August 2021 The Good Life

WHEN DOES OLD AGE BEGIN? Y EVENTS CALENDAR

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

August 2021

OPEN FOR FUN AND ADVENTURE

KID

mountain climbers 'Their sense of adventure and determination can resemble a thirst for water on a hot day'

Price: $3

It’s time to celebrate!

DISCOVERY CENTER The

at Rocky Reach Dam Reopening Celebration Aug. 28, 2021 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Come for tours of the all-new exhibits, fun in the park and treats! We can’t wait to welcome you back after nearly two years of renovation.

It’s free and open to everyone.

Best of all, it’s a whole new way to experience the amazing Columbia River.

Reserve your time to tour the new Discovery Center at chelanpud.org – click on the big picture on the home page Check facebook.com/ VisitRockyReach for details and listen for radio updates from me.

It’s gonna be epic!

The all-new Discovery Center is seven miles from Wenatchee at Rocky Reach Dam on the Chelan County side of the Columbia River. Take Hwy. 97A north and follow the signs.

“The Discovery Center is a special place, I have fond memories of going there as a kid and seeing the salmon climbing the fish ladder. I’m excited to see the reimagined space which will continue to highlight this region’s commitment to sustainable development and protecting our natural resources.”

Mayor Frank Kuntz

City of Wenatchee

“Hydropower is such a special resource that provides many benefits to our region. The new Discovery Center will help us all connect, learn, and appreciate the amazing opportunities and wonders of our magnificent Columbia River. Thanks to the Chelan County PUD for sharing this with our community and our guests.”

Mayor Jerrilea Crawford

City of East Wenatchee

>>

Contents page 12

REPAIRING BIKES TO DONATE TO KIDS

page 13

CHASING WATERFALLS

2021 WORLD TOUR

Pierre Dawson, Zinaee Zaragoza and a donated bike

18 Touring

Features

7 together wenatchee

leavenworth gardens

9 Kid mountaineers

28 POETRY IS HOT HERE

What started as a local answer to a worldwide pandemic turned into one of the most fulfilling projects of a lifetime Bennett and Lochlan Werdell listened to the climbing stories of their father, Joel, and decided they wanted to hike up the big peaks, too

12 from bad brakes to good

bikes

Pierre Dawson saw a bike in need, and that lead to repairing and donating over 200 bikes

13 in search of waterfalls

Veteran waterfall hunter Alan Moen hits the trail to find elusive — and not so elusive — central Washington waterfalls

16 these humans gave a hoot

And created a nest for baby great horned owls when their’s was destroyed in a storm

In a pivot from past years, Cascade Medical Foundation is showcasing local gardens and artists — with a glass of wine Poets turn out for readings and the launch party of the 2021 The Shrub-Steppe Poetry Journal Art sketch n Bluegrass musician Chuck Egner, page 26 Columns & Departments 6 A bird in the lens: Western Tanager — from tropics to here 22 Pet Tales: The joys of fostering 23 The traveling doctor: How old is old?

25 June Darling: Play more, live better 29-31 The calendar and a Dan McConnell cartoon 32 History: Useful information from 1894 34 That’s life: Days of cards and molding

August 2021 | The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

3

TOWN TOYOTA CENTER SEP 21 GET YOUR TICKETS ONLINE TODAY AT TOWNTOYOTACENTER.COM

>>

OPENING SHOT

®

Year 15, Number 8 August 2021 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, Marc Dilley, Dominick Bonny, Marlene Farrell, Joel Werdell, Rick Edwards, Alan Moen, Jill LaRue, Mike Irwin, Susan Blair, Susan Sampson, 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 TO SUBSCRIBE: For $30, ($35 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

day becomes night at cloudy pass meadows

For circulation questions, email: donna@ncwgoodlife.com 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.

Send your idea to Mike Cassidy at editor@ncwgoodlife.com

The Good Life® is a registered trademark of NCW Good Life, LLC. Copyright 2021

by NCW Good Life, LLC.

By Marc Dilley

N

ight Falls is a sunset photograph of Glacier Peak from a steep meadow above Cloudy Pass Meadows, near the Cascade crest.

Point 6801 on the left and Plummer Mountain on the right may also be seen, as well as our camp at Cloudy Pass Meadows (the large swath of bright green left of center) with Cloudy Pass above.

As are most of my images, Night Falls is a composite of multiple exposures blended together by hand in Adobe Photoshop using various techniques.

Multiple exposures solve problems common in outdoor photography: 1) bright/dark range too great

4

| The Good Life

for the camera sensor to record properly and 2) foreground/background too far apart for both to be in focus.

For this image I was lucky to solve both of those issues with only two exposures; for other images I have needed up to nine separate exposures, each with different focus and/or exposures.

For Night Falls, shot #1 was focused on the foreground and exposed for the dark meadow plants. Shot #2 with Glacier Peak was focused at infinity and exposed for the sunset sky — a brighter subject. The two exposures were then selectively combined in Photoshop to make the final image.

The Cloudy Pass area can be accessed from the Phelps Creek/ Spider Meadow trail head. Hike to the top of the meadow and continue up the switchbacks to the Spider Glacier and up to Spider Pass. Drop down the

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

snowfield to the glacier-polished outcroppings, taking care on the many loose rocks, and follow the drainage down with the Upper Lyman Lakes on your left through the glacier carved valley.

A ford is necessary at the far end, then drop steeply to Lyman Lake. Follow the left shore to the trail fork up and left. In about a half mile, gaining 600 feet, you will be at Cloudy Pass Meadows.

Leavenworth photographer Marc Dilley has been imaging the natural world for 50 years. More of his work can be viewed at marcdilley.com.

On the cover Lochlan Werdell, 8, and his stuffie Cappy on their way to base camp of Mount Rainier.

See the story of kid climbers Lochlan and his sister Bennett, starting on page 9.

>>

editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

Don’t let the years stop the yearning H

istory columnist Rod Molzahn deviates from writing about local history this month to sharing tidbits from a book popular around the turn of the 20th Century.

The Handbook of Useful Information was first published in 1884 and it was like the Google of its day, full of … well, as the title says, useful information.

And, like Google today, maybe some information was not strictly accurate.

My favorite tidbit shared by Rod is this one: Centenarians: “The most remarkable were: The Countess of Desmond, killed by falling from a cherry tree in her 146th year…”

Now, living to 146 is one thing, but falling from a fruit tree? I’m not even half her age, and already my wife is nervous about my climbing fruit trees — chainsaw in hand — to lop off overgrown tops.

I suppose one advantage to living to 146 is you don’t have a nervous nelly of a spouse holding you down.

After I read Rod’s column, our doctor, Jim Brown, sent along his column, asking the practical question of, “How old is old?”

Jim points out as the life expectancy of humans increases, the definition of what is considered “old” is pushed out later.

I was recently watching an Alfred Hitchcock episode from the 1960s (remember who Alfred Hitchcock is? Heard of the 1960s?) where a character dies at 61 playing tennis. “What was he doing playing tennis at his age?” asks one of the heirs gathered for the will reading.

I’ve played tennis with 80-year-olds. And I could consider it a kindly good deed on

my part for playing with these old duffers, if it were not that their wiles and trickery kept beating me.

Dr. Jim ended his column with a website where a person can calculate their life expectancy.

Naturally, I had to take the 40-question quiz — trying not to stray too far from the truth.

(Sure, I always exercise three to five times a week, never overindulge and maybe the weight entered was more wishful than scale-accurate.)

At the end, out pops my life expectancy — a few more good decades. Yea! I may get to see humans land on Mars yet!

And I promise, once I get past 125, I’m staying out of fruit trees.

Local Medicare Advantage Plans Starting at $0/Month.

Health Alliance Northwest™ and Confluence Health bridge the gap between doctors and insurance. We’re better together, giving you low-cost Medicare coverage made for you. Get access to all this and more when you turn 65: • Dental, vision, hearing and prescription coverage.

• Plans that have a $0 pharmacy deductible.

• $0 medical deductible.

Call for a FREE Medicare evaluation: (877) 561-1463 (TTY 711).

Available daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time. Voicemail is used on holidays and weekends from April 1 to September 30.

Or learn more at one of our upcoming webinars: HealthAlliance.org/Events.

Health Alliance Northwest is a Medicare Advantage Organization with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in Health Alliance Northwest depends on contract renewal. Other providers are available in our network. For accommodations of persons with special needs at meetings call (877) 561-1463 (TTY 711).

MDMKHA21-WACprintad-1020 • H3471_21_93135_M

A YARD IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE ON GRASS

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

At the opposite end of the age spectrum, Lochlan Werdell, at age 8, is the youngest person we’ve had on our cover.

(I think it’s also the only time we’ve had a stuffed animal on the cover.)

Lochlan was 8, and his sister Bennett was 9 when they summited Mount Rainier with their dad, Joel.

In addition, Joel reports that, “They are also the youngest siblings — or perhaps Lochlan is the youngest kid — to summit all Washington volcanoes at age 11 and 9.”

I guess maybe the old saying that, “age is just a number” is true — don’t let the number hold you back from living a life with adventures.

October 2020

EN FOR FUN AND ADVENTURE Price: $3EN

Price: $3

Barging down a French canal plus LIEF CARLSEN BUILDS A TINY HOUSE... BUT WHY EXACTLY? WENATCHEE COUPLE LIVING THEIR ‘LAST HURRAH’ IN MEXICO

REMEMBERING A TIME BEFORE THE MUSIC STOPPED

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

November 2020

Price: $3

RIDING THE WIND

Adventure

Life needs a little adventure. From around the corner or around the world, read what your neighbors are doing.

Local

Local people just like you leading an engaged and enthusiastic life. Uplifting and inspiring articles and features 12 months a year.

Subscribe for yourself or a friend

NAME________________________________________

plus LEAVENWORTH MOUNTAIN RETREAT IS A NATURAL IN VIRTUAL HOME TOUR

ADDRESS_____________________________________

WRITING ABOUT HARRIET BULLITT — AN INTRIGUING AND IMPACTFUL LIFE

★READERS SHARE THEIR BEST DAYS OF 2020

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

January 2021

OPEN FOR FUN AND ADVENTURE

Price: $3

OFF GRID RESPITE during the pandemic

CITY/STATE/ZIP________________________________

In state subscriptions $30 for 1 year Out of state subscriptions $35 for 1 year

plus TINY HOMES OFFER LARGE CHOICES SKIING IN SOLITUDE AT ECHO RIDGE

Quit thinking of the candles on your birthday cake, think of the fire inside you instead. Enjoy The Good Life.

— Mike August 2021 | The Good Life

Send payment to:

1107 East Denny Way, Apt. B-7 • Seattle, WA 98122 509-888-6527 • www.ncwgoodlife.com www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

5

>>

column a bird in the lens

Western Tanager often winter in Central America Have you ever stopped to

think about why we only see some bird species during short periods each year?

Migratory birds pass through our area each year as they move to their breeding grounds and then return to their respective wintering areas.

Neotropical birds are those that spend our winters in tropical Bruce McCammon regions south is retired, colorof the Tropic blind and enjoys photographing the of Cancer and return to birds in north central Washington. breed in the United States and Canada. North central Washington hosts one neotropical tanager — the Western Tanager.

Tanagers are some of the most colorful bird species on earth.

Anyone who has visited tropical countries like Costa Rica or Ecuador quickly realizes that brightly colored tanagers are plentiful.

The global diversity of tanagers is a bit staggering. Depending on who you look to as an authority for bird species, you will find about 370 tanager species and 685 subspecies.

Given that, the four species of tanagers in the United States seems pretty small. So, it seems, that we should celebrate the Western Tanager, the one tanager species we get to see in north central Washington, when they arrive from their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America.

... the Western Tanager thrives on native plants like elderberry and serviceberry, you can help them by emphasizing native plants in your yard...

The male Western Tanager is one of the most colorful birds in our area.

Western Tanagers breed from Arizona to Canada and migrate through areas as far east as Colorado or Wyoming.

Wintering in Central America and Mexico, they arrive in our area in late May and are usually gone by the end of September.

Peak times to see this remarkable bird are May, June, and July.

They are commonly seen in conifer forests. Look for them as small flocks in the treetops.

They also may accompany Blackheaded Grosbeaks in mixed flocks.

