The Good Life Magazine February 2013

DOCTOR HITS THE JUICE Y EVENTS CALENDAR

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

February 2013

n

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What a hydroplane racer does to relax in the winter

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Contents

page 20

home has appeal from wenatchee’s days gone by

Features

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start writing now!

Writing a book is just like the rest of life — if you waited until everything was hunky-dory, you would never get anything done

10 floating the nile

Bruce Hosfeld and his friend, retired fireman John Picard, checked one off their bucket list last March when they ventured to Egypt to sail the Nile on a felucca

13 teen volunteer

Teenager discovers that by stepping up and helping others, she learns to appreciate her life more

14 OFF-SEASON PASSION

Mark Evans is paid to go fast — very, very fast — on water. When he gets a wintery break at his Chelan home, he finds a souped-up snowmobile quite to his liking

16 skiing the outback

Groomed trails are a nice, modern convenience... but sometimes it’s a joy to get back to the basics of cross country skiing

18 landscaping for the birds

Master Gardener Bonnie Orr designs her yard with the idea of inviting wildlife over for a meal and a safe place to play

ART SKETCHES

n Potter Terry Porlier, page 30 n Singer Jessica Wardle, page 35 Columns & Departments 24 Pet Pix: Blu and his two human siblings 25 Bonnie Orr: A second look at yucky foods 26 The traveling doctor: Learning to be a juicer 28 June Darling: Be nicer to yourself 30-35 Arts & Entertainment & a Dan McConnell cartoon 36 History: Early gold finds in the Wenatchee Valley 38 Alex Saliby: What’s in the name of these wines?

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OPENING SHOT

Winter stitching Wenatchee photographer

Josh Tarr sent us this wintery photo and a story to go with it.

Here is Josh’s report:

I snapped this set of pictures on my way home from work recently.

I’d been in a bit of a photo lull due to the gray weather or maybe just laziness so the location

®

Year 7, Number 2 February 2013 The Good Life is published by NCW Good Life, LLC, dba The Good Life 10 First Street, Suite 108 Wenatchee, WA 98801 PHONE: (509) 888-6527 EMAIL: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

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right off Methow Street across from Lincoln Park, just blocks from my house was perfect.

This is a 12 shot HDR panorama stitched together in Photoshop.

The warm sliver of sun coming through those trees really caught my attention and warmed me up on an otherwise very gloomy winter afternoon.

I think it’s a great diversion to

get out and try to make something you wouldn’t normally take a second look at look appealing and different.

Panoramas let you do that in a way most cameras can’t capture with one shot alone.

Sometimes in stitching a photo together you get a surreal look like the trees at the top of this shot. I chose not to crop that out since they ended

up framing Saddle Rock. I just cannot keep my eyes off Saddle Rock, truly a year-round treasure!

Editor/Publisher, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Josh Tarr, Suzette Hollingsworth, Dave Graybill, Jessica Creel, Fred Weiss, Lief Carlsen, Donna Cassidy, Bonnie Orr, Alex Saliby, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, Susan Lagsdin and Rod Molzahn Advertising sales, Lianne Taylor and Donna Cassidy Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Proofing, Dianne Cornell Ad design, Rick Conant

Send payment to: The Good Life 10 First Street, Suite 108 Wenatchee, WA 98801

ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact advertising at (509) 888-6527, or sales@ncwgoodlife. com

TO SUBSCRIBE: For $25, ($30 out of state address) you can have 12 issues of The Good Life mailed to you or a friend.

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Phone 888-6527 Online: www.ncwgoodlife.com To subscribe/renew by email, send credit card info to: donna@ncwgoodlife.com BUY A COPY of The Good Life at Hastings, Caffé Mela (Wenatchee and East Wenatchee), Walgreens (Wenatchee and East Wenatchee), the Wenatchee Food Pavilion, Mike’s Meats, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere) and A Book for All Seasons (Leavenworth)

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On the cover

Dave Graybill took this photo of Mark Evans on his poweredup snowmobile near Mark’s home in Chelan. See Dave’s story on page 14.

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 2013

by NCW Good Life, LLC.

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editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

On reflection, it’s not so bad at all Just after the first of the year,

my wife and I took off south for a week at a beach, powdery sand beneath our bare feet, palm trees waving in the blue sky, an adult beverage delivered on a tray just a gratuity away.

