Monday, December 9th
It was another cold, damp day, but off we went for a walk down at Snag Boat Bend south of Peoria. (E loves this hike, but loves its name even more.) The first part of the main trail is a boardwalk, built to cross three or four hundred feet of ground that tends to get mucky when wet. Usually we like boardwalks. They’re softer underfoot than gravel or pavement. But we didn’t like this one. The planks were a little worn and had gotten super slippery after many days of rain. So each step was an adventure. On our return leg we took another route.
After the boardwalk ended and we were back in contact with planet Earth, the trail followed along the bank of an old meander channel of the Willamette, which is now a backwater. The color palette was mostly soft greens and grays, but then…
Snag Boat Bend is a detached ‘Unit’ of the Finley National Refuge. It’s a small area just in the middle of the flattest part of the Willamette Valley. The soil is excellent here and the unit is surrounded by farmland. Here’s a little of what that looks like.
We thought this might be a grass seed field, but we found out it wasn’t. This grass is growing for the benefit of sheep. We know that because as we walked along the south edge of the refuge, we came across a couple of farmers building fence along the north edge of the field. We exchanged a few words while E knelt for a moment to reassure their dog, who was nervous about us. The fence making moved fast and consumed only minimal resources: just short, skinny poles holding up a single strand of soft wire. The poles appeared to be bambu and were thin enough to be pushed into the wet ground easily. We doubt that the farmers were thrilled to have visitors strolling by as they worked, but they were very pleasant to us and of course we did not linger. This was the most interesting part of our walk, and also the most difficult for us to describe. All we have are questions. Who are they? How long have they been farming? What is their life like? How do they manage to work in the cold? What are they going to have for lunch?
Friday, December 13th
M has been under the weather lately, leaving E to her own devices. She went hiking in our old neighborhood of McDonald Forest and found an unusual view of Cronemiller Lake.
Saturday, December 14th
Wednesday, December 18th
The holiday season proceeds apace. Best wishes to all.
Nice to see color in the landscapes; thanks!
Thanks Plant. That’s what thrills me the most too. And your comment is a color in my personal landscape. 🙂 E
Hoping you feel better soon!!
Those red berries look like wild cranberry. My Mennonite Neighbor has two bushes of them, trees, now, really!! and was worried one of her many little kids would be harmed. So, I got out my trusty dendrology book and leaf guide, and did some searching…and sure enough–wild cranberry…or vaccinium oxycoccos. they can be eaten and used for jam..but i tried one and Lucille and the children laughed and laughed at the horrid face i must have made..i love sour, tart things and these were both of those and add in BITTER on top of it. Someday I will go pick the cranberries and make jam, but they are ripe right in the middle of fall weddings.
Oh..a much easier way to ID them..is using some program online my son told me about..you open the app, point your phone at the plant and bam up comes the name and info. i just like figuring out dendro stuff!!
Happy Christmas to you both!!
Very interesting about the cranberries. I’ll have to taste those red berries next time. –E