It always pays, however, to keep your eyes open for them.

6

| The Good Life

I’ve seen them in orchards and riparian shrubs in the Horan Natural Area in Wenatchee.

One of the joys of bird watching is that you never know what may show up. It’s always good to carry your binoculars when you head out for a walk, hike, or drive.

The male Western Tanager is one of the most colorful birds in our area. The male has an orange-red head, a bright yellow body, and black wings, back and tail.

The red color on their heads comes from the insects they eat.

While they eat mostly insects,

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

they will eat fruit from hawthorn, elderberry, mulberry and serviceberry plants. They also have a history of being voracious cherry-eaters.

The bright yellow body may be easily confused with the Bullock’s Oriole but the head color and pattern make it easy to tell the two species apart.

Today, the Western Tanager is considered to be a bird species of “Least Concern.”

Typical threats to birds such as pesticides, collisions, predation, and habitat degradation have not, yet, caused the Western Tanager to be placed in a more sensitive ecological classification. That’s great news since we have such limited opportunities to see them.

Given that the Western Tanager thrives on native plants like elderberry and serviceberry, you can help them by emphasizing native plants in your yard or gardens.

Planting native plants is one thing we can all do to help not only the Western Tanager but other birds and animals as well.

Can you help?

>>

MY WORLD // A personal essay

Brianne Sinner, right, was looking for a place to donate her used washer and dryer, so she asked where she could do that in the Together Wenatchee group. It didn’t take very long for the community to get her connected with Serve Wenatchee Valley and that washer and dryer found a new home.

Dominick took and posted a photo of the braised beef ramen and lemon boba drink at Tiki Hawaiian Barbeque in Wenatchee to help promote the new business Yaojie Zhou and his wife Sun opened just weeks after the COVID-19 shutdowns.

‘What started as an anxiety-induced desire to make myself and others feel better during a time of extreme stress has turned into one of the

Most fulfilling projects of my life’ I

Story and photos

by Dominick Bonny

n the spring of 2020 it felt like uncertainty and fear were running rampant, and society was falling apart.

COVID-19 had made its way to the U.S., cases were rising unchecked and we in Washington went into lockdown. It was a decision that carried with it the threat of extinction for many small locally-owned businesses.

In the Wenatchee Valley, like many communities across the U.S., locally-owned businesses help make our towns vibrant and unique. You can find a Chili’s or McDonald’s in nearly every town in America, but there’s only one Lemolo or Garlini’s or Sweetwood BBQ. So I, like so many at the time, felt powerless, isolated and afraid for the future of my family, my community and my

Kyle Eberth, associate area director for NCW Young Life, and a friend stop by a taco truck on Mission Street in Wenatchee and pose for a selfie to show they’re supporting local.

August 2021 | The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

7

country.

I wanted to do something proactive and something positive.

I just wanted to do something, anything to make myself feel better.

As fate would have it I would get that opportunity.

In early April, I got a call from an East Wenatchee woman named Lacy Stockton. She and her partner Hassan had the idea to create a local alternative to Amazon, so that folks could support local businesses from the comfort and safety of their homes during quarantine.

They had come up with a name and already had a logo designed. They were calling it “Together Wenatchee” and I thought it was an excellent idea.

I asked how I could help.

Lacy and Hassan said they had the web design and management covered, but could

}}} Continued on next page

TOGETHER WENATCHEE }}} Continued from previous page

use help with social media and asked if I would be willing to establish and manage that side of things.

After speaking with my wife, Kathryn, we agreed and went about setting up an Instagram account, a Facebook page and a Facebook group using the same logo and branding as the website.

We didn’t know what to expect, but we had outlined a clear mission for ourselves.

Our goal was to help locals support local businesses using online resources to connect the two, as well as provide a safe and reliable space for community members to communicate and support one another while making a space for reliable COVIDrelated information.

There were plenty of other resources popping up, from Facebook groups to local media outlets thinking outside the box in efforts to recoup lost advertising revenue.

But from the beginning I wanted this group to be different.

I wanted the standards of conduct to be higher than what social media users are accustomed to from local media Facebook pages. There, trolls and bullies pick fights and run roughshod over anyone who disagrees with them, effectively shutting down any and all interactions other than the most toxic.

So with those principles in place, a small team of administrators set about providing that safe space and sharing information about what local businesses were still open, if and how they were transitioning to online ordering and curbside pickup and what their specials were.

We also put our money where our mouths were, and my expanding waistband throughout 2020 could attest to that.

Kat and I decided that since we had the ability to work from

home and still earn income, that we would get takeout at least once a week and take highquality photos of our meals then share the photos, tag the businesses in the post in the group and social media accounts and let others know how they could support those businesses.

In addition, moderators from the group started doing one-onone video chats with business owners to help local folks know how they were faring through the economic crisis and how they were transitioning their products and services and how the community could support them.

For some businesses, it was as simple as setting up online ordering and figuring out how to make curbside and delivery work.

For others, like Janice Barnes of Tranquility Day Spa, COVID restrictions meant a complete shutdown that left her scrambling to make and offer products that local consumers needed, like hand sanitizer.

Some business owners, like Yaojie Zhou and his wife Sun had opened Tiki Hawaiian Barbeque just weeks before the shutdown, which made the already stressful reality of opening a new restaurant into a project that felt doomed to fail.

It didn’t though, and I would like to think that taking and posting some well-timed highquality photos of some of their dishes and helping them spread the word through social media helped.

In the year and a half since, the Together Wenatchee Facebook group has taken on a life of its own.

It has become much more than a place to see what businesses are offering specials, or get a recommendation for a good lawn care company. It has become a place where people offer each other support and comfort in emergencies, most

8

| The Good Life

A screenshot from a video interview Dominick did with Janice Barnes, owner of Tranquility Day Spa, about how the COVID-19 shutdowns affected her business and what she was doing to stay afloat, including producing hand sanitizer.

recently during the Red Apple Fire this July.

Folks took to the group to offer transport, support and shelter for those affected by that wildfire as well as their livestock and pets. Others used the group to gather donations and funds to support our neighbors to the north who were threatened by the Nespelem fire on the Colville Reservation.

As I was preparing to write this piece, I decided to ask members of the group what Together Wenatchee meant to them. Here are a few answers: n “It brought me a sense of true community at a time I felt isolated.” — Shelley Gingrich n “I was new to Wenatchee and then COVID hit, being in this group helped me feel connected and helped me become familiar with local resources and community activities.” — Sandra Villarreal n “I enjoy the thought of spending money locally rather than online. Even through hard times it seems like this website really helped get the word out there when businesses are open

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

and how they were functioning.

I absolutely love the feel of this site bringing community together.” — Amber Zacher n “We really liked getting the word out about vaccines and how we were able to help people sign up and get their appointments. We have found this group to be very comforting in time of need and the way the community comes TOGETHER to help others, including your little family.” — Heather Flowers What started as an anxietyinduced desire to make myself and others feel better and more connected during a time of extreme stress and uncertainty has turned into one of the most fulfilling projects of my life so far.

For that, I want to thank everyone who has been a part of what I like to think of as a movement to bring radical compassion and increased tolerance, understanding and cooperation to this valley.

Check us out at: https://www. facebook.com/groups/togetherwenatchee.

Kid

mountain climbers Bennett Werdell, age 9, leaves Camp Muir on a climb of Mount Rainier en route to Ingraham Flats. Photo by Josh Swift

‘There was still some doubt in my mind whether we could really make (the summit of Mount Rainier), but the kids were prepared mentally and physically, and that would be the driving force over the next three days.’

B

By Marlene Farrell

ig adventures for siblings Bennett and Lochlan Werdell of Leavenworth began with stories.

“My dad would tell us stories about all of his climbs. Then he started taking us on hikes,” said Bennett.

In 2017, when they were only seven and almost six, respectively, dad Joel and the kids were hanging out at Seward Park, near their then home in Seattle.

Across the water stood Mount Baker, prominent and white with glaciers.

“I’d love to take you to the top of Mount Baker someday,” Joel told them. “There are just a few things you would need to prove before that could happen. You must be able to make it to the

Little Tahoma as seen from advanced base camp at Ingraham Flats.

top of Mailbox Peak and Mount Si, backpack overnight to an alpine lake and be able to use an August 2021 | The Good Life

ice axe and crampons on snow and ice.”

Without hesitation, Lochlan www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

9

asked, “Dad, can we hike Mount Si this weekend?”

A shared dream hatched plans, first to climb Baker, then to climb Rainier, then to climb all the Pacific Northwest volcanoes.

Bennett and Lochlan might not have fully understood the work involved to reach such lofty goals, but they made up for it in exuberance. Joel said, “Their sense of adventure and determination can resemble a thirst for water on a hot day.”

That first year, they met Dad’s prerequisites, learning how to use an ice axe for climbing and self-arrest (if necessary), how to be on a rope team, how to pace the long ascents and navigate moraines and crevasses.

There’s descending too. “The

}}} Continued on next page

KID mountaineers }}} Continued from previous page

adrenaline-inducing race of a glissade while using only the finest equipment (one’s booty) can outshine all other memories,” said Joel, remembering the first time the kids glissaded, on Mount Daniel for training. “The snow flew in every direction, and it filled our shirts and pants to overflowing, but the smiles beamed.”

They’ve also descended on skis, often surprising and impressing adult skiers nearby.

Because of their small stature, Joel had to piece together equipment, giving them large ice tools instead of ice axes, cranking crampons down to the smallest settings, having them wear slightly spacious boots to fit the

crampons and using glasses straps to hold the glacier goggles on their faces.

Joel scrutinizes the weather, checking multiple weather reports and having the flexibility to go when conditions are near perfect.

The packs are often prepacked, ready and waiting.

Even so, he admits, “With kids, you have to be mentally ready to turn around. The likelihood of making it to the summit is going to be lower.”

With all the preBennett hangs out at Ingraham Flats the night cautions in place, before summit day. Photo by Josh Swift

Joel, Bennett, and Lochlan coming down from the summit of Mount Rainier via Disappointment Clever with Ingraham Flats in the distance.

10

| The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

and guided by Joel and other knowledgeable dads, Bennett and Lochlan summited Baker without a hitch. Lochlan’s complaint? “There were too many people in our group, so we went super slow.”

They were ready for more.

It’s easy to imagine kids complaining of boredom or exhaustion when hiking uphill for hours and then repeating it the next day, or through the night.

Bennett and Lochlan admit they don’t always make the summit, and there are moments of “break down.” But they’re just that, moments, and then they get up and keep going.

To pass the time, Bennett said, “I’m a talker. I’ll talk for a long time and it takes my mind off things. And I like to sing.”

Lochlan said their “stuffies” make good trail companions, including Simon, a golden retriever, Deborah, a lamb with a theme song, and Cappy, the sloth who has stood atop all the volcanoes with them. Gummy bears also motivate Lochlan and Bennett at the end of a long day.

Their biggest challenge has been sunburn, which can happen even with scrupulous sunscreen application. The lower half of Lochlan’s face got burned once to the point of causing blisters. “He looked like a troll,” said his sister.

Rainier Ready In July 2019, they set their sights on Rainier.

The trio, along with some other climbing friends, had already checked off Baker and El Dorado in the prior two summers.

“The age limit to climb Mount Rainier, at 14,411 feet, requires parent approval under 18 and a strong climbing resume for those under 14,” explained Joel.

“There was still some doubt in my mind whether we could really make it, but the kids were prepared mentally and physically, and that would be the driving force over the next three days.

The good-spirited rangers were enthralled with these little ones

and their stories of mountains past.”

They worked their way up the mountain over two days, arriving at Ingraham Flats at 11,000 feet, where they met up with the rest of their group and slept for a couple hours before beginning the summit pitch. “The kids were more than ready to start at 11 p.m.,” said Joel. “Bennett and Lochlan (now nine and eight) cruised effortlessly up into the frozen night sky, attacked the cleaver of rock and snow and navigated huge crevasses and ice fall zones. All until about 13,500 feet.”

When Bennett had a low moment, Lochlan said, “I encouraged her.” They resumed.

It happened again, this time Lochlan laying down in a heap with almost zero vertical left to go. “Dad started coiling the rope,” said Bennett. “Lochlan seemed glad. But I grabbed the rope and refused to quit.”

