B6 THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD • SATuRDAY, NOVEmBER 19, 2022
COFFEE BREAK
Husband handed out hugs to all women except wife
were so insignificant, he couldn’t
give me even one for more than two
decades? How do I get over feeling
hurt when he hugs other women?
Is there something wrong with my
perspective on this? I’m not sure if
I’m being too sensitive. — FINALLY
WORTH HUGGING
DEAR FINALLY: Too sensitive?
There is nothing wrong with your
“perspective.” For 23 years your pas-
sive-aggressive husband chose to
withhold a gesture of affection you
requested, while showering other
women with it. It’s “nice” that he’s fi-
nally willing to make the effort to hug
you but, frankly, it seems a bit late.
It may take a therapist to help work
DEAR ABBY: My strongest “love
language” is physical touch. For 23
years, my husband gave hugs galore
to any and every woman, but never
to me. The word “never” is not an ex-
aggeration. He has recently begun to
change and try to be better. Now he
does hug me as much as I want. But
when he hugs other women, it still
feels like a knife through my heart.
He says the hugs mean nothing
to him, but I question why, if they
Trees
Here’s a list of some of the
common tree species in our re-
gion:
Grand fir/white fir
These true firs are abundant
at the lower elevations that are
more likely to be accessible in
late fall.
They also have a classic
Christmas tree form, with
nicely spaced branches that
offer plenty of places for orna-
ments, lights and tinsel.
Although grand fir and white
fir are separate species, hybrids
bearing traits of both are com-
mon in the Blue Mountains,
the late Charles Grier Johnson
Jr., longtime forest ecologist in
the Blues for the Forest Service,
wrote in his definitive “Alpine
and Subalpine Vegetation of the
Wallowa, Seven Devils and Blue
Mountains.”
“Hybridization between
these two true firs ... make iden-
tification difficult,” Johnson
wrote.
But names, of course, are less
important than shape.
Subalpine fir
Full-grown subalpine firs are
easy to recognize from their
slender, dart-like shape. But in
juvenile form they sometimes
resemble grand firs.
A distinguishing character-
istic of the subalpine fir is its
needles. They grow at all angles
from the limb, rather than in
flat, orderly rows as a grand or
white fir’s do.
Although subalpine firs usu-
ally grow at higher elevations
than grand firs, the two species
occasionally mingle between
about 5,500 and 6,000 feet.
Ponderosa pine
Like lodgepoles, ponder-
osa pines are plentiful in many
places, especially at lower ele-
vations. But their long needles
aren’t well-suited for ornament
placement, and they lack the
layered limbs that distinguish
firs.
Chris Collins/Baker City Herald, File
Engelmann spruce
A person might mistake a
spruce for a fir, but there’s an
easy way to tell which is which:
grab a limb.
If you think you just poked a
porcupine, you just touched a
spruce.
Spruce needles are stiff and
have prickly edges, unlike the
softer, more finger-friendly firs.
Spruce trees usually grow in
wet areas, and often are found
in groves near streams.
If you decide to head into the snowbound forest to cut your own Christmas tree, make sure your vehicle is prepared for the conditions, and bring
along extra clothing, food and water.
ground or Ski Area, Starkey
Experimental Forest, La Grande
Watershed, Hurricane Creek
and Lostine drainages.
wilderness areas, designated
campgrounds, or existing tree
plantations.
• Do not cut trees in the fol-
lowing areas: Baker City Wa-
tershed, Anthony Lakes Camp-
ground or Ski Area, Starkey
Experimental Forest, La Grande
Watershed, Hurricane Creek,
and Lostine drainages.
• Do not cut trees in posted
old growth areas or within 1/4
mile of wild and scenic corri-
dors.
• Christmas tree cutting
within sight of a state highway is
prohibited.
• Place the tag on your tree
immediately after cutting.
There are also restrictions
specific to individual national
forests.
weather
counter road closures during
logging operations.
Safety tips back at home
Once you get home, taking
proper care of your tree will
keep it green longer and reduce
the risk of fire.
• Cut and water your tree:
Once you get your tree home,
cut a half an inch off the stump
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
32/53
Kennewick
26/48
St. Helens
28/48
27/39
26/38
31/48
27/48
Condon
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
Mainly clear
and cold
Mostly cloudy
and chilly
Cloudy
Showers of rain
and snow
Sun through
high clouds
39 21
38 25
48 23
Eugene
1
0
3
26/51
41 30
42 32
47 28
2
0
3
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
0
0
22 39 29
Comfort Index™
3
44 33
46 31
3
3
5
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Thursday
Low Thursday
High: 82°
Low: -16°
Wettest: 0.92”
29°
11°
30°
16°
33°
16°
0.00
0.55
0.40
6.26
7.88
0.00
2.74
1.07
13.67
14.65
0.00
5.13
1.59
25.52
20.62
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Thursday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY
30%
S at 8 to 16 mph
8.4
0.07
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
1% of capacity
28% of capacity
10% of capacity
27% of capacity
9% of capacity
8% of capacity
Brookings
Lakeview
Ontario
Copious amounts of snow fell in the
mountains of Arizona on Nov. 19, 1993.
