A8
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
PLAYING WITH FIRE
I
t’s been one heck of a
year so far, and it’s only
June. Like you, I’ve been
doing whatever it takes to
keep the bills paid and the
family fed. For us “essential
workers,” life has been espe-
cially hectic the last couple
of months.
Many have
had to take
multiple
sanitation
measures
for their
own per-
sonal safety. Dale Valade
Before,
the sight
of someone wearing panty-
hose over their head in pub-
lic may have been cause for
alarm. Now it just means they
can’t find the proper PPE.
And don’t get me started on
toilet paper. There may be a
niche market for corn husks
and mullin leaves down the
road. All joking aside, it helps
to have a sense of humor, and
I can’t wait to go camping,
fishing and hunting again.
Contributed photo
From left, columnist Dale Valade uses a leaf blower to breathe life into a campfire at elk camp last
fall with Walter Shaldoujah, Rick Valade and Jim Parson.
Besides being an amazing
source of stress relief, there is
just something about the rev-
erent sounds of nature that
calls to our souls. Whether it’s
the babbling brook or rush-
ing river, the taste of a Dutch
oven meal or crackling camp-
fire camaraderie, many are the
blessings to be had when we
get away from it all.
Due to the relatively mild
winter and wet spring, we
need to be extra careful in our
goings about this summer.
The winged insects and par-
asites have had a banner year
and are out in force. The rat-
tlesnakes are always a con-
cern, but other snakes which
are natural predators to the
western diamondback will
also be out. Make sure you
don’t shoot the wrong reptile.
Each year many folks
drown for lack of education
or safety measures taken in
and around sources of water.
Our 10-month-old son was
blessed with a very curious
soul, and as such, we must
watch him like hawks to
insure his continual safety.
For this I wish to add, be
extra careful for the sake
of both children and the
elderly. A moment of incon-
venience taken to double
check on them may save you
a lifetime of misery endured.
This also goes when dealing
with fire.
Every year wildfires
become a part of our lives
here in Grant County and the
surrounding areas. Some of
these are the result of acts
of nature, such as lightning
or spontaneous combustion.
Many however are the result
of ignorance or poor habits.
Shooting tannerite explosives
or tracer ammunition into
combustible backstops can
be to blame. So too can fail-
ure to properly manage and
extinguish your burn barrels
or campfires. Be aware of and
observe any fire restrictions;
these are in place for good
reason. Always take along a
shovel and a few extra gal-
lons of water to properly mop
up your campfire. Rekindles
happen. I’ve seen fire “sleep”
in the ground for weeks even
months before a dry, gusty
summer wind coaxes them
back to life in the arid, yel-
low grass.
Being alive is fun. Don’t
let harm come to yourself or
others because of failure to
think ahead. We live in the
greatest place on earth, let’s
keep it that way!
Any tips for safety during
your summer outdoors activ-
ities? Write to us at shoo-
tingthebreezebme@gmail.
com!
Dale Valade is a local
country gent with a love for
the outdoors, handloading,
hunting and shooting.
O utlook
SENI
R
As I write this, it
has been exactly
3 months since
spring began. Can
you remember
what was going
Rose Coombs
on? The weather
was cool and
clear and the first Sunday after spring began, we started
live-streaming our church service. And we are still doing
it! Now here comes summer! I am so glad that we are
not confined to the house. We can get outside and
get our daily dose of vitamin D and go to the barber/
beauty shops. My diary says that I went to the store on
March 25 and there were no eggs, bread, or TP. Thank
goodness that problem has been solved.
If you listen to the radio at 7:30 each morning, you can
hear what the various senior centers are preparing for
the meal that particular day. And then you come to pick
up your meal and it is not what was advertised. Hmmm.
What happened? Usually, what happened is that we
were donated some perishable supplies, so the cooks
changed the menu to take advantage of the donations.
If the donation is freezable, it will be stored and used
later. The menu does have a notation that it is subject
to change. All that to say, thank you to Greg Star and
Thomas Harris who have donated food and containers
to freeze some. If we ever run out plastic bags to carry
the takeout containers we now have a good supply of
paper bags as a donation. We appreciate any and all
donations – money, food or supplies. Thank you very
much.
Back to the altered meal for this week: we had tacos
and all the fixings, refried beans, sweet stir-fried veggies
Prairie City
Seniors
and strawberry shortcake for dessert. The fixings for the
tacos included hamburger, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded
cheese with sour cream and hot sauce. The veggies
included broccoli, pease, carrots and some other things I
didn’t recognize in a sweet sauce. In addition to the taco
shell, there were corn chips to be had also. So how many
vegetables did you count there? And of course onions
and peppers in the hamburger… all topped off with the
vegetable strawberry. Or is it a fruit? Anyway, it was all
good. We had several new names among the 53 on the
registration book. Next week’s dessert will be birthday
cake!
