Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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After much anticipation, it's a heady feeling to confidently take off the snow tires and be able to drive with the top down. We have turned on the sprinklers, and to make sure they work, I scheduled them to run last night. Success, we are ready for spring. We even had dinner outside on the deck last night. Though the last two days of sunny weather may not be more than just that: two great days, cooler temps are coming. But I'm sure the snow and sub-zero temperature are over for now, so it's...
Those words will soon be heard as the summer Olympics in Paris begin. Springtime is also the beginning of Major League Baseball with the famous words, “play ball!” As lovely as Waitsburg is, it’s not Paris or home to an MBL team. When I hear, “Let the games begin,” it’s to announce the start of Daniel’s and my garden competition. As a friend once said, “You guys don’t have a relationship; you have a competition.” She hit that nail on the head! While Daniel is at work, I have gotten a head start...
Wednesday, day three of retirement, while playing tennis, I dove for a ball at the net, returned the drop shot, scored the point, and promptly fell with a big thud. Off to the ER to find out I had multiple broken bones and an impacted fracture in my left wrist. The following day, day four of retirement, I met with the Orthopedist, and I’m scheduled for surgery February 16, to have a plate and some screws put in. My first official hardware, and hopefully, the last. I recently read an article i...
It is official: I am now one of the many retired people on the planet. Friday was my last official day of employment, and on Saturday afternoon, I began the process of becoming a Washingtonian. I had an appointment at the Walla Walla Department of Licensing (DOL) to apply for my Washington driver’s license. Last July, it took three and a half hours at the California Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) to renew my driver’s license. When I walked into the Walla Walla office, I was a bit “freaked out...
WESTERN, OR. - Blue Mountain Land Trust (BMLT) hosted a celebration party on February 8 at the Horseshoe Prairie Nordic Area Trailhead in Oregon. The event marked the opening of the Blues Crew Warming Hut and the addition of new trails, bringing the total mileage to 26 (24 ski/2 snowshoe dedicated) miles. The Blues Crew provided hot soup (the Coconut/Butternut Squash was excellent), hot chocolate, and cookies alongside a toasty fire and informative conversations about BMLT and its mission. We...
Life balance - I have that under control. Now that I am retired, I will have more time for tennis, cleaning the house, classes, dog walking, gardening, and whatever else I want or need to do. I doubt I will be bored; however, I am sure I will continue the art of procrastination when it comes to house cleaning, laundry, and organizing the attic. It’s the financial balance I need to conquer. I am proud to say I have recently started thinking about how to be more financially disciplined. This is a...
Last month's sub-zero weather was brutal, with little relief as temperatures reached a balmy 20 degrees. I was briefly ecstatic about our "not frozen" pipes. We enjoyed running water until we weren't. And, of course, that's not the least of it. The floors were a mess, with salt, ice, footprints, and pawprints. I spent endless hours sweeping, cleaning, and protecting the wood floors. I've used Murphy's Oil, Bona cleaner, and Rejuvenate formulas with towels and rags. Now, when its fridgid, I do...
DAYTON — CCHS staff proved their dedication and training on Saturday, January 13th, when sub-zero temperatures caused a single heating unit to fail, resulting in frozen pipes over a section of the hospital. Despite the challenging circumstances, the team rallied together and handled the emergency. This display of teamwork and preparedness is a testament to the dedication and training of CCHS staff. CCHS CEO Shane McGuire states, “Our team is unbelievable and dedicated. Their quick thinking and preparedness during this emergency testify to the...
In twenty days and counting, I will be officially retired. To celebrate this milestone, Daniel and I have traded places. He has unretired and is now a rural mail carrier. As usual, timing is everything, and this is not the best time to start on the rural route. Snow, icy roads, obstructed vision, and a new car with steering on the right (not correct) side have made this a challenge he probably didn’t anticipate his first week on the job. Be assured, he is strong, stubborn and a hard worker, s...
Coco Chanel advised women to “Always remove one accessory before you leave the house.” Less is more, and you achieve a more pronounced statement. My mother also had some stringent rules about what we wore, how we wore it, and where we wore it. I’m sure that because she lived in New York and had a career in the fashion industry, she was keenly aware of the importance of making an impression. She believed in the adage, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” As a result, she...
My questions are not nearly as profound as those Shakespeare wrote for Hamlet, nor do they require the deep probing for answers that Hamlet must have been seeking. Mine are on the lines of: To retire or wait? I retired! Now, I have a terrible case of “senioritis.” Not the senior citizen type, but the high school type; instead of counting down the days to graduation, I’m counting the days until I am no longer tethered to my company email and phone. How many days until February 2? Do I count...
As I've mentioned, I'm not a reflective person; I have a "man the torpedoes, full steam ahead" mentality. But it's become a tradition that I take a little stock and look back at my decision to leave sunny Southern California in December 2018 to move to snowy, cold, foggy, damp Waitsburg. So here goes, as I bravely reflect now, rather than in spring when the weather is warm, the garden is green, and the sun is shining. Since I will soon be retired, I have no excuse, "I'm too busy to do that...
