O.C.F. Caretaker's Journal O.C.F. Caretaker's Journal When you are a Bear
of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, |
Friday 29 September My Mom and Dad were here yesterday and we had a nice visit. I am planning a trip to Guatemala to study Spanish for a month---and the folks got the ball rolling as far as helping me make reservations and such. Looks like my dates will be November 9th through December 11th. Marc Donafrio is going to take over as Caretaker pro tempore while I am gone. As it is now only a little over a month away I am starting to get a little excited. Steve rented a big two yard front end loader yesterday from United Rentals and accomplished a lot of work that would have been too much for our poor tractor. This included piling up compost, spreading out rock, and moving some logs. It is supposed to rain this weekend and although I hate to say goodbye to the Summer, the Site sure could use it.
Wednesday 27 September The Yurt is heated by the wood-fired kachelofen. The first year I was here I failed to collect a wood supply until after the rain and cold had set in and then had no place to store it, and as a result burned wet smoky wood the whole Winter---which was not altogether fun. Last year I put in a good stash of Oak in September, but still lacked for a good place to put it. The ramp we built sure was handy as an aid to hauling it inside with a wheelbarrow though. Today I started building a solid woodshed. Wood in various forms is plentiful around Site, and so it is an essentially free resource. Western Oregon is still an enormously rich land, but sometimes within the embrace of such abundance it is easy forget what we have here. I am a fortunate human being to be in a position where many of Nature's gifts are readily bestowed upon me, and too, I am obligated by this fact to protect and honor Her.
Tuesday 26 September The last couple days have consisted my usual ongoing cleanup, never mind the details! In all my travels around the Site I have become absolutely convinced that we must all begin the practice of the Leave No Trace camping ethic. What this means is nothing tied to trees, no firewood, tables, benches, string left to claim the spot, or anything else. I am happy to say that the majority of people seem to leave only a small clearing---but then there those who have the idea that camping at the Fair means permanently establishing and furnishing their spaces like hobo theme camps. This is a time honored and ingrained tradition at the Fair, but if I could do only one thing during my tenure as Caretaker, then it would be to abolish this abhorrent custom. The space taken up by camping far outstrips that used by booths and for that one reason alone LNT could go a long way towards keeping the entire site more natural and enhancing its viability for the future. I would also like to see a ban on wire spools, period. Cheap yes, but to my eye at least, ugly and industrial. They are hard to break up and get rid of. Once those things come onto the Site it is given that they are not going to leave the same way. There are at least a hundred wire spools of all sizes distributed throughout the woods at the Fair. Another thing I would like to see is a central repository for firewood above the floodplain. People would be able to get firewood there, but would also be required to remove unburned wood from their campsites and return it to this central stack. Wood scraps on the ground are the very first thing (along with bottles and cans) to start floating around. It's hard enough for me to remove firewood prior to the floods but next to impossible afterwards---which is why I take it where ever I can. We should recycle old barrels into burn cans to eliminate holes and burn rings, which could also be collected to a central repository during the off season. Haven't had enough of my ranting? Tune in tomorrow.
Sunday 24 September Sometime during the 1930's perhaps, the lower portion of Indian Creek was straightened and rerouted across what is now the Oregon Country Fair. It joins the Long Tom River, which from that point flows several miles until it reaches Fern Ridge Reservoir, and from there northward until it joins the Williamette above Monroe. The Williamette in turn is the last major tributary to the mighty Columbia River before it flows into the Pacific Ocean. Back here where Indian Creek now joins the Long Tom, the forces that created this entire immense watershed are quite naturally very much in effect. Over the years since the Fair was formed the river has slowly been eroding away at its bank. Having already claimed several riverside booth spaces in the past it now threatens the path itself. A Path Planning Meeting was held today with many booth representatives in attendance and the process of what we are going to do has begun afresh. Bottom line for me is this: The Long Tom is still a wild and natural river as it flows through our property and needs to remain so. Puny humans are going to have to make the necessary adjustments. I understand that is hard on the booths in question but most of them have seen it coming for twenty some odd years. . . . Later in the day I attend the annual Long Tom Watershed Annual Celebration. This is a confederation of landowners, farmers, ecologists, land managers, and other interested parties. There is usually a lot of philosophic discussion surrounding such rivers as this on as they both literally and symbolically connect the communities that live within the watersheds. Metaphorically the lifeblood of the land. As for our Fair Site the Long Tom River has shaped and reshaped it many times over the eons and continues to do so. It provides the land with its character and diversity, nutrients and substance. We should cherish it as our honored ancestor.
Saturday 23 September Last night after making the entry below I went out to the lots to see Jupiter blazing brightly beneath the Pleiades. Formalhaut, the most southern of the bright stars visible from our latitude, blazed over the southern horizon. The night was cold and clear, so cold in fact that I was driven into retreat well before I was ready to go, and early this morning heralded the first frost of the season. Today was the full day of Autumn and even as the Sun shone brightly, one could feel the that inevitable icy grip of Winter beginning to take hold. The Water Crew is out having a workparty/BBQ, as is the Sauna, and I assisted and facilitated throughout the day. I was especially gratified to help get rid of the remaining water barrel stacks out in the lots for the very last time. They are being replaced with constructed barrel cradles which can be moved by a single person rather than by the tractor. While the pallet stacks may have served a purpose, they were incredibly ugly and visible from afar. Hasta la vista, babies! I'm nursing a sore back from a couple days ago, and Dr. Joe was around to wrench me back into shape. The Sauna is also fired up, probably for the last time this season, so I'm on my way to take advantage of that. What a life!
Friday 22 September So, how do I begin again? That must have been part of the reason I waited so long I suppose, there was always so much to tell. The Fair, the Teddy Bear Picnic, Burning Man, the Eugene Celebration Parade, a Harley. A beautiful and busy Summer. How does one reduce all that to a few mere words? Now that the pace has slowed somewhat I can focus more exclusively on the closing window of opportunity to gather up all those proverbial nuts and store them for the coming Winter. I will get to the particulars later. Meanwhile the Site is gorgeous, as it always is of course, but now, right now, it is dry and warm, no mosquitoes, green meadows, clear paths and trails through the woods, suspended for the time being in those last precious warm days of the season. Relatively few visitors to at present though, as if everybody else is frantically finishing their seasonal chores as well. I wander around with crisp, brown Ash leaves crunching underfoot and often wonder how I deserve all this. It reinvigorates me, I want to work hard, to make it better, to make it the best I know how to do. If only more Fair Family could come out here once and a while during the off season, to walk, to talk, to meditate, to breathe, and to just plain relax---then there would, I think, be far less dissonance and petty squabbling among us all. This place is ours together. Lest we forget, that is not such a common occurrence. On the contrary, here is something unique and amazing, something that transcends the ordinary definitions of place and community. . . . . . and incredibly you can connect with this exceptionally rare phenomena any day of the year. It's right out here in Veneta, Oregon---so ya'll come on out for a visit any old time you need that good psycho-spiritual rejuvenation!