O.C.F. Caretaker's Journal O.C.F. Caretaker's JournalThursday 31 Dec 98 Last night's rain made it possible for me to squeak in one last canoe ride through the Eight but by the time I returned the keel was rubbing the bottom. What happens is that when the river gets low enough it ceases to flow into the Fair,while the water already in the Fair continues to flow out. At that point it is like someone has pulled the plug. Chickadee, which still had water running across it when I left, was now suddenly dry again. While getting my newspaper I met our neighbor at Suttle and Areo, Walt Edwards (who is about 80), and we chatted for about a half hour. He has a very positive opinion of our Event, especially in the last couple of years. Arrow arrived and helped me pound in some stakes along the low point in Chickadee Road so it will be possible to know where the road is during subsequent floods. He and I will celebrate the coming of the New Year out in Miss Piggy's.
Wednesday 30 Dec 98 Last night as I went to upload my updated Journal, I encountered a lack of server space and my website went down for an hour or so while I figured out what was going on. That forced me to delete some photos temporarily off the server so I could get the this main page reloaded. So first thing this morning I called Eugene Free Network and purchased two extra Megabytes of server space---at a mere dollar apeice per month. Absolutely nothing is too good for you my Dear Readers, and besides, I'm having way too much fun to limit myself to 516 tiny little kilobytes! I also called around about awnings for a couple of doors on the town office and got some quotes. The day was downright springlike, but not to be fooled I did some tarp maintenence and cleanup around the Warehouse, fixed the leak in the Site Truck roof, and attempted to start both the Peach Truck and Mothra, but this without success. We suspect damp points. Norma came out and we all had an adventurous canoe ride, but the level has been dropping steadily all day and soon the Figure Eight will become dry land again. Steve has left for Salem until Saturday, leaving me several chores to be accomplished in the meantime.
Tuesday 29 Dec 98 The water level rose high enough last night to effectively cut off vehicular traffic between here and the rest of the world, temporarily stranding Steve and I. We spent several hours in the morning canoeing around site picking up floatables and tieing things down. The water is very muddy and full of particulate matter. We therorized that perhaps a lot of soil is being lost due to the recent frost heaves.We observed that one of the large Oaks in Craft Lot has lost a huge limb during the last wind storm. There are many damaged booths, especially along East 13th Street. In the afternoon Doe and Hilary showed up and we again ventured out in the two canoes and visited some areas of the Fair property that are rarely accessible or seen. Afterwards we ferried over to Hilary's car and they gave Steve and I a ride to the store so we could purchase a few groceries to tide us over. Here are some photos of today's nautical episodes.
Monday 28 Dec 98 Aloha! Melekelikemaka! ALOHA! Just in town for a couple days to visit family. It's super rainy here at the Fair Site. Took a bold cruz in the canoe with Glenn Johnson and Andyman and of course we had a few narrow escapes with the water cresting the banks of the Long Tom River. Our adventure turned into an Impromtue trash pick-up! The excursion was a success, we retreived a wide varity of abandoned clamjamfry (three tires with rims, an assortment of bottles and one oil can). And thanks to Glenn's acutely sensitive attunement to ornithological phenomenon we observed Hooded Merganser, Bufflehead, Great Blue Heron and other Littlebirds. NOW don't get jealous but, after the big adventure, we all had Hot Chocolate and Chocolate-Orange candies in the warm DRY yurt! Lots of Fun with the Fair family. Aloha and lots of love, Masha Isotov.
Sunday 27 Dec 98 Yes, Yes, Yes! The pipe is finally fixed and I have just emerged victorious from a hot shower. I have gained nothing but a new found respect for plumbers---but it is not exactly rocket science. Therefore I knew I would get through this thing eventually. Unbeknownst to me however, was the fact that I was going to also need the flexiblity of a contortionist and the patience of a saint. In other news, it has rained about 3 inches in the past 24 hours and the water is beginning to rise rapidly. Once again nobody came on site and on a day like today that is quite understandable.
Saturday 26 Dec 98 I spent quite a bit of time crawling around in the mud under the Yurt working on the broken pipe, but as I write this there still is no running water. I shan't bother detailing the inconsequentials. Let it be said that it was a combination of my plumbing ineptness and the arcane Fair water system. I feel confident I can fix it tomorrow however, after getting more solder. No one else visited the site even though today was relatively nice.