Joel remembered saying they could go down, giving them an out, but letting them know if they dug a little deeper, they’d make it.

“The kids seemingly ignored me but started talking to each other. I could tell by their body language they were finding a whole new resolve to get past their perceived limits.”

Then it was Joel’s turn for emotion. “A few hundred feet from the summit, the tears started to come! I sobbed, laughed, smiled, and sobbed till it hurt. We were going to make it, and the joy welling up was the most intense feeling of my life.”

The Werdells and the rest of their climbing party celebrated the summit, briefly but joyously, with photos, signing the logbook to officially mark the youngest siblings — at ages 9 and 8 — to climb Rainier, and taking in the surreality of the world dropping away in all directions.

It was windy and cloudy, so they didn’t linger. As they began the descent, the kids’ thoughts turned to Mom and the adven-

Lochlan, Bennett and Garrett Lahmann of Mercer island come down from the summit and thread a massive ice wall and crevasse right around 13,000 feet.

ture story waiting to be told.

Their efforts are extraordinary, their passion unusual, but Bennett and Lochlan are human and happily shared a few less enjoyable aspects of climbing trips.

Both recalled thick swarms of mosquitoes on the lower flanks of Mount Daniel. “They were attacking us everywhere, even our eye lashes,” said Bennett.

Lochlan remembered one trip in which he slipped and fell on snow, causing a friend, attached to him by rope, to fall too, precariously close to a crevasse.

“She was scared and mad at me after that,” he said.

El Dorado required them to push hard. At one point, they had to travel through a mileslong boulder field when they were out of water.

Highlights include the rocky summit of Baker. “We could hang out for a while in the sun,” August 2021 | The Good Life

said Bennett. And for Lochlan it was the top of Glacier Peak, completed in 2020.

What does Mom think about all of this? “She worries, but does it in a good way, saying to be careful and come back home,” said Bennett.

“When they started their more intense climbs and crossing glaciers, I was very nervous,” said mom Amanda. “They were so tiny and tackling something that most adults won’t do. It slowly got easier as I would see their faces light up when they got home. They would beam with accomplishment on what they had just done.

“I also credit Joel with exposing them to all these adventures.

I’m at best a beginner mountaineer, so to have him build this confidence and courage into our kids is a beautiful thing.”

They also have a younger www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

11

brother, Huckson, who’s been to base camp of most of the peaks they’ve climbed. When asked what it would take for Huckson to be atop Rainier, veteran climber Lochlan said, “He’d need a lot of training.”

Joel recommends that other parents not be afraid to think big.

“Invite your kids into working towards something neither of you thinks is possible and break it down into small milestones of success. Don’t make excuses for them on why they can’t do something; make accommodations for them so they can. Be their biggest fan and adventure companion.”

It works for the Werdells.

Together, they’re stronger and will keep aiming high. Summiting Mount Hood in Oregon is next on their list.

>>

Volunteers

From bad brakes to good bikes Pierre Dawson at Hospitality House salvaging bikes for parts and to be repaired for kids.

By Rick Edwards

W

hile walking into the Sure to Rise Bakery in Cashmere in 2015, local cycling enthusiast Pierre Dawson couldn’t help but notice that the kid’s bike leaning against the wall outside had brakes that were so out of adjustment that they couldn’t possibly work.

Stepping into the bakery, he asked the bike owner how well her brakes were working.

To Pierre’s surprise, she answered, “Fine.” It turns out she had been using her feet as the brakes — Fred Flintstone style.

After a follow-up visit by Pierre and his tools, the girl had a fully functional bike again and a smile on her face — and shoes that would last longer.

That got Pierre thinking that there were likely a lot of kids with bikes that needed repairs

or adjustments to make them safer to ride — not to mention kids who wanted a bike and had no means to get one.

So, Pierre decided to host a community bike repair event in 2016, which was open to anyone who needed help. Donated bikes were also accepted, which were to be refurbished and given away.

The success of that event led to lots of discussions about starting a club to teach kids how to repair their own bikes and to help with refurbishing donated bikes.

Those discussions finally bore fruit with the creation of the Cashmere Middle School Bike Repair Club in fall of 2017, with Pierre as leader and teacher Jeff Cravens as faculty advisor.

Before the pandemic shutdown, the Club met every Thursday after school for an hour and a half, with up to 10

12

| The Good Life

kids participating in each meeting and learning new skills. The Club refurbished and then gave away 65 bikes to people who needed one in both 2018 and 2019.

In July 2020, with an Owl Drug ice cream cone in hand, Pierre celebrated giving away the 200th refurbished bike.

He had to heat the axle nuts on that one with a torch to get them to turn freely to get the overhaul completed — serious measures are sometimes required.

The 2020 stock of donated bikes was given a big boost by a donation of 40 used bikes from Hospitality House (now Wenatchee Rescue Mission) last June. As of May 2021, the Club had given away a total of 212 bikes.

The Club held its first community bike repair/donation event of this year on April 3.

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

That event saw about 10 bikes repaired and more than 15 donated.

In past years the Club held four such events each year: at the start of spring break, start of summer break, back to school time in the fall, and then again on Make a Difference Day in October.

If you are interested in helping the Club refurbish bikes, or if you have a bike that you would like to give to the Club for repair and donation, please contact Pierre Dawson at (509) 782-0565.

Help keep our young twowheelers rolling — safely.

Rick Edwards is a retired USFS hydrologist, WSU Master Gardener and is on the Board of Advisors for Sustainable Wenatchee, a nonprofit that promotes a culture of environmental stewardship and social sustainability in the Wenatchee Valley.

The waterfall hunter Most NCW waterfalls are easy to find, but may take some work to get to

By Alan Moen Even since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by waterfalls.

The sight of a river or stream taking its leap of faith over a cliff, turning lovely as it descends in plumes of white, throwing spray and thunder into the air before it crashes into rocks, pools and mist below has always been magical to me.

And so, growing up in waterfall-rich western Washington, I’ve always sought out waterfalls in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains, in the United States and even all over the world.

I’ve seen Niagara Falls in the U.S., 974-foot Staubbach Falls in Switzerland, too many waterfalls in Norway to count, and once traveled high into the Drankensberg Mountains of South Africa on a misty, rainy day to try to get a glimpse of Tugela Falls, at 3,110 feet the second tallest waterfall in the world. (Angel Falls, the tallest, located in the dense jungle of Venezuela, South America, has still eluded me.)

Washington State is blessed with some great waterfalls for the waterfall hunter.

Most, not surprisingly, are found on the wetter western side of the Cascade Mountains.

From easily accessible Snoqualmie Falls and Wallace Falls near Gold Bar to Comet Falls in Mount Rainier National Park.

In the Enchanted Valley of the Quinault River in Olympic National Park, reached only by a 16-mile trail, dozens of waterfalls pour hundreds of feet down a high mountain wall into a

I’ve seen Niagara Falls in the U.S., 974-foot Staubbach Falls in Switzerland, too many waterfalls in Norway to count, and once traveled high into the Drankensberg Mountains of South Africa on a misty, rainy day to try to get a glimpse of Tugela Falls... verdant meadow below.

Drury Falls But north central Washington also has its share of waterfalls, and most are fairly easy to visit.

The tallest is Drury Falls in Tumwater Canyon, quite visible from near The Alps candy store on Highway 2. Here from near the top of Icicle Ridge, waters take an airy plunge of 520 feet off a granite ledge into a deep gorge. Counting the cascades beneath the main falls, the total drop is approximately 1,200 feet.

Fed primarily by snowmelt, the falls diminishes greatly in summer, and turns into a giant column of ice in winter, beckoning the boldest of climbers.

}}} Continued on next page

August 2021 | The Good Life

Rainbow Falls makes a joyous 312-foot leap at the headwaters of Lake Chelan. www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

13

Moving?

The post office will not automatically forward The Good Life magazine.

The waterfall hunter }}} Continued from previous page

DANGEROU

S WOMEN

Unfortunately, access to the falls is limited to a long hike up Icicle Ridge or a strenuous bushwhack up the gorge after crossing the river below.

Y EVENTS CALEN

DAR

WENA TCHE

NUMBEE VALLEY’S R ONE MAGA ZIN E

March

2016

THE M OF A AKING

Price: $3

COWB OY

From to yee-quiet scient ist horse- hawing riding man

+

Cary

ordw

they built this city

ay’s

If you have a subscription to The Good Life, please let us know a month ahead of your new address.

Email your change of address to: donna@ncwgoodife.com Please include your old address.

Rainbow Falls Rainbow Falls, another tall and impressive waterfall, lies at the headwaters of Lake Chelan about three miles above Stehekin, which can only be reached by boat.

A short bicycle or bus ride provides easy access to the 312foot falls on Rainbow Creek, which has a large parking area beneath. A new trail to the left of the parking area allows visitors to take a short hike up to the bottom of the falls for better views.

Silver Falls Even closer to civilization, 140-foot Silver Falls is located 29.5 miles up the Entiat River Road between Wenatchee and Chelan, and is definitely the most popular waterfall to visit in the area.

Just past the Silver falls campground is a large parking lot.

Take the well-marked familyfriendly trail through the shady pine forest directly across the road to see the falls.

The short but steep rail climbs up along Silver creek, much of it following stone steps and somewhat rickety guardrails put in by the CCC back in the 1930s.

It splits in a short distance near a bridge. Take the right hand fork, ascending to view the dramatic 50-foot plunge of the lower falls. Although you can scramble off-trail over wet rocks to stand close beneath the falling water, this is slippery, somewhat dangerous and is not

14

| The Good Life

A 150-foot waterfall pours from a cliff at the Ancient Lakes, one of several in the area.

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

Ancient Lakes Falls Dry coulee country is hardly where you would expect to find waterfalls, but waterfall hunters should not miss the several high waterfalls surrounding the Ancient Lakes near Quincy.

The most dramatic of them is located at the very end of the three lower lakes, a 100-foot cascade that begs for a closer look.

Unlike other waterfalls in the area, it does not dry up in summer.

The falls can be reached by taking the lower two-mile trail to the lakes and scrambling around the upper lake either on the left (recommended) or the right, crossing the stream at the bottom of the falls and ascending a long scree slope to the top.

More small waterfalls await in the basin above, and even more lakes as well.

Happy waterfall hunting!

recommended.

Above the lower falls, the trail continues upwards and veers right across and open slope, where burnt trees show the damage done by a 2016 wildfire that burned right through the falls area, even destroying bridges over the creek. Finally the trail returns to the creek and climbs to a new wooden bridge that spans it where the tumbling waters begin their descent.

Crossing the bridge, the trail continues steeply down to the right, following switchbacks with more views of the falls, and eventually joins the other trail below to complete the 1.7-mile loop.

The popularity of he Silver Falls Trail can make it very crowded, as it was particularly during the height of the recent pandemic, especially on weekends. Still, it’s a great place to go on a hot summer day, where the cool falling waters provide a welcome respite from the heat.

Longtime waterfall hunter Alan Moen lives in the Entiat Valley.

Alan Moen at Silver Falls, likely the most popular local falls to visit.

August 2021 | The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

15

Giving a hoot Humans climb to the rescue after Mother Nature destroys nest of infant great horned owls

O

By Jill LaRue

ur story begins with the COVID epidemic.

Confined to home last spring, Tom and I had a little extra time on our hands, so we set out to locate the local great horned owl nest that has been used for years.

Once we found it, we were able to watch it from our upstairs window and various places throughout the neighborhood.

The eggs hatched and the two owlets began to grow. They became a source of neighborhood socialization, outside, socially distanced, as we met in the evenings with our telescopes and binoculars to watch the owl family.

It was so entertaining to observe the parents feeding the owlets, encouraging them as they fledged (left the nest), learned to fly, flapping their wings against the wind in the tall trees.

We learned so much about great horned owls.

First, they don’t build nests. Instead they use nests built by other birds, such as ravens and hawks. They may also nest in tree or rock cavities, man-made platforms, even rafters in an open barn.

They are very versatile nesters and hunt a variety of prey, requiring territories approximately 1.5 square miles for a nesting pair.

This winter, the nesting pair (we assumed it was the same pair) returned to what we perceived as now a ratty old nest. We enjoyed watching the eggs hatch and the owlets began to peek out of the nest. We watched them daily, often several times a day.

