This Is Your Brain on......Mandarin

I'm trying to learn Mandarin Chinese and one of the first lessons was numbers. It occurred to me while learning to count in Chinese that teenagers only exist in the English-speaking world. Not that youth in other countries don't go through the same aging process, it's just that "thirteen", etc., does not exist in other languages. (For those of you keeping track, it's shi san in Chinese.) Does absence of the "teenage" years make a difference in how other cultures view their youth?

In a couple of months, this blogger will be rambling so far west that it will be east, when we temporarily relocate to Beijing, China. My first love is still the outdoors and we will try mightily to spend as much time as possible in observing the natural world. I'm excited to check out China's ornithological society and all the Fatbirder sites in the China section. Those not interested in China, please check back in about a year. We intend to return to the Pacific Northwest and resume talking about this beautiful part of the world.

Meanwhile, we'll see what the world would be like without teenagers.

Angel's Rest is Heaven.......in the Gorge

 

Spring green colors and the smell of deep forest greet us as we exit our vehicles. Today, we hike to the heights of the Columbia Gorge's southern cliffs with Oregon Wild's Wendell Wood. (In my opinion, Wendell is THE MAN when it comes to botany in the gorge. Wendell often refers to Russ Jolley's wildflower book, but I've never hiked with Mr. Jolley, so I can't compare the two. All I can say is that Wendell is a walking encyclopedia of wildflowers, a natural teacher and just an all-around nice guy.)

The trail pulls uphill for just over two miles, through predominately Doug fir forest, to a rocky outcrop 1500 feet above the Columbia River. Fortunately, we must stop often to identify flowers. Wendell talks about whether the plant is edible, explains plant parts and tells us about uses of the plant by Native Americans.

Unlike our previous trips with Wendell, though, I find I am not so overwhelmed with trying to remember all the flowers. With even the slight increase in my identification skills, I can spread my attention to the songs of hidden forest birds, to the clink of volcanic rocks as we passed through a slide, and to the wonder of the river and mountain viewpoints on the trail.

After lunch perched on the rocks at Angel's Rest, we continue toward the Wahkeena Falls trail head, along the frothy water spilling from Wahkeena Springs, past the silver spray of Fairy Falls and the final cascade of Wahkeena Falls. Larkspurs (Delphinium trillifolium), tiger lillies (Lilium columbianum), and Oregon Flag (Iris tenax) are the flowers of the day today.

This six miler can be done in either direction with a car shuttle. To reach the Angel's Rest trail head, take the Bridal Veil exit (28) from Interstate 84. Go slightly uphill to a parking lot at the junction of the Old Columbia River Highway. The trail begins across the highway. To start at Wahkeena Falls, turn left on the old highway and drive east about three miles to the marked trail head at a picnic area.

Look, in the sky, it's a bird?

These are the days of strange noises. This morning, early, I heard an agitated scrub jay. I wondered what was going on, since the last time I heard such excited utterances was when the scrub jays were being stalked by a cat. As I was working out in the yard later, I kept on hearing buzzy scolding sounds, like a hoarse squirrel. Later in the afternoon, I finally spied the culprit—a gray-headed juvenile jay who was getting audibly excited any time a parent came around with a tidbit of food. One of the parents must have been coaxing junior along this morning.

Sometimes even seeing the bird does not help with identification. This little guy pictured above was bobbing around the back yard a few days ago. Can you guess? The shape is familiar, the white edges on the tail ring a bell, but the dead give away for me (and I am cheating) is that I have seen his parents in the yard for several weeks now.