Oregon L.O.W.F.I

Posts Tagged ‘nature’

From the BFRO, (and Sharon Lee, via FB) a clip of a fishing/rapids trip on the beautiful McKenzie River from 2008. The person filming this, and the people fishing, were not invovled in any BF expedition at all; the BF — if it IS a BF — appears very briefly on the back for just a moment, and it’s clear its presence went unnoticed by everyone.

I’m not a photo image experty by an means, but it looks like a BF on the bank, until you crop and move in and then it looks like a backpacker. Maybe, heh…

This by way of Cliff Barackman,’s North American Bigfoot on Bigfoot author Thom Powell (The Locals.) Thom has written an article on offensive geographical place names in Oregon (a hot topic here) and a possible connection “between the word “squaw” and sasquatches.”  Both Cliff and Thom were speakers at the Oregon Sasquatch Symposium in June.

Odd report from McMinnville: MHS football players recovering; mass ’syndrome’ remains a mystery. Oregon.(McMinnville is home of the world famous 1950 Trent UFO sighting and site of the annual McMinnville UFO Festival held in May at Hotel Oregon.) Several high school students, all student atheletes, have come down with an unusual illness:

Ten Mac High School football players were hospitalized this week after experiencing intense muscle pain following workouts at a fall camp conducted by their new coach.

Seven were admitted to the Willamette Valley Medical Center on Wednesday night with sore and swollen triceps, and three were admitted the following night.

Diagnosed with compartment syndrome, three of the players in the initial group underwent fasciotomies designed to relieve the pressure and avoid permanent muscle damage. That could keep them out of action for one to two months, according to the surgeon who made the diagnosis and performed the surgical procedure.

Some 28 players underwent testing Thursday to determine the level of creatine phosphokinase or CPK in their blood, as that is an indicator of the syndrome. Sixteen were sent to the hospital for additional testing, and three of them were admitted, joining the original seven.

Additional players were tested Friday, but none of them showed elevated creatine levels.

There’s more: the students were doing an intensive series of workouts, it was very hot, and they stayed on campus, sleeping there while taking part in this football camp type thing.

The illness – “Compartment syndrome” — is rare, and doesn’t appear in the triceps, according to Dr. Peter Van Patten:

Dr. Peter Van Patten treated the players. He said compartment syndrome isn’t very common, and he’s never seen it strike the triceps before.

“In McMinnville, we do not see compartment syndrome very often,” he said.

The school district is looking into this of course, and asking the community for help and support.

Footage taken by a man who works on a ranch in the Thurston area, a neighborhood in Springfield, Oregon not far from here, of a bobcat.

Cougars are becoming more plentiful, and visible, in Brownsville, Oregon (roughly fifty miles from here, in Eugene) and according to local news reports, six cougars have been trapped, and killed, in the past two months.

From the Register Guard, Eugene’s local newspaper:

A County Trapper trapped and killed 6 cougars in the last two months on her [Cathy Stepp] farm. Now she said she’s scared for her son’s safety and that more cougars may be lurking in the distance.

“I don’t let him out of my sight. We pack guns when we come out in the morning to do the feeding and the checking. We try to get a head count on them at least two or three times to make sure we’ve got the right number,” said Stepp.

Until the predators flee Stepp said she’ll keep her flock and family close.

Around here, as all over, wild animals have been seen more and more frequently in residential areas, and around humans generally. They’ve also become more aggressive, although, this is an interesting phenomenon; if the animals are more numberous, and being pushed out of their habitats for various reasons (lack of food, shelter, human encroachment…) we need to be careful of anthropomorphizing these situations. (Which doesn’t help much when cougars are attacking your horses (as happened to someone I know) and so on. )

A woman faces a fine for illegally creating a “major marine event.” Kala Thomas, a University of Oregon student, posted on her Facebook page that she was going to cool off down by the Willamette River. Who’s with her? she asked. Lots of people. Who told lots of other people, which is trouble, according to our local authorities, since Thomas didn’t get a permit:

Thomas never obtained one, so Lane County Sheriff’s officials say that if the float really does attract a huge crowd, she may be hit with a $190 citation.

“I think that would be appropriate,” sheriff’s Capt. Bill Thompson said. “There’s a responsibility people have to take when they do something like this.”

Thomas said she understands that authorities aren’t pleased with her plan.

“I guess I’m in big trouble,” Thomas said. “But how was I to know that 1,000 people would want to do this?”

Oregon State Marine Board officials learned of the unintentionally illicit float on Thursday, and sent Thomas a Facebook message instructing her to cancel it.

I’m curious to know how “the authorities” found out about this. Authorities are worried “chaos” will occur if the 1,000 or so people show up with inner tubes and rafts; there’s a lot of construction going on in the area, for example, that might be a hazard for people; or, vice versa. Authorities are also concerned about any rescue efforts they might have to make — this time of year, there are numerous rescues on the river, and emergency personnel might have trouble accessing areas.

The Lane County sheriff ordered Thomas to dis-invite people to the event, for whatever good that might do. If a lot of people show up and authorities feel it’s a problem, she’ll be fined. Some local businesses however have said they’ll help her with any fines she might receive.

For the record, in case any “authority” is reading this, I am NOT inviting anyone anywhere, including myself. Besides, I’m having far too much difficulty with my asthma to want to go out anywhere in this heat.