Then we returned to a slippery drive over a snowy pass, a cold and dark house, and a workplace where all the loose ends I thought I had securely tied up prior to leaving having come loose.

At the end of the first day home, I was grumping and banging around the house. All the healing benefits of a vacation had evaporated even before my sunburn started peeling.

Then it struck me — I was just back from a January vacation, the first January vacation we had been able to take in years.

And I started to think of the ways I was better off in January 2013 from January 2012 — from work to health to family.

In a few minutes, I had quite a list of concrete improvements — long enough to quiet my inner petulant critic.

I’m not here to push advice, but if you should find yourself under a cold, dark cloud like I was — perhaps it is time to make a list of what is going right in your life. You might be surprised.

In the wilds — Each winter, we buy bird food in the form of a block of seeds for our back yard.

We toss the block on the snow and within minutes the little snowbirds and their friends start pecking at the block.

If I happen to look out the window before daybreak, I am likely to see deer licking the block. I am guessing the “glue”

used to hold the seeds together appeals to the deer. The deer are also pretty fond of the leaves of rose bushes in our yard. In ex-

change for all we give the deer, they leave behind piles of pellet fertilizer, which makes the first lawn mowing of spring pretty interesting.

In addition to birds ranging from swallows to woodpeckers to hawks and the deer, we have seen raccoons and a little marmot (we think) in our yard. On a walk one day, we saw a wild (but not particularly afraid of us) rabbit just down the road.

And yes, we have the mice, lizards and snakes (but only once a

rattlesnake).

If you, like us, enjoy looking at the creatures of nature in your backyard, check out Bonnie Orr’s story on how she converted a pretty dull yard into a bird sanctuary, on page 18.

Now is the time to begin planning your spring plantings so you will have great nature viewing all year long.

Better days may already be here. Enjoy The Good Life.

— Mike

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guest column // suzette hollingsworth

You’ll never finish that book if you don’t start writing What’s stopping you from

writing your book?

This is a great time for authors as there are so many options available: self-publishing, traditional print publishing and ebook publishing.

Because of the Internet and portable reading devices such as Kindle, the Nook and others, book formats are being published which previously were not: varying word counts including short stories and unusual niche subgenres which are finding their fan base.

So why aren’t you writing?

Unfortunately, you can’t wait until you wake up with all the skills you will need to be a writer. But good news is: The act of writing develops those skills.

People are intimidated by a finished hard-bound book, but it’s well within your grasp. If you write 1,000 words a day — which is fewer words than in this article — you’ll have a book in three months. Writing one page a day is a book a year.

The biggest block to writing the book is self-criticism and the fear that it won’t be good.

You can’t listen to that voice — the critical voice has no place in the writer’s process. Just write.

Never criticize your work. It wouldn’t be in your heart if you weren’t meant to do it.

“You can’t fix a blank page,” as Nora Roberts says. Once the book is finished, then you can go back and allow the critical voice to edit. But not until it’s all on paper.

I heard Roberts in a workshop, who also writes as J.D. Robb.

The best-selling romance au-

thor, worth around $150 million, has her 200th book, The Witness, coming out in April.

One fan asked Roberts if her favorite book is the one she is working on. Nora Roberts replied, “In my mind, the book I am working on is always a POS.” Thank goodness for her readers (and her bank account) that Nora keeps writing in spite of her inner critic!

Fortunately for me, if I had an animal totem, it would be the gnat. To take a line from the movie Galaxy Quest, “Never give up, never surrender.” This is my mantra.

Confidence is a different issue.

Initially, I didn’t have the confidence in myself to host a dinner party (still don’t), much less write a book.

But I have a good friend who is psychic, and she told me that I would be published. I didn’t believe in myself, but I did believe in her, so that kept me going until I turned a corner and started believing in myself.

That sounds wacky and trite, but the truth is I didn’t know who I was. I wrote those books, and now I do. They saved me and introduced me to myself.

Some people are suppressed as children to the degree that they don’t even know what they like and what their interests are.

Like all else in life, if we waited until everything was hunky-dory, nothing would happen.

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Suzette Hollingsworth and her books from the Daughters of the Empire trilogy — each one has been a magical journey.