I put some cucumbers and tomatoes in containers since
I ran out of room in the garden. Some containers are
more drainable than others, I guess Had to tip a couple
of them over and let the abundant rain water pour out.
So started on a project to remove the bulbs in the iris
bed and put the un-drainable container items there. The
bed has been there a long time without being thinned
and culled, so it is hard digging – even after all that rain!
There are two different colors in all 10 feet of the bed
and there happened to be a place where those two were
sidet by side, so I put a piece of flagging around their
adjacent stems to mark them. Maybe I’ll put them in
the container! We’re still working on ideas for the deer
fence. Have seen several majestic ones that people have
installed. Usually in a place that has not been dredged
in the past… The old-timer mantra: Make do with what
you have.
I Peter 4:10 “Each one should use whatever gift he has
received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace
in its various forms.”
BIOSMILE
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165 NW 1st St., John Day
541-575-0363
Open
Monday-Thursday
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Huffman’s
SELECT
I have news!! I
John Day
don’t know your
name. I’m ready
Seniors
to sit down with
friends and have a
Dusty Harris
wonderful lunch
and draw names
for door prizes and, yes, the silent auction. Wow, I saw
one of the auction pieces and thought: I need to bid on
that!! I thought about making up stories to fit if we
were there but names slip my mind. Aren’t you glad I
remember by person? I do miss you all.
Stay safe and enjoy your week.
We had a
wonderful meal
Monument
cooked by Terry
Seniors
Cade and Carrie
Jewell which
was BBQ beef
Soo Yukawa
sandwiches, french
fries, pasta salad,
and cake for dessert. There were 54 meals that were
picked up. Kristi Guimont did the paperwork. Jan
Ensign and Bob Cockrell collected and counted the
money. Abbrieanna Osborne delivered the meals to the
waiting patrons in their cars.
Well, it looks like the weather is going to be really hot
and dry. We seem to have extreme weather fluctuations
here, it is either cold and wet or hot and very dry. I
would like the cooler weather but my garden would
prefer the hot. It is a paradox.
I have like 20 straightneck yellow zucchini growing!
I think I might put them in individual cups and give
them away to whomever wants them. I planted like
four or five of them and I think that is plenty for our
family. I will have to try and remember in the future
not to plant so many. I planted the whole packet to
insure that I would have enough plants that would make
it, well now I know, they are fine. Ha.
It appears that I have 3 clusters of volunteers tomato
plants. When I say cluster, I mean like twenty in a
cluster. Yes, crazy right? The only thing is, I don’t really
remember what kind of tomatoes were in those spots. I
think one of them was a Roma tomato and the others
were heirloom cherry tomato clusters. I relocated and
planted three of them, we shall see what becomes of
them. Maybe I will separate those plants and put them
in individual cups and leave them at the senior center
for Tuesday lunch if anyone wants tomato or zucchini
plants. I just might do that, hopefully I will have time
to repot them.
I canned a bunch of strawberry rhubarb jam a few
days ago. It was a very long process. The first batch, I
burned it a little and had to pick those burnt parts out.
Lesson learned, don’t put the sugar in until it is almost
all cooked down so the sugar won’t burn at the bottom
of the pot. The second and third batch turned out
much better. I ended up canning about 35 pint jars of
strawberry rhubarb jam. I purposely did not put in too
much sugar so they are a little on the tart side. The first
time I made strawberry jam, it was too sweet! It was
awful. Well, we live and learn from our mistakes.
My dwarf pak choi went to seed. They have lots of
pretty little yellow flowers and the bugs are going crazy
over them. As soon as I collect those seeds, I will pull
the old plants out and put a little more fresh old chicken
poop dirt and plant some more pak choi. I bought
the bulk seed pack so I have plenty to plant and enjoy.
Maybe be able to plant three times this season.
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7 “To everything there is a season, and a
time to every purpose under the heavens. A time to rend,
and a time to sew; A time to keep silence, and a time to
speak.”
HAPPY BELATED FATHERS DAY
MARKETS
June Meals
June 22: Baked chicken, cornbread dressing, veggies,
and rhubarb-berry crumble.
June 25 lunch will be: Seafood pasta alfredo, veggies,
garlic bread, and peach pecan cake.
June 29: Hamburgers, potato salad, and s’mores
whoopie pies.
Quality Healthcare
...close to home.
170 Ford Road
John Day
541-575-1311
112 E. 5th
Prairie City
541-820-3341
241 S. Canyon Blvd. John Day • 541-575-0529
T roy Hanson - Funeral Director
S193722-1