When they were about four to five weeks old we noticed the owlets sitting on a branch above their mother after a big windstorm.

Their nest was gone. The next morning the owls were also gone.

16

After the nest of these baby great horned owls was destroyed by a storm, a wicker basket replacement home was placed in the notch of a tree, held in place by an old climbing rope. The babies are about four weeks old — one can hardly hold its head up. | The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

The baby great horned owlets grew in their makeshift nest — here about six to seven weeks old — under the very watchful eyes of the mother owl.

With impending stormy weather, including more wind and snow, I located the owlets huddled in piles of leaves on the ground, 75 feet from the nest tree, both parents keeping watch over them.

Seeing the owlets on the ground with the extreme weather forecasted, we were sure they would not survive.

After consulting with a raptor rescue specialist, we built a temporary nest out of a wicker laundry basket, used a 12-foot orchard ladder to place the basket in a three-limbed crotch of a tree about 15 feet up, and secured the basket with old climbing rope.

Wearing ski helmets, goggles and heavy coats, Tom placed the near lifeless owlets in the makeshift nest, while I kept watch on the parents just overhead. They were snapping their bills as a warning.

Great horned owls can be very aggressive — we heard stories

of people injured while rescuing or banding great horned owlets. We hoped that the parents would take care of them in the new nest.

As we watched from a neighbor’s backyard, the mother came down to inspect the owlets in the new nest just after we left.

In the morning Mom was sitting on the nest, rimmed by snow, cold wind riffling her feathers.

As we watched the new nest through our telescopes several times a day, we observed one owlet very active almost immediately. We named it “Gym.” However, we had no sign that the second owlet was okay.

Carrie Laxson, Tom’s niece and a raptor rescue specialist with the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, told us that sometimes baby owls sustain internal injuries during a fall from the nest.

Owlets in the same nest can be separated in age by as much as a week, so maybe one was younger and less able to recover from August 2021 | The Good Life

exposure on the ground.

However, after about three days, owl number two woke up ravenous. We observed the mother heartily feeding it bits of a quail. We named it “Zoe,” the Greek word for “life.”

They grew so fast. Both parents were busy hunting to feed them.

We watched the owlets develop ear tufts (little teddy bear ears), so cute with their fuzzy grey heads and black mask faces.

We enjoyed seeing them bopping around in the laundry basket nest, practice spreading their wings and flapping vigorously on the sides of the nest.

When the owlets were about seven weeks old, one of the owlets jumped, soared, or fell out of the nest. The next day the second one followed. This is normal. In fact it is called the “brancher stage.”

During this time, owlets are frequently found on the ground.

Their talons are as big and as www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

17

strong as they will ever be, so they practice flight by flapping their wings on tree branches, soaring out to the ground or lower tree branches, and then using strong talons and their beaks to climb back up.

The parents are never very far away and continue to feed them.

We listened to the owlets’ begging calls through the night.

As their flight skills and balance improved over the next few weeks we heard them less. They eventually left the area with their parents to learn to hunt.

We all hope to enjoy them again next year. They keep the rodent population in check and we enjoy listening to them.

Their nest is gone, though, so we hope we can find a suitable site for a man-made nest that will be attractive to them.

Jill LaRue loves to be outside, learning about the amazing place we live, hiking, biking, bird watching and gardening.

Cascade Medical Foundation

Garden and Art Tour Editor’s note: Uncertain how possible COVID restrictions might affect the annual Home and Garden Tour, the Cascade Medical Foundation pivoted to a Garden and Art Tour this, the 25th year, of the fundraiser. Here is a story of one couple’s gardens — and the artists who will be there.

Story by Susan Lagsdin Photos by Mike Irwin

The grand home on North Road, advised

their realtor, was a great bargain for Bud and Pat Dietrich in 2007.

It was close to their existing property, where they intended to build. “At first we were just going to flip it,” she said, “and then build a new house up at our pear orchard.”

A very visual problem was the neglected garden. The whole four-acre yard had lain fallow for a few years of probate; weeds reigned victorious, flowers and grass were long-dead, and the foundation plantings looked way beyond surviving a comeback.

However, hard labor, constant attention and a lot of water brought it new life, enough that the house itself began to feel like home. The Dietrichs had also fallen head over heels in love with their mountain surround — that and a 2018 remodel that opened up the dated interior reconfirmed their intention to stay put.

And that decision suited Pat just fine. In her childhood, her military family uprooted itself dozens of times, and though moves in adulthood have been fewer, she was good and ready for the serenity of one home, one yard, one community.

18

ABOVE: Bud and Pat Dietrich cozy up to Bud’s whimsical rock snowman, with Mountain Home in the background. He’s enjoyed creating garden art, moving major boulders around with his backhoe and crafting sculptures with metal hexagons.

BUTTERFLY detail in headline by Amber Zimmerman.

LEFT: The Dietrichs took action last fall to improve their day-long southwest view considerably.

Just coming in to bloom, this curbed garden is part of the major restructuring of a large swath of too-hot “easy-care” river rock and its stubborn weeds. | The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

Pat and Bud Dietrich pose with two statues they spotted driving through Startup -- they liked the resemblance to themselves, so now the carved couple lives in their garden.”

sore, and I couldn’t stand it any longer.”

Finally in the fall of 2020 they hired Judy Nilson of Anderson Landscaping to beautify, with a curbed and curved garden surrounded by lawn, that one last large area of Echoing a Monet, this north-facing water garden offers a cool and peaceful welcome at the entrance to discontent. the Dietrich’s home. One of the original features, like much of the greenery it was pampered back from Most gardeners keep on editing and revisdisrepair to photo-op beauty. ing even when their landscaping is considered a finished draft. When asked what Revived plants and a revised floorplan the silver spruce trees at the road’s edge, but she’d change, Pat replied, “I would be more aren’t the only changes. As a complement to they’ve since doubled in height, so now they careful with my plant choices; I would probthe plantings, over the years the couple add- go au natural at the holidays. ably have picked different ones if I’d been ed dozens of pieces of garden art like craggy The circular entrance driveway is centered familiar with the designer’s list.” rock stacks, hexagons and discs, wooden She’s not sure that massed plantings of by a garden that originally held a large, carvings and metal kinetic art pieces. perennial flowers will actually mass; she bland terra-cotta feature. It was replaced Some were gathered on their travels: an knows she’ll never have another ornamental by a tall, wind-sensitive metal mobile full airplane from Iron Springs on our Olympic plum tree near the walkway (purple splotchof flash and color by noted Seattle-based coast, a bear from Arizona, a lighthouse es occur). kinetic sculptor Andrew Carson. from Tennessee. Others were found locally, a But she loves her whimsical “fringe tree,” Most plants lived again, and the art pieces few were crafted by Bud himself. aka Graybeard, her trio of Sky Trails everadded texture, but all was not well.

“There were huge boulders on the propThe Dietrich’s straight-on views of Moun- greens, two Redbud trees with their showy erty that we had to move around,” Pat said. spring blooms, and the Little Lime hydrantain Home, Icicle Ridge and Tumwater “Luckily, Bud has a backhoe.” And he loves Mountain still had to compete with a discon- geas. to use it.

Pat is grateful that their orchard manager, certing sight from their main living areas: Growing up on a working farm in ColoIsrael Ledezma, has taken charge of garden a huge span of pale river rock and stubborn rado, he made easy work of thinning out maintenance, but she’s surprised at how weeds that filled their back yard. and repurposing the daunting rock-studded much branch clipping and deadheading of They became inured to it over the years, perimeter. blooms she still does. but Pat said, “The recent improvements to }}} Continued on next page He said he once hung Christmas lights on the patio had made it even more of an eyeAugust 2021 | The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

19

Garden and Art Tour }}} Continued from previous page “I also get to do the fun stuff like adding and planting the garden pots,” she admits.

“And then Israel has to figure out how to get water to them.”

With its full-grown trees and revived shrubs complemented by the gratifying new additions, the Dietrich’s garden is now TA DAH! ready to show to the public on Aug.7.

It wraps around their home from the gracious entrance drive to the raised beds at the far fence line and will be open to meandering and inspiration-gathering, as will displays by the three guest artists.

Teri Zimmerman, for one, is quite familiar with the home. When Pat and Bud purchased it, they were so pleased with the quality of her stained-glass windows that they had them removed.... ...but to be immediately replaced with one of her subtler geometric designs, echoing the art deco era. Two clear etched glass pieces remain, but main room windows and the front door are new.

Teri’s specialty for 45 years has been not the manufacture of glass but working subtractively, sculpting existing glass by etching and sandblasting. Beveling, as well as designing and piecing leaded (clear) and stained (colored) glass are also staples of her repertoire.

For many years Teri and her husband Steve — “my life and art partner,” she says — designed glass, with up to 15 employees, for the fast-paced westside world from the Seattle Home Show to Seattle show homes.

Their deliberately life-altering move to Plain in 1992 led to simplicity and a clearer sense of purpose.

Since then, Teri and Steve’s art, whether it’s a votive, a light catcher, a deck surround, one bathroom window or the curved and etched wall at the Wenatchee Valley Clinic, has touched the lives of hundreds of area homeowners and art lovers. Requests for Silvermoon glass now come from all over the globe.

Steve is gradually retiring from the daily grind, so to speak, and Teri is the master glassworker on new commissions.

20

Teri Zimmerman of Silvermoon Art Glass, whose stained glass and etching artistry graces many fine north central Washington homes, is the Dietrich’s art partner for the Cascade Medical Center event in August.

Teri Zimmerman often represents in glass her longtime love of marine creatures and her continued concern for them. She said this piece, entitled Too Full to Forage, “imagines an ocean where salmon are plentiful and Orca have full bellies.”

Large installations continue to absorb her talents and time and are a satisfying counterpoint to the smaller and more personal | The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

pieces she crafts in her studio.

She’s worked with two owners over 20 years, retrofitting windows to temper the medieval-look Knights of Pythias “castle” in downtown Baker City, Oregon, which will eventually become a civic center.

And closer to home she’s currently designing and installing multiple stained-glass windows for the traditional chapel (patterned on an iconic Douglas, Washington structure) of the Grace City Church in north Wenatchee.

The natural world of mountains and timber that surrounds Teri in Plain inspires some of her designs, but it was in Seattle and on the Washington coast that she developed a love of marine life that she fosters to this day, with varied sea plants and animals informing many of her favorite artworks.

Teri and Steve may have pared back their big-city business, but they grew an accomplished artist, and will also offer for purchase some of the symbolic designs in glass and paint created by their daughter Amber Zimmerman.

The two other local artists who will share the display space at the Dietrich site are Bob Cline, with a selection of his designer bird homes, and Dawn Kranz, best known for Empty Bowls pieces and her Cabin Home dinnerware.

August 2021

Gardens, arts and wine make a cool stroll H

ave you ever planted an artist in your garden?

This year, you can visit local homes that have done just that, and at the same time you’ll help Cascade Medical Foundation meet its fundraising goal.

The Foundation annually meets a special need of the medical center — this year the goal is purchasing enhanced Powerload cots and automatic CPR devices for each of its three ambulances. Canceling the fundraising tour for COVID was tough last year, and tour organizers were determined to continue their work.

Not knowing if groups could gather indoors by the summer 2021 date, the Foundation Board ventured a new plan: not homes, but the outdoor gardens themselves will be the setting of the Garden and Art Tour, renamed from the former Home and Garden Tour.

To enrich the experience, local artists and artisans will be on hand at many sites to display, demonstrate and market their unique work. They and other artists have also donated to a virtual, on-line auction.

Gardens will have dazzlingly different flowers, shrubs and trees of course — but also expect to see features like kinetic sculpture, water features, trellises, antique farm implements, a pond, a gazebo, rock pathways and panoramic views.

And among the artists’ paintings and pottery you’ll also find nature

WESTERB984CF

Sold and erected by an independent locally owned builder.

Jewel-toned pottery and dinnerware by Dawn Kranz, an artist on the Tour.

journals, architectural drawings, birdhouses, metalwork, woodblock prints, mosaics, caning and dried wreaths.

