Looking Back, Looking Forward

In ancient Rome, Janus -- a god depicted with two faces -- governed the realm of beginnings, transitions and endings. The month of January, named for this deity, is the first month of the new year in the Gregorian calendar, established in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. It has come to be a time to reflect back on the year past and look forward to the year ahead.

This "year in review" is now a custom, as many cultures take stock, while projecting what lies ahead in the next 12 months. My "year" in this review actually begins in December 2021 with the birth of my second grandchild, Carlotta Eline, and the publication of my first book, a memoir titled Bird of Paradox: The Seasoning of Birdie McInnes.

As luck would have it, Carlotta was born on my birthday, December 11, the best birthday present ever. Henceforth, we shall celebrate our birthdays together. Both Sagittarians, we are optimistic, honest and intellectual. In terms of personality, we are spontaneous and fun, and great lovers of adventure and freedom.

Bird of Paradox: The Seasoning of Birdie McInnes, was also published in December 2021 and is available on Amazon and in bookstores. The memoir recalls the trials and tribulations of growing up Catholic in the turbulent time that was the 1960s. The story evokes elements reminiscent of Lord of the Flies by William Golding and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Birdie struggles with the realization that life is a paradox, and that his destiny will be determined by his own reckoning, for better or worse.

In January, Moxie -- our golden retriever -- turned 10 years old. We found her at a breeder in Florence who specialized in the English creme variety of goldens in 2012. In early spring, it was time to begin hardwiring our tiny home at the Owl Conservatory (below) with a more reliable electrical system, including an electric space heater for those cold winter nights.

Summer was a time of reunions, transitions and gatherings. In July and September, the Owl Conservatory in Shugart Flats, in the heart of the North Cascades, hosted two reunions of former Forest Service colleagues from the Aldo Leopold Society. In August, my father, Ralph Cameron Mitchell, passed away suddenly at age 93 at his home in Payson, Arizona.

In September, the Lincoln High School (Portland) Class of 1971 (above) held its COVID-delayed 50th reunion at The Eleanor in downtown Portland (below). An afterparty was held at the Brix Tavern with entertainment by The Bloozers, a band comprised of celebrants from reunion. I stayed at the Hyatt Centric Hotel, mere blocks from "our old school."

By December, we celebrated two birthdays: granddaughter Carlotta Eline's first birthday and my milestone: birthday number 70. My second memoir, Wilderness Strangers: Adventures in Shangri-La, was published by Luminare Press. The story follows the exploits of two unlikely friends who become kindred spirits, alter egos and soul mates. In spite of their differences, they share an abiding friendship and obsession for outdoor adventure, music, literature and the arts.

The Dean Of Western Writers

Stumbling onto Wallace Stegner by accident, I was intrigued by his character as portrayed in The Last Season by Eric Blehm. Stegner helped the protagonist of the story, aspiring writer Randy Morgenson, find his mojo as a writer. Morgenson, a wilderness ranger in the Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, later disappeared in the wild.

Stegner, an American novelist, short story writer, historian and environmentalist, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for his novel Angle of Repose. But he initially achieved fame for his career-making, semi-autobiographical fifth novel Big Rock Candy Mountain published in 1943 and Crossing to Safety published in 1987, among dozens of other books.

Stegner taught writing at the University of Wisconsin and Harvard University before settling into Stanford University, where he founded the creative writing program. At Stanford, Stegner met Randy Morgenson's parents and would become a writing mentor to young Morgenson, a wilderness ranger who fancied himself as a writer.

Morgenson had written an article on the country adjacent to Four Corners, the border of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, and had submitted a query to National Parks & Conservation Magazine before he left for his tour of duty in the Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park for the summer. Stegner had encouraged Randy to submit the article

Stegner reassured Randy, noting that once he got beyond publishing that first article, credibility would help carry him through to the next, building momentum for his writing career. When he returned from his summer detail, he had two letters, one postmarked in September from Wallace Stegner and one one paostmarked in June from the magazine.

"Randy," wrote Stegner, "I enjoyed your piece and am surprised you haven't placed it somewhere, even though it's an inevitable subject, and has been done several times." In the other letter, the magazine had accepted his story for the August issue, but now in October, the story was two months late. He followed up but it was too late.

Climate Cabal

World powers have made some progress toward the goal of containing global average temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100, the target that experts have said will avoid the risk of utter environmental disaster. Before 2015, the world was on track to warm by four degrees Celsius.

But will it be enough? Today, the world is on track for two to three degrees Celsius. Even that modest amount could prevent more frequent and severe wildfires, heat waves, floods and other disasters, saving hundreds of thousands of lives and untold millions of dollars of personal property.

Still, no big polluter is yet doing enough to keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Some experts also argue the target would require such drastic action that it is now unrealistic, prompting renewed discussions about whether it should even be the goal of international climate summits.

