The Good Life August 2020

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Contents

Our Land, Our Water, Our Future

page 14

OPENING HER ARMS TO THE MOUNTAINS

Features

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kicked!

Susan Lagsdin set out on a peaceful back country horseback ride... but her ride out was in a medical evacuation helicopter

10 Julie’s excellent urban adventure

Once known as the ultimate street walker in her native California town, Julie Campos is walking every street in East Wenatchee

12 LAWN GONE, GARDEN ARISING

The neighbors noticed when Danielle and Frank Harris ripped out their lawn and went all in on a garden

Thank you to our supporters who make it possible to be surrounded by natural places that restore us and bring us comfort during troubled times.

14 ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAINS

This summer of COVID-19 and chaos had Kristen Lovene McCamey hiking... and hiking... and hiking in search of serenity

18 TAKING the fast boat to stehekin

Linda and Ken Reid returned uplake to find some changes — but the same natural beauty

20 fostering kittens

Rather than take home every over-looked cat at the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society’s shelter, Wrenna Davidson found a better way to help the animals she loved

We engage communities in conserving, caring for, and accessing the natural lands and waters that sustain North Central Washington.

PROTECTING THE PLACES YOU LOVE!

23 Phil’s lake house

What was originally a dump has turned into a fixture in their lives — after decades of remodeling

26 CHASING THE MILKY WAY... and a comet

Peter Bauer Photography

Looking upward for inspiration

Columns & Departments 6 A bird in the lens: Is that a drunken robin?

28 June Darling: Growing stronger in tough times 29 The traveling doctor: When does a person become old?

30 Pet Tales: Oliver in a bow tie 31 Calendar & a Dan McConnell cartoon 32 History: This chief believed the white man’s promises 34 That’s life: In hot water living off the grid August 2020 | The Good Life

Find out more, and join us!

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OPENING SHOT

®

Year 14, Number 8 August 2020 The Good Life is published by NCW Good Life, LLC, dba The Good Life 1107 East Denny Way, Apt. B-7 Seattle, WA 98122 PHONE: (509) 888-6527 EMAIL: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

sales@ncwgoodlife.com ONLINE: www.ncwgoodlife.com FACEBOOK: https://www. facebook.com/NCWGoodLife Editor/Publisher, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Julie Campos, Mary Bean, Kristen Lovene McCamey, Kyle Christensen, Linda Reid, Ken Reid, Wrenna Davidson, Phil Roddy, Marilyn Sherling, Carolyn Black, Bruce McCammon, Donna Cassidy, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, Susan Lagsdin and Rod Molzahn Advertising: Lianne Taylor Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Proofing, Dianne Cornell Ad design, Linda Day

School is Out, Summer Begins, second place, oil painting by Sasha Syssoeva.

TO SUBSCRIBE: For $25, ($30 out of state address) you can have 12 issues of The Good Life mailed to you or a friend. Send payment to: The Good Life subscription services 1107 East Denny Way, Apt. B-7 Seattle, WA 98122

Open air painting in the time of sheltering at home

For circulation questions, email: donna@ncwgoodlife.com

By Jan Theriault

EVENTS: donna@ncwgoodlife.com BUY A COPY of The Good Life at Safeway stores, Mike’s Meats at Pybus, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere) and Dan’s Food Market (Leavenworth) ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact Lianne Taylor at (509) 6696556 or lianne@ncwgoodlife.com WRITE FOR THE GOOD LIFE: We welcome articles about people from Chelan and Douglas counties.

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by NCW Good Life, LLC.

O

nce each year artists in the area are challenged by Two Rivers Gallery to paint outdoors and to paint a subject we may all recognize.

This year was different as we have been encouraged to stay at home due to the pandemic. The goal was to paint something in your yard.

Willie Kunkel chose to paint a motorcycle sitting in his yard and that won him first place and $200.

Willie is a self taught artist and is his first time entering the contest. He is graduating from nursing school at Wenatchee Valley College in August hoping to be hired at a large hospital.

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First place, acrylic painting by Willie Kunkel.

Third place, acrylic painting by Brad Brisbine.

Coming in second place is Sasha Syssoeva who painted School is Out, Summer Begins.

This is the second year that she has won the $100 prize.

Sasha learned oil painting in Russia and WVC. Brad Brisbine chose to paint a fountain in his back yard that won him a Third Place, $50

prize. Brad has participated in the Paint-Out every year and has often been in the top three.

He is a well known painter and architect of the Pybus Market and other local businesses.

Two Rivers Gallery is now open and showing the artworks of many local and regional artists.

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August 2020

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column a bird in the lens

Black-headed Grosbeak — is that a drunken Robin?

By Bruce McCammon

That’s no Robin — it’s a Black-headed Grosbeak. What a great find.

Imagine you are sitting in

your car on the side of the road near a forested stand of mixed trees and shrubs.

You scan the area for the bird you are hearing call.

The call got your attention because it sounds like an American Robin but something just seems a bit off. It sounds a bit like a drunken Robin.

Bruce McCammon Have they is retired, colorbeen eating blind and enjoys too many ber- photographing the birds in north cenries? tral Washington.

Motion catches your eye and you raise your binoculars to look closely. That’s no Robin — it’s a Black-headed Grosbeak. What a great find.

Black-headed Grosbeak winter in the tropical lowlands of Mexico but spread throughout the western United States to breed.

You won’t find them in the shrub-steppe unless you run into a forested area. Aspen

Black-headed Grosbeak — after wintering in Mexico, they spread throughout the Western U.S. to breed.

For more information visit wenatcheevalleymuseum.org

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stands and cottonwoods may draw the Grosbeak to the area.

Mostly, though, these Robin sized (seven to eight-inch) birds are looking for berries. They won’t hesitate to grab a hardbodied beetle, bees, spiders or snails.

Believe it or not, the Blackheaded Grosbeak is one bird that will actually eat the typically toxic Monarch butterfly.

Given the vulnerable status of the western Monarchs, I’m hoping the Grosbeak cut them slack. www.ncwgoodlife.com

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August 2020

They will also eat the berries of poison oak. Their digestive system must be a very interesting and hardy place.

The stout beak on these birds is well adapted to breaking sunflower seeds so it is very possible to see them come to your backyard feeders. They will eat directly from the feeder or pick up seeds from the ground.

If you live near a forested area with a diverse understory of smaller trees and shrubs, you should expect to see Black-headed Grosbeak.

We’ve seen them in our yard in Wenatchee and many other places along our foothills and forests. Around Wenatchee, Number Two Canyon and the Squilchuck area are great places to look for them.

Like so many other wild creatures, the Black-headed Grosbeak is susceptible to changes in our climate.

The Audubon Society estimates that a change of +2 degrees Centigrade would result in a loss in the range of these birds. A 3-degree change could result in a 45 percent reduction in their range.

We are fortunate to see them in north central Washington and should take every opportunity to appreciate them and the other birds that live in or visit our area.

Remember to take your camera and binoculars when you head out for a drive.

If you hear a slightly tipsy Robin singing, stop and look carefully. It may be a Blackheaded Grosbeak. Good luck.

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editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

Feeling down?

Look around B

ack in the day when I was at another publication and I had reporters working for me, I would suggest that when they ran out of stuff to do at their desks, they go out and drive around the community.

The best stories often come from just looking around.

That’s exactly what Mary Bean did in the past year, who saw her neighbors hard at work.

“My name is Mary,” she wrote us in a recent email, “and I would like to submit an article for publication in your magazine.

“It is about a local couple who have put their energy into turning their urban yard into a huge organic garden. The feat of clearing the property, moving rocks (lots of rocks), building raised beds, rock walls and installing fencing is impressive (as they grow) their own food organically.”

Sounds like a fun story for us, we said — as we remember all the wasted weekends weeding, moving and edging our own yards in a never-ending fight for the perfect patch of green.

Check out Mary’s story about the “garden of eatin’” on page 12.

Julie Campos has perhaps taken getting out in her community to the extreme — she has set a goal to walk every street in East Wenatchee.

Walking is an eye-opening sport, as a person has time to actually notice their surroundings. “Look at that flower, what’s that in their front yard, I wonder what kind of bird that is?”

Julie reminded us that, “During the 1870s and 1880s, America’s most popular spectator sport was competitive walking,

known as pedestrianism.”

Life is short and can be over too soon. Walking allows us to slow down and actually appreciate the wonders around us.

Marilyn Sherling has taken looking around to the extreme — she enjoys photographing the night skies. Maybe it’s because she grew up in urban southern California where she could barely see stars at night, but now she loves driving to remote locations where the beauty of the night sky is revealed.

We are publishing a couple of her photos on pages 26 and 27.

Sometimes, due to the printing process, starry night photos

don’t always print well. I can’t tell ahead of time what will happen when the press gets these photos — I hope the stars will shine on the page — but you can see them in all of their glory on our website: www.ncwgoodlife. com.

And finally, getting out and looking around is exactly what Kristen Lovene McCamey has been doing.

“For the last couple months,” Kristen wrote to us, “to keep my health and sanity through hard times, I have been embarking on three to four hikes per week. It’s my seasonal obsession.

“Last month I was able to clock in 150 miles of hiking. So that was pretty exciting and a big achievement for me.

