Lithia water, Ashland, Oregon

There is a tradition of ascribing beneficial qualities to spring and mineral water. Often this is associated with waters from hot springs. Many soakers drink the water from hot springs to get a boost of salts and minerals. Ashland is known for its hot springs and, above all, its mineral "lithia" water.

On a recent drive south to California I stopped in Ashland, Oregon to stock up on the city's legendary lithia water. In the center of the city there is a fountain that serves up bubbly, somewhat sulfury-tasting mineral water. The fountain was installed sometime around 1914 by city boosters hoping to capture the national enthusiasm for lithium-laden mineral waters. The city motto was "Ashland grows while lithia flows." Not much of this effort is remembered today but the fountain remains an important historic feature of the city.

The old fountain is situated near the middle of the city's main street. It's located at the tip of a wedge-shaped beautiful city park, Lithia Park, that meanders up a creek bed into the hills above Ashland. The central business district of Ashland consists of more or less two main drags, one street going north, the other south. The city founders managed to carve out a wonderful park that runs perpendicularly into one of the streets of the business corridor. Even though people passing through might miss it, the fountain is something of a symbolic anchor that connects the city center to the nearby park.

By implication of the siting, the fountain is fed by Lithia Creek, the creek that runs through Lithia Park. This is not the case. The water comes, from some distance, completely from the opposite direction by way of an old pipe system.

The fountain is pretty and well designed. I liked the big ceramic fountains and how the water froths up from a center spout. (This water fountain style is obviously now out of vogue due to perceived sanitary concerns. Its the same style as the Benson Bubbler water fountains in Portland, Oregon.) It was relaxing to sit in the afternoon shade and watch the foamy white water bubble and churn forth, running continuously though the fountains.

I watched tourists pass by the fountain and take sample drinks. Most people didn't like it and were confused by the purpose of the water. Kids would sip the water and turn up their noses in disgust at the baking soda-y and sulfur taste. Local homeless folk, for some reason liked to congregate around the fountain. There were other park benches but these were a particular favorite. Some of this can be ascribed to the water. Forgive me for being so forward but at least three of the indigents had some pretty apparent mental health challenges. One woman said she drank the water regularly and she lived nearby and stayed in Ashland so she could continue to drink the water. She ascribed powerful health benefits to the water and it wasn't just the lithium. I think the locals (or transient temporarily locals) found the flow of the frothy water relaxing. The water was a good back drop to smoke and chat with each other.

A local said that there was another Lithia water fountain further up in the park. The water up there was fresher and more carbonated due to the fact that it was closer to the source. I would later find out that this was completely bunk. As stated, the water is piped in, coming from the opposite direction. Bah!

On my way down I brought a case of empty 22 ounce beer bottles and a home-brew bottle capper. I filled up the bottles from a separate spout designed just for filling bottles. (It's hard to direct the water into containers from the drinking fountains.) Capping the bottles on the spot helped preserve the slight carbonation of the water.

One note: If you collect water for yourself from this spout, I recommend running it for a bit. The water in this pipe stands, unused, for a long time. 

On the return trip north I stopped off at a sushi restaurant in Ashland, had some lunch, and asked the owners if I could have two cases of empty Sapporo beer bottles. These bottles are cap-able and a good size (22 ounces, more or less). They obliged. I cleaned out the bottles in Lithia Park and loaded up with water for taking home.

I like lithia water. It's an adult sort of taste. My daughter, Greta, observed that the water tastes like blood. A weird observation maybe but it's actually pretty accurate. It might be good as a cocktail mixer. Maybe it's just the placebo effect but I feel I sleep better after drinking it and the salty taste at least gives the impression that I'm re-hydrating with electrolytes after a good soak or sauna. Who knows? Suit yourself. From now on it will be a regular stop on my drives south and returns north.

The glorious plastic wash basin, a classic form factor

Yes, I'm writing about a cheap plastic bowl. However this one deserves attention for it is the classic Asian wash basin. It relates to my experience with Alaskan saunas, world bathing and, oddly enough, composting.

Fifteen or twenty years ago plastic basins this size and shape were common in the U.S. Back then you could probably buy one at a local K-Mart or some sort of similar store but they were particularly common in Asia and Latin America. I've been looking all over for one that was just this right classic shape and size for some time now. They've become much harder to find. One finally turned up during a trip to the Asian "dollar" store, Diaso.