Christmas Day 25 Dec 98 A cold, rainy, and windy day---yet several people did visit the site as part of their celebration ritual. I took the day off in part as it was Christmas, but mostly because everyone else has taken the day off as well and therefore I couldn't visit the hardware store to get the supplies I will need to fix the the water line. The Port-a-Potties are frozen solid and I am all ready for, shall we say, more delicate and daintier circumstances. Towards evening I went in and had vegetarian lasanga with norma and Dick at their house, which was much appreciated. Merry Christmas!
Thursday 24 Dec 98 This morning I took a long walk around the perimeter and took this photo of the flood damage. There was yet more trash on Areo Road today so I have begun the process of designing and painting a sign for the new trash can installation project. I had an early Christmas present this afternoon when and some of the pipes thawed, the water came back on, and I was able to take a shower. I'll have to do some steps to assure that that doesn't happen again in the future. In the meanwhile the rain doesn't seem bad at all. It's later now and some there's some more bad news--the kitchen pipe finally thawed and it had burst so I am again without water.
Wednesday 23 Dec 98 "the best laid plans of mice and men often go arie"And so it was this morning when I discovered that running water was no more. Unfortunately this forced me to cancel my planned trip to Washington to visit my parents for Christmas, as guest caretaking for norma was no longer an option. I don't think of this as an inconvenience, but rather as an illustration of how fortunate I actually am. On the bright side I still have heat, electricity, phone, internet, satellite TV, and an outdoor Port-a-Potty. Leslie, sweetie that she is, has even gotten me a two week membership at the Body Connection so I can take showers and work out. I went for a walk and surveyed the icy conditions on the site. I also did some work via email with norma, preparing some Construction guideline changes for presentation to the Board.
Tuesday 22 Dec 98 It was one of those days. The drippy kitchen faucet caused the drain line to freeze solid, joining the already frozen shower drain. This caused a big puddle of water on the kitchen floor and soaked a rug. Steve helped me set up some space heaters and we did manage to unfreeze the shower drain before he left for the holidays. I then used hay to insulate it. The sink drain was too long and unaccessible, and I will just have to let Nature take its course there. I did change out the faucet which will keep the puddle from reforming. Meanwhile, with the water off, the shower water froze but I was able to finally get it working again and get in a long overdue shower. Norma and Dick are coming to out to be the Guest Caretakers over Christmas and I wanted to use the day to get everything nice for them. Instead they are going to be roughing it a bit I'm afraid. The recent freezing spell has made me grateful that we do not have to deal with this very often, but also points out how under prepared for it we are as well.
Winter Solstice 21 Dec 98 This morning we all made breakfast together, cleaned up, and then checked out around noon. At my suggestion several of us decided ro go to the Newport Aquarium. On our way up it started snowing and the roads quickly became icy. While we were at the Aquarium they closed it down early due to the weather, but we each did get a certificate for a free admittance. Once back out on the road driving had slowed down to a crawl. We caravaned back to Corvalis where there was a dinner invite was awaiting, but unfortunately I got seperated from the group at the last minute. I had dinner with Steve at the new Mexican resturant in Veneta instead. The best part of whole adventure is that it didn't actually turn into a full blown adventure. The temperature is now down in the low teens and I am slowly getting this place warmed back up.
Sunday 20 Dec 98 The day looked deceptively sunny but when I stepped outside it was also cold and windy. My shower drain has frozen solid. I spent some time inside cleaning and organizing the Yurt before heading out to the coast for a Solstice Celebration with some of the Fair Family including; Leslie, Charlie, Hilary, Doe and Jacs. It is a nice little tradition that they have been doing over the past four years and we all had fun walking, swimming, eating, playing, talking and laughing.