Here are the 2021 Tour stops and the artists you’ll find blooming there: n The Wilson garden, with artists DeDe Shilling, Mary Rossing and Mogens Bach. n The Pfeiffer garden, with artists Elizabeth Lee and Lauriel Sandstrom. n The Rayfield garden, with artists Phelan Piestrup and Heather Murphy. n The Wenatchee River Institute gardens, with artists Catey Luna, Gretchen Daibur, Craig Sorenson and Jori Delvo. n The McReynolds, Peterson and Carvitto home gardens (the latter with a Lookout Coffee cart available) and the Sleeping Lady Organic garden are also included in the Tour. See the related story to learn more about the Dietrich garden, featuring artists Teri Zimmerman, Amber Zimmerman, Bob Cline and Dawn Kranz.

The Tour will happen Sunday, Aug. 7, from noon to 5 p.m. You can pick up a map at one of these

“trailheads”: Mike West Realty, the Wenatchee River Institute or Sleeping Lady.

Then visit sites that will take you from downtown out to Icicle Creek, the Ski Hill and North Road.

Your $20 ticket allows you to roam and inspect at your own pace all or any of the gardens and their featured artists, plus sip some good wines at close-in Silvara Cellars and Icicle Ridge Winery.

See information on advance or day-of ticket sales at cascademedicalfoundation.org and on the art auction at 32auctions.com/cmf

Your building can be customized just the way you want!

(509) 884-0555

www.westernbuildings.com

1107 Walla Walla Avenue Wenatchee, WA 98801 RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL • INDUSTRIAL • AGRICULTURAL

Come see our custom work

• Countertops • Fireplaces • Shower Walls • Outdoor Kitchens Crafting your next stone project with robotic precision

Phone: (509) 888-7954

207 S. Columbia St, 98801-3028 | Wenatchee, WA

PrecisionWaterJetInc.com • Email: info@precisionwaterjetinc.com August 2021 | The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

21

PET tales

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

L

isa Nguyen is a longtime dog lover and volunteer for the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society.

She began fostering in June 2018, and since then, has fostered a total of 30 dogs.

Lisa is an important medical foster for WVHS, as she takes in fosters who have certain health needs that require individualized care.

“I became a foster because of my passion for dogs and I just wanted to help the dogs in any way possible,” Lisa said. “It didn’t matter what the reasons for fostering were, as long as my

After rescuing cats, dogs,

dogs could co-exist with them.”

In her time fostering, Lisa has seen transformations from shy to confident and sick to healthy.

Her work has given her foster dogs the best preparation for their next step in life.

22

| The Good Life

and the occasional reptile all her life, KC St. John brought her first foster home on Oct. 20, 2020.

She had been entertaining the idea of fostering as a way to get her kitten-fix and give back to the community, so she thought, “Why not?!”

Currently on her fourth litter, she is fostering bottle babies.

Bottle babies are kittens who were separated from mom and need to be fed formula every

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

few hours, and the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society is always in major need of fosters to take little ones like these.

Initially, KC opted out of being a bottle baby foster but in the peak of kitten season, she decided to help out.

“I just love being a part of these kittens’ lives so early on and then being able to send them off to their new homes happy and healthy. The little kittens that I’ve fostered in my very short stint as a foster for the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society have all been in a situation where they were not thriving,” KC said.

“Being able to invest my time and energy in changing these little kittens’ future from bleak to beautiful is the most amazing feeling ever.

“It’s even more rewarding when a friend or family member is able to adopt one of my fosters because then I can see them grow and flourish in their new home.”

>>

column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

How old is old?

As a retired senior and for-

mer physician, I am well aware my chronological age (birth to today) has already exceeded what once was my life expectancy.

The World Health Organization characterizes old age as starting at 65. In America, one researcher found you are considered old at 70 years for men and 73 for females. In many countries you are considered “old” when you start receiving a pension.

Fortunately, the quality of life, activity and health does not necessarily diminish as the old age threshold is crossed.

How old are you and does it matter?

The definition of “old’ can differ in the opinion of the person being asked. As the life expectancy of humans increases, so does the perception of what age is considered “old.”

Other studies show the older we get, the more likely we are to feel younger.

We often have a shift in our interests and the activities we participate in as we age. I know that is the case with me.

As our chronological age increases, our happiness also frequently increases along with it. When we are young, we tend to focus on what is ahead for us.

When we get older, our attention frequently shifts to things that are more emotionally meaningful to us in the present.

Personally, I prefer to focus on the present moment as much as possible. While my chronological age may say “old,” I refuse to accept that.

One of the most important aspects of all this has to do with our health. As long as we can stay healthy and remain active, our mental and physical selves

seem to discard any thoughts of “being old.”

Our health reflects a lifetime of habits — both good and bad ones. It is never too late to change the current state of your health. Try these ideas: n Don’t smoke or if you do, quit or find help to quit. n Eat less and focus more on fruits and vegetables. Obesity kills, no doubt about it. I have to admit when I see morbidly obese people, my first thought is “do they realize how much shorter their life expectancy is?” n Exercise. I can’t imagine not having a regular exercise plan.

Exercise reduces the risk of so many diseases. As simple and inexpensive as it is, walking two miles a day religiously will add years to your life and take inches

August 2021 | The Good Life

off your waistline. n Get seven to eight hours of sleep every night. Too much or too little sleep is harmful to your health. n Get vaccinated and wash your hands. Vaccinations are one of the most important ways humans have reduced mortality through our lives. They not only protect you, but also protect those around you. n Take care of your teeth.

Brush twice daily with fluoride toothpaste and floss regularly. n Wear sunscreen. It helps to avoid skin cancers and decreases the risk of wrinkles. Unfortunately, this has been a weakness for me, and I have paid the penalty with several skin cancers. n Monitor your blood pressure and heart rate daily. Home

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

23

monitors that also monitor your pulse are readily available and inexpensive. Persistent high blood pressure and or heart rate need to be evaluated by a physician. n Research shows flossing your teeth may protect against cognitive decline.

If interested in your future prospects, you can calculate your current life expectancy online. Go to www.Livingto100. com.

Life is a gift. Take care of it wisely. You will not regret it.

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.

Subscribe/renew for less than a few apples a month

Good + Local Other media can go all around the world and come back with stories on war, famine, earthquakes, crime and the like.

We go right down the street and find our neighbors who are doing something extraordinary that, maybe, might inspire you to take your own adventure.

Keep these positive stories coming to your home!

Unsure when your subscription is up?

Check the address label on the cover of your magazine. The line just above your name (or in some cases, just below) tells when your subscription ends.

Thanks for reading us!

Mail a $30 check (12 issues, in-state addresses) or $60 for two years to: The Good Life subscription services 1107 East Denny Way Apt. B-7 Seattle, WA 98122

Or, subscribe/renew online at: www.ncwgoodlife.com 24

| The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

>>

column moving up to the good life

june darling

Play more — live better and happier The clock says a bit past

midnight, then 2 a.m., then 4.

What is keeping me awake?

The thought of the legacy I want to leave to my grandkids — meaningful, useful guidance toward living a good life.

It is urgent because my big opportunity for intense generational encounter comes in August. Grand camp.

Grand camp is when my husband, John, and I invite our five grandchildren to come together at our place.

Many logistics are involved, but for me the more important issues are the culture and values we aspire to, the activities we provide, and the examples we set. This year, we will put particular emphasis on… play.

According to Dr. Stuart Brown, the founder of the National Institute for Play, play is as important to our health as sleep or what we eat.

Play researchers like Brown, Brian Sutton-Smith, David Elklind, even primatologist Jane Goodall say play is difficult to define, but we all seem to know what it is and why we do it. It can be humor, games, roughhousing, storytelling, art. We do it simply for… fun.

We know how to play. We did it when we were kids. We made forts in the woods, climbed trees, went to sock hops, jumped rope, flew paper gliders, rode horses, played on maypoles, swings, monkey bars, played hide-and-seek, tag.

My family played Rook, John’s Cribbage.

Play? Now? In this complex, competitive, anxious, aggressive world? Exactly.

Brown stumbled on play’s importance after researching the playless childhoods of

Recent research has connected play to better brain development and creativity, cognitive flexibility, social and emotional intelligence, an antidote for anxiety and depression, a boost to resilience murderers. Recent research has connected play to better brain development and creativity, cognitive flexibility, social and emotional intelligence, an antidote for anxiety and depression, a boost to resilience. Play even seems to slow neurodegeneration.

John does roughhouse with the grandkids, mostly because he cannot avoid it. The moment he lays down on the floor, they come out of the woodwork to roll around.

Brown reminds us that there are many forms of play. According to him, we, do however, tend to have play personalities, certain ways of playing that we consistently prefer.

The Jokers love silliness — telling jokes, being goofy, playing pranks. The Kinesthetes love dancing, hiking, running — moving their bodies. The Explorers love visiting new places, learning new ideas.

The Competitors love to play (and win) organized sports and games. The Directors like to plan and make things happen.

The Collectors like collecting sports cards or sea glass, or August 2021 | The Good Life

visiting all the national parks for example.

The Artists love creating and building, painting, photography, carpentry. The Storytellers love reading, theatre, writing stories, reading fiction.

Thinking about these various play personas may help us expand our ideas of how play can look for us. It is not intended to box in our fun, but rather to give us some insight into those parts of us which may be playful in different ways.

If we are still lost about how to go about playing, Brown advises that we think about what we liked to do as kids and think how we might do some form of that play today.

John biked and skied a lot. He can still do that.

August is the perfect month for PLAYING with grandkids, prioritizing play, remembering how we played as a child and bringing more of that play back into our lives.

And for a little more adventure and PLAY, we might try out another play personality.

I am guessing my dominant play personality is storyteller, but Brown recommends that we all do some play that involves moving our bodies.

Since John is a kinesthete and enjoyed biking as a kid, we decided to buy the electric-assist, Rad bikes. I would normally not be able to bike as far and as fast, but with the electric assist bikes I can.

It is a play stretch for me. But as I consider how I want to be a good role-model for my grandkids and keep my own brain and body active, I shove myself out the door to bike in our spectacular Wenatchee Valley.

If you need more prodding for yourself or research to show to www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

25

your adult children (and their kids’ teachers!) who prefer more work and less play, then: Read or recommend Stuart Brown’s book, Play. You can also hear Brown on TED talks. Or google PlayCore and read his blogs.

Watch the PBS clips of The Promise of Play on YouTube.

Simply observe children and small primates playing; researchers say it might stir up your play juices.

Play researchers tell us as life becomes more complicated, we must be more vigilant to include play… because we need the kinds of smart, creative, thoughtful, both tough and sensitive kids play produces.

We need older people who are smart, creative, thoughtful, both tough and sensitive too!

How might you move up to The Good Life by playing?

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.

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

Bluegrass’ Chuck Egner ‘It’s just ... picking and grinning. We’re picking; (the audience is) grinning’

T

By Susan Lagsdin

he bluegrass music he’s best known for didn’t come naturally, or early, to Leavenworth’s Chuck Egner.

Both his parents were music professors, and he grew up in the South with deep family roots in Memphis, but he doesn’t trace his love of that sound to familial or geographical DNA. Not at all, he explained.

He’d switched from music lessons to football by junior high and was a rock ’n’ roller at heart, but in the late ’70s he was making flight simulators for the Navy and, “In our shop the senior guy got to choose the tunes, and our guy liked bluegrass. In six months, I could tolerate it.” He added, “But in a year I was seeking out bars where they played it.”

Since he moved to Leavenworth, local folks who love the twang and croon of that distinctive mountain sound have been seeking out Chuck, whether they need a fill-in bass, a raucous jam session to lift their hearts, an evening’s immersion in an American tradition or a professional sound recording.

(They may seek him out now to buy the last remaining press and bottling of ‘37 Cellars wine, but that’s another story.)

That U.S. Navy experience at Whidbey Island gave Chuck a strong foothold on his next job in electronics, and after 20 years parlaying his skill and background and some serendipitous networking into a successful business in Redmond, he and his wife Can-

26

If you like bluegrass music, you’ve probably seen this big smile from Leavenworth’s Chuck Egner, and you’ve appreciated the deep warm sound his bass violin strumming brings to any song. An eager latecomer to both the genre and the instrument, Chuck has used the last 20 years well.

dace sold the company in 1999 and moved to this area.

