Tuesday, 13 September 2022
Before our planned all day work session in Long Beach, I made what I thought would be a futile call to my ear doctor’s office in Longview to see if I could get an earlier appointment than October 4th. They had a cancellation at 2:45 today. I took it! We hurried to leave because I might have time to visit a an excellent nursery before the appointment; it’s only 4 minutes from the clinic.
We drove on the Oregon side of the Columbia, thinking it might be faster. Going over the Astoria Megler bridge, some construction stopped us for a few minutes, enabling a photo looking west and one looking east.
I like the Washington side better…It is quieter and more bucolic, although it does have some cliffs with “falling rocks” that make me nervous. I tried for a photo of the heavily industrial look of the lumberyards as we approached the bridge that takes us back to Washington State and Longview.
We did get there in time for 45 minutes at one of my favourite nurseries.
The aisles are narrow and packed with trees and shrubs, some unlabeled.
My mission was conifers to block our south view. I didn’t have time for deep browsing. I almost bought this…
..but then bought a two gallon size for just about $12 because I think it will root in better to hold up to wind. The price for the large tree was amazingly inexpensive at $75. I’ve seen trees this size for $200 and up.
I am pretty sure I found a Cryptomeria ‘Sekkan’, but neither I nor the nursery owner or manager could remember the name. I remembered it as soon as we left. If the new growth in spring is white, I’ll know my ID is correct.
I was deeply thrilled to find a mountain hemlock. All for incredible, wonderful prices. If only I’d had more time.
M&T Nursery makes me very happy.
My appointment at the clinic revealed that whatever is going in is an inner ear problem, not what the local clinic was able to diagnose. My right ear drum doesn’t move at all. I’ll take a short dose of steroids, give them time to work and go back in five weeks. Then, the kind Dr. Priyanka O’Brien will put a tube in my ear drum if all else has failed. This doesn’t not scare me because it means I can go to M&T Nursery again, my only fear being that in late October, it might be unexpectedly closed on a weekday. (Their phone just rang and rang when I called today to see if they were open.) I wish I’d gone back for an hour after the appointment. Could have should have.
Instead, we left Longview by an industrial road after just avoiding being shunted back over the bridge to Oregon. Groups of pickets lined the streets; Weyerhauser lumber workers had just gone on strike, and for good reason. Local supporters had set up a long table with a barbecue feast in one area.
“An IAM [International Association of Machinists] spokesman told the Longview Daily News Monday the latest contract was voted down because general wage increases were too low; some vacation time was cut; employees were asked to pay for healthcare premiums for the first time since at least around the 1990s; and retirement benefits weren’t improved.
Weyerhaeuser reported its “2021 financial performance was the strongest on record,” and a roughly 69% increase in net earnings from 2020 to 2021, according to a January press release.
We gave this group a thumbs up.
On the way back, we stopped at Cathlamet so Allan could look at a boat launch. What a darling town. I would like to live there. As soon as we were on the two lane quiet highway heading home, I wished we had stopped and taken more photos of the historic houses, large and small.
Cathlamet’s banners are so much friendlier and so much more specific to place than Ilwaco’s angry eagles and “support our troops” banners.
My new trees now await our next days off, two days hence. I had been worried slightly all day about the effect of leaving the Long Beach watering for another day. Lesson learned, don’t postpone work, as we did Monday, because you are sure you can do it the next day.