People on the coast and elsewhere have reported that their shrimp and fish glow. According to Oregon State University, this is normal and the fish is safe to consume.

Shrimp and other seafood can appear luminescent, courtesy of certain marine bacteria that might be hitching a ride, said Kaety Hildenbrand, of Oregon State University Sea Grant Extension, which has been receiving calls from concerned consumers.

The thing to remember, said Hildenbrand, who works with coastal fishing communities, is that “glowing” shrimp is not a health risk and doesn’t reflect mishandling during processing.

I love some of the comments, such as:

“This seems to be a banner year for glowing seafood,…”

The following remark strikes me as very odd:

It’s also possible that there has been no increase in glowing seafood — just an increase in the number of people noticing it. That raises another question: Are more people cooking seafood without lights?

Complete story here.

Dog seeks help for owner in Yamhill, Oregon. A Dachshund went to the neighbor’s house to get help, after his owner collapsed. The dog would not leave until the neighbor followed the dog back to her home, and sought help for the owner.

I’ve been keeping an animal journal, which I posted about on Women Of Esoterica awhile back. My intent was to write about animals, but I soon realized that “animal” means a lot of things other than the expected. Last night I was writing in my journal about cryptids, shape shifters, mixed energies, inter-dimensional beings…I’m pretty sure this will turn into something. I had the following dream after writing in my journal last night:

I go see about some land for sale here in Oregon. “39.4″ acres for incredibly cheap. I go alone; arriving, there is a man who’s clearly some kind of guard to this little town, which is very odd. He lets me by. He’s not armed or even threatening, but it is … odd. I continue on, meeting up with a pleasant man in his early forties, maybe. Friendly person, telling me all about the property. We’re standing in the middle of a highway. No people around or cars, out in the country. What’s extremely weird is that, as soon as I passed the “guard” earlier, the landscape changed radically. Suddenly, I am surrounded by high, sharp, jutting mountains covered in snow, it’s cold, the water (ocean? lake?) on one side of the highway, surrounded by these very high and close mountains, is grey and choppy. I’m a little nervous, the water is almost up to the road. And on the other side of the highway, across from the water and mountains, the land just goes straight up, very steep. I’m told this is “Wyoming-Idaho” in Oregon. I say, in the dream, (a lucid moment?) that there’s no such thing, and what is Wyoming doing in Oregon?! The man thinks that’s funny.

He continues telling me bout the land, that’s it’s a great deal (it is), it’s all just land, but one thing to be aware: there are poachers that “encroach on the edges,” as he puts it. I’ll have to deal with them as I see fit, he says.

As we’re talking, suddenly a man in what is obviously a very bad, very cheap Bigfoot costume, (light grey in color) steps out onto the road. The man says, in a mock frightened tone, “Oh, look, look! It’s Bigfoot! Bigfoot is here!” and they both crack up. The guy in the BF suit goofs around, stomping and clowning, and then takes off.

All this time I am not amused, and am just looking at them. The man says to me,”You don’t think that’s funny?” and I’m thinking to myself, what a maroon, another joker, and a Bigfoot debunker. Great. But I’m not going to tell him about my opinions on Bigfoot, or anything else.

Then the man says to me, very seriously, “You know, around here, we all know Bigfoot exists. Anyone who’s ever spent any time in the country around here knows damn well Bigfoot exists. You can’t judge people on things like having fun.”

Well okay then, I think. Interesting. So back to the land issue, but I tell him that I don’t like the snow, or mountains, and I still don’t like this idea of “Wyoming” being in Idaho-Oregon, and on the west coast to boot. It’s all very suspicious. And why are all the townspeople, who I know are all around us, watching us, hidden? It’s not that they’re sinister or of ill intent but it is weird and I’m uncomfortable.

The man says to me, “You didn’t think the property was this place, did you? Oh no, it’s not like this at all, it’s back behind here,” and he waves his hands around, indicating that the land is even further, and not snowy or mountainous.

I tell him I’ll think about it, and tell him I have to leave. He stays there, I’m a little put out he’s letting me go off on my own, after all, I don’t know my way around. He stays put on the highway, as if he’s under some type of interdiction to stay in that place. I find my way though and back to the guard, who also seems amused that I’m here. He doesn’t help me with directions either, but I figure it out.

                     “Dryad Materializing,” James Rich acrylic on canvas

“You have to take seriously the notion that understanding the universe is your responsibility, because the only understanding of the universe that will be useful to you is your own understanding.” ~ Terrence McKenna

The quote if from Daniel Moler’s (for Reality Sandwich) article Machine Elves 101, or Why Terence McKenna Matters The article is, as Moler writes, a kind of “Terence for Dummies” includes several good quotes from McKenna.

I’ve been asked many times why I explore the things I do; why I blog and write about my UFO, anomalous and paranormal experiences, and generally, pursue the esoteric/Fortean realms. This Terrence McKenna quote resonates with me as explanation.

I would just say that “understanding the universe” is an overwhelmingly and very large assumption, and if misunderstood or misinterpreted, may sound ridiculously arrogant. I don’t believe I or anyone can presume to understand the universe, as in “Oh! I got it all now!” moment. (Even when we think we’ve reached those moments of Satori, they soon fade, like a great and very important dream, and we’re back to the mundane. . .) (And yet, if we’ve had those moments, they become a part of us, no matter how hidden away they may end up . . . )  But as a process, a journey for its sake, makes sense to me.e