“I try to encourage my friends and family to go with me as well. I’ve also started painting ‘hike rocks’ with people symbols, messages and pictures on them and leaving them at the tops of each hike. Under the rock, I have put a hashtag

(#allingoodclimb) that people can tag with a photo of the rock on Instagram. I’m excited to see where these rocks end up.

“I reach out to you because I was able to capture some truly amazing photos on some of these hikes. Would these photos be of any interest to you?”

Yes, Kristen, the photos are indeed of interest to us.

Check out the results starting on page 14.

My wife and I have decided recently to quit watching television news. Every report just filled us with dread.

Instead, we are taking more walks, working on our own projects where our hands and imaginations can make our tiny world better, and spending more time with our family where we hear lots of laughter of little children.

Get out, and — at a safe distance — look around more at your world. Enjoy The Good Life.

— Mike

GRATEFUL. For Our Patients. For The Communities We Serve.

Grateful for the Opportunity to Serve.

We are Grateful for the trust our community puts in us with the things that matter most in life—family and friends.

We are Grateful each day for the opportunity to improve the health and quality of life of our friends and neighbors. It’s the daily encounters with members of our community that mean the most.

We are Grateful | We are Confluence Health

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7

Kicked!

A perfect day for a horseback ride explodes into a backcountry emergency

By Susan Lagsdin (On April 29, 2020, I suffered not one, but four, traumatic injuries on what was supposed to be an easy trail ride on my horse.

I was slam-dunked into a twilight world of double quarantine during hospitalization and rehabilitation that made a laughable inconvenience of the previous eight weeks of Covid-19s’ “sheltering in place.” This article is part one of that long and ongoing adventure.)

The Ride.

It was a perfect morning for horseback riding in the Methow: cool, quiet, with light cloud cover and no rain forecast. My friend Carolyn Bronson and I trailered up to Elbow Coulee Road, midway between Twisp and Winthrop, to take a welldefined route leading to the south end of the Sun Mountain trail system.

Carolyn rode her Quarter Horse gelding, Prince, and I rode, as I had for 18 years, my sturdy little half-Arab mare, Stella.

As we had before on dozens of rides, we readied the horses in friendly silence, checking cinches and saddlebags.

I generally ride with longtime friends on familiar trails, with no racing or jumping, only occasionally bushwacking or trying tricky terrain.

We joke that a good ride is one with no adventures, more like an extended scenic hike to the imagined sound track of How The West Was Won.

The Good Life feature writer and wilderness horseback rider Susan Lagsdin is recovering at home in East Wenatchee.

We travel light for our short rides, with just a few essentials.

That day, as always, I wore a helmet and carried a cell phone but also packed, among a few other trail-wise items, a Stihl folding hand saw for cutting branches that sometimes fell across the trail.

Strong winds earlier that week presented us with a little downed timber, all small enough to step over or easy to bypass.

Twenty minutes up the trail, however, we were blocked by a fallen fir tree with no detours to the side and some vertical limbs that could be easily leveled. I fetched my saw and within five minutes cut off the few small branches while Carolyn held the horses.

I returned to re-pack my saw in the saddlebag, and that’s when an (im)perfect storm of circumstances changed my life for worse and for better.

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Stella in corral. Photo by Terry Dixon

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August 2020

Yes, I rode that day with a friend. Yes, we have a rescue service. Yes, there’s cell phone coverage at the county road. Yes, I was conscious and could move all my limbs and my head. Yes, I’d banked 70 years of almost flawless good health and a gymstrong body to boot. And, no, I hadn’t been kicked in the head, heart, belly, face or spine.

The Rescue.

After that I only remember a blur of cheerful voices, a few EMT jokes and the capable hands of Ruth Payne, Ian Ross and their supervisor Brad Scharnickel swiftly cutting away pants and boot, positioning my limbs, inserting an IV and cocooning me in a blanket as they readied me for extraction and transport.

That meant a loud but surprisingly comfortable ride down the hill to a Life Flight helicopter already waiting for us at the roadside meadow. With the EMT’s ministrations, I was blissfully unaware of time and distance but heard later that it was a smooth trip to the rooftop of Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee.

Flawless collaboration simplified that chaotic afternoon.

A passerby, Michael Dunn, hiked up and volunteered to lead Stella back to the road. And while I was semi-conscious, a series of texts and phone calls, long drives and creative problem-solving from my spouse Mike and Twisp friends Steve and Terry Dixon got my truck, trailer and horse back home to East Wenatchee.

I’m quite sure I didn’t make any rider error mistakes in those crucial few minutes before the wreck, and the gentle mare I’d fine-tuned over the years is innocent.

The accident may have been caused by Stella’s position close to the male horse, some unnoticed bickering between them, or maybe a startle reaction.

I also feel no recriminations like “Why didn’t I…?” or “If only I had…,” and for me any bigger cosmic “Why” absolutely defies contemplation.

That acceptance helped me in the next months, where I had just enough time to heal my broken bones and probably too much time to think.

The next hour worked as smoothly as clockwork only better, with memorable moments of help and comfort abounding.

My pain was oddly distant — shock had probably pre-empted those receptors. Carolyn made me secure with her raincoat for a blanket and a stone for a head pillow. She took my phone, tied Stella to a tree and led her own horse down to the trailhead, redialing 911 as she ran.

Me? I watched the trail and stayed still and peaceful, not knowing how long I might be there alone.

I sang a little, wiggled all 20 digits for reassurance and eased myself by pre-playing the next necessary steps coming up, realizing too that I might not take any literal steps for a long while.

TOP: From !eft: Jennifer, Ruth, Ian and Brad worked with good cheer and The first bright moment was calmness to swiftly stabilize Susan (seen somewhat flat on the ground). a lone voice about 20 minutes ABOVE: AeroMethow’s ATV and the Life Flight’s helicopter made this mounlater, ringing out from the tain rescue possible. woods: “Susan, I’ve come to help The Wreck. time — added the coup de grace you!” Jennifer Schumacher, on

and stomped on the outside of a picnic hike with her kids, had If you’ve ever cut firewood, you my left knee. met Carolyn on the trail. know the sound and the con(The damage was 12 separate I envisioned an angel with cussion of sledge on log. That’s bone fractures and three torn wings: she was also an off-duty what I heard and felt, twice: two ligaments, and surgeons operAero Methow Rescue EMT carcracking explosions of pain as ated on them for a total of 11 rying both a first aid kit and a I passed behind Stella and she hours. But that’s another story...) satellite phone. Jennifer expertly did a fast and furious double-tap Stella is small, only 14.1 hands bolstered my fetal-positioned with one hind hoof. and 900 pounds and, thank body with hers for maximum The first kick landed on my goodness, barefoot, with no comfort and, though strangers, right leg. I remember bellowing metal horseshoes. She’d never we chatted like old girlfriends. with the shock, and I must have twitched a leg in all the times I’d More help was on the way. spun and dropped, because the groomed and handled her, but Soon we heard the much-ansecond kick landed on my back, in those two seconds her sudden ticipated rattle of a chain saw, at my left shoulder. instinct was to kick out hard, courtesy of Okanogan Search In the hubbub after I shouted twice. and Rescue, cutting through Want the rest of the story? from the ground and Carolyn I knew instantly that my the last of the downed timber to Read “Part Two: Reconstruction hurried toward me, one of the injuries were very bad, but I also allow Aero Methow’s all-terrain and Recovery” in your September horses — I’ll choose Prince this knew some positive things. vehicle a safe route to my rescue. issue of The Good Life.

August 2020 | The Good Life

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9

Julie’s excellent urban adventure

The sun has barely come up and already Julie Campos is walking up the last hill before home. Photo by Juan Campos

A

By Julie Campos

long with my husband Juan, I’ve participated in marathons on all seven continents.

I was an avid runner. I describe myself as a “late-in-life” athlete as I didn’t take up distance running until my mid-40s.

When my knees could no longer take the pounding from running, I re-invented myself into a fitness walking junkie.

I walk for no deep, soulsearching philosophical reason other than I can. It’s also cheaper than therapy.

Walking the Apple Capital Loop Trail daily on both sides of the Columbia River since moving here in May 2019 has been my venue of choice. As wonderful as this area is, I wanted to shake up my routine so I decided to do something challenging, yet familiar.

Because I can, I am doing an urban jungle journey by walking every street within the East Wenatchee city limits including

I have walked every street in my former hometown of Lompoc, CA. In doing so, I acquired the dubious label of being Lompoc’s ultimate streetwalker. those outside the limits, just to discover all that East Wenatchee may have to offer.

I am no stranger to this kind of project.

I have walked every street in my former hometown of Lompoc, CA. In doing so, I acquired the dubious label of being Lompoc’s ultimate street-walker.

(I also walked every street in Thorne Bay, Alaska. We go fishing each year in Thorne Bay. When my husband and his friends go out in the skiff, I go

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walking where my only worries are bear encounters.)

With the pandemic, I am doing my trek despite the Stay Home Stay Healthy directive.

Physical distancing has not been an issue since I am by myself.

Have you seen a street map of East Wenatchee? It’s an amazing mash-up of how the streets are laid out, so navigating the city was going to be one challenge.

Of course, the map doesn’t show elevation gains and losses — which are seriously significant in this town.