That was me.

When I set out to write my first novel, I recognized the initial result as the most boring story imaginable. Yes indeed, there were plotting problems.

I had read Lucia Capacchione’s The Power of the Other Hand, her tenant being that one can access the inner child through the non-dominant hand.

For me, that’s the left hand since I am right-handed.

So I started writing the story with my left hand. Surprisingly, I then had no problem coming up with a plot. When it was time to edit, I went back and edited with the right hand (the critical, adult side).

Now I simply type on the computer, but this was the process that initially broke my writer’s block.

Another myth is that you have to be “in the zone” to write.

I have written during dismal times and when my positive energy was very low.

True, I probably could have written more and faster if I had been feeling better, but I wrote an entire book in six months just writing on my lunch break at work.

I once had a magical moment standing on the balcony of A

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Book for All Seasons with Debbie Macomber when the snow was coming down against the sparkling Leavenworth Christmas lighting.

I suppose that’s not surprising since Debbie makes a career out of creating magic. She told me she has dyslexia and that, before she was published, one editor put her hand on Debbie’s shoulder and commanded, “Quit writing.”

Needless to say, Debbie didn’t, and she now sells 10 million books a year.

Like all else in life, if we waited until everything was hunkydory, nothing would happen.

No one is an expert at every aspect of writing, even the bestselling authors have their strengths and weaknesses. No one is perfect at everything or possibly anything: plot, dialogue, character development, setting/visuals/description, voice, grammar.

But you don’t need to be an expert at everything and you don’t need to be a literary genius (in fact, that might be a detriment): if you can pull the reader into the story and the reader keeps turning the pages, that’s enough.

Need other help to get started?

New characters emerge which she did not expect — and sometimes they re-write the book.

Take bestselling author Cherry Adair’s Finish the Damn Book! challenge.

Cherry is so famous you’ll find her books in any grocery store and yet she gives back to aspiring authors at www.gsrwa.org/ ftdb.php.

Go to a writer’s conference, such as Write On The River right here in Wenatchee (www. writeontheriver.org). The GSRWA writer’s conference in Bellevue is a great regional conference as well, (www.gsrwa. org). Join a writer’s group, such as www.mysterywriters.org.

Once you have a manuscript, enter contests to see where you stand, the feedback is invaluable. I hired professional editors to assist me in moving to the next level.

Or find a beta reader for free, (www.literaryrambles. com/2009/11/what-is-beta-reader-where-do-i-find-one.html).

And, of course, when your work is polished, submit to editors and agents (conferences are invaluable for this).

I entered lots of contests and submitted to agents and editors.

When my work was criticized, I never took it as “you’re not good enough,” only as information of areas in which I needed to improve.

All authors have their horror stories.

One agent I submitted to responded, “I don’t like your writing.” What do you do with that?

I banged my head against the wall for about three weeks, then I woke up one morning with a realization: “She doesn’t like my author’s voice.” As an author, your voice is your personality as

expressed through your writing.

“I don’t like your writing” became “I don’t like YOU.” Did I feel better then? Yes! It occurred to me there was too much of “me” in my novel: the characters need to take over. I shouldn’t even be in the story.

I learned something invaluable and that took me to the next level.

AnaMaree Ordway of Wenatchee wrote her first book in a month, taking the challenge on nanowrimo.org National Novel Writer’s Month.

AnaMaree is one of the most creative people I ever met with an endless supply of ideas.

Someone lost the box that she came in. AnaMaree is a character-driven writer, meaning that the characters take over and write the story for her. (I should be so lucky). New characters emerge which she did not expect — and sometimes they re-write the book.

In July while on my way to a girls’ beach party (high school reunion) in Galveston, Texas, I met Betsy Gutting, who was seated next to me on the plane.

Betsy is an intuitive life coach from Seattle who helps people create work and lives they love.

Betsy has a radio show and a blog — and thus is already a writer — but was having trouble embracing the idea of writing an entire book from start to finish.

I exclaimed, “It’s just another format! You’re already doing it.”

Betsy now has completed a book these six months later, The

February 2013 | The Good Life

Magic of Saying YES, which is scheduled to come out March 21.