I didn't quite understand why this shape was so popular but then it hit me: This is a plastic version of a traditional wash basin (or in Spanish, palangana) that would sit on top of basin stand. Wash basins were once a common item that everyone knew and used. They were in homes and hotels before plumbing was taken for granted. Originally the basin was porcelain, brass or enameled metal. It was used (along with a pitcher of water) for personal hygiene: face washing, tooth brushing, shaving, et cetera in rooms with no sink or adjoining bathroom.

Many years ago, an old guy who spent time out in the bush of Alaska, informed me that these plastic basins were common in the village steambaths of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. At the time I didn't quite get it but now it makes sense: Out in the arctic bush, many folks might not have indoor plumbing so an old fashioned wash basin wouldn't be so old fashioned. It's something that would actually still get used. In southwestern Alaska the sauna is where you'd go to wash up. So, if you're used to using a wash basin, it would be a natural extension to bring it into the bathhouse. The late twentieth-century plastic version is an extra bonus since it can be tossed around the steam room (or the cooler changing/washing room) without concern of breaking.

In Alaska either some distributor probably noticed that that they sold well and kept stocking them even while they fell out of use and became forgotten in the rest of the U.S. Either that or Southwest Alaskans got them from the Asian fish processors who are a big part of the economy of this region of the state. Sometimes small villages will have a cannery or fish processing plant that is the primary employer. The plant might have their own company store. If the company is Asian-owned with Asian employees maybe some of the inventory is sourced from wholesalers in Asian instead of Seattle? This latter theory is supported by the fact that nylon scrubbing wash clothes (like the ones below) are also popular in many Alaskan steambaths. How would rural Alaskans know about these otherwise?

You can still get the scrubbing wash cloths in many Asian stores but ever since hearing this story and seeing them in use I wanted a basin for myself. This was mostly just to keep the tradition alive but I haven't been able to find any until recently when I discovered them to be well-stocked at Diaso.

Here's the label (verbatim) of the one I just bought. It's good for an "Engrish" laugh:

CAUTION
1. Do not reverse this product and use as chairs or stools.
2. Do not place it at the place which will become very hot. In particular near fire. If it is placed near fire, it may be softened and deformed.
3. If it is polished by a scrub brush or polishing powder, it may have a scratch.
4. Do not use it for other than the normal use. 

Now, it may seem weird but there is some basis for caution number 1. On a recent trip to Palace Spa, a Korean bath and sauna spa, these same type of basins were all over in the shower rooms. Traditionally the basins are used for washing while squatting  or kneeling on a stool. (Westerners don't know how to squat like normal people!) Sit, lather up, scrub like crazy and then fill the basin with water for a warm and sensual rinsing off. (If you are lucky, you have a partner to lovingly do this for and/or with you.) Palace Spa provides nice plastic stools for sitting while you clean yourself but it's conceivable that the basin might sort of work as a stool. More likely it would collapse under the weight of a body so heed the warning. If you are using a wash basin in the sauna, or near a Japanese wood-fired ofuros/bath, then there's reason to pay attention to Caution number 2 as well. 

Of course the Korean spa now has shower heads on hoses. There was a time when many Asian bathrooms and bathhouses didn't have this luxury. It was just a tub spout and a wash basin. Still the traditional method continues. The basins aren't used much but maybe they are there to reassure the older customers that the older methods carry on? I plan on writing about my visit to the Palace Spa in a future post but for now you can see our beloved basin in the middle left hand side of the photo below. There was a big stack of the basins just outside the shower area ready for a long succession of bathers. (Should have snapped a photo. Darn it!)

You can see that there are tub spouts below the shower assembly. The only way to use the spout is with this correctly-sized correct-form-factor basin! You're not going to fit a bucket in that space. The ledge is specially built for setting the basin down just under the spout for filling up. What will happen if no one manufactures this wash basin anymore. It'd be time for an expensive remodel!

Our cabin in Alaska uses a dish washing tub as an all-purpose basin but it really isn't well suited for personal hygiene. The walls are too deep and far apart. This means you need to use too much water to get your cleaning done. The bowl-shape of the wash basin is just the right shape. You don't need to fill it with too much water but there's still enough so you can cup your hands together to splash water on your face. It's just wide enough to catch splashed water too. The shape and size were well considered to serve the purpose for which is was intended. This is why a wash basin is a wash basin.