They’d spent most weekends at their vacation home in Plain and briefly moved in fulltime, but they became full-fledged Leavenworth locals when in 2003 they partnered with Chuck’s brother-in-law in a winery and purchased a house high above East Leavenworth Road.

By the time the Egners moved to Leavenworth, bluegrass was in his blood, and at 48 Chuck finally found his musical métier and started strumming in earnest.

He co-owned the Hi-Strung music store downtown and easily made connections with the Cashmere Coffee House and the | The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

Wenatchee River Bluegrass Festival and others, hobnobbing and plucking with some of his favorite visiting and hometown artists.

Originally a guitar aficionado, he said he immediately felt outgunned jamming with other guitarists and switched to the midsized bass violin that’s become his signature sound, a simple warm tone that Chuck feels adds depth to any piece of music.

However, he said, “I can play guitar well enough to switch off and give the others a break,” he said. “Besides, sometimes we need another vocalist, and I never did learn to sing and play bass at the same time.”

Chuck’s deep, resonant speaking voice transforms to a higher, plaintive Appala-

August 2021

...when he sings traditional tunes... he could have drifted up to the porch from any Carolina holler. chian sound automatically when he sings traditional tunes; he could have drifted up to the porch from any Carolina holler.

“Bluegrass is country music without electricity or drums,” he explained with a grin, “And you generally sing from your heart and through your nose.”

He’s done both, in very good company. He played for 10 years with Dave Notter, Paul O’Donnell, Chris Rader, Jack Tiechner and Bruce McWhirter in the Saddle Rockers, then an overlapping five years in The Chelsea Craven Band with Chelsea Craven, John Meriweather, Justin Carvitto and Cliff Sittman.

Bluegrass music doesn’t always attract mass audiences, and it’s not a hot commercial artform, but the communal pleasure is palpable. Even for a small group, Chuck said, “It’s just more picking and grinning. We’re picking; they’re grinning.”

A turning point in his music life, equally significant to area musicians, was building in 2007 what friends call The Treehouse, a two-level hillside structure literally blasted from rock near the Egner’s home.

With three small rooms at the side that can house traveling musicians or serve as private sound studios, the top story is essentially a large open space adaptable to jam sessions, music recording, wine tastings and performance.

One particular stool and microphone set-up has stood untouched since the COVID shut down, three days before a much-anticipated session with a yodeling duo. Chuck says it’s ready when they are.

The Treehouse is walled with memorabilia: awards, framed photos, playbills, posters, a magazine cover autographed for Chuck by Johnny and June Carter Cash at a chance airport meeting.

Vintage guitars, like an 1885 Martin, two autographed by B.B. King and Bill Monroe, and those made with specialty woods still intrigue Chuck, and he’s displayed about a dozen of his favorites.

Close at hand and often in use are a full-size recording console, his handmade wine-barrel-stave furniture, a few chosen string instruments and a 107-year-old baby grand piano from Candace’s family.

Chuck figures that most of the bluegrass players in north central Washington have played up there at some time, but he’s open to other genre, recalling one cowboy, one classical, and one pop house performance among dozens. A planned August house concert is to feature the fiddler from Lyle Lovett’s band.

Chuck will keep making music, but this season he’s winding down his involvement in one major creative endeavor and stepping into another.

After 16 years, his and his brother-in-law Frank’s awardwinning ’37 Cellars winery is gently closing up. Its press and barrels and packaging have filled the big cool basement level of the Treehouse building; now there are only much-soughtafter boxes of the last bottling.

And this season he’s making a seamless segue into broadcasting as a charter board member of Leavenworth Community Radio, a new web-based station that already has a Facebook and GoFundMe page and 501c3 paperwork in progress.

“On the west side, we and everyone around us were focused on work and careers. Over here there’s a totally different vibe,” Chuck said. “Creative people surround themselves with creative people. It’s a happy circle.”

August 2021 | The Good Life

e r a h S

BOAT CROATIA BY BIKE,

OPEN FOR

January 2020

YOUR STORY

’S

VALLEY WENATCHEE

S CALENDAR & FOOT Y EVENT

ONE NUMBER ZINE MAGA

Price: $3

TURE

FUN AND ADVEN

r

ei e th

ar s sh

ys t da besfrom 2019t good

er Read

ha dw e!

— an they wer days

Boat project done — after 17 years ’S

VALLEY WENATCHEE

DAR IAGE Y EVENTS CALEN

ONE NUMBER ZINE

ENJOY A BETTER MARR

OPEN FOR

February 2020

MAGA

TURE

FUN AND ADVEN

Price: $3

Share Your Adventure

e Canoeing th vanishing Arctic plus

WOOD COMES WHEN HOLLY MOUNTAINS EAST OF THE

N ’S LAKE CHELA LEO MILLER M AUTO MUSEU

’S

VALLEY WENATCHEE

ONE NUMBER ZINE

OWN

OM OF THE LOCKD

BEATING THE BORED

OPEN FOR

June 2020

MAGA

Price: $3

TURE

FUN AND ADVEN

ead Goathior warr

ing stroy d de nts ing an pla Seek ul thorn painf

FLIPPING over ZambIarush er finds biggestezi ayakker Kaya K Zamb on the mighty

Y WITH AGING GRACEFULL

’S

VALLEY WENATCHEE

CALENDAR DOGS Y EVENTS

OPEN FOR

March 2020

ONE NUMBER ZINE MAGA

TURE

FUN AND ADVEN

Price: $3

Coloring the art scene

rs, indoors, outdoo all around the town plus

A WHO NEEDS S GOOD NIGHT’ DO SLEEP? YOU CHASING THE LIGHTS NOrTHErN ON A TrAIN

REHABBING A TIRED

G HAPPINESS TRAILER Y FINDIN

OPEN FOR

May 2020

TURE FUN AND ADVEN

’S

VALLEY WENATCHEE

ONE NUMBER ZINE MAGA

Price: $3

Walking in Wenatchee (But keeping a of course)

We welcome articles about people from Chelan and Douglas counties!

safe distance,

plus

STORIES OF FROM RECOVERY ION DRUG ADDICT TO FIND hOpE

Life needs a little adventure. Whether you are finding yours around the corner or at the ends of the earth, The Good Life readers want to share in your passion. Tell us what you are doing and we’ll help you tell a good story.

Share Your Idea

Have you just heard of personal doings from a friend or neighbor that fascinated you? That made you think: “Boy, that would be fun to do”? Drop us an e-mail, and we’ll try to get that story into the pages of The Good Life.

Share Your Talent for Writing We encourage freelance writers to submit ideas and stories. Perhaps the story is about you, or someone you know... help us make The Good Life the local magazine readers eagerly look forward to each month.

WILD hIKING ThE IN SIDE WITh pEN hAND

ct editor@ncwgoodlife.com Conta us at: www.ncwgoodlife.com www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

27

Susan Lagsdin reads her work from the Shrub-Steppe Poetry Journal, Spring 2021 issue.

Poetry is hot in Central Washington

By Susan Blair and Susan Sampson If you think poetry is just for ancient aristocrats holed up in dusty libraries, think again.

Think, The Shrub-Steppe Poetry Journal.

The third edition of The Shrub-Steppe Poetry Journal is hot off the press. To celebrate, the June launch party was held in the Board Room at Pybus Market in Wenatchee.

Poets from Yakima, Ellensburg, Roslyn, East Wenatchee and Wenatchee read their work, caught up with friends and sampled delicious treats from Café Columbia. Inside, the view of local artists’ work complemented the view of the Columbia River

sparkling in the sun. (There’s probably a poem in that.)

The Journal is the brainchild of Susan Blair of Wenatchee.

Over breakfast one morning with fellow poets, she went down the list: Yakima has its Coffeehouse Poets, with its open mics and annual contest; Tieton, near Yakima, has LiTFUSE, an annual weekend-long poetry workshop; Ellensburg has its annual Inland Poetry Prowl; Twisp has its Confluence Poets; even Roslyn has a strong group of poets.

What about Wenatchee?

Paraphrasing the poet Adrienne Rich, Susan said she heard a silence that needed to be broken. She decided to create a print publication to showcase the talents of Central Washing-

28

| The Good Life

Susan Blair opening the launch party at Pybus Market.

Two Cats

Two cats twined together, they sleep near the woodstove, eight legs, two heads, and one heap of black and white fur— utter abandon in sleep, trusting the world to be the world their senses — Merry Roy A poem from the Cats and Dogs Reigning collection

ton poets, the first of its kind.

She recruited a staff of volunteers. Retired journalist, poet and president of the Yakima Coffeehouse Poets Ed Stover agreed to serve as assistant editor. Susan Sampson put on her retired lawyer hat and helped organize the SSPJ as a non-profit

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

Susan Blair wore her grandmother’s very festive Rhinestone necklace to the launch party.

organization, also donning the hat of assistant editor.

Bruce McCammon, who says he loves to tinker with computer software, agreed to lay out the book (using InDesign and then Affinity). Pictures by local

fun stuff what to do around here for the next month

The 2021 launch party was a double celebration: after a year of pandemic-related restrictions, writers could gather again.

photographers and visual artists have graced the covers of all three editions.

This year’s published poets hail from Cashmere, Chelan, Cle Elum, Coulee City, East Wenatchee, Ellensburg, Freeland, Lake Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Naches, Richland, Tonasket, Twisp, Wenatchee and Walla Walla.

The poems are as diverse as the poets: lyrical, narrative, experimental, haiku and free verse from scientists, visual artists, farmers, gardeners, educators, students — and one career U.S. Army officer.

As with the past two editions, many of them have expressed excitement about seeing their work in print, and have been very pleased with the quality of the book. Clearly, The ShrubSteppe Poetry Journal satisfies a need in our Central Washington community.

The 2021 launch party was a double celebration: after a year of pandemic-related restrictions,

writers could gather again.

To lighten the mood last year, Shrub-Steppe Poetry called for submissions of poems about cats and/or dogs.

The result: Cats and Dogs Reigning, a collection of 49 poems about poet’s beloved pets.

Besides publishing the annual Journal, Shrub-Steppe Poetry sponsors the Poetry Podium.

This is a free, public, poetry-only reading hosted by Susan Blair.

She encourages participants to read their own work or a favorite poem by someone else — or just sit and listen. Chad Yenney graciously offers the Collapse Gallery as the venue, so poets read surrounded by art.

It is all a labor of love, challenging, interesting and rewarding. Hot stuff!

Organizers of The ShrubSteppe Poetry Journal intend for it to continue as an annual publication.

The call for submissions for the next issue will go out in January 2022. Sharpen your pencils, start writing, consider sending your poems.

Visit the website, shrubsteppepoetry.org or contact Susan Blair at sfblair61@gmail.com to learn more about poetry events, publications or submissions.

August 2021 | The Good Life

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

Please check all events to make sure none has canceled.

NCW Blues Jam, Mondays, 7 – 10 p.m. Riverside Pub. 1 million cups, every first Wednesday of the month. 8 a.m. Entrepreneurs discover solutions and thrive when they collaborate over a million cups of coffee. Come join this supportive, dynamic community and hear from two businesses that are between 1 – 5 years old. Discover how we can help move them forward in a positive environment.

Zoom link: 1mcwenatcheevalley. eventsbrite.com.

Wednesday night live music, every Wednesday through Labor Day. 4 – 6 p.m. on the concourse.

Pybus Public Market. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Shrub-Steppe Poetry Podium, every last Wednesday, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. A free, public, poetry-only reading. Read your own poems or the work of a favorite poet. Collapse Gallery, 115 S Wenatchee Ave. Info: sfblair61@gmail.com.

Chelan Thursday Evening Farmers Market, 2 – 6 p.m. through October. Fresh locally grown produce and local artisans.

Fun for the whole family. Riverwalk Park, Chelan. Cost: free. Info: lakechelan.com.

Leavenworth Farmers Market, Thursdays, 4 – 8 p.m. 303 Evans parking Lot. Live music at Rocky Pond Winery, every Thursday, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Info: rockypondwinery.com.

Live Music at Mozart’s Steakhouse, every Thursday night, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Light jazz, good mood music. Cost: free.

Live music at Campbell’s Resort, every Friday, 6 – 8 p.m.

Quincy Farmers Market, first and third Saturday through September, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. Downtown Quincy, B Street.