About her mental blocks, Betsy said, “I did an online course — sort of like an online support group for writers. I also used tools for dialoguing with my inner critics when I felt overwhelmed, confused or when the perfectionist was ‘up.’ I now recognize ‘overwhelm’ as an inner critic.

“Also, I listened to my inner guidance, which said to take a trip to someplace warm and healing, which triggered my decision to go to Mexico and take a self-created writer’s retreat.”

After Betsy’s trip, she said, “I had new material for a chapter and new energy for the book.

Saying ‘yes’ to the trip, even though it didn’t make logical sense, really got my momentum going.”

One Thousand and One Nights is a remarkable tale about Scheherazade, a marvelous storyteller who saved herself from a king who had vowed to kill her.

The king fell in love with her through her stories and married her instead.

One might say Scheherazade was an enchantress, but the fact is she was a storyteller.

Story is magical. It shows us not what is but what could be. It models a better life — which we can choose to accept.

When I look at the novels on my bookshelf, more than pride, I feel the happy memory of a magical journey, as one might recall a marvelous vacation.

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I encourage everyone who has a story to tell to take the journey.

Be the hobbit Bilbo Baggins on his adventures — without leaving the Shire.

Suzette Hollingsworth’s Daughters of the Empire trilogy was published by Bookstrand and is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Her current project is a Sherlock Holmes series.

She is co-creator of the on-line web comic www.startingfromscratchcomic.com with her husband, Clint. They live in East Wenatchee with four cats and a Dachsie named Tinkerbelle.

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THE BUCKET LIST

Fred Weiss and his surprising catch.

Catching a granddaddy of a salmon

Washington has a lot to offer sportsmen.

Having caught Silver and Sockeye salmon, I had never caught a king salmon so I added it to my bucket list.

This is the granddaddy of salmon and quite a thrill if you can catch one.

I was fishing for Sockeye with a friend on the Columbia River in Brewster when the king accidently hit my Sockeye lure.

I knew there was a big deal fish on my lure by the way he ran out my line. My biggest concern was losing him as we were using barbless hooks but I got lucky and landed him after about 10 to 15 minutes.

A fish this size (25.5 pounds) makes great steaks and with dill sauce is a real treat.

Next on my bucket list is a Muskie but I will probably have to go to Canada to catch one.

— by Fred Weiss

What’s on your bucket list?

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

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

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

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WHAT TO DO see COMPLETE LISTINGs BEGINning ON PAGE 31 still be unpredictable. Binoculars are highly recommended.

Also bring snacks, water and a lunch. RSVP 667-9708 or email: Kelsey@cdlandtrust.org. 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 16.

See the dogs run, count the birds, hear history firsthand

Wenatchee Valley Sportsmen show — See the latest in

hunting gear, all kinds of fishing tackle, outdoor clothing, boats, motors and accessories, ATVs and UTV’s, guides and outfitters, lodges and resorts, hunting preserves, camping equipment and more. Town Toyota Center.

Info: towntoyotacenter.com. Friday through Sunday, Feb. 22-24.

F

ebruary with its lingering cold weather and gray skies can be a lo-o-ong month — even though it contains fewer days than its 11 peers.

Still, there’s plenty to do locally during the four weekends of the month to brighten the spirits.

Here are a few events you may wish to put on the long coat to go out the door for: Cascade Quest Sled Dog Race — Meet the mushers and

their teams, learn about sled dog sports and northern breeds.

Lake Wenatchee Recreation Club, 14400 Chiwawa Loop Rd. Cost: free. Info: cascadequest. com. Friday through Sunday, Feb. 1-3.

Chicks on Sticks — This 8 km ski event is for skiers of all abilities. Proceeds benefit The Wellness Place in Wenatchee.

Prize given to Best Dressed Chick, refreshments and many raffle prizes. Leavenworth Fish Hatchery. Info: skileavenworth. com/events/chicks-sticks. 8 a.m.

Sunday, Feb. 3.

Go, doggie go: The Cascade Quest Sled Dog Race at Lake Wenatchee.

thing you could want to see for remodeling to building a new home. Also a Build & Grow Kids’ Zone by Lowe’s and the jumpy castle from Trinity Inflatables.