I consider the plastic dish washing tub to be the rough analog to the Asian wash basin is so far as there are numerous different manufacturers but somehow the shape and size has become standardized. You can pretty much take for granted that any given dish washing tub will fit in your kitchen sink just the same way. It's nice and predictable. Does the government have some sort of oversight of this? Doubt it but, just as I believe all jars should have the same type of lids, maybe there should be.

Still some sort of "free market" standardization took place with the plastic wash basin as well. Over the years they have become increasingly flimsy (at least the new Diaso one is pretty insubstantial with less plastic). Still they have retained a standard shape and size. This helps if you are a bathhouse and you want to stack a bunch together or need to make sure they fit under a tub spout. But it also comes into play with another odd story related to this discourse on the wash basin.

My friend Florence is a woman who has been on the earth longer than most of us. She grew up in the Willamette Valley in a house with lots of siblings. She didn't have indoor plumbing until she was a teenager. Undoubtedly she was familiar with wash basins. So much so that she'd probably consider some of my observations to be ridiculously obvious.

Florence maintains a BIG urban garden. She's been composting for a long time, long before the city encouraged it. She has a specific system for kitchen composting that I've always admired. She used a five-gallon bucket capped with, what else but, an plastic wash basin. It works great! The 5-gallon bucket is large enough to be efficient in that you don't have to constantly empty it out; it takes a while to fill up. Contrast this with the purpose-built counter-top compost pail that I use that was provided by the city of Portland. It works alright but it fills up every other day or so. Constant trips to the outside compost bin are a little annoying. Florence's probably only needs to be emptied weekly, if that.

 Her's works like so: A five-gallon bucket sits on a stool in her kitchen. A wash basin fits perfectly into the bucket as a lid. It wasn't planned that way but it's something that Florence discovered years ago. It fits so well that odors are kept out and fruit flies are kept in. Actually she usually has two wash basins stacked on top of each other sitting in the bucket. The top basin is used as a bowl for collecting scraps as she is cooking. Since its bottom is not resting inside the dirty stinky bucket, it can be placed on the kitchen counter, ready to collect scraps. Lift up the other designated "lid" basin, dump in the scraps and nest the clean basin on top of the dirty "lid" basin.

It's simply a fantastic system. I like that it re-purposes a 5-gallon bucket (another great standardized plastic container. Don't get me started!) It's also useful for big food prep projects like when Florence does her annual grape juice canning.  Florence has used the same kitchen compost system, bucket and basin, for as long as I have known her, well over 15 years.

When I was in college I used a five-gallon bucket as a kitchen compost collector. I didn't care too much then but really it was a messy disaster. It didn't work well because we didn't have a good lid for it. The original lid just didn't seal properly. My roommates became really frustrated with me when it became smelly and moldy. If only I had had the glorious plastic Asian wash basin!

Diaso and bathing culture

Diaso--the Japanese "dollar store" that is in some larger West Coast cities--isn't just a fun place to shop, it's a great window into the culture of another country. The items stocked on the shelves are a unique window into the day-to-day lives of the Japanese. And the aspect of this culture that I'm most interested in is bathing. In Japan bathing is taken very seriously. Grooming and cleanliness are important but there is also a healthy respect for bathing as a relaxing, meditative and pleasurable exercise. This is evident by the wide array of interesting, useful and unusual bathing products stocked in the store.

Last summer we took a trip to the Seattle area. Top on the list of places to visit was Diaso. Full of cheap Japanese (mostly made in China) items, most things in Diaso are priced at $1.50. There is a store in Federal Way, a city just south of Seattle. This particular Diaso is a little more difficult to find. It's smaller and perhaps more cluttered than some of their other stores but it still is a good representation of what is typical.

The Daiso experience is a dazzling array of cheap (mostly plastic) crap! (If you disagree, bare in mind this how I feel about American dollar stores too.) Still there are some useful and very affordable items for modern living. I like the nice drinking glasses and the many useful-but-different kitchen items. As with American dollar stores, there's a little bit of everything: food items, grooming, hardware, storage, et cetera. But here I want to focus on certain items related to bathing, hot tubbing, and saunas.

Scrubs! 
In Japan (and Korea) the bath, the hot relaxing soak, is really almost a post-cleaning reward to a lot of hard work of exfoliating and scrubbing yourself clean. Check out below. There's an entire section devoted to items for scrubbing your skin like crazy:

Here's the view just to the left with the more-American/European scrubs (buffs?) along with bubble baths, soaps and other bath goo.