Two Rivers Gallery, for the month of August features Jan Cook

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

29

Mack, a community treasure who perhaps is the most well known living artist in NC Washington.

Many artists have learned from her teachings and the community from her murals and other public art.

Two Rivers Gallery. Cost: free. Info: 2rivedrsgallery.org.

Wenatchee Valley Farmers market, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. Every Saturday May through October. West parking lot at Pybus Public Market.

Live glass blowing, every Saturday through December, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Boulder Bend Glassworks.

Cost: free.

Evening Alphorn Serenade, every Saturday, 7 – 7:30 p.m. Front Street Park Gazebo.

Greater Leavenworth Museum Historic Walking tours every second and fourth Saturdays through October. Walk begins at the Lion’s Club Park at 10 a.m.

Tours last 1-2 hours and cover roughly 2 miles on city sidewalks and trails. Masks required. Tours on the second Saturdays will be the railroad/mil walk. The tours on the fourth Saturdays will be the town walk. Cost: $5. Info: 548-0728 or leavenworthmsuem.org.

Music on the River, every Sunday through Labor Day, 1 – 4 p.m. Bring your family or friends and come on by to enjoy your day on the river with a picnic lunch. Rio Vista Wines, 24415 SR 97, Chelan. Info: riovistawines.com.

Village Art in the park, 8/1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. A vibrant outdoor art market in downtown Leavenworth.

Basket Weaving workshop, 8/1, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Workshop taught by two local p’squosa (Wenatchi) band members, Julie Edwards and Bernadine Phillips. Wenatchee River Institute. Cost: $60. Must register: wenatcheeriverinstitute.org.

Drop-in makerspace: junk bots, 8/1, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Create a vibrating and moving junkbot using everyday junk or items in your recycle bin. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

}}} Continued on next page

>>

WHAT TO DO

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

}}} Continued from previous page Siren Song Farm’s Summer Concert Series: Stephanie Porter, 8/1, 3 – 5 p.m. Bring your picnic, blanket, or lawn chair and enjoy the natural amphitheater.

Cost: $25. Info: sirensongwines. com.

Chelan Summer Concert Series, through Sept 5, featuring live music every first and third Sunday from 6 – 8 p.m. in the Riverwalk Pavilion along the shores of Lake Chelan. Free. Music includes: Aug. 1: Deseo Carmin Aug. 15: The Kevin Jones Band Sept. 5: TBA Birding at Mountain Home Preserve, 8/2, 7 – 11 a.m. Would you like to spend a weekday morning hiking, viewing wildlife, wildflowers, and snow-capped mountains, while being part of a small team collecting bird species data? Community Science Projects are collaborations between scientists and volunteers that expand opportunities for scientific data collection and help answer real-world questions. Meet at the entrance to the Preserve. Walk 2.2 miles, stopping at 5 points to conduct 10 minute counts. Info: Susan Ballinger 6679708 or susan@cdlandtrust.org.

Live at Tipsy Canyon Winery: Brittany Jean, 8/5, 6 – 8 p.m.

Grab your picnic blankets and enjoy an evening of live music with great views and even better wine. Info: tipsycanyon.com Golf Tournament plus dinner, 8/5, 12:30 p.m. Modified Shotgun start, 5 p.m. dinner. A dual event that features a golf tournament, buffet dinner, no-host bar, live music, networking and more. Take a shot at a hole as we raise money for STEM Scholarship. Highlander Golf Course. NCW Tech Alliance.

Info: gwata.org or 509 760-2007.

My Girlfriend’s Closet, 8/ 5, 6, 7, 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. 8/8, 1 - 3 p.m.. - 315 9th St (Former home of Hastings) Info: www.facebook.com/MyGirlfriendsClosetByJslw/ The Sound of Music, 8/5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 8 p.m. Live musical story of Maria and the von Trapp Family. Leavenworth Ski Hill Amphitheater. Info: leavenworthsummertheater.org.

Live music on the lawn featuring Chris Ward, 8/6, 6 – 9 p.m.

Icicle Ridge Winery. Cost: free. Info: icicleridgewinery.com.

Friday night music: Ron Fowler, 8/6, 6 – 8 p.m. Live music on the concourse. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Two Rivers Gallery: Sidewalk sale, 8/7, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. This sale is popular with artists and art students with low prices for art supplies. Sale also includes some paintings and other art works. Info: 2riversgallery.org.

Collection Day, 8/7, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Here’s a chance to show off your collection. Whether it’s a rock collection or a collection of potato chips shaped like presidents, bring it. Tables provided. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

Cost: free. Must register. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Cascade Medical Foundation’s 25th Annual Garden and Art Tour, 8/7, noon to 5 p.m. Ten diverse gardens and artwork by 12 local artists. Stroll through gardens at your own pace. Wine tastings and a coffee cart too. Various locations around Leavenworth. Cost: $20. Fundraiser for ambulance safety equipment. Info: cascademedicalfoundation.org/fundraisers/ home-and-garden.

Tomfoolery, 8/7, 8, 21, 22, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Kindle your sense of nostalgia for toys of your youth and learn about the local toy store Wenatchee Cycle and Toy. Play games like Clue, Sorry, Uno and more. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: free. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Alpenfolk Bavarian Music in the Gazebo, 8/7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29. Saturdays 5-9 p.m.

Sundays 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Authentic instruments, singing, and yodeling.

Gazebo in Leavenworth. Cost: free.

Info: leavenworthalphorns.org.

Chelan to Africa Benefit Concert, 8/7, 6 – 9 p.m. Light buffet dinner. Live auction, live music and more. All proceeds go to help support Thrive Chelan Valley and the Lesotho recipient: The Tiny Lives Foundation. Benson Vineyard Estate Winery. Info: chelantoafrica. ticketspice.com.

Block Painting Class, 8/10, 5 – 7 p.m. Join Chad Yenney, of Collapse Gallery and Rachel Courtney, of Pretty Nice Creations for a block painting class. Use block, cutters

30

| The Good Life

and brayers to create a reusable relief print of your own creation.

All materials provided. Wenatchee River Institute. Cost: $35. Info: wenatcheeriverinstitute.org.

Pub Trivia at Stormy Mountain Brewing, 8/11, 6 – 7:30 p.m.

Fun questions made for all ages, culture, history, sports and more.

Awesome prizes. Cost: free. Info: stormymountainbrewing.com.

Live at Tipsy Canyon Winery: F Street Project, 8/12, 6 – 8 p.m.

Grab your picnic blankets and enjoy an evening of live music with great views and even better wine. Info: tipsycanyon.com.

Theater In the Meadow: the Foreigner, 8/12, 13, 14, 7 – 9 p.m.

Live outdoor theater is back. Meadow Stage at Icicle Creek Center for the Arts. Cost: $20. Info: icicle.org.

Friday night music: Darnell Scott, 8/13, 6 – 8 p.m. Live music on the concourse. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Live music on the lawn featuring Brian Blair, 8/13, 6 – 9 p.m.

Icicle Ridge Winery. Cost: free. Info: icicleridgewinery.com.

Lions Club Breakfast, 8/14, 28, 7 – 11 a.m. All you can eat pancakes, sausage, eggs and beverage. Lions Club Park Leavenworth.

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

Plain Farmers Market, 8/14, 9 a.m. – noon. Located outside Plain Hardware.

Board Games creations, 8/14, 15, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Create your own board games. Materials provided.

Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: free. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Silvara Cellars: Chris Ward, 8/14, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. Live music.

Siren Song Farm’s Summer Concert Series: BroHamm, 8/15, 3 – 5 p.m. Bring your picnic, blanket, or lawn chair and enjoy the natural amphitheater. Cost: $25.

Info: sirensongwines.com.

Pub Trivia at Stormy Mountain Brewing, 8/18, 6 – 7:30 p.m.

Fun questions made for all ages, culture, history, sports and more.

Awesome prizes. Cost: free. Info: stormymountainbrewing.com.

Music at the Mountain, 8/19, 6 – 8 p.m. Mountain Springs Lodge.

Cost: free.

Live at Tipsy Canyon Winery: Deseo Carmin, 8/19, 6 – 9 p.m.

Grab your picnic blankets and enjoy an evening of live music with great views and even better wine. Burch Mountain BBQ will be on site for food purchases. Info: tipsycanyon. com.

>>

WHAT TO DO

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

Fun questions made for all ages, culture, history, sports and more.

Awesome prizes. Cost: free. Info: stormymountainbrewing.com.

Live music on the lawn featuring Darnell Scott, 8/20, 6 – 9 p.m. Icicle Ridge Winery. Cost: free.

Info: icicleridgewinery.com.

Live at Tipsy Canyon Winery: No Promises, 8/26, 6 – 9 p.m.

Grab your picnic blankets and enjoy an evening of live music with great views and even better wine. The Bistro will be on site with food for purchase. Info: tipsycanyon.com.

Tomato Gala, 8/21, 9 – 11 a.m.

WSU Chelan/Douglas Master Gardeners’ Community Education Garden, NW corner of Springwater and Western Ave. Free tomato tasting for all.

Wenatchee Riverfront Railway, 8/21,10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Theme is Hawaiian Days. Home of the Nile Saunders Orchard mini train.

All train runs are weather permitting. Wenatchee Riverfront Park.

Cost: $2. Info: facebook.com/thewenatcheeriverfrontrailway.

Siren Song Farm’s Summer Concert Series: Olson Bros.

Band, 8/22, 3 – 5 p.m. Bring your picnic, blanket, or lawn chair and enjoy the natural amphitheater.

Cost: $25. Info: sirensongwines. com.

Pub Trivia at Stormy Mountain Brewing, 8/25, 6 – 7:30 p.m.

Friday night music: Feather River, 8/27, 6 – 8 p.m. Live music on the concourse. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

things to fly, including the four main forces of flight. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Silvara Cellars: Chris Ward, 8/28, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. Live music.

Siren Song Farm’s Summer Concert Series: Jessica Lynne Witty, 8/29, 3 – 5 p.m. Bring your picnic, blanket, or lawn chair and enjoy the natural amphitheater.

Cost: $25. Info: sirensongwines. com.

Family Feud, 8/28, 6 p.m. Log in on zoom to watch our contestants battle for the title of Family Feud Champions. Team 1: Music Theatre of Wenatchee vs Team 2: Radar Dames Burlesque. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Live music on the lawn featuring Live Stream music from Stage, 8/27, 6 – 9 p.m.

Icicle Ridge Winery. Cost: free. Info: icicleridgewinery.com.

Discovery Center at Rocky Reach Dam reopening celebration, 8/28, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. All new exhibits, fun in the park and treats. Cost: free. Info: facebook. com/VisitRockyReach.

New Exhibit Open Tuesday - Sunday 10 AM - 4 PM

Drop in MakerSpace: flight machines, 8/28, 29, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Build your very own kite and learn about the science that allows

127 S Mission Street | Wenatchee

Check your label to know when your subscription needs to be renewed

Look here

Expiration date Name of subscriber Address City, State and ZIP Want to know when your subscription is up? Check the mail label on the cover of your magazine.

Renew by sending a check ($30 for one year in state, $35 for one year out of state) to:

The Good Life subscription services 1107 East Denny Way, Apt. B7 Seattle, WA 98122 or go online to: www.ncwgoodlife.com August 2021 | The Good Life

By The Good Life columnist Rod Molzahn See the book – Buy the book Available at: • ncwstories.net • A Book For All Seasons - Leavenworth

• Cashmere Museum & Pioneer Village

• Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center

• Chelan Historical Society Museum

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

31

>>

column those were the days

rod molzahn

Useful information from 1884 Chas. E. Houghtaling in

Albany, New York copyrighted and published his Handbook of Useful Information in 1884.

It must have been a hot seller.

Houghtaling published revised editions in 1885, ’86, ’88, ’91 and 1905.

The 1905 edition measures 3.5 inches by 5.5 inches and contains 222 pages bound in “Red Alligator Leatherette.”

The book sold for 25 cents with free shipping to any part of the United States. A special notice on page 2 and again on page 222 advertises: “We want live and intelligent agents in every city and town to sell this book. If you want employment give this book a trial and you will be convinced that you can make good wages selling it.”

