Denio Nev. Basque festival

Morning Sunrise 

I took a trip to Denio, Nev. with a friend, to a Basque festival and fund raiser at the community center there. It was a chance to get out for a bit as well as to see some interesting country again.

Of course the eye candy was the animals found on the way as well as the scenery.

This one was sleeping by the side of the road.

Yawning at the interruption, I could tell right away that he was impressed.
He would probably measure about 13 inches, which seem to be what just about
any Antelope Buck sports for ornaments.

 An Eagles nest in the canyon at Trout Creek. How ever 

this appears to be a Red Tail rather than the original owner.

After the dinner, which consisted of tradition Basque food -  Lamb Stew, Choriso, (Spicy sausage) to Pinto Beans, that still had the "crackers" in them. ( much to my discomfort later in the evening. ) The dances began.  I was captivated by this little girl that was right out there with the rest of the ladies. Its nice to see tradition passed on to the younger generation. 

While my date was captivated by this little rapscallion, with a hat that was way too big for him. He was all over the place, having great fun. While the hat was big it seemed a part of him and could sure provide him with plenty of shade. No danger of skin cancer, not sure how he would fair in a normal desert wind.

I was surprised and pleased at the community spirit and friendliness of all the people there. They had an auction that consisted of every thing from Loaves of bread, One of which went for $600.00 to toys for kids. They made sure that every kid in the room of about 200 people got a gift. I am not sure how much money they raised, but it was substantial. In the picture above you can see the edge of one of the loaves of bread. They appeared to have been baked in a dutch oven and somewhere in the 5 pound range.

It was a fun day and even a curmudgeon like me had a great time. I am constantly amazed at the people that inhabit this world of sand and Sage and how centered they are to the things that actually count in life. While enjoying a Milk Shake at Fields, we talked to a student surveying Short Eared Owls in that area. At the dinner, a rancher that owned enough land to be mind boggling, as well as a young girl of about 12 with a Duck. The people of the Denio area seemed to welcome every one, no matter where they came from, or who they were. What a great day!

Birch Creek

Yesterday was "road trip day." The phenomenon of "High Desert Spring" was upon us yesterday so I took a new friend to see some of the sights of this area. She had seen Jordan Craters, which is on the same road, but had never gone down into Birch Creek itself.

https://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/files/brochures/BirchCreekHistoricRanch.pdf

On the top of the plateau it is fairly unremarkable if you discount the 25 miles of unbroken Lava and grassland. However when you drop over the edge of the hill it changes dramatically. As you get deeper into the canyon the bones of the earth come into view. While some of them hint at the stark beauty of Leslie Gulch, it is not nearly as breath taking.

https://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/files/brochures/Leslie%20Gulch.pdf

Still it surprised my friend, as she had no idea that anything like it even existed.

We didn't see all that much of the wildlife of the area, other than a surprising herd of Deer that wanted to be somewhere else.

I was surprised to see them bunched up like that on top of the hill. We stopped to ID them and they began to file quickly down the hill in a single line. I followed slowly behind them until they came to the road. I should mention that the mere presence of Deer in that location was in itself a real surprise. I expected Antelope, which would have been normal. Deer generally do not inhabit the open grasslands of the Owyhee region.

They were lead by an older Doe, and followed in a fashion that surprised me. Deer, in my experience, do not follow so closely one another. It was as though she was leading them away from danger, but I could see no reason for their behavior, no danger following them. It was obvious that we were not considered anything other than a distraction.  They were intent on changing their zipcode. You can the the beginnings of a set of antlers growing on one of the Deer towards the back.

There were quite a large and surprising number of people down there, some sight seeing on quads, the rest were either the intrepid rafters that infest this area in the winter/spring, or the support crews there to pick them up. Knowing the vagaries of the weather here in April, I have nothing but admiration for these people that just spent almost a week floating down the Owyhee. Thank you, I think I will just throw another log on the fire, get another cup of coffee and write about it.

Once we got to the bottom, I let the dogs out of the car and let them run off some of their energy. Josie was all over, and of course in the river and the lovely black sticky nasty looking mud at the edges. When we got home I began to try to remove some of the stickers that they picked up while there. It required scissors and quite a lot of effort as well as pain to free them of their Burdock burrs from their  fur.

 Here are some of the photos that I took:

 I believe this to be a Mourning Cloak butterfly. It is as close as I can come to what I found in a book of Butter flies.

Peregrine fund Rondezvous

https://www.facebook.com/archivesoffalconry

April 7th was the P Funds Rendezvous wherein Karen was enshrined on the Wall of Remembrance and the Book of Remembrance. They are reserved for Falconers who have made a significant contribution to the sport of Falconry. It was a surprising turn of events to me, since I had not thought that anyone was paying attention to us or our contribution. In fact it did not feel as though it was anything special, it was just what Falconers do. However the Oregon club only took two weeks to raise the $1000. for her plaque.