Preparations for my daily journey start the night before when I consult the map.

On a Xeroxed copy of some portion of the map, I mark off a relatively logical proposed route or plot a course based from someone’s yard sale, (which seems to be a popular weekend pastime in this area).

I carry this with me for reference, along with water, a face covering, my phone (for emergency use only), and a Road ID attached to my shoe. My activ-

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August 2020

ity is all tracked on my Garmin Forerunner 35 watch.

I am up before dawn to do 15 minutes of Yoga for Walkers stretches, have breakfast, feed the dog, and to witness the awesome sunrise. With all the chaos these days, I enjoy the early morning quiet.

I am out the door shortly afterwards and drive to the start line.

I walk about 4 mph — not too fast, not too slow — just the right pace to enjoy my surroundings. This is my Happy Hour.

Naturally, the snow-tipped Cascades are often in my line of sight. Most walks are through ordinary neighborhoods; some not-so-ordinary (where I saw a horse and steer in someone’s yard). Some were rural, passing by fruit orchards of cherry, pear, apple, peach, apricot trees — and yes, I am guilty of taking fallen fruit. This can be hard work and I get hungry.

I have passed fields of sunflowers straight out of the Tour de France, and the impressive va-

The change in my walking routine gave me a new perspective on my new hometown — during all four seasons, this area is truly some-kindof-wonderful. riety of birds. I have never seen so many Canadian geese (which could have made for an interesting experience when hundreds have taken flight over me and my only thought is “when did they last eat?), or ducks and the six trumpeter swans I saw recently.

And Oh Deer! Deer at 19th and Eastmont. Some other little surprises included curb-side libraries and a yard full of handmade birdhouses that were for sale.

Not sure if any were occupied.

The view from the Fancher Heights neighborhood was amazing.

The only concern I had for my safety was when I once encountered two loose chihuahuas and

the few times I had no choice but to walk on Sunset Highway.

At the end of each walk, the streets on my map are highlighted and updated so I can check my progress throughout my trek.

The map essentially is my diary documenting my journey.

The change in my walking routine gave me a new perspective on my new hometown — during all four seasons, this area is truly some-kind-of-wonderful.

And yes, I had an excellent urban adventure. And yes, I grumbled to my husband after every walk about the relentless hills. (He told me it’s a hill — get over it. Get it?) This town is like a roller coaster ride that you’re walking.

How do I keep motivated? My mantra is Get Up! Get Dressed!

Get Going!

Also, a side benefit through my husband’s employer is a wellness program that pays $250 (yearly) when fitness/healthrelated goals are met.

I participate in local and not-so-local running events (distances varying from 5Ks to marathons) competing against runners in my age group and generally placing. Run

Wenatchee encourages walkers to join Run Club and supports participation in their events.

Domestic and international travels are planned around running events.

A few highlights from walking marathons included participating in the Athens Classic Marathon the year of the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon. I retraced the tracks of Pheidippides from Marathon to Athens. I, however, did not drop dead.

Another incredible moment for both myself and my husband occurred when we were interviewed on ESPN Latin America the day prior to the Galapagos Marathon, which was held on San Cristobal Island.

Do I have a walking “streak” going? I can’t remember missing a day in years that I haven’t run or walked at least a mile regardless of the weather or life or travels.

Plenty of articles about the health benefits of walking have been published, but there is so much to see and experience traveling on foot — putting one foot in front of the other — just one step at a time. This is The Good Life.

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11

Lawn gone, now garden of eatin’

By Mary Bean

While some of us spent this spring

devouring YouTube videos, watching Netflix non-stop and doing far too much online shopping and eating, Danielle and Frank Harris found a way to get outside, get lots of exercise and build something for the future.

When the pandemic hit, Danielle and Frank decided to keep busy — very busy.

But let’s start with last summer. Not long after they bought a house down the street, I noticed four new wooden raised garden beds on the property where the former owner had parked his RV and maintained a lawn.

Next, there were black drip hoses weaving among the boxes and newly installed trellises.

I watched throughout the summer as seeds turned to sprouts, that in turn became vegetable plants.

By the end of the summer the plants were heavy with the fruits of their labor, then in fall, the soil was turned and the beds “put to bed” for the winter.

So, what happened this year?

“We really didn’t plan on expanding the garden this year. It just worked out that way.” Danielle Harris explained. “I was sort of out of work when the COVID lockdown happened. We’d done a lot of work in the house over the winter and it was so good to finally do something outside.”

That “something” got the whole neighborhood’s attention. Each time I walked my dog past their house, the pile of trees and shrubs they were removing from the property grew exponentially higher.

When there was no longer any vegetation on the south side of their lot, Danielle and Frank could be seen taking down the existing retaining wall, one big basalt rock at a time.

Almost overnight it seemed, a new retaining wall appeared — much more robust and neatly stacked — in their preferred location.

Next came a monster mound of gravel that later was spread on walkways between 11 beds, and finally a fence surrounded it all, to

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Frank and Danielle Harris are proud of their backyard bounty.

keep out hungry deer.

By now, the neighbors were curious and started deliberately steering their walks past the Harris’ house.

“It was really nice,” Danielle said. “Everyone was out on their walks around the community and they got to see us dig out the plants, take down the retaining wall, put up the new one, put in the beds. It was fun that everyone could be a part of it. One day I saw someone walk down from their cul-de-sac just to look at the garden, then turn around and go home.”

I caught Danielle working in the garden as I walked by one day and asked her if she and Frank would be willing to share their story.

The mere feat of clearing the lot and lugging | The Good Life

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rocks had impressed me, and now I was gazing at 11 raised beds, overflowing with green.

I assumed they had been gardeners for years.

Actually, that was not the case at all.

Frank described their very first experience gardening at their previous place in Wenatchee — a rental that had a tiny plot of earth.

“We planted two tomato plants, two pepper plants, a pea plant that died really quick and a watermelon that never came up.”

Danielle laughed good-naturedly and added, “Yeah, so we basically watered a lot of things but didn’t get much to show for it… but we got interested in it.”

Their experience last summer proved much more fruitful, “It went pretty darn

August 2020

well last year,” Danielle of it. That’s why we made beamed. “Lots of learnthe little watercolor ing.” signs, so they could know “And how did you learn what was growing and how to do this?” I asked. keep track of it.”

“We spent a lot of time In addition to the researching on the intergarden, I was curious to net,” Frank replied. know how their life is “But we learned most by different now than when just trying something and they lived in Seattle, then doing a lot of observwhere Danielle finished ing,” Danielle added. dental school and Frank Observing is how they worked (and continues to have managed to meet work) for Amazon. their biggest gardening “It’s slower,” Frank said. challenge: bugs. “We use “And cleaner. “We moved soap and neem oil, but here to be closer to the mostly hand pick the inoutdoors and the recresects off,” Frank shared. ation.”

As a butterfly fluttered Like me, Frank, who through our conversagrew up in the suburbs of tion, Danielle laughed: “I Chicago, had never even Frank and Danielle cleared their side yard, then removed a rock wall and built a block wall in was going to say ‘Look at seen mountains until its place, before constructing the wood-framed beds, making gravel walkways and, finally, that pretty butterfly,’ but he did an internship in now I know it’s a cabbage planting seeds.

Seattle. moth!”

Danielle, a WashingShe went on to explain they’ve ton native, concurred. “We love learned that ants “farm” aphids. the outdoors; hiking, running, “The aphids produce this sticky climbing.” sweet stuff the ants love, so even The transition from city life if you can’t see that your plants was made even easier when the have aphids, the ants will let you Harris’ decided to take on anknow.” other challenge before settling Frank and Danielle go beyond into their Wenatchee home. just trying to avoid pesticides “We put our things in storage and herbicides. They’ve built and spent three months hiking three compost bins in the backthe Pacific Crest Trail,” Danielle yard that produce nutrients for shared. the garden.

“It was pretty easy to adjust to And they got rid of the back the slower pace of Wenatchee lawn. after that,” Frank chimed in.

“The dog had already ruined And next year? I asked, gazthe grass,” Frank chuckled. “So, ing across what was once a front we chipped all of the vegetation lawn that is now covered in we cleared from the property black plastic secured with rocks. and spread it as wood chips in “I want to grow loofas!” Danplace of the grass.” ielle said.

When I asked what inspired “And edible berries, maybe them to garden, Frank replied, some fruit trees,” Frank added. ”It’s cool to grow and eat veg“But not this year!” gies. It’s fun to explore different In closing I asked Frank what stuff you’ve never seen before, advice he might give to others. like heirloom varieties. And I “Anybody can grow things; think it’s good to get closer to you just have to try.” our food.

“Anything else?” I asked.

“It’s so silly, you know; someFrank grinned and quipped; Danielle’s mom got her a wig when she was diagnosed with alopecia at age one drops a carrot on the floor “Yeah — eat your vegetables!”

12, but as in other aspects of life, Danielle prefers to ‘go natural.’ and they throw it away because Mary Bean is a dog-loving nonfiction it’s dirty. They don’t even conA big benefit of the garden — met so many people in the writer who occasionally dabbles in sider that it was pulled out of a besides healthful homegrown neighborhood. poetry and fiction. She is a current pile of dirt in the first place.” food — is that the Harris’ have “The neighbors became part member of Write On The River.

