3 RAPS SHEET n MARCH 2023 RAPS Group Reports Book Group THE BOOK GROUP met on February 21 and discussed Suzanne Simard’s Finding the Mother Tree. This is the story of a woman employed by the Forest Service who became interested in the interconnectedness of the trees and other plants in the forest. Part memoir, part scientific treatise, she recounts her career path and the discoveries she makes. A central concept is that of the “Mother Tree,” an older tree at the center of the vast communication network of trees and plants in the forest. The Mother Tree nurtures her offspring as well as young trees of other species. Thus a community is created. In an era when trees are destroyed for the wood products our civilization demands, and in which we are only beginning to understand that the forest is not limitless, these discoveries raise important issues about forest management. The protagonist engages with these forest management questions, first as an employee of the Forest Service, then as a scientist with a growing reputation. She decides on a career in academia, marries and has children, and details the workload issues of a complex life. The Book Group focused to a considerable extent on the disadvantages of being a woman and being effective in promoting a new way of thinking about forest management. We liked the book very much, and thought ourselves enriched with new learning and challenged by the ideas of the similarity of communities, whether they be plants or humans. In March the Book Group is going to read Eminent Oregonians: Three Who Matter by Steven Forester, Jane Kilpatrick, and R. Gregory Nokes. The book presents short biographies of Abigail Scott Duniway, Richard Neuberger, and Jesse Applegate. The Book Group meets on the third Tuesday of every month at 1:30 p.m. Currently we are meeting via Zoom. All RAPS members are welcome to join the group. —Joan Shireman Bridge Group THE BRIDGE GROUP has begun playing in person, after a long pandemic hiatus. We need additional players; do you want to join us? We really could use some more players, and we promise not to bite any new players. We need to establish a suitable time to meet. Which days and weeks work best for your schedule? I would like to hear from any interested RAPS members, or others you know who might want to play in our group. The Bridge Group does not require RAPS membership. Your friends and relatives would be welcome to join us. Please rattle your social and family networks to see if you might be able to shake loose a bridge player or two. Please contact Steve Brennan, 503-889-0146. My email address is: the.steve.brennan@gmail.com. —Steve Brennan Hiking Group FIVE PEOPLE FOLLOWED the Laura Foster Portland Hill Walks hike, Willamette Heights to Balch Creek Canyon Loop, on February 8. This is a local hike through neighborhoods and forest, with lots of ups and downs to stretch different leg muscles. It didn’t rain and was warm enough that we ate lunch outside at the NW Thurman Street foodcarts. The March hike, scheduled for March 15, will be in Oregon City. To be included in the email list, please email tgdieterich@earthlink.net. —Tom Dieterich Mary Lane Stevens, Tom Hard, Pati Sluys, and Tom Dieterich pause, very likely near Leif Erikson Drive, while on a Laura Foster Portland Hill Walks hike in Northwest Portland in February. Cilla Murray photograph
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