In a lot of ways it was difficult and heart wrenching at the same time. Of course every one was supporting and I had a crew of the usual suspects there to support me. Ron and Joyce Richter, Pat Brewster and an old cherished friend Linda Arms from our earlier time in Klamath Falls.

The P Fund had a Bag Piper from the local Fire Department there for the ceremony outside. I tried to get a video of that, but I am not smart enough to deal with my Smart Phone, so that will have to come later, if at all.

The world keeps turning, spring is coming!

I've had some inquiries as to how I am doing, so I guess its time to catch up a bit.

Its all a bit strange, but at the same time part of me is standing off to the side watching and marveling at how all this is unfolding, and the process of adaptation to a life without one of the main characters that was in it.

One of the discoveries that was revealed to me was " what do you say to someone who has had their life turned upside down". It has always been an area of severe discomfort to me to have to try to say something meaningful to someone who has lost their loved one. You feel so inadequate that I have on occasion avoided the situation entirely. Now having been on the pointed end of the stick, I was very aware of that discomfort in my friends in their effort to say something to me that would somehow make things better. Well of course there is nothing that anyone could possibly say that could ever bridge that gap. I was surprised was that my main emotion was to feel sorry for them and to want to alleviate that pain for them. So let me see if I can put to words what gave me the most comfort.

 All that is needed, is to say - "I am sorry for your loss". What meant the most to me was the love that those who knew her seemed to have for her. She touched far more lives than I ever thought. The thought that the ones who knew her were saddened by the fact that they  would never talk to her again, was very touching, and it was strangely just the right thing to say that gave me pride in how she had lived her life, and I felt gratitude for their friendship and regard for her. 

As I was preparing my breakfast this morning the Sun was beginning to make its presence known on the Eastern horizon. I stepped outside to wait for the shot to develop to its maximum beauty, I listened to the world wakening to another wonderful spring day. All the birds were sending their greeting to the new Sun. Doves were cooing, Mallards were squabbling down in the creek. Sand hill Cranes were ratcheting their calls to the new day. Geese were lifting off the water of the reservoir to begin the mornings feeding of Dave's pastures. Quail were advancing on my lawn, calling and talking to each other. The Coyotes were having their morning singalong. The world still turns, with or without us.

I made a trip to Klamath this last week. It was of course too short, I didn't get to visit all the people that I hold in regard, just too many and too little time. I went for several reasons, taxes, resupply of Quail for Hawk food, and to scatter some of Karen's ashes on our old pet graveyard at the house where we lived for 38 years. Our pets lives are so short compared to ours, so there were many dogs, cats and two horses that are interred there. Karen was quite attached to the stately Ponderosa Pines as well, so I thought that since she had loved the area so much that it was fitting to place part of her there where the wind soughing through the Pine could be heard.

I began looking for something to put some of her ashes in, rather than the ziplocks that first came to mind. I went to her side of the bed to look on her night stand to see if there was anything there that would work. I noticed a small tin can with a nice screw on lid that seemed to be the right size. I unscrewed the lid and there was her "gambling money", so I knew at that moment that I had found the perfect receptacle for her. Its very fitting as we leave parts of our lives scattered every where we go.

As for me, I am not finished with the world as yet. I will look for someone to share the remainder of my life. Karen was my world for 54 years. I shall never forget that or her, but that is gone now. Its time to try to find a reason to live, and if possible a new love.


 

March 6, Karen's Birthday

I bought my plane on Karen's birthday in 1997. I was 54 and right in the middle of "Manopause". This isn't the one where you get the night sweats, no its much worse. This is the one when a man realizes that nothing works anymore, you are well past the best you could ever be, and the general time of life when a man either gets a girl friend, and eventually a divorce or they start molesting kids. Neither had any draw for me. I started thinking about what I would regret the most when I was sitting in my rocker at the old welders home, drooling down my chin and flashing the nurses.

There were only two regrets that I could think of, since I had done just about every thing else that I wanted. One was to learn to fly, the other entailed an act best kept secret involving Sofia Loren. Flying seemed the most likely to succeed.

So I began to look around and found just what I needed, A Kolb Firestar II. I assure you it was a coincidence of the utmost surprise to find that I had bought it on Karen's birthday, but all in all I considered it a fair trade, since she neither had to bail me out of jail or share me with a mistress.

I haven't flown since early October of last year, and the weather has been so shitty that flying was out of the question. Today, her birthday, however was cool but with no wind. First time in almost two months. As you can imagine I have been rattling around this place like a rock in a tin can, with lots of time and nothing much I am interested in doing.

I was out in the shop repairing the shroud on a carpet cleaner, when I decided to burn some of the boxes that I have been accumulating. I opened the hangar doors and was surprised to see that it was still nice. So I pulled the plane out thinking that I would just fire it up and get it warmed up a bit. One thing lead to another and the first thing you know I was getting dressed to fly.

I did a bunch of touch and goes until I was sure that the engine was going to keep running and I got a bit better, so I went over to the ranch and eventually landed in front of their house. Listen closely to Elsie when she comes to the plane.

https://vimeo.com/258896917    There is no password required for this one. 