I think everyone goes through periods of adjustment; some are more difficult than others. Changes to relationships, houses, careers, seasons, and aging, are never-ending, but that’s life. My mother’s parents didn’t have a great marriage and were not a great example of a good relationship. They lost a lot of money in the depression, and my grandmother’s gambling addiction became more apparent the less they could afford to lose. My mother learned early about debt, loan sharks, and straine...
My father's family is the epitome of a blended family. The "blending" began around 1939, before the description "blended" became common. The "cliff notes" version of the blend: My father's parents had two children, my father and aunt. They were young when their mother died, and their father remarried; there was one son from that marriage. Later, their father died, and their stepmother remarried a widower with three sons. All of this occurred long before my parents married. As youngsters, we all...
The other day, while Daniel and I were about to walk out onto the deck, Mugsy went a little crazy, whining and scratching at the door jam. Daniel said, “There must be a mouse or rat in the wall.” My stomach turned, not because I was afraid of rodents but because the idea of one being in the wall was upsetting. Daniel set traps in the pantry; the following day, it was trapped, snapped, and dead. Our gourmet mouse went for the brie cheese, and it paid the price. So far, it seems one and done—no tr...
Occasionally, when I sit down to write this column, I feel like I'm having a panic attack, which I attribute to writer's block. I sit at my computer and stare into space or at an empty screen. I try to force my mind to daydream, come up with ideas, or find inspiration. This time of year, it is difficult without a garden to moan or boast about. I usually wind up playing a rousing game of solitaire. A few years ago, this newspaper's editor (owner, publisher) gave me a bottle of Scotch called...
We changed the clocks last night or officially at 2:00 a.m. Does anyone set their alarm at 2 to change their clocks and watches? I know I don’t. Thank goodness most things are automatic these days. I remember days gone by when it took at least an hour to change all the clocks, the VCR (remember those?), the answering machine, and my watch. This is the time of year we gain the hour we lost in Spring. But are we gaining an hour? It will still get darker earlier; the days will feel shorter, m...
Mother Nature and I are sisters in contrary behavior. On October 19, it was 76 degrees, and I have no complaints as I enjoy this contrarian weather pattern. My Irises are blooming. I've got a new mini crop of sugar snap peas, and tomatoes just keep coming. I am cruising the highway with the top down, playing tennis on the outdoor courts, grateful for this unseasonable warmth. My behavior is less monumentally contrarian than Mother Nature's, but still off the norm. My sister complains I send birt...
Living in Waitsburg, I’ve adjusted to the fact that, for every season, there is a bug or two or more. It’s early fall, and the blue gnats are invading every bit of air space. I’m sure I’ve ingested a swarm on the tennis court this morning. While the tree bugs, aka box bugs, aka alder bugs, are invading every crevice and space possible. I find them in doorways, windowsills, under wood pilings, climbing up the vinyl siding, and anywhere they decide to land. Halloween is approaching, and at leas...
“Hitting the wall” is an expression runners use when they have exhausted themselves and can go no further. Over the years, I’ve heard this expression used for other situations; in my case, it’s work. I have “hit the wall” and written and plan to submit my resignation letter, effective December 31, 2023. Despite fears that my brain will turn to mush, I’ll be bored, have nothing to do, or will eat myself into oblivion. I am ready – I think! I remember when my father announced we were moving fro...
In the past six or seven months, I noticed that I lost the ability to read my phone without wearing my glasses. I have worn glasses for as long as I can remember. I am near-sighted in one eye and far-sighted in the other, or as my friends used to say, cockeyed. I kept this same cockeyed vision even after having cataract surgery in both eyes a few years ago. With the new blurriness, I assumed I needed new glasses. Eventually, I realized something else was happening because I saw weird lines and...
Daniel has completed the deck. The Trex is laid, the trim is finished, the furniture is back, and we are enjoying outdoor dining again. The old wood planks (some still with nails jutting out) are stacked on the side patio. Considering my propensity for tripping and falling, this is an accident waiting to happen. But hopefully, they won't be there long; there are projects in the near future. Daniel has a list of uses to recycle most, if not all, the planks. Of course, first, it will require...
Each spring, I learn a bit more about what and where to plant and what and where not to. This year was no different, a continuation of lessons. This April, before he left for Europe, Daniel built a PVC trellis in one of the raised beds to train cucumbers and tomatoes to grow vertically instead of spreading all over the ground. This way, Mugsy won’t be able to pee on them, and clumsy me won’t slip on mushy vegetables. As usual, timing was not on our side. The day before I left to meet Daniel in...
The deck that extends from our back door is in dire need of repair. Initially, I had a contractor build it out of pine and leave the finishing to us. Daniel was sure it didn’t need to be sanded, as was suggested, before using just two coats of deck paint to seal and protect the deck. Over time (four years,) the paint has peeled, and the wood has become chipped and splintered. It’s time to repair. We decided to replace the pine with Trex decking, the material we used on our pergola. It req...
I returned from Europe earlier than Daniel, and I couldn’t wait to see the garden’s progress (or lack thereof). I was greeted with a few ripe tomatoes, two lemon cucumbers, onions, a few tiny crookneck squashes, about ten heads of cabbage, and weeds beyond what I could imagine. The first evening home, I picked the tomatoes and cucumbers, then called it a day; the weeds aren’t going anywhere. When I left for Europe, there were two little crook neck squashes about four inches long, growing as sl...