August 2020 | The Good Life

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Kristen lifts her one-year-old nephew into the air at Lanham Lake up Stevens Pass. In May, she hiked 151 miles, in June 145 miles and was up to 125 miles by mid-July. ON THE COVER: Sasha, the beautiful vizsla, and Kristen take in the views at Rattlesnake Ledge in North Bend.

Escape to the mountains

Butterflies rest on the Umptanum Trail in Ellensburg.

story by Kristen Lovene McCamey Photos by Kristen Lovene Mccamey and kyle Christensen

M

y name is Kristen McCamey and I am a Wenatchee local.

The valley has always been home base for me — a place to recharge my battery, surround myself with loved ones, and enjoy the scenery.

This year has been especially rough for everyone: 2020, the year of utter chaos. Every-

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TOP: Trek up Chelan Butte. Very dry and dusty, but worth it for the beautiful views of Lake Chelan.

TOP: Beautiful views of the clear blue water of Colchuck Lake in Leavenworth,

RIGHT: A decorative bicycle is nailed to a tree at the top of Tres Hombres Trail (used for hiking, but primarily mountain biking) in Peshastin.

ABOVE: Kristen strolls through a luscious, open meadow at Lake Valhalla up Stevens Pass.

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Bitter Root (native plant) grow among the rocks of the Xanadu Trail in Peshastin.

ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAINS }}} Continued from page 14 one has been affected in some way. May it be through physical or mental health, finances, or personal beliefs, we are all feeling it.

Having an outlet for the stress is crucial during these times. For me, hiking has been a true solace.

Starting back in April, I have made hiking part of my weekly routine.

It got to the point where I was going so often that I realized I was truly benefiting from the positive effects of having such a healthy habit. My mind felt clearer, I gained a sense of control and personal accomplishment, and my body was hurting in all the right ways.

As my hiking obsession grew, I began challenging myself in new ways.

I started setting a minimum amount of hiking miles I wanted to clock in per month.

I also researched and discovered new trails that would offer me tougher challenges.

The hikes also began to spread to farther destinations: including the North Bend, Snoqualmie and Stevens Pass area.

To add to the fun, I decided to start leaving painted “hike rocks� at the final destinations of each trail I accomplished. Small painted rocks with inspiring words, symbols, and colors.

On the backside of each rock, I painted a hashtag that people could use to share their

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ABOVE: Miss Sasha enjoying the water at Mason Lake.

LEFT: Happy as a clam. Stopping to rest on the rocks during a trek up Twin Peaks Trail in Wenatchee.

Having an outlet for the stress is crucial during these times. For me, hiking has been a true solace. | The Good Life

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Hike rocks left at Mason Lake, reached via Ira Springs Trail near Snoqualmie Pass.

rock discoveries on Instagram. It’s been a fun way to see where they end up.

They are a treasure for someone to keep: a souvenir of their hard work and persistence on the trail.

Over the course of two months, I have left over 30 rocks in various locations.

Though I’m unaware of where all of these rocks have ended up, the ones I know of now belong to treasure-seeking hikers — one man added it to his rock collection on his bookshelf, for example.

I’ve connected with people who have found my hike rocks in various locations, including Stuart Lake within the Alpine Wilderness, Manashtash Ridge in Ellensburg, as well as Saddle Rock in Wenatchee.

Any time I can convince others to get out there and discover a new healthy passion, I will.

We all deserve to have a physical and emotional outlet during tough times. We are all in this together and will survive this together.

TOP: Hike rock left at Rattlesnake Ledge in North Bend.

ABOVE: A hike rock (#allingoodclimb) left at the top of Navaho Peak in Cle Elum.

RIGHT: Hike rock left at the summit of Navaho Peak in Cle Elum.

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Riding the Lady Cat to Stehekin Story by Linda Reid Photos by Ken Reid

Experiences have become our family’s

new preference when it comes to gift-giving.

When those experiences incorporate multi-generational together time, all the better.

Last year, for example, for my 70th birthday, we had a day on the water with Deception Pass Boat Tours, which included our grandkids, our son and daughter, and several cousins. It was a natural for us since my cousins, Brett and Terica Ginther, own and operate this award-winning tourist attraction.

When my birthday came around again it was clear it would not include the same kind of family outing. (We are scattered from the west side of the state, to Wenatchee and South Florida.)

So, my husband Ken posed the question, “What do you want to do for your birthday?”

I reflected on our June boat trip in 2019 and immediately responded, “I want to GO somewhere!”

Just saying that sparked an idea, and I said, “Let’s take the boat from Chelan to Stehekin for the day.” He got on the phone with Lake Chelan Boat Company and made a reservation immediately.

To our delight the new owners (who bought the company in 2019), Brun Garfoot and Reed Courtney, had bought back the catamaran (that had been sitting idle for years) to add to the Chelan-Stehekin fleet, and it would be running on the day of our trip.

We had traveled to Stehekin on both the Lady of the Lake and the Lady Express years before and very much enjoyed these trips.

However, the idea of covering over 50 miles of up-lake travel in just an hour and a half on the new Lady Cat would give us extra time to explore Stehekin, a full six hours more.

We had a beautiful day for our adventure, and the Lady Cat provided us with a scenic,

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The lakeside scenery transforms as the boat nears Stehekin.

comfortably smooth ride. (COVID-19 guidelines were carefully respected.)

It was a Friday and the passengers on board included two families, a half a dozen backpackers/day hikers, and three other couples. As with the other two boats, two quick stops were made to drop off and pick up passengers at Field’s Landing and at Holden Village. We arrived at the dock in Stehekin exactly one-and-a-half hours after leaving Chelan.

For anyone reading this who doesn’t already know this, Lake Chelan is one of the three deepest lakes in the U.S., right behind Crater Lake and Lake Tahoe.

The scenery on this journey defies description, and even Ken’s expert photos are not adequate. You need to see it in person.

What I love the most is the transformation from rolling hills, to forested foothills, to rocky outcrops, with the culminating views of the snowy peaks of the rugged North Cascades as you approach Stehekin. The natural landscaping is breathtaking. | The Good Life

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This isolated community is actually located within the boundaries of the North Cascades National Park (I am told that is a whole other story), yet it has maintained its unique character despite becoming a popular tourist destination. This is, as the Lake Chelan Boat Co. brochure says, “an experience and adventure where no roads can take you.”

On the boat trip up-lake we were able to get acquainted with the director of customer experience and public relations for Lake Chelan Boat Co., Krissa Jester, who is one of about 90 people who are year-round residents of Stehekin.

Knowing we were planning to do a piece for The Good Life, she was happy to help us learn more about the character of this community and even gave us an informal guided tour so we could get a better sense of place.

(We had planned to rent bikes but renting a Polaris Ranger ATV for the three of us was more fun.)

The farthest point you can reach by road

August 2020

Stehekin is a friendly, welcoming place to visit.

The Stehekin River in its early summer glory.

Ken and Linda with the “Lady Cat” docked in Stehekin.

is only 13 miles from the boat dock.

When we arrived at the end of the road, it did not look the same to us as it had 30-plus years ago. We had rented a cabin for a few days that came with an old pick-up truck. We were sure the road had gone farther and higher since we had done some hiking with amazing vistas.

Krissa told us that indeed the road had extended another 10 miles until a wash-out 17 years ago (springtime flooding from the Stehekin River) closed the road permanently.

The river races over rocks and boulders and feeds its cold, aquamarine waters to Lake Chelan. The river gains its volume from snow melt in the North Cascades as many creeks and streams converge with it,

as scheduled.

We had a few minutes to talk with Brun Garfoot before heading back to Wenatchee. We asked him what prompted him to buy into this venture. He answered that he and his business partner Reed Courtney (a Stehekin native) have a deep connection to and understanding of the importance of the critical link these boats provide to Chelan and Stehekin.

He shared that getting the Lady Cat up and flying was a challenge but also very rewarding, since it will become the go-to boat for winter travels up the lake.

As things begin to open-up, people are ready to take advantage of regional travel experiences and both Brun and Reed are hopeful for the future of their

the most interesting being Rainbow Creek, which has an impressive waterfall that is worth the journey, even by bicycle.

Before we went off exploring on our own, Krissa advised us to make a stop at the famous Stehekin Pastry Company where we divided a sticky bun (one of their specialties) as a substitute for my birthday cake.

We loved our day in Stehekin and wished we had decided to spend a night or two there in a cabin, at the National Park Lodge, or at the Stehekin Valley Ranch to experience more time off the grid.

On our trip down Lake we sat on the same side of the Lady Cat to be sure we would have views of the opposite shoreline.

Our boat pulled into the Chelan dock at precisely 5 p.m., August 2020 | The Good Life

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company.

For me, this adventure was exactly what I was looking for when I said, “I just want to GO somewhere.” It exceeded my birthday expectations.

For more information about reservations, packages, events or charters go to: Lake Chelan Boat Co. at: www.ladyofthelake.com For overnight accommodations contact: StehekinReservations@gmail. com For basic information about the Chelan/Stehekin areas contact: krissa@discoverlakechelan.com Ken and Linda live in East Wenatchee and love to explore the limitless opportunities NCW has to offer.

t s o F

s n e t t i k g n i r e

When she realized she couldn’t keep adopting overlooked cats, she found a new passion in fostering

I

By Wrenna Davidson

n June, as part of National Foster a Pet Month with the Petco Foundation and BOBS charity footwear from Skechers, I was honored by the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society as a Local Foster Hero.