Saturday 19 Dec 98 Last night the temperature dipped down to about 25 degrees Fahrenheit so this morning the Fair site was covered in ice and frost and the morning dawned crystal clear. I spent a couple hours dismanteling a supposedly temporary booth that had been left up. Since we can no longer drive anywhere near Chela Mela Meadow without leaving deep ruts, I had to be satified with condensing the panels, then tieing and staking them. The Guidelines clearly state that the Fair will remove such booths and a fee be charged. Later, I improved the insulation in the pumphouse and helped Steve drain and move the fire tanks. David Hoffman was the only volunteer on site today, and he showed up in time to help us remove the Yew logs from around Sense, the VegeManEC HQ. They had been put in place about 1990 (upside down as was the fashion) with the intention of a roof being built, but they had ever since become pecariously leaning towers.
Friday 18 Dec 98 Hilary showed up and we walked around site and then canoed on the Long Tom River. Her dog Marble was not at all happy about having to foresake dry land in exchange for this brand new experience. We picked up a lot of floatables along the way including several rather large chunks of styrofoam. When we returned Steve was there busily preparing the nursery for an expected low temperature in the twenty's tonight. I pitched in and insulated the taps with fiberglass and the bamboo with straw as it got dark. I arrived back inside in time to see the finale of a seemingly grand fireworks display, except this one was being staged with cruise missiles and anti-aircraft batteries. It reenforced the notion that this was all just an extravagant political melodrama which in the end accomplished nothing more than an enormous waste of human life and billions of dollars.
Thursday 17 Dec 98 The fog, like snow, has a way of obscuring the details and unifying everything in an exquisite and mysterious beauty, as it was again today as I took a long walk over the site. The large Oaks, flattened into single forms in the distance, were particularly striking. The cold, thick, earthy air filled my lungs. Throughout the day however, my TV screen contains the eerie green glow of CNN's night coverage of the U.S. bombardment of Bagdad and I cannot help but to dwell on the stark contrast between my own situation and the plight of the Iraqi people. Here, half a world away, I am insulated, isolated, immune . . . . . yet the impact of the bombing can still be intensely felt.
Wednesday 16 Dec 98 I had a guest writer make today's entry for me. -- A beautiful, overcast, fog-shrouded, sun- almost-pokin'-through winter day out here at the fair. I came out today to introduce my friend, Lahde Fesler, to this magic place and to check out what the bird life is up to. Numerous flocks of Black-capped Chickadees, Orange-crowned Kinglets and Ruby-crowned Kinglets flew through the damp, lichen and moss-covered forest canopy--sometimes with their own kind and sometime together in mixed-species flocks. We saw several Brown Creepers, a Downy Woodpecker, and a Bewick's Wren hanging out in and amoungst those mixed species flocks. Down lower, rumaging through the Blackberries and Snowberries were Rufous-sided Towhees and Song Sparrows. Didn't see any Fox Sparrows or Winter Wrens, but did hear Starlings near the yurt..... If the Swainson's Thrush is the signature bird of the summer-- with their loud, echoing songs dominating the morning air-- the Varied Thrush seemingly took it's cousin's place on this kind winter day. At least one roving flock of 20-25 Varied Thrush called (one could say sang) out to each other and everyone else from their perches in the magestic forest of Oak, Ash, Grand and Douglas Fir, and grandmother Pacific Yew Trees. All and all an excellent day, have to come back out soon to check out the waterfowl out in the "lot"-which is in it's wetland stage right now. I'm grateful to be able to come out and bear witness to the wildness.....LOVE , Glenn Johnson --Patti's Pies/#960
Tuesday 15 Dec 98 Fog in the morning but after that it was a repeat of yesterday, weatherwise. The minimum temperature was 35 degrees Farenheit last night so it is beginning to get cold. Steve and I installed the two depth gauges that I had made, one on Chickadee and the other on Moz Road. Then, at his suggestion, I spent the afternoon cutting, splitting, hauling and stacking a good supply of firewood for the Yurt's Kachëlofen. I am looking forward to staying warm this Winter thanks to this marvelous stove.
Monday 14 Dec 98 It was a gorgeous day and the first thing I did was attempt to schedule a flying lesson, but alas no planes were available. Steve showed up and gave me the option of taking in the Site Truck for oil and lubrication at Q-Lube which I jumped on as a way to get off site for a while. My phone was on the fritz so I tried to take it back but without success. Sometimes when people call me they hear me but I can't hear them. This morning it was completely dead. When I returned however, it was working again, so perhaps it isn't the phone after all but a defective connection.
