Category Archives: Orleans

From the Notes Scattered Around My Desk

(1) This is the Klamath River from March 2025. They got a lot of rain before I arrived and more rain as I was arriving. I don’t know all the science of hydrology and when rivers hit max but this was about the time it was peaking. Fast and muddy and all the rocks underwater.

(2) No photo: The other night we came home just after dark and there was a tiny creature zooming across the street and then along the curb. What is that? And as we drove by I could see it was a tiny bunny! Obviously, I was thrilled. I went out several times to see if I could see another tiny bunny but generally the only bunny I see is the big brown one who occasionally comes out when I am in the yard.

(3) I was visiting my dad at the retirement home on a lovely day. I took him outside so we could enjoy the sunshine and one of his friends came by on his motorized scooter. He told us that management announced there was a speed limit for scooters and it was set at 8 mph. ME: Isn’t kind of fast? HIM: Yes, it’s fast. I went and asked them about that and they said it was 8 mph.

8 mph isn’t fast for a car but for a guy in the hallway of a retirement home where almost everyone uses some kind of cane or walker, it seems kinda fast. We’ll see how it works out.

(4) Hurtle is a word.

The first time I saw hurtle written out, I thought it was a mistake. The word is hurdle. I looked it up so I could feel smug and correct and I was not. They are both words with meaning that could be confused. Hurtle means “move with great speed or to throw with great force.” Hurdle is like the sport. Hurdling is running and jumping over an obstacle.

(5) If you need a show recommendation and you haven’t started The Pitt on HBO yet — get to it. It’s great.

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Skunk Butt!

I don’t know what I did with my video clips. I either have duplicates of everything or I can’t find what I’m looking for. I had to grab this back from my phone.

We knew there was something going on in the garage in Orleans but I don’t know that we were expecting this guy.

I also caught 2 different cats which weren’t a surprise and a fox which also wasn’t a total surprise. I will post that clip later.

All the pet food has been thoroughly secured but that doesn’t keep them from checking.

I have clips and photos and notes tucked away everywhere for posting but it seems like extra brain juice and patience for posting is hard to come by right now. There is a lot going on and when I do have time and energy, I’m putting it elsewhere.

Hopefully more updates next weekend.

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Curious Fox, Orleans CA

This fox is funny. Look at that tail!

He wasn’t used to the camera being there but then he went around and went right up to it. One of my favorite clips in a while.

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Nervous Deer, Orleans CA

It was hunting season. Of course they were nervous.

If you have sharp eyes, there’s one deer that leaps in the background at the beginning in addition to the three others.

I put the camera on a sawhorse and set it in the middle of a sort-of access road. Technically, it’s an access road but it doesn’t get much use.

There’s a cone and a couple of dilapidated traffic barriers on the left. There’s a water situation. I can’t remember the details but something was being fixed but maybe needed a part? There was deep hole with water.

I told my sister about this clip and she said that explained what happened to Mom’s roses.

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Summer Favorite

Karuk Garden Lemon Cucumbers!!

All went as planned.

I was in Orleans for a little over a week and brought Auntie with me.

We had all kinds of adventures including picking huckleberries and picking up chestnuts, visiting Junction Elementary, getting vegetables from the Tribe’s garden and visiting lots of people.

It was hard not to be greedy about the lemon cucumbers. They don’t travel well and there are only so many I could eat before they would be compost.

Life has conspired to keep me very busy. I haven’t even finished looking at the animal camera clips from the tip but there are deer and fox so far.

Next month is November and I will attempt to do my post a day — but it may be a pretty half-assed effort. We shall see.

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The Tale of the Sad Fruit Orchard

I have a fuzzy trail cam clip but I don’t have the energy to fix it up to post right this second.

The deer returned.

I saw their hoof-prints and turd-piles so I knew they had been through.

I looked over the apple and pear trees and initially thought they looked okay. Just a few nibbles. But after I saw the clips I took a closer look and realized that the fruit buds are gone. There are maybe 2 apple and a few pear left. They didn’t damage the new trees because they are too new and have nothing on them except tiny leaf buds.