The talks demonstrate the mixed results that come up time and again at world climate conferences. Countries have indeed made progress and promised to do more, but they have also fallen short of previous goals. But they must keep trying because, albeit slowly, their efforts are having an impact.

Twin Sons Of Different Mothers

Editor's Note: Available now on Amazon, IngramSpark and select bookstores, my second book, Wilderness Strangers: Adventures in Shangri-La, follows the life and times of two unlikely friends seeking adventure as Forest Service employees working deep in the woods while climbing many of the magnificent peaks in the Pacific Northwest.

Working as trail dogs and backcountry rangers for the federal government, Kerry and Joe would come to explore the far corners of the wilderness. These freewheeling protagonists with great chemistry would forge a friendship despite their occasionally stark differences in perspective as they walked their respective paths in life. Herewith is a sampling:

Kerry and Joe felt an immediate rapport. Kerry was charmed, and he was charming. It simply clicked, and cocktails soon ensued.  Joe and Kerry both enjoyed literature, music, and the arts, and they had similar tastes in food and wine. They would become fellow wilderness rangers and lifelong friends.

 

In the 1970s, wilderness rangers represented a new generation stationed on the front lines. Despite their low rank, these seasonal employees were the heart and soul of the Forest Service, and the public face with users of the Glacier Peak and Alpine Lakes Wilderness areas.

Their challenge over the course of several seasons was to interface with campers, backpackers, fishermen, horsemen, and climbers who may not always be receptive to the terms and conditions of the federal government -- all while experiencing the joys of life in the backcountry. 

 

Joe and Kerry both enjoyed a wide range of authors. They had devoured the works of the iconic American writers from Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner to Jack Kerouac, Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson. They both had similar tastes in music, particularly rock and jazz.

            

Joe introduced Kerry to Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Kerry introduced Joe to a new album by Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg called Twin Sons of Different Mothers. “This shall be our theme for the summer,” Kerry proclaimed.

Extra Virgin

Knowing I had spent time on the beaches and in the hill country of Liguria, Italy searching for my Italian cousins, my neighbor recommended Extra Virgin, a memoir by Annie Hawes. In 1983, two Brits -- a pale Annie Hawes and her equally pale sister -- left England for the sun-drenched olive groves of a small Italian village in Liguria.

With fantasies of handsome, tanned men and swimming in the sea urging them on, they are hired for ten weeks to graft roses. of which they have little knowledge, along the Italian Riviera, room and board included. But none of the men seem to be under 40, and Ligurians have starkly different customs and outlooks in life compared to the Anglos from London.

Having experienced most of Liguria on multiple excursions myself, it's clear that Hawes captures the quirkiness and beauty of the hinterlands of the region as she and her sister become captivated by the quirkiness and beauty of the remote high country, and are bemused, charmed and ultimately accepted by the eccentric inhabitants of Diano San Pietro.

Some excerpts: "Glamour was not the outstanding feature of the village of Diano San Pietro. As far as the crusty olive-farming inhabitants were concerned, the Italian Riviera, a mere two miles away, might as well be on another planet. The lodging to spend the next ten weeks have turned out to be a tiny pair of tiled rooms above a barful of peasants."

"Diago San Pietro struggles up the steep foothills of the Mediterranean hinterland, its warped green shutters leaning into decrepit cobbled alleys overrun with leathery old men on erratic Vespas who call irately upon the Madonna as they narrowly miss mowing you down, with yowling feral cats and rusty tin cans full of improbably healthy geraniums."

In sheer contrast, "down on the coast, Diano San Marina has palm-shaded piazzas and an elegant marble-paved promenade along a wide blue sandy bay, the obvious refuge from the complexities of village life. Here, refreshingly, we are objects of interest to no one, no longer weirdly foreign generic strangers in a town accustomed to stranieri (foreigners)."

Extra Virgin is a great read, a captivating sampling of Italian life both on the Italian Riviera, and in hillsides rife with windy roads and olive orchards. The author captures both the remote rural high country and its peculiar inhabitants, and the trendy beaches more closely associated with Italy's public image, in describing Liguria with verve and humor.

The Heat Is On

Despite optimism that a wet spring would prevent another fire season from sabotaging summer adventures in the wilderness, it was disappointing to experience otherwise at the Owl Conservatory last week. It's clear that wildfires have increased over the past 20 years and the situation is not improving.

Once again, the best time to experience the backcountry in the West has vanished in a cloud of smoke. The reasons: climate change, inadequate forest management practices, limited firefighting resources for federal and state agencies and encroaching development near forest lands.

Time and again, we have witnessed many tragic stories about wildfires in communities throughout the West. In the most severe cases, these fires are becoming more intense and more likely to cause damage. The reasons for these trends have created a "perfect storm" for increased wildfires.