June also marked two years since beginning my fostering journey, in which time I’ve cared for approximately 75 felines.

I am an animal lover, and am especially fond of cats. Growing up on a rural cattle ranch afforded me a lot of opportunities to enjoy the companionship of animals. I was handling cats while still in diapers, and had kittens in my baby carriage instead of dolls.

Over the years, I’ve had hamsters, fish and parakeets. I’ve also had 20-plus years of caring for dogs (and raising kids!) before returning to my first four-legged love — cats.

After adopting five black cats from WVHS in about a year, I realized that I could not continue to help overlooked cats by adopting them. So what could I do?

I’d heard about fostering, but knew I’d have to confront the emotional issues surrounding it, as everyone must do.

The most common reason animal lovers cite for not wanting to foster is having to let their beloved fosters go. They will say that they could never do it; the loss would be too much for them to bear.

I was no different in worrying about this and in wondering how I could say goodbye.

It took some work to realize that it wasn’t about me. It was about the cats and what they needed, and I couldn’t help them if I

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Wrenna Davidson with Charlie Brown and Snoopy. They came from the Peanuts Comic Litter, which also includes Linus, Rerun and Schroeder who are all currently undergoing ringworm treatment at the shelter, along with Woodstock and Sally, who are remaining in foster care for ringworm treatment.

was unwilling to experience some loss so that they could gain the forever homes they deserved.

With fostering, the goal is goodbye.

I’ve chosen to focus on the hellos instead, and am happiest when I’m bringing home new cats and kittens to foster.

I joke that every time I drop off my fosters, I load new ones into my car. This is not far from the truth, as I foster cats full-time, year-round. | The Good Life

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Fostering has become a passion and a life purpose for me. I have a dedicated foster room, along with a guest room that is usually inhabited by an adult foster cat.

I also have a rolling cart on the main floor of the house that holds an XL wire dog kennel, which works great for medical fosters.

You don’t need a whole room dedicated to fostering. A playpen or kennel set up in the corner of a room will do.

Fostering allows shelters to care for many

August 2020

With fostering, the goal is goodbye.

I’ve chosen to focus on the hellos instead, and am happiest when I’m bringing home new cats and kittens to foster. animals beyond the capacity of their physical structures. Due to COVID-19, shelters nationwide appealed to fosters to care for animals as they had to close their doors.

I work a lot with kittens who’ve found themselves separated from their mothers at around four weeks of age, and don’t know how to eat on their own. This is a challenging time for them, and it usually includes some feeding of formula via syringe while also introducing a slurry of wet food and formula mixed together.

Weighing them daily and monitoring for dehydration is critical, as kittens often will have diarrhea during this transition.

Another kind of fostering that I enjoy is socialization work.

Kittens that have had no contact with people are called feral, which simply means unsocialized.

There is a socialization window for taming kittens that is fast-closing around the age of 12 weeks, and the pressure is on to get the kittens friendly and ready for adoption while they are as young as possible.

This type of fostering requires a comfort level with cats in general, but particularly someone who is unafraid and immune to the hissing, growling and scratch attacks the kittens employ when they are unsure and frightened.

This work calls for patience but is extremely rewarding when you see a kitten go from

TOP: Peanut came to Wrenna as an aggressive, scary cat. But with three months of care, she warmed to the touch.

ABOVE LEFT: Woodstock came starving, ravaged by ringworm. He has come back from the brink of death twice.

ABOVE RIGHT: Charlie Brown needed to be fed by a syringe for the first few foster days.

a fur-standing-on-end, spitting ball of fright to a lovey-dovey marshmallow who is meowing for attention and petting.

Medical fostering involves providing kennel rest for an animal recovering from bone fractures, amputation and various surgeries, along with caring for sick August 2020 | The Good Life

animals. It usually includes administering medication, dealing with a cone around the animal’s head, and possibly mobility exercises.

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grace and a good attitude.

Occasionally, a happy outcome is not to be and medical fostering may transition to hospice care. This can be quite challenging emotionally, and it puts saying goodbye to healthy fosters being adopted rapidly into

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Fostering kittens }}} Continued from previous page

perspective. These experiences will grow your heart.

Behavioral fostering for adult cats is one of my favorite things to do. For various reasons, a cat will come into the shelter and act out with aggression towards staff. Or, the cat may shrink inwards and shun interaction.

Sometimes cats need time to grieve the loss of their homes and families, or to recover from a trauma. Fostering provides a transition time for them to do this.

One of my favorite fosters was Peanut, who was a scary cat in the shelter. She was a very angry girl, and it took time to build trust with her.

She swatted my hands so hard that they were bruised. After three months of working with her, she was ready to be adopted into a home that met her needs.

It’s a lucky foster parent who gets to host a mama cat with kittens. Mama mostly does the work, and the foster parent provides support.

It’s a special experience to see kittens grow from newborns to little cats ready for adoption and new adventures. Kittens are neutered or spayed when they weigh two pounds, which is typically between 8-10 weeks of age, before they are adopted out.

I cannot write about fostering without addressing a major part of my current day-to-day reality, and that is dealing with ringworm. I am incredibly fortunate to work with a shelter that treats this dermal fungal infection, which is related to Athlete’s Foot, instead of euthanizing those afflicted with it.

Ringworm is highly contagious to animals and people.

Treating it requires weeks of tedious twice-weekly lime sulfur dips and oral medication while being kept in isolation.

I am part of a group of volun-

Fostering covers a wide range, allowing Humane Society to help more animals

She swatted my hands so hard that they were bruised.

After three months of working with her, she was ready to be adopted into a home that met her needs.

teers that go into the shelter’s ringworm treatment unit twice a day to socialize these kittens so that they will be suitable for adoption.

Due to volunteering in ringworm, more and more of my foster cases have come from there, usually because they’re too small or too sick for treatment.

This adds another layer to fostering, as it requires protocols to contain ringworm to the foster room, and brings with it a lot of cleaning and laundry. I find that drinking wine aids in coping with this nightmare fungus, and a good sense of humor is a must.

I am certain my standout foster case of 2020 will be the Peanuts Comic litter of seven kittens that Animal Control rescued in May. They were filthy, hungry and had a serious case of ringworm at only about four weeks of age.

They were the biggest litter I’d ever taken in, and they all required syringe-feeding for the first few days.

After three weeks, they moved to the shelter’s treatment unit, but it soon became clear that Woodstock required more urgent foster care.

At this time, he is completely bald and I’ve opted to treat his ringworm, along with his sister Sally’s, at home.

Woodstock has come back from the brink of death twice.

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The Wenatchee Valley Humane Society’s (WVHS) foster program is designed to increase the number of animals the shelter can help. It not only increases capacity to care for homeless and injured animals, by expanding the size of shelter to include homes in the community, but also readies under-socialized or young animals for adoptions and allows stressed or ill animals a place to thrive outside of the shelter environment.

“Fosters are integral partners to our organization,” explains WVHS Executive Director, Dawn Davies. “They allow us to take in far more animals than the shelter building has space for and they care for some of the most fragile and dependent of our pet population, including newborn kittens. Simply put, without foster families in our community, WVHS’s success rate would not be nearly as high.”

When most people think of fostering, they typically think of people that take in shelter animals, when shelters are at or near capacity. And while this is true, there are a variety of other reasons an animal may be fostered. The most common reasons shelter animals need foster care are: Medical foster: These are typically animals with a treatable illness, but are temporarily removed from the shelter for recovery and/or to reduce the spread of disease.

Under-socialized dogs/cats: At times, nervous or under-socialized animals can regress in a shelter environment. Fostering allows the animal to have one-on-one interaction and training without the added stressors.

Bottle baby kittens and puppies: Newborns displaced from mom too early are unable to survive on their own. They cannot regulate their temperature, eat solid foods, or potty. They must eat every 2-4 hours and require constant monitoring to ensure they’re healthy.

Weaned puppies and kittens: The most commonly placed foster animals. They are able to eat and potty on their own, but are not quite ready for adoption.

Small critters: Occasionally bunnies, guinea pigs, hamsters, (or whatever else may come in) need fostering. Sometimes they are medical fosters, but most commonly are placed due to pregnancy or are moms with babies who are too young for adoption.

Fostering gives these types of animals, who need extra one-on-one care, the kind of support they need to ready themselves for adoption.

Some fostering is very hands on and some is more passive, but it’s all incredibly important and a huge assist to the shelter’s success rates.

Because of the dedication of foster families, WVHS has been able to rehome thousands of animals that may not have gotten a second chance.

If you are interested in becoming a foster parent, visit Wenatchee Valley Humane Society online at: www.wenatcheehumane.org.

Some kittens are fighters, and Woodstock is one of them. It makes all the difference.

I tell them that if they’ll fight for life, I will fight for them.

I couldn’t foster at the level I do without the constant support and enthusiasm of my husband, Patrick. He works hard so that we can provide all of the food and supplies for our fosters

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without relying on shelter donations.

