Of course, I slept for large chunks of the car ride. There is something about the motion of a car that I find comforting, and I nearly always have the urge to sleep on a road trip. The fact that my dad likes to begin his day at fuck-thirty in the morning (a term I invented a couple of years ago when I was logging with him) also added to my sleepiness.
Eastern Oregon has a harsher, drier climate than the west side of the state does. Much of the landscape is covered in Artemesia species (sagebrush) and Juniperus occidentalis, the western juniper. Before settlement by Europeans, the landscape would burn regularly, keeping the junipers in check. Modern fire suppression has allowed the junipers to really take over, altering the mix of species. I've read that they are able to suck up most of the available water, taking it from other species which once dominated the landscape.
Fire suppression has had a heavy impact on the forests of the Western US. In fact, the lush forests that we currently see- particularly in the drier interior regions- don't closely resemble the pre-settlement woodlands. Regular fires cleared out brush and killed saplings, keeping the woods more open. Far fewer trees were lucky enough to grow to maturity in those days. Those that did faced less competition for space, water, and nutrients. I can only imagine what those forests looked like.
Juniperus occidentalis is prone to brooms caused by mistletoe. Any time you see more than one broom in a tree, there is almost no chance that they are two random mutations- it pretty much has to be disease or parasites. As I looked at the forests of brooms, I thought about how impossible it would be to find a good broom in that mess
Then we drove by a striking broom, right by the side of the road. I am not sure it could have been more obviously healthy. It is so obvious that I'm sure other conifer geeks have seen it in the past. At the time, I didn't have a pole pruner on me, so I couldn't collect any pieces. I'd also heard that this species doesn't like the wetter, coastal climate.
This weekend, I finally made the drive back over there to collect some cuttings. I've heard that this species is a bitch to propagate, so I'm not really optimistic about my chances for success. Alas, I must try.
While I was out there, I happened to see a columnar form as well. I took a couple of cuttings, just in case.
After all that, I met my friend Alan for lunch in Terrebonne, OR. We used to be housemates in the 90s, and it has been a couple of years since I'd seen him. We caught up over lunch, and I headed back home.
