Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Honestly, I have no legitimate excuse for not having returned. The experience still calls like a siren song playing softly in the background. Snow-capped peaks and glaciers. Expansive vistas of low-country lakes surrounded by ghostly granite, golden grasses, and solemn conifers. Hot springs and chaparral scrublands. Mountain quail. And honest-to-God golden trout. The jewel of California's Sierra Nevada Range. It was a bucket-list trip. One I had dreamed of for how many years, I am unsure. We had...
Spring seems to have sprung, and I’m cautiously optimistic but not totally convinced winter is over. I see the rhubarb peeking out from the dirt, daffodils look like asparagus about to open, and even my chives are about five inches tall. Yet, I’m not convinced, and with good reason, I have a photo I took last year of a vase of daffodils on a snow-covered patio table on our deck. This is my third spring here, so I am no longer a total newbie. Therefore, I believe I have enough authority to ren...
Every year, spring sneaks up on me. February plunks along at a snail's pace, we get a few feet of snow, and I think there is plenty of time yet before spring. Then the snow melts off, and the yellow crocus are in full bloom less than a week later, and I realize I'm already behind. Every year never fails. Word to the wise; if you're planning on growing some of your veggies from seed this year, you better purchase those seeds quickly. A somewhat positive trend from the pandemic is a huge surge in...
Glimpses of white flashed through the heavy sagebrush as Finn dashed across the scablands. Hungarian partridge and valley quail hunkered somewhere among the sage sea, and she was working her best to locate them. A carpet of spent grasses and forbs provided ample food sources for upland birds, which were inexplicably absent from the flood-scared landscape. Circling a small basalt butte, I recalled the last flash of white being off to the left about 30-yards. Starting in that direction, my...
I am mortified, as the daughter of a plumber, that it didn’t occur to me that watching the toilet in our newly remodeled bathroom slowly sinking to one side, was an obvious sign that it was out of plumb. The first clue that we had a problem should have been when I put a box of tissues on top of the tank and it ceremoniously slid off. The second clue was noticing the floor felt spongy as I reached to retrieve the tissues. Tilting toilet and a spongy floor, any observant person would have r...
The Times published many valentines in the February 11, 2021 issue. However, we only got one "response" valentine and thought we would share it....
It’s February, and you know what that means: Spring is just around the corner, yet cabin fever is still at the door. Although the winter weather can be questionable, now is the time to prioritize your fruit trees and get them ready for the year ahead. You might be thinking, “I can’t have fruit trees! How am I supposed to grow an orchard?” Here’s the thing, never has growing your own fruit been easier. There are countless options for self-pollinating varieties, dwarf options that will never need a ladder to manage, and even varieties you could...
My father always reminded us that “man proposes, life disposes,” or, as John Lennon so articulately reminded us: “Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans.” When Daniel decided to move here last March, we each had plans. His was buying tools for home repairs; mine was “date weekends,” opera and museums in Seattle, Walla Walla Symphony, the Chamber Music Festival, Willamette Valley wine tasting, Los Angeles trips to scope out trendy new restaurants, and tennis with my friends. But,...
When I was in my teens, I was adamant that I would not become my mother. Of course, as I matured, I realized that I would be lucky to be more like her. However, I think life played a joke on me and skipped a generation; instead of my mother, unfortunately, I may have become my grandfather. I weighed myself this morning and noticed I gained three pounds. I decided to move the scale an inch to one side, and I lost one pound, so then another side, a little in front, and boom! Three pounds down. I s...
WALLA WALLA-While Fort Walla Walla Museum may still be closed, their online programs will continue with the first Museum After Hours presentation of the year. On Thursday, February 25, geologist Bob Carson will be discussing the various regions found in Southeast Washington and Northeast Oregon. It will take place on Zoom at 5 pm, with a live Q & A session to follow. The talk will address the factors that influence the region's physiography and biology, the different habitats they create, the re...
Recently I have been watching a number of sports-related movies. I’m not sure if it’s because I miss going to games (baseball and basketball especially), or I’m trying to get excited about the Superbowl. But even the anticipation and hype for the clever commercials and extravagant half time show hasn’t sparked my enthusiasm this year for the big game. However, one movie, in particular, has been on my mind recently. Oddly, I admit, with some trepidation, that as much as I like baseball, this is...
The death of Hank Aaron this week, although sad, stirred up some fun family memories for me. Baseball was a big deal in our family. My father was born and raised in the Bronx, so there was no doubt he was a rabid Yankees fan. With their Murderer's row, Pee Wee Reese, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris, who wouldn't be. My mother for one! Her family lived in Brooklyn, so naturally, they loved "dem bums," the Brooklyn Dodgers' well-earned nickname. My Uncle and Aunt were such devoted Dodger fans that...
Now in the heart of winter in the Blue Mountains, the days are short and wet in the wheat country and snowy in the higher timber. Aside from the usual chores neglected over autumn and the holiday season, staying active is important to ward off the suffocating clutches of cabin fever and depression in our short and sometimes foggy days of the early calendar year. Of the myriad ways to entertain oneself, the most popular outdoor activities are rather obvious. Ski Bluewood is a prime option. But...