 For the kids

And for the adults. Who doesn't like super-hard men's, number 1 level?

More soft and demure (level 4, 5 and 6). It's pink so it must be for the ladies.

I've seen these nylon wash clothes in both Korean and Japanese stores. Like sand paper, they come in different abrasive levels. They're great because they lather up well and they are long enough so you can hold them with two hands and scrub your back on your own. I love that!

In Korea gloves made of the same material are popular. We had a Korean house guest who left some of these gloves in our bath. This was how I discovered them. They can be purchased at our local Korean supermarket, H-Mart. I now use the gloves pretty regularly in our sauna, at least in the winter.

Here are bath salts for your next hot soak:

Rinsing ladles and bowls
Then there are a wide variety of ladles. These certainly aren't used for cooking. Instead there are for rinsing off during bathing.

The one in the middle (below) was a fantastic choice for my sauna for pouring water on the rocks, no plastic to melt in the heat and it's long enough so hands don't burn from the steam and water splatter when the water hits the rocks. I should have bought two!

Dr. Bronner would appreciate the heart-shaped water ladle. When washing, scrub, "always toward the heart!"

Wash Basin
This one will get a future post all to itself. Here though I just want to say that it's nice to see that Daiso is keeping the traditional wash basin alive buy continuing to stock and sell this classic.

Other stuff!

That's it for the interesting bathing items. While I'm at it though here are some pics of other cool items that caught my fancy:

 Miscellaneous plastic storage items

Bike items
They aren't the greatest but at $1.50, why not?

An umbrella holder!?

A peg for a rear axle so you can give rides to someone standing up behind you?

Handy bright and/or reflective material for safe riding.

Kahneeta Resort, What's it all about anyway?

Is Kahneeta (Kah-nee-ta) a place for the sauna and soaking enthusiast? Here's my take.

Ever since the 1980s I've been curious about Kahneeta. I used to see newspaper ads and billboards touting a miraculous sunny escape from miserable rainy winters here in Portland, Oregon. It was billed as a high-desert resort and casino. Two hours drive and you could be golfing and swimming in the sun in the middle of the winter. How the heck is this supposed to work? Is Kahneeta some Oregon Shangri-La?--a hidden valley of eternal sun and youth? Not one to go for canned vacations, golfing nor gambling I never pursued my curiosity any further.

That was until recently. A few things came together that helped me decide that maybe Kahneeta was worth a visit. I learned that part of the miracle of Kahneeta was that it is all based around a mineral hot springs. I'm all about that! Plus it's kid friendly, with two water slides in a large swimming pool. The pool and slides run all year long.

The modern incarnation of the resort was built in 1972, a casino was added in 1995. Maybe a stay would offer some campy charm and entertaining weirdness? Always in desperate need for a vacation (and jealous of all of our friends who seem to be going to Hawaii this time of year) I booked a room for the weekend. The kid could slide and swim her heart out and I could do some proper soaking.

Researching before the trip, I had difficulty getting a sense of what it was really like. The company website is serviceable but since they're making a sales pitch I didn't really trust that I was getting the big picture. I may not be alone here, so hopefully I will provide a fair and honest report about what Kahneeta is really all about from the perspective of someone who's interested in quality bathing time. We went with few expectations other than to soak in a geothermally-heated swimming pool and make some runs on the water slides.

Kahneeta is located on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. It's east of Mount Hood and the Cascade Range and therefor in high-desert country. This is where the promise of sun comes from. It may not be warm but even though it's only a short-drive from a rainy wintery Portland, the mountains tend to stop the Pacific clouds from rolling in. As my twelve-year-old daughter and friend pointed out to me during the drive in, Kahneeta is in a rain shadow desert. (They had just learned this topic in science class.)

The resort is about a 30-minute drive into the reservation off of Highway 26. The drive in off the highway is really wonderful with terrain alternating between pine forests, desert scrub and cattle grazing land and--as you descend down into the Kahneeta/Warm Springs River Valley--increasingly interesting geologic rock formations.

Aside from the golf which I don't have much interest in, there are two primary parts to the resort: As you enter, the hot springs/swimming pool area is on the right. This is referred to as "the Village." It consists of a big pool/spa/rec area with a large "L"-shaped swimming pool. Near the pool is a summer camping area with rental-able "teepees. " There's also a small set of hotel rooms and RV parking. More on this area later.