Mt. Lenunon received 24 inches of snow.
Up to 17 inches accumulated in Red River.
SUN & MOON
SAT.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
6:56 a.m.
4:19 p.m.
1:47 a.m.
2:25 p.m.
SUN.
6:57 a.m.
4:18 p.m.
2:57 a.m.
2:44 p.m.
MOON PHASES
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Thursday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
Burnt River near Unity
Umatilla River near Gibbon
Minam River at Minam
Powder River near Richland
OREGON
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
Anaheim, Calif.
Butte, Mont.
Erie, Pa.
High: 55°
Low: -8°
Wettest: Trace
833 cfs
4 cfs
8 cfs
66 cfs
N.A.
18 cfs
New
Nov 23
First
Nov 30
Full
Dec 7
Beaver Marsh
36/60
Last
Dec 16
32/56
Silver Lake
Jordan Valley
13/40
Paisley
4/40
14/43
Frenchglen
11/40
28/52
Klamath Falls
14/43
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Hi/Lo/W
53/42/c
49/31/pc
39/20/s
59/44/pc
35/11/pc
57/42/c
49/35/c
32/15/s
39/27/c
51/36/pc
34/24/pc
39/32/c
41/31/pc
45/28/pc
39/29/pc
31/24/pc
43/20/pc
40/12/pc
Hi/Lo/W
53/45/sh
49/35/c
40/25/c
59/48/c
42/15/c
57/46/sh
50/43/sh
34/22/pc
44/30/c
55/42/sh
36/27/c
44/36/c
41/37/c
46/32/c
42/31/c
35/25/c
46/25/c
41/14/c
17/41
Lakeview
4/40
McDermitt
8/43
RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
MON.
Grand View
Arock
9/38
9/42
Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs.
SUN.
Diamond
8/36
Fields
Medford
Brookings
Boise
19/39
33/56
41/59
8/32
11/45
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Juntura
4/35
19/41
14/45
Ontario
17/37
Burns
Brothers
32/57
Roseburg
Huntington
17/43
Bend
Coos Bay
11/32
18/38
Seneca
24/49
Oakridge
Council
13/35
18/45
23/50
Elkton
THURSDAY EXTREMES
ALMANAC
17/39
John Day
20/46
Sisters
Florence
Powers
15/35
Baker City
Redmond
31/54
35/58
Halfway
Granite
26/49
Newport
33/57
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.
27/44
30/53
27/48
31/56
42 29
3
Corvallis
Enterprise
22/39
22/39
Monument
21/41
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
22 39 27
Elgin
22/39
La Grande
25/36
Maupin
0
22/35
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
Lewiston
25/40
Hood River
22/38
TIllamook
0
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Walla Walla
17/31
Vancouver
27/49
29/54
13 35 19
to help with water uptake, and
make sure to water your tree
daily. Well-watered trees keep
their scent longer.
• Get the right tree stand: Use
a sturdy tree stand that holds
at least 1 gallon of water. Make
sure you refill the container
daily, as an average tree may
consume 1 to 4 quarts of water
daily.
• Place your tree away from
heat sources: Do not place your
Christmas tree within 3 feet of
any heat source, like a radiator.
Live tree fires outnumber arti-
ficial tree fires by 3-1, and they
cause 20 times more injuries,
according to the National Fire
Protection Association.
• Check electric lights and
connections: Lights with frayed
or cracked wires or broken
sockets should be thrown away
and not repaired. Never use
open flames, like a lighted can-
dle, on or near Christmas trees,
and always turn off tree lights
when leaving the house or go-
ing to bed.
Malheur
• Removal of transplants
from riparian (springs, creeks,
wet areas), campgrounds, wil-
derness, scenic, research, and
botanical areas is prohibited.
Avoid old growth areas as well.
• Only cut trees that are less
than 12 feet in height.
• Do not cut a tree unless
there is another tree within 20
feet to maintain disbursement
of trees and optimum growth
for the future.
• Cutting trees within 150 feet
of Highway 26, County Road
62, or Forest Road 16, is pro-
hibited.
Umatilla
• The maximum height of
tree to be cut is 14 feet tall.