I post pictures and stories about my fosters on Facebook and Instagram @wrennasfosterkittens.

And, I like to stay in touch with adopters and am thrilled when they share pictures and updates with me about their thriving companions.

Endless remodels on Lake Chelan cabin I

THAT WAS THEN...

By Phil Roddy

n the early ’80s, I was a builder/contractor and my wife Julie was a banker. We made a great team as her job provided us with all-important medical benefits and I remodeled and flipped houses.

Three years was the longest we lived in any house before selling. So we’ve lived in more than 30 houses. I’ve always enjoyed moving.

Our Lake Chelan cabin came for sale through one of Julie’s colleagues. It was a dump and also a deal, so we bought it in 1994.

Our thinking at the time was instead of fixing and flipping for a quick buck, maybe we could hold on for our retirement years.

As a builder, I had the ability to do this kind of work so our first phase of the remodel was to get it livable.

We sold our Broadview house in Wenatchee and scaled down so we could afford a second home — the Lake Chelan cabin and a home in Wenatchee.

I had a proper septic system installed, and a furnace/heat pump. Then over the next 10 years, I replaced the roof, siding, decking and added a basement bath.

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A dump and a deal that instead of a flip house became a fixture in Phil and Julie Roddy’s lives.

After the first remodel: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, half a basement... nothing fancy but livable.

August 2020 | The Good Life

2007 was a very busy year which included adding a 24-foot by 32-foot shop to create valuable garage and boat storage in the winter months.

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Endless remodels on Lake Chelan cabin

THIS IS NOW...

}}} Continued from previous page This was then a very basic two-bedroom, two-bath house with a half basement. Nothing fancy but it served us well.

In 2001, Julie’s job took us to Arizona. We came up every summer and I continued to find ways to make the ol’ shack better as we loved being on the lake.

2007 was a very busy year as I got permits to start the phase 2 remodel. I added a 24-foot by 32-foot shop, which gave us valuable garage and boat storage in the winter months.

In the fall of 2007, Julie was hired by Barclays Bank, so we moved to London and the adventure continued.

During the six years we lived in England, I returned in the summer months always to continue the remodel.

I lived for these projects, and was always improving the house every year. I added a master bath, cabinets, slate on all floors, and replaced all interior walls and ceilings with pine.

Now we have the true rustic cabin we’ve always wanted.

While living on the lake, I still continued to take on several underwater jobs each summer that I’ve done for over 30 years.

The finished shot of the lake house is really temporary as I am always looking for ways to make it better.

I’ve replaced all exterior decks and stairs for the second time using the trex decking that holds up very well in the winter weather here. A fire pit and hot tub were also essential.

The most notable addition that we’ve done here — the one that makes us unique — is what we call the happy hour “Wall of Shame.” There might be nothing

While living in England for six years, Phil returned each summer to continue the remodel, including replacing all of the interior walls and ceiling with pine.

Phil placed slate on all of the floors and now feels he has a truly rustic cabin on the lake.

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I’ve included an early morning and afternoon view that we’ve never tired of in 26 years.

A finished (for now) shot here of the lake house with all exterior decks and stairs replaced for the second time using the trex decking that holds up well in the winter weather.

like it in the world. This is what our visitors always talk about and remember.

We started this 15 years ago, it’s all about recycling and doing our part to protect the environment. Each year we start the “Wall” over and always try to improve.

I’ve included an early morning and afternoon view that we’ve never tired of in 26 years.

We will continue to be quarantined here in the summer months and winter in Mesa, AZ. And, as the builder in me always looks for changes that will improve homes, the remodel will never end.

Have an idea for a home we should feature?

If you’d like us to consider your remodel, a new home, or historic, unique, grand, or otherwise intriguing house, please submit a brief project summary to Susan Lagsdin at sjlagsdin@yahoo.com.

Know of someone stepping off the beaten path in the search for fun and excitement? E-mail us at editor@ncwgoodlife.com

This is an early morning and afternoon view that never gets tiring.

Phil, Julie and infamous Wall of Shame.

August 2020 | The Good Life

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A speckle of stars reflect on Jameson Lake.

Chasing the Milky Way... and a comet A passion that can’t be pursued in the big cities

F

By Marilyn Sherling

irst off, let me give you my photographer’s credentials.

I have none. I am an amateur photographer who loves taking photos as a hobby.

So, what you see here is a result of that interest.

When I was a kid, my folks let me borrow their Kodak Brownie camera to take pictures when we were on vacations.

I bought my first camera when I graduated from high school.

I had received some cash for graduation gifts and I put it together to buy an Agfa 35mm

Rangefinder camera with a 50mm lens. I used a separate, hand-held, exposure meter to determine my aperture and speed settings for taking the photos.

Over the years, I have taken photos of a myriad number of subjects.

One of the subjects that really piqued my interest is the night sky. I grew up in the city (Los Angeles county) where you could barely see any stars at night.

But, as time passed, I was introduced to the beauty of the sky in very dark places. I pho-

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I photographed star trails, Halley’s comet, and home made a tracker apparatus for my camera to take time exposures of Jupiter. tographed star trails, Halley’s comet, and home made a tracker apparatus for my camera to take time exposures of Jupiter.

Fast forward to a few years ago and the purchase of a DSLR

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(digital single lens reflex) camera and chasing the Milky Way was born.

Milky Way photography can be very complex and there is a plethora of information on the internet on how to perform it.

I’ll just mention that the most interesting photos often contain the galactic core, which is only visible in our hemisphere from March to September.

It needs to be completely dark to capture all of the details possible in the Milky Way, so a person needs to know the exact times of sunset, and when astronomical twilight ends and true

The comet Neowise as photographed in mid July at an abandoned farm just east of Douglas.

dark begins.

You need to pay attention to the moon phases, and take the photos during the new moon, or after the moon has set, if there is one. Settings for ISO and speed are determined by your camera and lens type.

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Marilyn is retired and greatly enjoys spending time in nature — either learning about the natural world we live in by day or observing the wonders of the night sky.

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column moving up to the good life

june darling

Keep your head, heart and body in the game Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.

— John C. Maxwell

How do we re-imagine and

re-think the good life during this global time of suffering when much is cordoned off, upended, scary and out of our control?

I grabbed on to my “big rocks.”

“Big rocks” are those things we consider foundational priorities for living well. My big rocks for the good life are head (cognitive well-being), heart (social and spiritual well-being), and body (physical well-being).

Head. It is important to keep stretching my brain, to keep learning, to become more skilled, more competent and wiser.

During the pandemic, people have found incredible learning options. This morning I was on

What’s on your bucket list?

Have you recently crossed out an item on your bucket list — that list of goals you want to reach before you kick the bucket?

Or, have you recently celebrated a birthday that ends in a zero with a monumental moment that will stick in your memory?

Send us an e-mail — with pictures if possible — to: editor@ncwgoodlife. com. We would love to share your feat with our readers and maybe inspire others to create memories of their own.

The kids and I were not so sure how we might live the good life — especially cooped up together for a long stretch of time. a call with 600 people from places all over the globe including Pakistan, Colombia, Mumbai, Ireland and Canada. Some were teens, some were seniors, some worked as teachers, some as CEOs, all were wanting to learn together.

My husband, John, and I had a trip planned to go to Portugal.

The trip was canceled for now, but John is getting prepared for the future by learning Portuguese on an app called Duolingo.

Heart. The ancient wisdom traditions as well as the research on living life well make it clear that a good life includes being in strong relationships with others.

The pandemic and the necessity for social distancing has shown many of us just how important others are for living a good life. Helping others, being kind to others often gives our lives purpose and meaning, which taps into spiritual wellbeing. Just being with others can lift our spirits dramatically.

My extended family has used all sorts of ideas to stay connected. Every Wednesday and Sunday, we are on Zoom sharing our updates and our reactions to the news.

Other family and friends have had drive-by or Zoom birthdays.

Some of my husband’s siblings live close enough to have had socially distanced picnics each

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| The Good Life

week. We regularly share messages of encouragement.

Body. Science continues to reveal how connected our thoughts, emotions and physical bodies are. It is not just about being free of illness. Being physically active is often a path to pleasure and well-being.

As I mentioned earlier, John and I had a trip planned to Portugal, which was primarily for a long walk, a camino. Being inventive around walking does not take much thinking, especially after we heard about the guy who ran a marathon in his postage-sized front yard.

We recently used the big rocks of head, heart and body when caring for three of our young grandchildren while their parents were working.

The kids and I were not so sure how we might live the good life — especially cooped up together for a long stretch of time.

We were all floundering initially with soundbits like “Eli hit me,” “I am bored,” “Anna took my stuffy,” and “Go to your room.”

The children and I listed all the things we could do to stretch our brains (for example, read, observe nature, research something we were interested in, write a story). We listed all we could do to strengthen the goodness in our hearts (helping others, expressing appreciation, not hurting others, sincerely apologizing), and all the things we could do to strengthen our bodies (jump rope, play tag, eat healthy food, ride bikes, hike up the driveway).

At the end of each day, we reviewed our lists and decided what we had done to make our day a good one.

Sometimes we decided that we needed to do more of this or that to have a better day the

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August 2020

next day.