Also, there is one new blueberry out in the front of the house that is missing all the buds.

The bird feeders are down. There is no intentional food for them out there. I’m super bummed. It seems like the solution is deer fencing but I’m not sure how that is going to work in our yard. I don’t want to turn it into an obstacle course.

I just want a happy place where fruit trees and wildlife can live together in peace but I will get the fruit.

This is from the Orleans trip. This is Summer wading through a giant puddle.

Mom wanted me to drive through this puddle.

I told her no, I have a city car. It doesn’t go through lakes of mud.

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Repeat Visitors and a New One

Look who came back! I found a giant turd in my garden. Then another one. Then a third one and I knew it was time to check the camera card.

I don’t see how such majestic creatures with a whole night of wandering manage to do so much pooping in my yard. Maybe my yard is their safe space?

The fly through feeder was empty because I planned to put it away for the season but hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

While they were hanging out, opossum zipped by and ran home. All these animals amuse me.

This is a first time ever: spotted skunk! This was in NW California at Mom’s.

My sister told me to set up the camera behind the trailer because she had heard activity. This was the first time I’d ever seen a spotted skunk. They are hilarious and really cute. But this guy is also making a mess in the trailer innards. Hopefully we can get it to relocate.

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The Tale of the Missing Cat Food

After a delivery, Mom threw a couple of bags of cat food on top of the cabinet. But look: only one is there now.

There were ongoing issues with animals getting in the garage and getting into the cat food so everything was moved upstairs and the shenanigans seemed to have stopped. Or did they?

The next morning there was evidence that some little rascal had found the delicious treat and unsuccessfully tried to take it home.

I thought I heard something but I was half asleep and didn’t want to get out of bed. Later the cat was crying and I had to get up and let him in. “Why didn’t you use your door?” I scolded.

His door was blocked.

Later, I cleaned up the spilled cat food and stashed away in a closed cupboard. One of the neighbor dogs was kind enough to help me out.

Could these be the culprits? My sister said she was hearing noise around the trailer so I set up the camera and these too nervously crept by.

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Time and Tilt

A couple of years ago I found these big xmas lights in the xmas box. They were too much for the tree but I draped them over this cabinet. Even then they were a bit much so I unscrewed light bulbs until I had it at the level I wanted.

Turned out, I liked having this source of lighting better than a lamp. In the evenings when I watch TV I like a little bit of light and this is just perfect.

Later I put it on a timer so it comes on for a couple hours in the evening and is timed to go off right at bedtime. And it comes on for an hour or so in the morning.

As the light changes with the time of year, I adjust the timer. As we head into winter I add more and more time and as we move back to summer I change to shorter and shorter. In June we don’t even use it.

If you look in the background of the top photo in the very top left, you can see the little lights I have on in my room. I like little lights.

I am headed down to Orleans to visit Mom and check out the scene down there. Photos when I return.

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The Mouse Situation

Here’s what the Klamath looked like on May 21st. It was pretty muddy and moving fast.

I wrote earlier about finding signs of a mouse in the shop. I had a video, too, but I guess I posted that to Instagram.

I cleaned up everything that a mouse might like and packed it away and didn’t worry about it again.

For a long time there was no sign of a mouse.

Here’s a picture from October 2021 for comparison.

Until there was.

There was a dead one at the bottom of the stairs in the basement. I went down to tell Bob something and said: HEY! There’s a dead mouse here.

Oh, he said. I didn’t see it.

But then I kept finding mouse poop in the middle of my work table in the shop. At first I thought they were seeds or something. Why would a mouse keep pooping in the middle of the table?

I broke down and bought some traps. I hate to kill things but I don’t want mice frolicking around pooping wherever they want.

I set up the trap in the middle of the table thinking: what mouse would get caught in the middle of a table?

Next day …. And it had a surprised look on its face.

We caught 4 mice in 3 weeks. That seems like a lot. I think the bird feeders created a fun environment for them. Hopefully the word is out and they have moved back outside.

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