• Do not cut trees within
200 feet of Bluewood or Spout
Springs Ski Areas, summer
home sites, Tollgate Work Cen-
ter, or Forest Service guard sta-
tions.
• Christmas tree cutting in
the Tollgate area on the Walla
Walla Ranger District can be
challenging after Dec. 1, when
most forest roads close for the
winter. After Dec. 1, snowmo-
biling or snowshoeing will be
your only access onto most
roads off Highway 204.
• Christmas tree cutting on
the Pomeroy Ranger District is
prohibited on Park and Cook
Ridges, and in the Lick Creek
area, including Sheep Creek,
Cabin, Capehorn and Mud
Springs ridges. You may en-
Wallowa-Whitman
• The maximum tree height
is 15 feet and stump diameter is
6 inches.
• Do not cut trees in the fol-
lowing areas: Baker City Wa-
tershed, Anthony Lakes Camp-
| Go to AccuWeather.com
La Grande
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.
Lodgepole pine
Lodgepole pines are easy to
find, but lodgepole pines that
make good Christmas trees are
not.
Lodgepoles of the right
height tend to be a bit sparse of
limb and a bit unkempt in ap-
pearance, as though they had
slept in an alley.
Lodgepoles are the only pines
native to Oregon whose needle
bundles contain two needles
(ponderosa pines have three
needles per bundle, white and
whitebark pines five).
Tree-cutting guidelines
There are several rules com-
mon to all three national forests
in the Blue Mountains, includ-
ing:
• Cut your tree at least 50 feet
away from the road.
• Clean up any trimmings or
limbs.
• Leave stumps no higher
than 10 inches
• Remove any green limbs left
that remain on the stump. You
can keep these for decorations.
• Do not cut in active timber
sales or areas that have been
planted with new trees.
• Do not cut on private land,
Douglas-fir
Not a true fir — hence the
hyphen — these conifers have
more in common with hem-
locks.
Although Douglas-fir is a fa-
vorite Christmas tree species in
the Cascades and Coast Range,
the Rocky Mountain variety
that grow in our forests typically
Comfort Index™
█
aren’t as graceful in appearance
as grand or white firs.
Continued from B1
Baker City
ING HOLIDAY GIFT-GIVING
DEAR HALTING: I assume you see
or communicate with these friends
regularly. Raise this subject during
one of your visits well before the
Christmas holiday. Many retirees
are trying to divest themselves of
the “things” they have accumulated
during their lifetime, and your friends
may feel similarly. Do not feel shy
about bringing it up. They may be as
relieved as you about exchanging only
cards and good wishes.
ing her mother in pain. Clearly, she
has no clue about how grief works.
There is no timetable for it, but three
months is a relatively short period
of time. Tell her that for the fore-
seeable future those card readings
will no longer be a subject of discus-
sion. Then, if she brings it up again,
change the subject.
DEAR ABBY: I’m writing to ask your
advice about how to tell my friends
we should not exchange Christmas
gifts this year. We are all retirees. I’m
not cheap, and neither are they, but
none of us “needs” anything. I suspect
many of us want to say it, but we don’t
know how. I don’t want to hurt any-
one’s feelings. Suggestions? — HALT-
through your justified hurt and anger
over this. My advice is to start now.
DEAR ABBY: My husband died sud-
denly three months ago. My family
sympathizes with me; however, my
youngest daughter thinks I need to
move on and get over his death. How
can I make her understand that his
death has devastated me, and getting
over it will take time? She reads tarot
cards and claims the cards are tell-
ing me to get over it and move on.
How can I get her to stop with the
card readings? — HEARTBROKEN IN
SOUTH CAROLINA
DEAR HEARTBROKEN: Your
daughter may be trying to be helpful.
She may also be uncomfortable see-
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
40/31/c
48/39/pc
39/28/c
52/35/pc
54/43/c
48/36/c
37/19/pc
35/23/pc
38/23/pc
48/39/c
60/40/c
46/28/pc
56/40/pc
48/37/pc
33/23/c
38/30/c
43/29/pc
35/24/pc
Hi/Lo/W
42/36/c
48/45/sh
42/29/c
53/40/c
55/48/c
48/43/sh
38/24/pc
36/26/c
37/31/c
49/43/sh
59/46/c
49/34/c
55/45/c
52/43/sh
36/28/c
42/35/c
44/31/c
36/32/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
Turning cloudy
Rather cloudy
31
21
35
21
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Mostly cloudy
Mostly sunny
35
28
40
22
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Partly sunny
Mainly cloudy
30
19
40
25
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Partly sunny
Cold
39
29
38
26
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Cold
Mostly cloudy
35
19
39
27