Past the pool and up along a ridge to the left is the original early-1970s resort hotel, "the Lodge." This, until recently, include a casino. The structure is positioned to utilize the topography. Built somewhat into the hillside most every room has fantastic panoramic views of the valley. Even though it is a rather large structure, with many sharp angles, it blends in well with the terrain. This is achieved through the use of neutral-looking colors similar to the landscape. I'm not a fan of modern architecture and this building is an odd blend of interpreted "Indian" and 1970s modern design. Still I found the building, and by this I would include some of the interior elements, to be rather striking. A lot of thought went into the design and surprisingly it didn't feel overly dated. Even if it's not your thing, you would probably agree that for an industrial-scale resort facility built in such a beautiful, remote and rugged setting, it could have turned out much worse.

In the Lodge a giant cement fire place is just off the lobby. The fire place effectively provides a sense of center to the establishment. Staff maintain a fire throughout the day, adding giant logs onto the andirons .

The large dining area has giant windows that look out over an amazing landscape. It features a somewhat bizarre light feature, a giant star-burst chandelier. This, in my mind, is a feature that most dates the structure. I wonder if Kahneeta has considered stock piling appropriate light bulbs for this thing? If incandescent bulbs are on their way out, these particular bulbs might actually become completely extinct in the next few years.

There is a large central courtyard with a heated swimming pool. On the same level as the pool is a fitness center. In here there's an exercise room, a small hot tub, a sauna and steam room. All of these features are rather so-so. The hot tub seems small for the size of the hotel. The sauna and steam room are also small. I was hoping that this would be a central feature of the facility. They struck me as existing mostly as token amenities, something that would be advertised as included as adjuncts to the hot springs. The sauna is small and doesn't offer features that a true enthusiast would appreciate. For example, there are no nearby showers much less a cold dunking pool. I suppose you could argue that the outdoor swimming pool serves this purpose but to get into the fitness room you need a room key, so this makes running back and forth a bit of a hassle.

Down the hill at the Village is the main feature: the giant geothermally-heated swimming pool (with water slides!) Building this must have been a formidable engineering feat. As such, it's a little sad. These natural hot springs were a destination for Native Americans for thousands or years. Given the beauty of the natural surroundings, soaking here, before it was disturbed, must have been a profound experience. Today probably very little looks the same as it did, certainly not with a miniature golf course nearby!

What were the old soaking pools like? I don't know. I looked for historic photos at Kahneeta and didn't see anything. Today there is a small structure built over what may have been part of the original springs. This is fenced off and exists to keep guests from falling into the burning hot water.

Development sucks. And what was done was drastic and cannot be undone. For starters there is a giant stone levee that was built between the swimming pool and the Warm Springs River. This required a lot of earth moving and rock. The pool and locker rooms were built to handle a lot of people. The water control and chlorination systems are complex and substantial. It's a big facility.

Here's a shot of the entry to the swimming pools:

The shower room:

Out to the pool:

So what does a soaking enthusiast get from Kahneeta? The pool water is chlorinated and warm, it's just not soaking warm. Aside from the stunning views of the valley's hillside, soaking, if you could call it that, consists of hanging out in a large sanitized (literally) American-style swimming pool. There are two jacuzzi whirlpools: one small and a larger one that is somewhat separated from the pool area. The are both acrylic tubs (which gives them a low score aesthetically) and not particularly hot.

Nearby there is a spa facility that offers massages. This facility has a sauna and a hot tub. I tried the spa's sauna and I was disappointed in the same way that the Lodge's sauna was lacking. Also, you cannot easily wander from the spa to the pool so, again, you miss out on the exquisite pleasure of dunking in waters of different temperatures. This is a good example of the weakness of the resort. It was designed by architects and engineers as a pool but they simply did not possess an appreciation for bathing as an art.

In spite of my criticisms I still love Kahneeta. There's something really great about being outside naked (well, with a swim suit) on a cold winter day and still being warm, able to enjoy the freedom of swimming and floating in water. This is especially the case because the surrounding are so beautiful. Kahneeta is rarely crowded in the winter so, except for holiday weekends. It's easy to find a section of the pool where you can float on your own. One part of the pool has a large deep-end. I like hanging out here, swimming under water.

On one trip one Sunday morning, it started snowing. There was something really magical about catching snow flakes in my mouth while floating in the pool.  On cold days and when the atmospheric conditions are just so, mist rises off the hot water of the pool. It's wonderful.