Up date

Time of course moves on and hopefully I can as well. It has occurred to me that you may be wondering how I am adapting. Of course it is one day at a time. I have been fortunate to have a surprising number of friends that have given me more support than I could ever have imagined. I don't believe that I have had an entire day without someone calling. I can't tell you how much that has meant to me. I have come to understand that Karen and I were truly blessed to have known so many wonderful people.

In Karen's later years, her "pack Rat" tendencies, so prevalent in the rest of her maternal family, began to show its self. I have been cleaning, giving and in some cases trashing some of the things that she had gathered over the years. A good friend of ours came down yesterday to help me sort through her stuff. We spent most of yesterday and last night sorting and cleaning our closet in the master bedroom. I used 55 gallon plastic bags to put it in so that Pat could take it to the Thrift store in Burns. One bag only was delegated to shoes, the rest to her clothes.

We had to give up because she ran out of space in her truck. She has promised to come down next month to help with the other bedroom. Karen was fond of the "Shrink Storage Bags", The theory of course was Summer and winter clothes to be alternated. I don't think it ended up that way. I had been down to about 3 different "town shirts", I couldn't find the others that I knew we had, until yesterday that is. I not only ended up with closet space, I even have things to put in it. I sit here typing this and laughing at the things that we do without realizing it.  Much of it was a walk down memory lane. I had often threatened her by telling her that some day when she went some where, I was going to bring in a truck and empty the place out.

The national organization for falconry is the Peregrine Fund, located near Boise Idaho. They have a "Wall of Remembrance" for falconers that have passed on. Most if not all had some part in the furtherance of the sport of falconry, either on the National or State level.

The Oregon falconers Association took only two weeks to raise the $1000. to install Karen's plaque on April 7th. The blog entry in front of this one is the letter that I wrote to go into the Book of remembrance, while the plaque will go on the wall. Below is a short video one of those ceremonies.

https://vimeo.com/121603327      password     owyheeflyer

Sometimes it takes some scrambling to raise that much money, but it took no time at all to find the money for her. I offered to make up the difference if they had trouble, but was told to not worry about it. I am so proud of her.

We will have a little get together this year at the fly-in here at the house, and at the completion I will scatter her ashes here at the house. We have hosted one here for the last 12 years. I will also invite falconers as well as pilots. This will take place on Sept 8th, 2018. There is plenty of camping space, so mark it on your calendar. :-) 

Karen R Cottrell

Karen R Cottrell

I first met Karen Rose McAfee in the spring of 1964. She was staying with her sister in California to help with a yet unborn child. I, Larry Cottrell, was visiting with my sister who lived on the same street. We were both 19 years old. She had suffered a nose bleed and she and her sister came to my sisters house for assistance.

Our first date was to try to find a Apricot colored Mouse that I intended to use to catch a nearby Kestrel. It was obvious to me that she was a bit different from most girls as she was interested and anxious to participate in such an adventure.

I was able to eventually get my first Kestrel and Karen was an active participant in her training. It wasn't long before she also wanted to work with Raptors, and I was hopelessly in love with her.

We married in January of 1965, and shortly there after moved to Oregon. She followed me to Alaska, and North Carolina, after I had joined the Army. After my hitch was completed, we again moved to Oregon.

After our return to Oregon, we both got serious about falconry, and continued our self education of the practice. At the time there was no recognized falconry in Oregon. Raptors were held with a "holding permit" costing $1.00. That didn't last long as there were more and more people interested in the sport. Eventually ODFW decided that hunting with hawks was illegal.

A group of interested falconers met in Eugene to see if we could get the state to allow falconry. We elected a President, Ben Elliot, and he and his wife managed to get the legislature to agree to allow falconry if we would pay our own way in the administrative costs. The legislature set a price of either $125.00 or $150.00. per year. We paid it, and thus began the slow fight to get better regulations.

I became the next President, and it was my job to make the regulations, reasonable. While I appeared as the figurehead, Karen's job was just as important as was mine. She worked tirelessly to help me with the endless letters, presentations, and meetings in which she played her part with the officials that were impressed just because she also was a falconer. At that time there were very few women that were capable falconers. Words cannot possibly convey the things that she did for Oregon Falconry, that would have been so much more difficult without her.

As time went on, and regulations improved, club membership began to increase. Karen was a bit of a role model for young women that also wanted to be falconers. She served as President, Secretary, Treasurer as well as regional director for Oregon Falconers Association. She hosted many meets, feeding hungry falconers as well as hawking herself. She flew Accipiters, Harris Hawks, Prairies, Hybrids and Peregrines. I think her most valued moment of recognition, was her "Honorary" membership in Washington's "No Mercy Hawking Club".

In the last few years her heart began to wear out. She could no longer make the physical effort required for falconry. She compensated by driving along as I hunted my Harris. It wasn't much, but she was out there doing the best she could. She agreed to a heart valve replacement, the second, in the hopes that she would again have the stamina to go hawking. Unfortunately it did not work out. Her heart failed Jan 31, 2018.