Leave Sooner. Drive Slower. Live Longer.

9/19/21 The Chatterbox

Betty Kaiser

After 32 years of driving the beautiful  London Road into town,  I was thrilled to see the new “Safety Corridor” and “Fees Double” slow down signs that were recently  installed. Over the years, our country road had become dangerous because of some drivers .Hopefully, the new signs will help,

However, a recent trip from home to Cottage Grove and back, left me wondering if anyone was paying attention to them. They don’t know that accidents have happened and people have died in that area. Be cautious.

My first scary accident happened a couple of years ago when I stopped to make a left turn onto Reservoir Rd. Rocks from a speeding dump truck took out the windshield on my car. Ouch!

Last month, coming home from Cottage Grove, I suddenly had two cars playing tag behind me. For a few minutes a woman would ride my bumper in her white car while a man trailed her in a black car. Then they would change places at a high rate of speed still trailing me.

Finally, they screeched around me, and seconds later turned onto Reservoir Rd. and immediately turned into a Weyerhaeuser side road where they met a group of several other cars. Whew. Whatever their hurry it was nerve racking and I was glad to get up the hill.

My most recent incident began when I turned right from Reservoir Rd. onto London Rd. It’s one of those intersections that you feel like you’re taking your life into your hands when you turn. I stop at the sign and  look left to see if any traffic is coming around the curve from London. It’s a dangerous place because they can’t see me and I can’t see them until the last minute.

All was clear as I turned onto London Rd when the car in front of me slowed down to enjoy the scenery. So, I slowed down too. Suddenly, a blue car came roaring up behind me. He was on my tail and I had nowhere to go. The driver then decided to pass the two of us, going about 80 mph across double lines on a curve! Whew.

He didn’t see the oncoming car in the other lane. The two vehicles missed each other by inches! He could have wiped out lives in four different cars just because he was in a hurry. Scary stuff.

Erratic speed kills, but obeying laws can save lives. If you drive Interstate 5 you know it can be like a speedway. I know that I can get pushed and drive too fast to get out of someone’s way. So here are some reminders from ODOT:

“State statutes give Oregon motorists the following speed zone standards especially on places like I5 and in towns. Other posted speeds will override statutory standards.

• 15 mph - Alleys, narrow residential roadways.
• 20 mph - Business districts, school zones and some residential.
• 25 mph - Residential districts, public parks, ocean shores.
• 55 mph - Most rural highways; trucks on most interstates.
• 65 mph - Passenger vehicles, light trucks, motor homes and light duty commercial vehicles on most interstates.”
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Lately, I have noticed that it is not unusual to be pushed off a lane by vehicles large and small, some going 85 mph. It’s hard to stay calm. So, I try to pick a lane and stay with it. I don’t try to be the fasted car on the road because it’s not a race. The goal is to get  home safely.

 

• Contact Betty by email: bchattybetty@bettykaiser.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dealing with deer in Oregon

 

7/22/21 CHATTERBOX 

by Betty Kaiser

DEALING WITH DEER  🦌🦌🦌

After many years of flower bed and vegetable garden destruction by deer, you would think that my husband and I would be used to it. We are not. However,  this year we softened a little when a mama deer  brought her two tiny twin fawns to the property. So there were now 3 adorable, flower eating,part-time residents.

 

I was a city girl when we moved here and I thought that the deer would only be interested in eating meadow grass. Wrong!  We quickly became aware that anything that we planted was fair game.  Summer after summer, night after night,  plants were wiped out completely.

 

In 2001, I even posted some chomping rules in the newspaper. I know that deer can’t read but it made me feel better. It went like this:

 

“Now, Dancer and Prancer, we are reasonable landlords. We are willing to share five of our six-acre meadow with you. The catch being that we maintain complete control over the one-acre that includes all of our flower and vegetable beds. The roses and all other edibles are mine! Got it?

 

If, my ‘deer’ friends, you don’t agree, it’s time for you to move on. You need to dance and prance off to the nearby parks where the campers will appreciate you. Blackberry season is right around the corner so you won’t go hungry. And don’t forget to visit our neighbors. Some of them are very generous and probably still serving USDA approved deer food.

 

Despite our persistence, nothing worked to deter their destructive rounds. Not blood meal, deodorant soap, hair clippings, bright lights, clanging bells or barking dogs worked. They would even walk up our deck to devour hanging plants. Each flower bed massacre really ticked us off!

 

Our dogs barking in the middle of night were of no help. The electric fence didn’t always work, automatic lights made eating easier and they seemed to like the sprinkler system. “Deer Away” was our best bet but putting it out nightly was a nuisance.

 

So, I proposed a truce. “We do have other offerings, you know. How about this: I’ll smell the roses while you munch the meadow. Deal or no deal? It’s your choice. (Signed) Your rosy landlords.” There was no answer.

 

This year, when the young Mama Deer with tiny spotted twins, started visiting us, they didn’t eat the roses! Instead, they would have breakfast next door and then jump the fence to our “deer forest.” Mom would leave her babies here while she went looking for food and then return to pick them up and all would disappear for the night.

 

It was a fine arrangement. Normally, healthy fawns are left alone during the day by their mothers while she forages for food. Mom will stay away from them during daylight hours  to avoid leading predators to her young. She  will return and always gather her babies together unless she senses some kind of danger.

 

Last week, however, for several days in a row, one baby deer disappeared. And there were only 2 of them. We were terrified. After all, there are cougars and bears up the hill! Finally, last Sunday, the three of them surprised us in the middle of the day by tearing through the property and jumped the fence to safety elsewhere.

 

What a relief! They are all together again. It was a safe, mom leadership arrangement and they didn’t eat the roses!  They must know how to read after all! Now I may now have to eat my words and let them have a few flowers to nibble on. I'm such a sucker for babies!

•  Contact betty at bchatty@bettykaiser.com