No, it's not a figment of your imagination. Wildfires are becoming bigger, more destructive and increasingly life-threatening. Climate change, which has intensified summertime droughts, is a primary reason. Another factor is the fact that increased development has edged closer to natural lands. To add to the dilemma, we're not managing forests nearly as well as we could or should be.

Let's start with global warming. Climate change is turning up the heat, resulting in dryer summers, reduced mountain snowpack, increased lightning strikes and longer fire seasons. Since the 1980s, researchers say, climate change has doubled the area of wildfires in the western U.S.

These trends will not be reversed on their own, of course. Global temperatures have been hotter than the historical average for 40 consecutive years. With the planet heating up, some locations most vulnerable to extreme weather events are becoming exposed to further danger.

As communities grow, more development is edging closer to forests and grasslands in what is known as the wildland-urban interface, resulting in a number of cities and towns at much higher risk of destructive wildfire. This is the "danger zone," where fires might otherwise have petered out on their own.

The sheer remoteness of some of these communities in the wildland-urban interface makes it even more difficult to battle the fires when they do occur. In some cases, firefighters may have difficulty pumping water to fight fire or gaining access because of downed power lines that sparked the blaze.

Finally, as anyone from the Aldo Leopold Society would tell you, the primary strategy for dealing with wildfires has been to prevent or fight them. Worse, insect infestations have decimated forests. But unrelenting and short-sighted fire suppression efforts are not always the best option.

Because of past fire suppression policies and inadequate management practices, forests are now clogged with plant material. Managing forest fuels and controlled burns help make forests more resilient in the long run, allowing a natural process of rebirth and renewal.

Meanwhile, wildfire is merely one of many consequences of the unchecked use of fossil fuels like coal and oil, resulting in trapped greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The top priority should be taking decisive steps to reduce the use of fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy.

Scientists indicate that we have just 12 years to complete the overhaul necessary to limit warming to a manageable level and avoid the worst consequences, so there's no time to waste. In the meantime, we need to invest in restoration work that helps forests more resilient to climate change.

Mio Padre

My father, Ralph Cameron Mitchell of Payson, Arizona, passed away at on August 21, 2022 at age 93. After a long career as a high school science instructor teaching chemistry, physics and general science, Ralph had retired to the Oregon coast in Lincoln City and Florence, and Arizona.

Ralph was born in Portland on December 15, 1928 to Cyril William and Ethel Adele Mitchell. His siblings included older sister, Grace Eva Mitchell, younger brother Bruce Allan Mitchell and stepbrother Harold James Barker.

He attended Irvington Elementary School and Grant High School, enlisting in the U.S. Marine Reserves in 1944. He graduated from Grant High School in 1947. Following graduation from high school, he reenlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves in 1949, serving until he was honorably discharged in 1951.

While in the reserves, Ralph attended the University of Oregon in Eugene with an interest in pursuing a degree in architecture, then completed his bachelor's degree in chemistry and physics at the University of Portland in 1953.

Ralph married Charlotte Nitta Cargni in Portland in May, 1952 and they had five children, John, Robert, Richard, Carla and Stephanie. They later divorced. Ralph married Florence Edna Edgar in Portland in June, 1983.

After working for Ortho Chemical and General Electric Company, Ralph obtained his teaching certificate and taught high school science and coached athletics in Ukiah, Forest Grove and Sutherlin, Oregon before he was hired at Evergreen High School in Vancouver.

In 1961, Ralph was hired at the newly opened John Marshall High School in Southeast Portland. He later obtained his master's degree from the University of Portland and also taught night classes and summer school for many years.

Ralph enjoyed the outdoors and joined the Mazamas, a mountain climbing organization based in Portland. He climbed Mt. Hood countless times, along with Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams, among other Cascade peaks. He was an avid sailor and explored the San Juan Islands and Canadian Gulf Islands on several occasions.

An avid Duck fan since his days at the University of Oregon, Ralph and Florence had season tickets for Oregon football for many years and were among those early adopters who cheered the "Mighty Ducks" and witnessed the team develop from also-rans into champions. 

Ralph and Florence ventured to many bowl games, including the Cotton Bowl, Independence Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Seattle Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and several Rose Bowls, including a big win over Russell Wilson and the Wisconsin Badgers in 2012 for their first Rose Bowl victory in 95 years.

He is survived by his wife, Florence of Payson, Arizona, children John (Rebecca) of Eugene, Robert (Elaine) of Philadelphia, Penn., Richard (Nancy) of Bainbridge Island, Wash., Carla (Bob) of Portland, and Stephanie of Tigard.

Ralph is also survived by his grandchildren Regina, Jory, Nicole, Sarah, Jessica, Jason and Brandon; and a sister, Grace Eva Mitchell Freeland of Redwood City, California. Ralph was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Bruce and stepbrother Harold, and his granddaughter, Jacy.