Eventually the older kids got the hang of how to have a good day and began making their own schedules to include a balance of head, heart and body activities. The kids were delighted when they realized at the end of the day that they had done 10 or more of the things on the lists.

After the children returned home, I looked for the lists. They were nowhere to be found.

I did find a little sticky note which made me smile. “Sorry, I had to take the lists. I will return them when I come back.

I will tell you all the wonderful things I have done. Love, Sophia.”

Life changes. Maybe it is not a pandemic, maybe it is retirement or loss of a spouse.

During upheavals it is natural to feel afraid and helpless. When those despairing times hit is exactly when we need to claim our sense of control, to pull ourselves out of that funk by figuring out what we CAN do.

We can re-imagine, identify those “big rocks” that contribute to our well-being, then think of specific activities we can do.

It may take some experimenting, evaluating and modifying.

Afterwards we can celebrate the wonderful things we have done even during tough times to grow stronger and better.

During times of change and despair, how might you move up to The Good Life by re-imagining what you CAN do?

June Darling, Ph.D. can be contacted at drjunedarling1@gmail.com; website: www.summitgroupresources. com. Her bio and many of her books can be found at amazon.com/author/ junedarling.

>>

column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

When does an older person become old?

There are commonly used

definitions or perceptions of “old age” but there is no general agreement on the age when someone becomes “old.”

Our biologic age is not synonymous with our chronologic age, which is our age from birth to the present.

Most of developed countries in the world have accepted the chronologic age of 65 years as a definition of an elderly or older person.

As far back as 1875, the “Friendly Society in Britain” defined old age as any age after 50, and pension schemes often use 60 to 65 for eligibility.

In the United States we can start collecting social security payments at age 62 or wait to age 66 or 67 to get full social security. The United Nations has generally used 65 plus to refer to “older” persons.

However, in some of the poorest countries like Africa, “old age” is considered to be 55.

Other countries, led by Japan including Italy, Finland, Portugal and Greece and a majority of all European countries have over 20 percent of their population over the age of 65.

Roughly 49 million or 15 percent of America’s population is over age 65. This is predicted to double to 88 million by year 2050.

As seniors live longer, many are finding things more expensive and without much of a safety net. As a result about one in five Americans over age 65 are still working by necessity or by choice (this was the case at least prior to our current pandemic).

Changes in our retirement systems are now causing many employers to shift the responsibility for saving for retirement

...I enjoyed seeing those senior patients who are referred to as “super agers.” This term refers to those over 80 years of age who are physically active, mentally alert and fully engaged in their life and the world around them. to their workers, which is further increasing the rich-poor divide.

Two previous recessions also have devastated personal savings for many as well. At the same time social security payments have lost about one-third of their purchasing power since 2000. Polls show older people worry more about their money running out than they worry about dying. The “golden” years of retirement are not so golden for many these days.

Personally, my greatest concern about living to a ripe old age is getting dementia, or living out my life in an assisted living facility or a nursing home. I would prefer dying “peacefully” to that.

At a certain age, many of us start to wonder about “how much time do I have left?”

We usually think of our chronologic age as a benchmark, but that just tells us only how long we have lived. We should be thinking of how many years we might have left and whether or not it is too late to alter that August 2020 | The Good Life

event.

You can go to the Social Security Life Expectancy calculator to get some statistical idea on your likely life expectancy. If you are already in the elderly group, you might want to skip that step, which might not be very up lifting.

We need to focus more on aging better, at least in the time we have remaining.

Obviously, that varies from person to person. It is affected in part by genetics to some degree but more so by our life styles, eating habits, daily exercise, bodyweight, blood pressure, smoking history, alcohol intake and chronic medical issues and diseases.

We seniors over age 60 often become concerned about memory lapses that seem to occur more frequently as we age.

These are not necessarily signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Some of the things we can do to reduce that risk include staying physically active, getting adequate sleep (at least seven hours a night), not smoking, having good social connections (six feet apart these days), limiting alcohol to one drink a day or less, and eating a Mediterranean type diet.

In my many years of medical practice, I enjoyed seeing those senior patients who are referred to as “super agers.” This term refers to those over 80 years of age who are physically active, mentally alert and fully engaged in their life and the world around them.

I was particularly interested in what they did to maintain themselves at what seemed to be at a much younger age level than their current chronologic age.

Was it genetics, a lifetime of good healthy habits? They were obviously fortunate to have www.ncwgoodlife.com

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29

avoided many of the chronic diseases so prevalent in the elderly.

Thomas Perls, M.D, a Boston geriatrician said, “It’s a myth that the older you get, the sicker you get. It’s more like, the older you get the healthier you’ve been.”

An example of a super ager was Paul Thomas, Sr. the founder of Oneonta Star Fruit Company in Wenatchee.

He saw me periodically over his later years and was in his 90s when he died. He always came dressed in a suit and tie and carried the Wall Street Journal under his arm. After I checked him he would go to work at his office at Oneonta Fruit.

Another super ager was my friend Stearns Eason. He wrote and published his autobiography at age 98. It was an informative and enjoyable read.

Stearns remained active physically and mentally all his life.

Well into his 90s, he had two kilns in his basement where he made stained glass windows and glass lamps.

On his 100th birthday, several of us played golf with him.

Known as an amazing putter he sank a 20-foot put on a most difficult green, cementing his putting reputation forever. Stearns died at age 104.

My daily motto is, “Live everyday to its fullest, spend time with your family and friends, eat well, stay active and keep moving.”

Jim Brown, M.D., is a retired gastroenterologist who has practiced for 38 years in the Wenatchee area. He is a former CEO of the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center.

PET tales

Tells us a story about your pet. Submit pet & owner pictures to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

H

e’s my little SuperMan! He is such a cuddle bug and such a great companion. n His name is Oliver. n You can follow his adventures and the mischief he gets into at his Instagram account @ Oliverwiththebowtie n We are both from Wenatchee Oh and I should mention I got Oliver at the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society.

— Sonja Boersma

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| The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

Dinah White,

Cashmere, was sitting quietly at Pybus Public Market with her dog, Jumper.

Jumper is a Pomeranian Deer Chihuahua that Dinah got when Jumper was six weeks old.

“She is my soul dog,” said Dinah.

“She was born on the date my husband was born. And my husband died on his birthday, April 15. Jumper is so comforting after my loss. He likes to sit beside me and be with me,” said Dinah.

Dinah also said that Jumper looks like she has eyeliner on.

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August 2020

fun stuff what to do around here for the next month apples, lavender and other flowers, gooseberries, currants and wool.

Riverwalk Park.

We want to know of fun and interesting local events. Send info to: donna@ncwgoodlife.com

Wenatchee Valley Farmers Market, Saturdays, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. Plant starts, early produce, fish, cut flowers, baked goods and more. West parking lot of Pybus Public Market. Cost: free.

Due to the coronavirus, the order for social distancing and other measures in effect to prevent the spread of the virus, very few items are confirmed for the calendar.

We hope to be back next month with lots of fun stuff to do around the area.

Quincy Farmers Market, Saturdays, 9 – 1. Quincy Valley Museum grounds.

Power of the pink bag, 8/6, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Pink bags are available for purchase at wendowntown.org at two prices. A $25 Pink Bag includes surprise gifts from downtown businesses or $10 Pink Bag and coupon book. Proceeds go to support the ongoing work of the Wenatchee Downtown Assoc.

Shopping with your Pink Bag from downtown businesses and restaurants will show them support when it’s needed the most.

Please check all events to make sure none has canceled.

Leavenworth Community Farmers Market, Thursdays, 4 – 8 p.m. Local eggs, meats, cheeses and bread, fruits, prepared foods, local crafts and more. Alpine Lakes Elementary School. Info: leavenworthfarmersmarket.org.

Guided historical railroad/ mill walking tour, 8/8, 10

Village Art in the Park, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Outdoor village art show sponsored by local non-profit organization provides scholarships for art education using a venue that supports amateur and professional artists. Downtown Leavenworth. Cost: free. Info: villageartinthepark.org.

a.m. – noon. The tour is 1 – 2 hours, mostly on a dirt trail, one small hill and sidewalks about 2 miles long.

Walk begins at the Lions Club Park by the swimming pool. Cost: $5.

Info: leavenworthmuseum.org.

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>>

column those were the days

rod molzahn

Chief Harmelt believed white man’s promises “I did not come here to lie

to anybody. I have come here with a true, honest heart. I would like to have you listen to what I have to say. You can’t make me believe that all white men are rascals.”

Wenatchee/P’squose Chief John Harmelt said those words in 1893 as he worked to secure for his people the reservation the government promised them in 1855.

In May of that year Governor Isaac Stevens, Washington’s first Territorial governor, called all central Washington tribes to a treaty council in the Walla Walla Valley.

On the final day of the council, Governor Stevens was desperate to get the signatures of several tribal chiefs still reluctant to sign. Stevens’ week long campaign of promises, intimidation and threats had not won over all the chiefs.

Tecolekun, the Wenatchee/ P’squose chief at the council saw an opportunity. He refused to sign unless his people were given a small reservation of their own at the most culturally important and productive salmon fishery in north central Washington.

Article 10 of the Yakima Treaty, hastily written that last day, July 9, and signed by Governor Stevens, promised a reservation at the forks of the Wenatchee River. The reservation would be a township in size, six miles square.