I worry for the long-term fate of Kahneeta. Recently Kahneeta closed the casino and moved it to the highway. It probably wasn't getting much gaming business anymore anyway but now it's really slow. After the casino closing, Kahneeta seems to have failed to re-configure itself back into the family resort destination it started out as originally. I had a friendly conversation with an Indian tribe member as we relaxed in one of the hot tubs by the pool. He was upset that the managers had lost sight of the 'how and why' of what the place was. Here was this fantastic natural resource, why not turn up the heat in the showers and in the pool? He thought the temperatures were kept at summer levels when it is hot outside and this reflected that the consultants didn't appreciate why people came here in the winter. And, why he mused in frustration, were the hot tubs not hot enough? What happened to Kahneeta selling itself as the sunny escape from rainy Portland? All I could do was agree.

I asked this guy about the tribe-only soaking house. Was there anything extra nice about this place or did it hold any sense of being sacred or special? He complained that the water here too was not hot enough! In spite of our grousing and observations it's important to remember that we were still enjoying ourselves, relaxing in warm water outside in the open. .

Maybe management is getting the message. Just recently I saw a new billboard advertising Kahneeta in Portland: woman in bikinis hanging out by a pool. The billboard was seen on a cold cloudy day in February! "Go Native" Now were talking.

Solar shower redo

The backyard solar shower was well over ten years old. It had served us well but it was starting to fail. Two pieces of plywood were actually not plywood but OSB or chip board. This wood which supported the glass "green house" case around the water heater had begun to sag substantially. Grape vines also had grown over the plumbing. Earlier, in cleaning up the grape vines, I accidentally yanked on them too hard, not realizing that they were wrapped about the plumbing. I broke the CPVC plastic pipes. Crap! There was no fixing this without completely rebuilding everything.

Below are some "before and after" shots of the hot water heater. I made some performance upgrades to the new system. This time I stacked the old RV hot water heater tank on 2x4s a little higher. This lifts the tank where it will be marginally warmer. Also I glued foil-backed styrofoam to the back wall. The foil should reflect light/heat back better on the tank than before when it was simply white plywood. The insulation will--of course--insulate. I also stuffed some of this insulation under the tank.

The replacement sheet glass on the top is larger now. This, I hope will provide a drip edge, shedding water away from the plywood to help preserve the green house case a little longer. We'll see.

The heater's biggest weakness remains that the tank is simply too small. There's plenty of opportunity for a larger tank to heat up. The small tank just runs out of water after one person's long shower. I searched around Craigslist for a dead small (but larger than currently in use) hot water heater that I could use but, with summer here, I lost patience. I wanted my outdoor shower to come home to when I got off work after an uphill bike ride. I now have a shower back to plunge into for sauna sessions.

One additional observation: Silicone caulk is amazing stuff. (Maybe so much so it's a little frightening.)  The sheet glass that I glued/caulked together 10 years ago is still holding up fine. In fact, as you can tell from the photos, I didn't take the glass enclosure apart really. I only removed the top piece. The silicone was so resilient that this proved to be a real challenge and I ended up cracking this sheet of glass and had to replace it. Otherwise I simply cleaned up the three glass side walls and reused them as is. Maybe I'll insulate the pipes coming out of the tank too?

Vihta, Vasta, Veynik

Over the weekend I did some neighborhood foraging for birch branches to make "whisks" for the steam. In Finland and Russia these are used during a sauna session for beating the skin to help bring blood to the surface. In Finnish they are called vihta or vasta. In Russian, largely the same thing is called veynik.

I found a set of newer birch trees that are probably more akin to the Silver Birch that is used in Finland for making vasta. These trees were recently planted and well cared for. They didn't yield too many branches. I made about four from these trees.

Nearby however, only a few blocks from our house, are a number of birch trees that really needed cutting back. I inquired with the home owner/dweller/renter if I could cut back the low-hanging branches, the ones that were in the way of the sidewalk and street and the suckers growing up around the trunks of the trees. I got the go-ahead and had a nice quiet afternoon harvesting birch. These trees were more stringy with droopy branches and also a number of the birch seed pods (not so good probably.). These were perhaps more akin to willow trees. I'm not sure what variety of birch they were. I think they will still have some of the same wonderful aromatic quality in a hot steam room but I doubt a true Finn or Russian was consider these to be the proper type of birch. They will certainly be more authentic than the rosemary twigs we have hastily bunched together for self-whipping purposes in the past. 

The final harvest:18 vasta!