Gastronomic and other Adventures

What a great day. We had 4" of rain in 24 hours and the Rouge River is higher than I have ever seen it. Jock promised new and interesting gastronomic delights in what he was preparing. Boy did he deliver. For breakfast we had all things he grew and harvested (or hunted). Wild pork sausage with home grown potatoes, carrots, onions and green pepper (ok that was from the store) All sauteed up together. Yum. For lunch we had smoked, canned tuna (from his son Dean). That was amazing.

Venturing out to work off all that good food and take advantage of the break in the storm, we took a ride to see the high water on the river at Lobster Creek and Orchard Bar. Jock found a beautiful agate - I was not so lucky.

Otter Point - a place on the ocean that is legendary for their agates, was the next stop, but we saw no rocks on the beach and with the stormy seas and no leashes for the dogs opted not to venture any closer. We drove on old highway 101 and followed it up into the hills looking for elk and turkey.


Jock showed me a ranch were he is allowed to hunt turkey and we saw the flock. Seven hens and two jakes hanging out with the chickens and roosters. Turkey's are Jocks favorite bird to hunt. He explains there is a thrill and a challenge to set his decoys out and call those males in. He gets so excited when he tells me about past hunts I can't help but feel the thrill right along with him when those jakes (1 year old males) started gobbling nervously at us. They are really beautiful birds up close. I never knew.

Back at the house and off for a walk before the rains hit again. The land behind Jock's neighborhood was once Mill property. It now belongs to tennis star Pete Sampras and will eventually be developed into small ranch homes but now it is thick dark forest and logging roads. We hiked up to an old Pioneer Cemetery. It has long been forgotten. A sign, that had fallen, gave the names of the families buried there and said it was a Pioneer Cemetery from 1857 . Of the five markers still standing we saw dates from 1897 to 1902. It was really a beautiful, peaceful place except for these strange nests in the trees.


One nest was huge. It was maybe 15 feet up a slanted tree and looked big enough to house Sasquatch. It was a mass of twigs, branches, dirt, mud and leaves that were packed tight. And below it was another one - this one on the ground. We saw several more all in the general area of the graves. Another high in a tree and several more on the ground. Jock, my tour guide, body guard and just all around smart guy, informed me they were built by wood rats that are larger than regular rats - maybe a foot long. Stretching his arms wide while he described them to me. Really creepy. We did not see any more of these impressive nests out of the general vicinity. Jock tells me there are probably more in the woods but I saw nothing like that anywhere else on the way back. When we got back I GOOGLED wood rats. They normally build their nests in California close to the ground. No tall tree houses were mentioned. WE think maybe they are mutant zombie wood rats feeding on the decay of corpses. . . Ok maybe that is just what I thought and yeah I have been reading way too much.

My chef then cooked up a fabulous dinner of Sharp tail grouse from Montana and Ruffed and Blue Bond tailed grouse harvested locally and wild pigeon, lightly breaded and sauteed and served over a bed of rice. Desert consisted of buttered popcorn jelly bellies supplied by yours truly. What a great day!Kudos and gratitude to my guy.