The Wenatchee/P’squose and the Yakimas traditionally both used the fishery and both understood that the “forks” of the Wenatchee River referred to its confluence with the Icicle River.

The lack of more specific language in the treaty defining the location would lead to problems.

John Harmelt dressed in his ceremonial beaded clothes and headdress during the last tribal Pow Pow at Cashmere in 1931. Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center 01251-1019

The U.S. government, for its part, was obligated to ratify the treaty in Congress, which it did four years later in March, 1859. The government was also obligated to properly locate and survey the reservation.

Thirty seven years later, in 1893, there still had been no survey.

White settlers were moving onto reservation lands and the Great Northern tracks crossed the fishery. Through all those years the Wenatchee/P’squose lived up to their obligation and did not join any war against the United States. They believed the government would keep its promise.

In 1856, the year after the treaty was signed, the Yakima wars were heating up.

White miners had been killed crossing Yakima land and Colonel George Wright suspected the killers had fled to the Wenatchee country.

Colonel Wright brought troops

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| The Good Life

over Blewett/Swauk pass and followed Peshastin Creek down to the Wenatchee River. At the fishery reservation he saw 2,000 Indians harvesting the huge salmon run.

Colonel Wright was familiar with the terms of the Yakima Treaty and the fishery reservation. He held council with Wenatchee/P’squose Chief Skamow and laid out the sixmile square boundaries of the reservation.

Skamow was John Harmelt’s grandfather. Harmelt was a boy then but recalled later that, “The council was held across the river from the Icicle. The boundary line was right at the fishery. It extended (six miles) down the river from the Icicle.”

Wright drew it out and gave the paper to Chief Skamow who kept it in a leather pouch around his neck. The pouch was later lost in a canoe accident.

Two years later, in 1858, Chief Skamow and his men helped

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August 2020

and protected a group of white miners when they were attacked

by Columbia/ Sinkiuse and Yakima warriors after crossing the Wenatchee River on their way to Canada.

Soon after that, Captain James Archer, commander of Fort Simcoe south of Yakima, rode into the Wenatchee Valley with his troops in search of the warriors that had attacked the miners.

Archer held a council with Chief Skamow who, likely, showed Archer the map made by Colonel Wright.

According to John Harmelt, Captain Archer told Skamow, “I am much pleased with you because you protected the whites.

Your land is six miles square.

There will be two miles added to each side.” Captain Archer’s reports mention the Skamow council but there was still no survey.

In the summer of 1893 the government finally acted and ordered Oliver Iverson to survey the fishery reservation.

Yakima Indian Agent Jay Lynch had already concluded (wrongly) that the confluences of Nason Creek and the Chiwawa River with the head of the Wenatchee River were the “forks” mentioned in the treaty.

Iverson was told to begin the survey at Lake Wenatchee where the Wenatchee River begins and follow the river to its confluence with Chiwaukum Creek.

This would put the reservation 12 to 15 miles upriver from the Wenatchee/Icicle confluence and not at all the six-, or eight-mile square laid out by the treaty and by Colonel Wright.

Iverson and his crew had barely finished the survey when Lewis Erwin replaced Lynch as

Yakima Indian Agent. He ordered Iverson to do the survey again and move the reservation 10 miles farther west into the mountains.

Iverson did that but noted that the fishery reservation was now 25 miles distant from the Wenatchee/Icicle forks. Chief John Harmelt noticed it too.

Agent Erwin described meeting the chief following the survey. Harmelt told Erwin that, “the fishery was not properly located and that it was not where they wanted it.” Erwin responded with a lie, telling Harmelt that he, Erwin, “had no discretion to change the location.”

Chief Harmelt responded, “Does our Great Father in Washington think a salmon is an eagle that lives on top of the mountain, or does he think a salmon is a deer that lives in the woods and hills, or does he think a salmon is a mountain goat that lives among the rocks of the snow-covered mountains?

Tell our Great Father the Indian does not care for the little trout in the lake, but wants the salmon that lives in the rocky places in the river where the Indians can find him. Our fishery is in the river where you saw it.

We want our fishery in the river where Governor Stevens gave it to us a long time ago.”

Agent Erwin told the P’squose the location could not be changed and strongly recommended that they sell the reservation back to the government if they didn’t want it.

He insisted that Chief Harmelt and his people accept $9.30 each from the government for the incorrectly located reservation.

Harmelt steadfastly refused the money saying they could not sell land they didn’t own or had ever lived on.

Erwin was angry and frustrated.

Without informing Chief Harmelt, he called a meeting with the Yakimas. He told them that all the concerns of the P’squose had been satisfied, that they were happy with the

outcome. He said the government wanted to buy the unwanted reservation from the Yakimas. The agreed on price was $20,000.

The Yakimas used the money to improve an irrigation system on their reservation. The P’squose people got nothing.

In 1897, government Indian Inspector W.J. McConnell discovered the fraud. He was furious.

He fired Erwin and wrote to the Secretary of the Interior. “Ours is not a nation of liars and robbers. The people of the U.S. can afford to buy out those who have settled on the fishery reserve and give it back to the rightful owners.”

It was an idea that might have worked then but it was ignored.

In 1899 John Harmelt and Louis Judge wrote their own letter to the Secretary of the Interior.

“It was promised that we should have this land as long as the grass grows and the water runs, and that the strong arm of the government would protect us… We notice that the grass still grows and the water still runs, the arm of the government is still strong. We are weak. We need the protection you promised us. You have not given it to us.”

Chief Harmelt was still making his case in 1933, four years before his death.

In a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Chief Harmelt said, “Our Wenatchee reservation was taken from us in 1894; our hunting and fishing rights were also taken at that time, against our wishes. We, the Wenatchee Indians, wish to have our fishing and hunting rights restored to us in the Wenatchee Valley and forests.”

Historian, actor and teacher Rod Molzahn can be reached at shake. speak@nwi.net. His third history CD, Legends & Legacies Vol. III - Stories of Wenatchee and North Central Washington, is now available at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center and at other locations throughout the area.

August 2020 | The Good Life

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the back page: that’s life

Free hot water — what’s not to love!

By Carolyn Black

There are some schools of

thought and science that almost no women and only a few men took back in the ’60s.

The farm we bought and moved to offered endless chances to experiment with many of those schools of science.

It was an old house, built by the owner himself (back in the ’40s) and the biggest plus to my husband was that it was located “off the grid,” meaning we didn’t have to pay the electric company for what he saw as excessively high fees.

It was a struggle for this city kitty to adjust, but then married life calls for a lot of give and take.

My husband worked for a survey company that did lots of subdividing sections of forest

What Are You Laughing At? We’re looking for fresh, true stories from local people that’ll bring a chuckle to our readers.

Limit yourself to 500 to 1,000 words and send to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

land and that meant they had to cut trees down to save time… much of it ended up in the back of his truck, and we used that to heat the house.

In the kitchen, next to the propane stove fed by a large tank, sat a small “trash burner” that was used for just that, burning of all the trash one is mailed, unwrapped from packages, homework etc. I used it daily to warm the kitchen and keep the tea kettle hot enough for tea.

While one of my husband’s friends lived with us (he got a job working with my husband) chores around the farm seemed to get done faster with the two of them there.

Next on the farmhouse to-do list seemed like a job cut out for them — to install coils in the trash burner to “pre heat” the water before it went into the propane hot water heater downstairs where the large wood burning furnace lived.

Trash burners can burn up all those little pieces of wood, too tiny to bother putting into the furnace.

Our water supply came from a dammed spring, across the road, and up a hill.

Water pressure was very low.

One could turn on the tap to fill the bathtub, go out to the living room and read another chapter by the light of the Cole-

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| The Good Life

man lantern before the tub had a reasonable depth to bathe the kids in.

The two men struggled with the task, bending the copper pipe, installing it in the fire box, soldering all the many joints for the “inflow and outflow” to save us money on propane for the water heater by preheating the water.

Finally it was all connected, and no leaks appeared after the valve was opened, and the water flowed where it should have. Life was good.

It wasn’t until the next day that we realized something very strange happened with the heated water, the very low water pressure, and the use of the preheater water.

In the magic science I never understood, the heated water backed up into the system, causing lots of hot water to be stored in pipes where it shouldn’t have been.

We adults got up before the kids, using the toilet and all the cooler water in the system.

By the time the kids arose, the fill tank on the toilet was being warmed to the point, their little legs, hugging the bowl were almost scalded.

There is something called a “back flow” valve, it just hadn’t been installed, and another trip to the hardware store was in

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August 2020

order.

The challenges of living “off the grid” seemed endless.

Now I watch the latest popular TV shows and wonder if those people, so proud of “living off the grid” will tell Being a farm a slightly difwife (farmette ferent story really) was a lot of a few years fun, but I’m no lonfrom now. ger young, eager, The hot energetic and brave, so city life water was suits me fine. one thing, but having to light a gas-powered light to do homework and late-at-night chores like canning and always having to have dry wood and kindling caused us to look forward to when the power company cleared the path for the necessary lines and poles to be placed.

I love being able to flip a switch, turn a knob, set a timer for the sprinklers, even turn on a tap and see lovely hot water come gushing out.

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