My “office” is a built-in desk located in an alcove upstairs in what is now our master bedroom. Next to our library, gym, and my staging area for Zoom business meetings, it’s a cozy little space. Zoom cocktail parties work on the couch or at the dining room table; but, when I have a Zoom business meeting, I strategically place the computer on a table in the library with our over-flowing bookshelves as a backdrop. Just like TV news reporters and politicians, it provides a perception of intel...
I am confident that Daniel and I, like most people (and dogs), have daily routines. Ours usually start with Daniel making his tea while I let Mugsy out the back door to bark at the squirrels he perceives to be in our neighbor’s tree. Then I feed Mugsy and make my coffee. With those rituals out of the way, Daniel usually starts our morning conversation with, “what are we eating tonight?” My response is typically an eye-roll, followed by “can I have my coffee first?” He then heads off to his mu...
My grandmother taught me the basic knit and purl stitches when I was eight years old. However, she didn’t teach me how to start or end anything. I just made odd rectangles with no rhyme or reason. Eventually, I got bored and gave up knitting; we moved on to gin rummy instead. Growing up in New York, girls were required to take Home Economics. I loved the cooking, hated the sewing. I am a terrible seamstress, as opposed to my sister, who is an amazing one. With her need for precision coupled with... Full story
It’s hard to believe; this is the third Christmas I have celebrated in Waitsburg. The first was exactly seven days after I moved here. Christmas week, I was a guest at a birthday party and invited to a New Year’s Day brunch/open house. I knew I had arrived, and Waitsburg was perfect. And that winter, I proudly survived what new neighbors proclaimed to be the snowiest and coldest winter in 15 years. Last year, my second December here was also memorable, although not for the snow. Daniel vis...
Classic red barns stand out against winter blue skies and white dashes of snow. Soon, they will be complemented with lush greens of an eastern Washington spring.... Full story
Recent declines in salmon and steelhead survival across the Pacific Basin have been documented since approximately 2013 and affecting all stocks in dammed and undammed systems. An ocean "dead zone," or hypoxic, warm water mass, heavy with algae blooms, plays a significant role in the ocean rearing component of these fishes' life history. Declines in winter steelhead populations spurred a need for emergency adaptive management among the coastal fisheries in Washington's Olympic Peninsula.... Full story
I assume I’m not the only one ready to bid good riddance to 2020, am I? Ever the optimist, I am cautiously hopeful that 2021 will be a good or at least better year. And since it was an unusual year, I am going to do something unusual for me. I am going to be reflective for a change. Although maybe it’s just a way to reinforce 2020 is over! Daniel and I reconciled, then he moved here in March. This adjustment to my 10-year single life coincided with the pandemic and lock-down. Togetherness sud... Full story
Dec. 16 fresh fallen snow snowshoeing along Umatilla Rim Trail Rode it back in summer Getting spectacularly happily lost. Walked it with Stuart Carrying a ladder To nail blue diamonds as high on trunks as we could. Seeing those diamonds today Was remembering forgotten favors of friends, A physical comfort In our fragile world, Old maps and their ideas almost unrecognizable. Looking across a pristine meadow of silent untouched snow, No steps of anyone having come this way before me, And seeing... Full story
Twelve miles up and out of the Touchet Valley, I sat down with friends Robert and Janet Phinney to discover we have more in common than I might have thought. I'm a musician; the Phinney's are equestrians. Spend a little time with them, and you'll realize they are philosophers. In life, all things really are connected. Their ranch in the Blues' foothills is populated with evergreens and five quarter horses: Madison, Ruby, Annie, Jasper, and Cholo. Alongside the log cabin Robert designed, a...
We are back in Los Angeles for more doctor visits, tests, and procedures, and we are the healthy ones! Los Angeles is supposedly in COVID-19 lockdown. However, we have been in bumper to bumper traffic more than once, which is frustrating since restaurants aren’t open, except for take-out or delivery. We are relegated to eating grocery store food in our room. It’s Friday, and we’ve been here since Monday, so needless to say, eating in the room has gotten old. We have tons of trash every day....
Tom and I met in 1973 at a summer poolside "Hoagie Happening" party in Redmond. At the time, I was a crafter at Pike Place Market in Seattle, making sand candles. Tom's praises boosted my confidence in my craft – however, that did not translate into sales. As Christmas time approached, Tom invited me to his family's Christmas Eve dinner. I wanted to make a good impression on Tom's parents. I remembered my etiquette to bring a hostess gift, wore the new green dress that I bought at Sears, and w...
As is the theme of the year, the holidays look a little different from what I'm used to. While I have to admit that it was strange not having my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins around, I think I was okay with it for a year. Keeping our celebration to our little pod, Mom, Dad, and I headed to the family cabin near Newport for a couple of days. It's a perfect holiday spot, overlooking a private lake and far enough north that everything was covered in snow. I even had a custom sledding hil...
