman
who still drives and goes alone
to shop and conduct business.
My problem is I am frequently
approached by strangers who
want to “help” me. This frightens
me because I cannot defend
myself. While someone holding a
Dennis Dauble is author of five books
about fishing including his latest, “Chasing
Ghost Trout.” Contact him on his website
DennisDaubleBooks.com.
door open for me is appreciated,
I have no way to identify a purse
snatcher who may intend to knock
me down. How can I communi-
cate that I’m capable of caring
for myself without offending the
person? — GREAT-GRAND-
MOTHER IN THE MIDWEST
DEAR GREAT-GRAND-
MOTHER: You are not the only
senior who has expressed these
feelings. Look the person in the eye
and say firmly, “I know you mean
well and thank you, but no thank
you. I prefer to do this myself.”
█
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren,
also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was
founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips.
Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com
or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
Nancy Dauble prepares morels for later consumption and storage by slicing them
lengthwise, cleaning the hollow stem, and letting them air dry.
VAN PATTEN
Continued from Page B1
Our kids, Max and Olivia, waded in the frigid
water. I knelt on a granitic boulder and splashed
a couple palmfuls of water on my forehead. My
hands went numb almost immediately.
Lisa and I reminisced about our previous,
infested, hikes to Van Patten. We agreed that
although today was ideal, it almost certainly would
be quite a different experience in a week or two.
We had no doubt that even in that sylvan setting,
among the contorted whitebark pines and slender
subalpine firs and the little rock gardens that land-
scapers strive to mimic, the bugs lurked, languid in
the moisture trickling from the drifts.
Waiting to be roused from their long dormancy
beneath the snow, ready to wreak havoc in their
insatiable pursuit of blood.
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
An aerial view from a drone, about 90 feet above the water, shows lingering ice on Van Patten Lake on June 26.
weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
█
Jayson Jacoby is editor of the Baker City Herald.
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
55/63
Kennewick
55/67
St. Helens
57/71
TIllamook
60/73
63/79
59/73
56/73
Condon
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
Mostly cloudy
A thunderstorm
around
Showers early
in the a.m.
Mostly cloudy
Partly sunny and
warmer
73 47
77 48
83 50
Eugene
9
10
8
55/72
73 50
77 51
85 56
9
10
6
52 77 49
La Grande
10
57 76 54
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
7
7
10
53 75 52
Comfort Index™
6
74 50
80 57
9
10
9
ALMANAC
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Thursday
Low Thursday
High: 118°
Low: 24°
Wettest: 3.33”
83°
39°
85°
41°
91°
42°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Thursday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
0.00
0.48
1.10
4.46
5.44
0.00
2.40
1.37
8.76
10.06
0.00
3.27
1.84
17.44
14.52
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
50%
NW at 7 to 14 mph
10.1
0.16
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
25% of capacity
90% of capacity
39% of capacity
100% of capacity
30% of capacity
99% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Thursday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
5560 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder 118 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
88 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
115 cfs
Minam River at Minam
1630 cfs
Powder River near Richland
43 cfs
Death Valley, Calif.
Mackay, Idaho
Biloxi, Miss.
OREGON
High: 94°
Low: 36°
Wettest: Trace
Ontario
Sunriver
Brookings
WEATHER HISTORY
Violent thunderstorms developed at the
northern rim of a hot air mass on July 2,
1980, dumping hail the size of hens’ eggs
on Louisville, Ky., and causing wind dam-
age from Missouri through Illinois.
SUN & MOON
SAT.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
SUN.
5:09 a.m. 5:09 a.m.
8:44 p.m. 8:44 p.m.
8:18 a.m. 9:24 a.m.
11:24 p.m. 11:46 p.m.
MOON PHASES
First
Jul 6
Full
Jul 13
Last
Jul 20
New
Jul 28
53/75
54/66
Brothers
54/68
50/66
Beaver Marsh
42/67
Roseburg
56/74
Jordan Valley
55/82
Paisley
47/71
Frenchglen
53/78
Diamond
Grand View
Arock
53/76
61/91
56/84
Fields
57/77
54/80
Klamath Falls
45/72
Lakeview
43/72
McDermitt
54/81
RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
MON.
City
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
Astoria
63/53/c 66/52/pc
Bend
68/48/t 71/49/pc
Boise
89/62/s 82/58/s
Brookings
62/49/c 63/53/pc
Burns
76/45/c 73/43/pc
Coos Bay
63/50/c 63/49/pc
Corvallis
69/50/c 73/52/pc
Council
85/58/pc 78/52/t
Elgin
78/55/t 73/49/sh
Eugene
72/52/c 75/53/pc
Hermiston
85/61/c 80/57/sh
Hood River
73/60/c 75/56/pc
Imnaha
81/59/t 74/55/t
John Day
75/49/t 73/44/pc
Joseph
75/52/t 70/46/sh
Kennewick
86/60/c 81/56/pc
Klamath Falls 72/43/t 70/46/pc
Lakeview
72/40/c 72/44/pc
Boise
64/89
Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs.
SUN.
55/82
Silver Lake
45/70
Medford
Brookings
Juntura
49/76
56/73
52/62
Ontario
63/89
Burns
47/69
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Huntington
50/72
Bend
Coos Bay
58/85
61/86
Seneca
52/68
Oakridge
Council
52/77
John Day
52/71
Sisters
Elkton
THURSDAY EXTREMES
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
52/70
52/69
Florence
Powers
56/83
Baker City
Redmond
52/58
53/60
Halfway
Granite
53/69
Newport
53/63
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.
58/79
55/69
56/74
55/70
71 47
10
Corvallis
Enterprise
53/75
57/76
Monument
59/78
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
Comfort Index™
Elgin
56/78
La Grande
57/74
Maupin
Baker City
61/80
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
63/83
Hood River
60/79
54/67
Lewiston
Walla Walla
63/86
Vancouver
56/70
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
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
83/62/t
67/53/c
74/53/t
77/53/c
58/50/pc
68/52/sh
89/62/pc
88/61/pc
79/58/t
73/57/c
66/50/c
71/47/t
74/52/c
74/54/c
77/58/t
79/60/c
72/50/t
80/58/t
Hi/Lo/W
78/58/sh
70/49/pc
70/50/sh
79/55/pc
60/49/pc
67/49/sh
84/56/pc
83/56/pc
74/53/sh
75/55/pc
71/52/pc
74/50/pc
77/54/pc
75/54/pc
70/54/sh
80/56/pc
70/45/sh
77/56/sh
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 stray t-storm
A thunderstorm
57
41
74
49
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
A t-storm around
Periods of sun
63
47
85
58
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
A shower
A t-storm around
64
45
68
48
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
A t-storm around
A t-storm around
75
52
77
57
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Becoming cloudy
A t-storm around
77
49
76
54