The variety and scope of the Useful Information in the little book is stunning, ranging from national, state and city populations to how to preserve eggs and the time required to digest certain foods.

Among the information in the book are these tidbits: The population for nation, states and cities: The population of the United States was 76,305,036 as enumerated in the 1900 census. The state of Washington counted 518,103 people, up from 349,390 10 years earlier.

The city of Seattle had 80,671 in 1900, almost double the 42,887 total in 1890.

Your political duty as a citizen: “If you are of age and a man, your duty is to vote at all elections and to inform yourself beforehand what measures and men you ought to support and to watch the conduct of public officers to see that they perform their duties and observe their constitutional limitations. It is your duty as an American

A revised edition of Handbook for Useful Information put the population of the U.S. in 1900 at 76.3 million. By 2021, the population had grown to 331,449,281.

citizen to obey the laws, even if they are, in your belief, unjust or unwise. It is your duty to serve in the militia if the law commands it.”

The tallest man of modern times: “This new giant is an Austrian named Winkelmeier, and his height is 8 feet 9 inches, which is over one foot more than that of Chang, the Chinese giant.”

The human form divine: “Each ear has four bones. The

32

| The Good Life

human skull contains 30 bones.

Every hair has two oil glands at its base. The sense of touch is dullest on the back. The lower limbs contain 30 bones each.

The globe of the eye is moved by six muscles. The cerebral matter is about seven-eighths water. The exact details of the functions of the spleen are unknown.”

Centenarians: “The most remarkable were: The Countess of Desmond, killed by falling from

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

a cherry tree in her 146th year.

Thomas Parr died after a dinner party in his 152nd year.”

Time required for digesting food: Striped Bass – 3 hrs; beans – 2 ½ hrs; beef steak – 3 hrs; cornbread – 3 hrs 15 min; boiled cabbage – 4 ½ hrs; fried catfish – 3 ½ hrs; old strong cheese – 3 ½ hrs; roasted wild duck – 4 ½ hrs; hard boiled eggs – 3 ½ hrs; broiled lamb – 2 ½ hrs; raw oysters – 2 hrs 55 min; boiled salmon 4 hrs; fresh boiled trout – 1 ½ hrs; roast turkey – 2 ½ hrs.

How to tell if a person is dead or alive: “Apply the flame of a candle to the tip of one of the great toes of the supposed corpse and a blister will immediately rise. If the vitality is gone this will be full of air and will burst with some noise if the flame be applied a few seconds longer. If life is not extinct, the blister will be full of matter and will not burst. The test, therefore, should be applied as soon as life is supposed to be extinct and before an undertaker is called in.”

How to preserve eggs: “To each pail full of water, add two pints of fresh slacked lime and one pint of common salt; mix well. Fill your barrel half full with this fluid. Put your eggs down in it any time after June and they will keep two years if desired.

What housekeepers should remember: “That fish may be scaled much easier by first dipping them into boiling water for a minute. That fresh meat beginning to sour, will sweeten if placed out of doors in the cool air overnight. That thoroughly wetting the hair once or twice with a solution of salt and water will keep it from falling out.

Just simply stop breathing: “It is a fact not generally known that if a person holds his breath wasps and bees may be handled with impunity.”

That one teaspoonful of ammonia to a teacup of water applied with a rag will clean silver and gold jewelry perfectly.”

Useful household remedies: “For nose bleeding, bathe the face and neck with cold water.

Nervous spasms are usually relieved by a little salt taken in the mouth and allowed to dissolve.

Hemorrhages of the lungs or stomach are promptly checked by small doses of salt. For freckles, two ounces of lemon juice or half a dram of powdered borax, one dram sugar; mix and let stand in glass bottle several days, then rub on the face occasionally.”

Just simply stop breathing: “It is a fact not generally known that if a person holds his breath wasps and bees may be handled

with impunity. The skin practically becomes a coat of mail against which the insects vainly drive their stings. The moment a particle of air escapes the lungs the stings will penetrate.”

The nations that eat most: “Among modern nations, the greatest eaters are the English, Germans, French and the Americans — the ruling people of our civilization. The diet of the Spaniards and Italians is notably less substantial than that of the English and Germans, just as their brains are less active and original. The Americans are, on the average, the greatest eaters in the world.”

Strength of ice at different thicknesses: “Two inches thick will support a man. Four inches thick will support a man on

horseback. Five inches thick will support an 80-pounder cannon.

Eight inches thick will support a battery of artillery with carriages and horses. Ten inches thick will support an army.

Three beers a day for a year would buy: “one barrel of flour, 20 pounds of corn starch, 10 pounds of macaroni, 10 quarts of beans, 4 twelve pound hams, 1 bushel of sweet potatoes, 3 bushels of Irish potatoes, 10 pounds of coffee, 10 pounds of raisins, 10 pounds of rice, 20 pounds of crackers, 100 bars of soap, 3 12-pound turkeys, 5 quarts of cranberries, 10 pounds of prunes, 4 dozen oranges, 10 pounds of mixed nuts; 4 barrels full and in the last barrel, a purse with two pockets, in one pocket a $5 gold piece marked ‘a

IMAGINE WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

A YARD IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE ON GRASS

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

August 2020

OPEN FOR FUN AND ADVENTURE

Price: $3

ESCAPE

October 2020

EN FOR FUN AND ADVENTURE Price: $3EN

to the mountains

Price: $3

plus kicked by horse, rescued by helicopter the joys of fostering kittens

Barging down a French canal

Historian, author and teacher Rod Molzahn can be reached at shake.speak@nwi.net. His recent book, What They Found, Stories of People in North Central Washington, is available at ncwstories.net and at retail locations throughout the area.

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

Subscribe to

The Good Life

The Fun You Could Have!

COUPLE RIPS OUT LAWN TO PUT IN URBAN GARDEN

dress for mother.’ In the other a $10 bill marked ‘to buy shoes for the children’.”

And to help you achieve that goal: A cure for drunkenness: “sulphate of iron — five grains; magnesia — 10 grains; peppermint water — 11 drachms; spirit of nutmeg — one drachm; taken twice a day.

for yourself or a friend

In state subscriptions

30 for 1 year, $ 60 for 2 years $

Out of state subscriptions

35 for 1 year, 70 for 2 years

$ $

NAME___________________________ ADDRESS_________________________ ______________________________ CITY/STATE/ZIP_____________________ _______________________________

Mail to: 1107 East Denny Way, • Apt. B-7 • Seattle, WA 98122

plus

509-888-6527 • www.ncwgoodlife.com

LIEF CARLSEN BUILDS A TINY HOUSE... BUT WHY EXACTLY? WENATCHEE COUPLE LIVING THEIR ‘LAST HURRAH’ IN MEXICO

Marketplace Real Estate

Advertising

Insurance Planning

Advertise in the Goodlife Marketplace

You can handle the important tasks like soccer practice and homework.

Reach adventurous readers who are willing to try something new!

Let us handle cleaning the house Kathy Z. Smithson

DEBBIE RADER SENSENEY LICENSED BROKER | REALTOR

509.293.1408

509.315.3630 | agent509.com Each office is independently owned and operated.

Please Contact

Lianne Taylor • (509) 669-6556 lianne@ncwgoodlife.com August 2021 | The Good Life

Cleaning Services

• Medicare Planning • Medicare PDP Rx • Individual Health Insurance • Exchange Plans • Group Benefit Packages • Life • Vision • Dental • Long Term Care

509-884-5195

720 Valley Mall Pkway E. Wenatchee smithsoninsuranceservices@gmail.com

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

33

Chelan & Douglas Counties

509.663.1710 Serving the Valley Since 1998!

• Bonded & Insured • Gift cards available • Credit cards accepted

Services provided by independently owned and operated franchises or corporate-owned branch locations.

Prices and services vary by location.

owner4165@merrymaids.net

the back page: that’s life

Days of cards and molding

By Donna Cassidy I’m a grandmother four times over, and most weekdays, I babysit my only granddaughter, who is a few months past her second birthday.

On a walk the other day, she was excitedly running ahead of me towards a park playground when she tripped and fell on her hands and knees.

“Are you OK?” I asked when I caught up to her, still sitting on the path.

I could see in her face that she was hurting, but also determined not to cry.

Instead, she held up her arms to be picked up. And once I had her, she wrapped those tiny arms around my neck and squeezed.

Later, as she played joyfully on the swings — the fall all forgotten — I watched from a park bench and started thinking of my own grandmother and mother, of whom I have many fond memories.

My grandmother’s name was Adrienne but everyone called her “Grannie” and her daughter, my mom, was Martha that was first shortened to Mars and then later in life we called her Nan. My mom had a kind of dyslexia with words.

We always knew what she

Most of us hated that game but we played and played just to be with her. meant but she always said the wrong words or she made up a word.

Example: we played a card game called Hand and Foot, she called it Hoof and Mouth.

She called hip huggers hub knockers, and ben fringes for fringe benefits.

When we got together, we were molding instead of bonding. Her arthritis was author.

Caveen for ravine, you were a clutch for being uncoordinated.

I wish we had written all her antics down because I can’t remember most of them.

I do remember one time my mom and I were peeling peaches in the kitchen sink together.

I think I was around 16 at the time. Mom was raising five kids on her own.

She was angry about something and was yelling about how all of us kids were lazy. I said to her, “Mom you don’t have to yell I’m standing right here.”

Well this could have gone two ways. But, she laughed.

My mother always reminded me of Lucille Ball — like the

34

| The Good Life

time she bought a new sofa but couldn’t get the old sofa out the front door. So, she took an axe to it.

She was funny and fun to be around.

Grannie had rough patches in her early life, but likewise didn’t dwell on the negative.

I remember one time she was admitted to the hospital with stomach pain.

We all thought this was it for her. Before this, she was always healthy and had no health issues. The doctor asked her if she had thought about death and had thoughts about her last wishes. She said, “No.” Her answer floored me. I thought this was so strange. She was 92! She was 92 and hadn’t thought about it? Grannie lived until she was 96.

Grannie birthed 12 babies and she had over 50 grandchildren.

Most all of her grandkids including me learned to play cards at an early age.

We played pinochle and six twelve. Six twelve is kind of like a rummy game. A game has seven hands. Each hand has 11 cards. So why is it called six twelve?

One day Grannie, my mom and my mom’s twin sister and I were at my mom’s house playing cards. They all were complaining about not sleeping at night.

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

August 2021

When I had had enough I said, “Well you know what cures that?” No they all said.

I said, “Sex.” My mother was the first Donna Cassidy was born in to speak, Wenatchee and is under her co-owner of The breath she Good Life. said, “Well I haven’t had sex in seven years.”

My aunt piped up and said, “I haven’t had sex in 13 years.”

Grannie shouted, “It’s been 50 years for me.”

They all sounded disgruntled.

We all laughed but I had no words. And they did stop talking about not sleeping.

When Grannie’s arthritis in her hands was so bad she couldn’t hold cards anymore we played a board game called Sorry. By that time, my own daughter sometimes joined us, and we had four generations of women at the table.

Most of us hated that game but we played and played just to be with her.

It’s been 20 years since I played games with my mother and grandmother around a kitchen table — and I still miss those days of cards and “molding.”

270 9th St. NE, Suite 100 East Wenatchee 509.886.0700 Contact us for free or low-cost services supporting seniors, family caregivers & adults with disabilities.

• Respite • Medical Equipment Home-delivered Meals • Family Caregiver Support

East Wenatchee ~ 270 9th St. NE Suite 100 509.886.0700

1-800-572-4459 • aaccw.org

AT CHELAN PUD, WE’RE FOCUSED ON INVESTMENTS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN CHELAN COUNTY. www.chelanpud.org/brighterfuture Hydropower modernization helps the PUD generate more energy to keep rates low.

Preferred Property Management We offer all-inclusive property management and provide excellent customer service to those looking for a new home!

Call or email us today to receive a detailed management packet or to inquire about our available listings!

You relax.

509-664-1808

We’ll handle the following: • Rent Collection and direct deposit into your bank account • 4-Point applicant screening • Documented Inspection • Monthly Financial Reports and Yearly Budgets • Competitive Management Fees • Dedicated Professionals maximizing your properties potential

www.herring-realestate.com

Melissa Bohart

509-668-1848

Lee Herring

509-679-8400