Sunday 13 Dec 98 Considering it was a Sunday, it was very quiet on site today. We have offically entered the holidaze and everybody is busy, busy, busy in their personal lives. Steve is still off nursing a head cold in Salem. Only one other VegManEC besides Anne showed up and so our Guidelines meeting was about the only thing going on out here. We tried to wrap up our final proposal and although we have a few loose ends we are for the most part done, (except for norma who has to get it all presentable). Arrow and I took Sierra for a walkabout towards dusk.
Saturday 12 Dec 98 Around noon I drove my Jeep out to the hybrid pine stand at Trotters Field in order to collect some greenery for decoration at the WOW Hall Annual Membership Party. These trees are non-native and were planted before that had become an issue. The plan now is to limb them up and interplant with native species and to eventually cut the pines down for poles. So I was facilitating this process. Anyhow, pretty soon I am working up a sweat and peeling down to a T-shirt. The sun was actually shining as I finished up and returned to base where I found David Hoffman. Since he couldn't find Steve, or his truck, or me, or my Jeep, and the gates were opened, and fearing a possible alien abduction or even worse, he had put the new emergency phone to its intended purpose. And the moral of this little story is . . . I will always leave a note as to my whereabouts in the future! I went in early to the WOW Hall help set up. This is my favorite event there as I get to connect with many old friends and eat a lot of good food in a old fashion holiday atmosphere. Quite a few Country Fair folks were there as well, and it is always nice to realize just how close these two organiztions are to one another.
Friday 11 Dec 98 This was another rainy day and I spent the morning bouncing around inside my skull. Steve called in sick with a head cold and will take another day off in Salem. No one but me has been on site since Tuesday. Getting a little cabin feverish, I went out for a walk in the rain, down to John Wayne Bridge along the roads. Hundreds of happy ducks now seem to call the lots home. The water has receded appreciably but in the ebb and flow of things, it is once again starting to flow. I picked up the trash that the teenage kids leave for us on Areo Road. I have decided I am going to paint a nice little sign politely pointing out that perhaps that they could use the (as of yet nonexistant) receptacle to deposit their excess waste materials. Aarrgg! Later I worked on some suggested Booth Construction Guideline changes for our next upcoming meeting.
Thursday 10 Dec 98 Yesterday must have been a space between one storm and another because today is back to the usual gray and drizzly stuff. I got some things done around the Yurt, some plants repotted, deck sprayed off, and small chores like that. I'm in the process of painting the depth gauges that I built yesterday and hopefully I'll have them up before the next floods. I have to work on them inside the Yurt, as it is cold enough that outside for the paint not to set properly. Spent some time working on a logo for the 30th Anniversary. Not a highly productive day for me, but nevertheless some progress was made.
Wednesday 9 Dec 98 It was a beautiful sunny day today. I spent some time assembling a couple of trianglar posts and caps, to be used for depth gauges on Chickadee and Moz Roads. I worked for a while on cutting and splitting firewood as I have already gone through a lot of my previous stockpile. Later I headed into town to attend a Thirtieth Anniversary steering committee meeting. A kaliedoscopic theme is in the offing for next year. A giant kaliedoscope, a photo retrospective, a hemp tipi, several special events, and other interesting projects are in the planning stages.
Tuesday 8 Dec 98 I was off site most of the day, finishing some work I had been doing for Palmer, and then having some lunch at the Keystone and doing a little shopping at REI. I arrived back with enough daylight to take a walk , but most of the site is extremely muddy and fragile right now. I think it is a good idea, for me at least, to stay out of it as much as possible. I settled for a walk up Chickadee to get my newspaper. There are numerous projects in and around the Warehouse that need doing, and now that winter has arrived I can focus on them. Check out the new page link from the Macintosh banner above.
Monday 7 Dec 98 Tonight the Board of Directors approved a salary and benefits package for me for a one year trial period. The meeting turned out to be a long one and I was therefore thankful that this agenda item was up first, as I had already waited a such a long time for this moment. Now that there is stability to my job I already feel more grounded out here. I am also very happy that I can dedicate myself full time to business of being the Caretaker of the Oregon Country Fair into the foreseeable future.
