June 2, 2026
Oregon White Oak; forest animals; Mom on a walk; Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin; Mary Shelley; art galleries in Portland
From The Woods
Many trees grow in our forest that we don’t plant. We have big leaf maple, red alder, cottonwood, beaked hazelnut, wild cherry, yew, and many others. A favorite of mine is the Oregon White Oak that grow alongside Oregon Ash in our wetlands. Their branches form an almost perfect half-circle against the sky. Worries about the impending Emerald Ash Borer make me want to encourage the oak to thrive. Oak trees can live up to 500 years and 200 wildlife species depend on them for habitat. But there is a pest attacking the oaks too! The Mediterranean Oak Borer would like to munch them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Leave our trees alone!
I went to visit our oaks this evening and was welcomed by some Nootka rose and Oregon Columbine.
A friend and fellow tree farm, Steve Barnowe-Meyer has a wildlife camera (that he knows how to use—we have one, but. . .) Check out these critters roaming forest on the Olympic Peninsula!
People Older Than Trees
Quotes From Mom on a Sunday Walk
Sunday was cool, but the sun was out so I invited Mom for a walk. She stopped in a patch of sun to warm up. I rubbed her back to get the rays into her skin sooner. She thanked me, saying, “as Elizabeth Barrett Browning said, ‘How do I love you. Let me count the ways.’ “ I foolishly replied, “I think that was Shakespeare.” She didn’t say anything; I googled it and said, “You were right.” Mom stood up straight and said, “Of course, I was.”
The stand of trees closest to the house is called “Fae Marie’s Forest” because she talked Dad into planting diverse species here before anybody else thought that was a good idea. The trees are about 40 years old (the harvested trees were used to build the log cabin) and there are two healthy incense cedar among them. I pointed them out and Mom said, “There was a forester in Roseburg who used to say, “It’s Doug-fir or it’s brush.”
As we made it back to the house, she said, “When I sit down, I’d like a glass of water before my tongue sticks to the top of my mouth permanently.”
Strawberry season! I picked my own this week with Yoko and her darlings. Here’s Mom’s response.
What I’m Reading/I Need to Know More
My Bishop and Wilde bookclub pick for May was Notes of a Crocodile by Qui Miaojin. The main character is Lazi, an early twenty something woman, a student at a top Taiwanese university. She is attracted to women and attempts to from bonds with the objects of her attractions, but her relationships are tempestuous and Lazi despairs. I found the book bleak and could not finish it. I am grateful for the book club members for helping me think about the book as a young person’s search for meaning. When I was that age, I sought comfort in rigid religion—I didn’t allow myself such despair.
Richard Rothwell's portrait of Shelley
I continue my Maria Popova marathon. The current person who’s person and thoughts Popova is explicating in Transversal is Mary Shelley, author of “Frankenstein”. Did you know she ran away with Percy Shelley when she was 16 and he 22? He was already married and his wife pregnant. And that when they left, Mary’s half-sister Jane went with them? Her father had been a proponent of “free love” and against the institution of marriage, but would not talk to Mary upon her return to England after a failed, penurious trip to Europe. Ideals and reality hit a roadblock.
Stumptown
Tom and I visited two art galleries this week. The first was Place Gallery , which was hosting “The Unknown City I “Beyond the Hill” Portland Photographers.” I knew about the show because poet (and photographer) Kim Stafford, who has kindly supported my writing in many ways, put out a call to Portland writers to submit vignettes along the lines the New York Times “Metropolitan Diary.” He complied them in a book, “Diary of an Unknown City” and gave each author a copy. Thank you, Kim!
Then I bought my very first piece of art from a proper gallery! Mom has many artist friends, I’ve purchased art from them, but I bought a Margot Voorhies Thompson painting from the Russo Lee Gallery. I got to put a red dot on the title card! I love Voorhies Thompson’s colors—often taken from rocks and lichen in eastern Oregon, and also that she plays with writing systems. Here’s a video about her art and process.
Magnificent trees, Quercus garryana / ts'uníps (Sahaptin) / p'hwulhp (Hul’q’umin’um) / perger’ (Yurok).
Probably my favorite tree. In the past three years we have grown over 1500 of them from seed and distributed another 2000 seeds to growers, botanical gardens, educational institutions and ecologically minded enthusiasts all over the pacific northwest.
These trees are critical habitat, a true keystone species hosting a multitude of fauna on their branches, in their cavities and on their leaves. Hundreds of native insect species rely on these trees, with many requiring their foliage as their sole source of food.
As a cultural resource, they have been equally relied on since time immemorial as a food source for Pacific Northwest and California tribes. The result of which was a concentration of low tannin trees in areas where seeds were painstakingly collected and planted.
And they were the first to be removed from the land when Donation Land Claims were made (in my direct area, most DLC’s including our farm were in close proximity to if not directly over the top of existing native villages). Removal of shade trees from arable land was a paramount goal of agricultural development of the land, and so in many areas (our farm being a perfect example), there are none left today. In other areas, they remain (from the Woodland Bottoms and Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge Carry Unit to Frenchman’s Bar to present day Fort Vancouver/Officers Row).
And as icing on the cake, their protected status in Clark County has led them to be a pariah species by landowners, fearful that planting them will result in downstream fines or prohibitions applied to their land, so convincing people to reintroduce them is often met with derision.
All of these are excellent reasons why we should all be planting these magnificent trees in as many locations as we can find to heel them in. The same acorn can be planted in rocky, windswept cliffs and result in a small scrubby resilient survivor, or be planted in seasonal wetlands and achieve 36” diameter in as short as 60-70 years with a massive crown. With climate change present and forcing the decline of other native species like Western Hemlock, Grand Fir and Western Redcedar, these Garry Oak / Oregon White Oak / p'hwulhp / ts'uníps / perger’ are positioned to thrive due to their natural drought resilience. If you’re looking to plant some, send me a message - or come visit me at the Friends of Fort Vancouver Garden Fair on June 22nd where I will be giving about 150-200 of them away.
I planted an Oregon White Oak in my yard last year, and it makes me happy every time I look at it. Love to Fae Marie!