It has been interesting to say the least, very troubling would be more accurate. Covid was a mess, but I, and all the ones that I care about escaped it. The political situation however has impacted all of us more than necessary, with the blunt club of "Climate change". In an attempt to force all of us to change to electricity, which the infrastructure cannot support at current levels. I am sorry that I even have to mention politics, but it has affected all that I do. Gas for my plane currently is $6.45 a gallon. I can only quote "Lets go Brandon!"
It has been an interesting spring. We had no moisture other than the snows that caused a few interesting days. It didn't snow all that much, the wind just rearranged it in interesting patterns and places. Then in May it began raining. Not hard, just continued to lightly rain most every day. It did wonders for the country, the grass and mostly the weeds grew like crazy. Not hard enough to fill all the ponds in the back country, but it helped at least get some water in them. The entire month of May as well as the first part of June were cool and rainy. I cannot see any fruit on any of my Apple or plum trees. As a consequence of the weather, I have read more library books than any winter I can remember. Bless the "Library of Eastern Oregon", an online library. Now it appears with the fuel prices, I will again be reading a lot of the time.
During one of the "cool" nights, I found this guy out in the open to try to recharge his system in the weak Sun. A very hansom and robust specimen of Horned Toad.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=oregon+horned+toad&form=QBLH&sp=-1&pq=oregon+horned+toad&sc=1-18&qs=n&sk=&cvid=ACAEDE2FFE8E471EB51D8C6EFB0EB0E8&ghsh=0&ghacc=0
Just as I got the weeds cut down in my garden and rotor tilled it so that I could put in some plants, The Mormon Crickets made their first appearance here at the house.
According to the above link they can take up to five years to hatch, but I have not seen them here, and I have lived here since 2006.
This is something that you have to experience, words cannot convey how many of them there are. They turn the roads brown just from the squashed bodies. They seem to tend to travel in the same general direction, so my hope is that they will move out of my area soon. On my walk this morning they were all walking North. Since the creek is only about200 yards to the South of me, perhaps they will soon move out of my garden.
I did go fishing for the first time in last week. The trail down to the River was really rough as could be, but the fishing was good. The water was low enough that there was a strip of land to stand on. I took my fishing buddy, Sue, with me. No one had fished the spot that I like, and it took no time at all to have more fish than we needed on our stringers.
I kept enough for three meals out and buried the rest in my garden for the plants that I intended to put in the garden.
Thursday my friend J.Bickham, arrived with his two grandkids. They had been to a fly-in in the Idaho back country and were on their way back to New Mexico. It was nice, but they didn't stay long enough.
Its likely to be a quiet summer! Hopefully yours will be better.