Sunday 6 Dec 98 Arrow helped me rerig the tarp on the side of the Warehouse since it had blown down during the recent storms. Around noon I mucked around the Site by myself for an hour or so in my Wellies and observed the aftermath of the recent floods. There's a lot of debris scattered across the property. When I got back it was time for the Guidelines Committee meeting. We got through some of our new proposals including a new Cleanup section, while the impressions of poor put away proceedures were still fresh in my head. Afterwards Arrow, Anne, and I canoed up the Long Tom from Poo Corner up to Highway 126 and back.
Saturday 5 Dec 98 Your basic football watching kind of day. Large chunks of snow floated down although none of it stuck, the ground having never had a freezing temperature yet this season. It did look wonderful none the less. Clif came over to help me with the PC card in my Macintosh, which has proved troublesome from since I have had it. None the less, we seem to have gotten it working. After UCLA bit the dust Clif, Arrow, and I went after a giant driftwood stump that I had spotted in the Long Tom a couple days ago. It proved a fairly challenging endevour however, and a bemused Hilary arrived just in time to rescue me as I was sinking into the quagmire. Clif came back with a canoe and and we freed the behemoth and he floated it downriver to a place where we were able to heave it onto a cart and drag it home. It was a jolly adventure had by all complete with prize treasure to show for our efforts.
Friday 4 Dec 98 I went into town to meet with the rest of the Fair's Staff where we all signed holiday cards, ate lunch, and talked about Fair stuff. Leslie now has me looking into installing awnings above the two doors on the south side of the office building. I stopped at Jerry's on the way back but they don't have them so I'll need to go to Eugene Canvas and Awning. When I arrived back on Site Steve and I set out, each in our seperate canoe, to look for Arrow. The water level has dropped several feet since yesterday and it was neccesay to drag our canoes part of the way along East 13th. We found Arrow at the Aurora Corridor and watched the sunset. Then I soloed back down on the Long Tom. It was kind of spooky at twilight with the fog rising from the river as the temperture dropped. The three of us ended the day with our traditional Friday meal at Our Daily Bread
Thursday 3 Dec 98 I awoke to blue skys! Although they didn't last long the weather was reasonably nice all day. The first thing I did was set off in the canoe and paddled around the entire Eight and Left Bank. The water was up to the countertops in many places. Chela Mela is on higher ground but still eighteen inches deep in places. About five feet in Miss Piggy's! The Long Tom River was perhaps 2-3 inches higher than the Fair Site water level and it spilled in at an astonishing rate, only to rejoin with the river on the east end of the property. Structural damage to many booths was readily apparent. I also saw a lot of my own personal pet peeve, flotsom and jetsom. I picked up all the cans and bottles I saw, but there was little I could do about all the floating dimensional lumber. After lunch I accomplished some retarping and weatherizing of some of the Fair's equipment before setting out once again in the canoe. I had hoped that some other Fairies might have showed up to join the fun, but for today at least I had this awesome spectacle of Nature to myself. Unfortunatly, the battery in my camera died so I am not able to post any pictures of today.
Wednesday 2 Dec 98 Insane rain all night long. When I left the site in the morning, the water was about a foot deep down in the dip in Chickadee. I was off Site most of today working with one of our illustrious Board Members, Palmer Parker. Later I went to the movie Elizabeth (which I highly recommend) with our lovely and fair Treasurer, Hilary Anthony. Anyway, it rained all day long as well, it seemed, and by the time I returned to the Fair I had to drive through what I estimate to be about two feet of water. When that part of the road is flooded even a little bit then the Eight is flooded. Right now the flood is raging through the most of the Fair's property. Come on out for a little whitewatering down East 13th Street. I'll be around and there are two canoes here that can be borrowed.
Tuesday 1 Dec 98 This morning I conferenced with the Site Manager regarding several different tasks for me to complete in the immediate future. For the most part these involve continuing to batten down the hatches against the eminent arrival of Winter. The rain has been falling persistantly and the rain guage measured 5.2 inches for the last six days, almost one inch per day! Today, however, I took the time to go into town and take care of some personal business. I also accomplished all my Christmas shopping which consisted of just three presents for three special little girls. That is really plenty when you think about it. Children are fortunately still innocent enough to able appreciate the magical qualities and are relatively immune to the crass commercialism that has prevailed over the true meaning of Christmas.