Do-it-yourself workshops will be going on all weekend such as: Laying Tile Made Easy, Installing Faux Rock, Starting Seeds/ Patio Gardening and Garden Preparation. Info: www.BuildingNCW.org. Cost (with coupon) is $5 and $4 for seniors. Kids 12 and under are free. Info: BuildingNCW.org or NCHBA.cc, or 665-8195. Town Toyota Center.

Friday through Sunday, Feb. 8-10.

Backyard Bird Count with Phil Archibald — Join biolo-

People of our Past — Lis-

The original Rufus Woods... who was truly an original newspaper publisher.

gist Phil Archibald for the Great Backyard Bird Count at Entiat Stormy Preserve. Participants should be prepared for inclement weather, wearing good boots/snowshoes and warm, layered clothing as the weather will

Builder’s Home Show— Allnew layout of vendors... every-

Know of someone stepping off the beaten path in the search for fun and excitement? E-mail us at editor@ncwgoodlife.com February 2013 | The Good Life

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ten to five actors who become people of the past. After a brief monologue, the audience is welcome to ask questions while the actors stays in character. Newspaper publisher Rufus Woods, Sr. is played by Wilfred Woods; Homer T. Bone played by Andrew Munro; Hotel Maid Elsie Parrish played by Sally Knipfer; attorney Bernice Bacharach played by Kathy Smithson and Captain Charles Leavenworth, Upper Valley town founder, is played by John Wagner.

Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: $5 suggested. Info: wvmcc.org. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23.

Bruce Hosfeld stands by a tank in front of the Cairo museum at Tahrir Square — an area known as “Tent City” while the revolution was taking place.

Sailing the Nile in a felucca ‘it was just so cool; just the four of us sitting on the sailboat with our food and candles floating down the Nile’

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By Jessica Creel

enatchee fire and rescue captain Bruce Hosfeld and retired fireman John Picard checked one off their bucket list last March when they ventured to Egypt to sail the Nile on a felucca.

A felucca is a narrow, swift, lateen-rigged sailing vessel propelled by either oars or wind powered sails. They are widely used on the Nile and the Mediterranean region.

Aside from an interest in the ancient land of Egypt, Bruce also shares several interests with his

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wife Ronnie — including raising pack llamas and maintaining an impressive organic garden at their home in East Wenatchee, where you could pretty much live off the land with veggies abundant.

Last March however Ronnie stayed home to tend to the chores for a few weeks while Bruce teamed up with his buddy John Picard, who had been lighting a fire under Bruce for some time to make a third visit to the

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Middle East.

It wasn’t long before they found themselves falling asleep bellow a duvet of stars listening to the distant sound of Nubian drums and then rising to the routine call of the muezzin beckoning the faithful to prayer while floating under the deep blue skies past villages suspended in time.

“Egypt surely does display a rich history,” said Bruce. “Piecing ancient history together

ABOVE: Temple Horus at Edfu in a rare sight — void of tourists.

LEFT: At a mid-day break along the Nile at some sand dunes, John snapped a photo of the felucca while hiking around.

with the evidence left behind is something I’ve enjoyed studying and visiting.”

Having made two prior visits to the Middle East, Bruce admits he felt comfortable with the culture, cities and surroundings there. Renting a felucca and putting together a crew with all the necessary supplies would be a new adventure he looked forward to.

“I always wanted to do it, I guess we just manifested the

idea and it turned out just as amazing as we had imagined,” Bruce said.

Like most things in the Middle East, finding a boat and a small crew took a little effort but not much considering the riveting current events going on in Egypt at that time.

The time was right after the Egyptian Civil Revolution had ended, in other words, tourism was slow and the local people were hungry for work and dollars.

They found it to be an exceptionally good time to travel.

They had received word it was

February 2013 | The Good Life

not dangerous for the tourists and found that to be true. The revolution was against the government not the paying tourists.

In fact the people there were very welcoming and gracious to him.

A friend of Bruce’s from Cairo led them to a felucca contact, a man by the name of Terek. “I paid Terek $120 for the three days and that included food,” Bruce remembered. Terek also offered the friendly advice of, “You sleep under the shade of the boat.”

After sending the crew to the store for all the food and sup-

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plies needed, the boat loaded up and ready when they pushed off March 17 for the trip to sail down the Nile.

It was only moments until Bruce was sipping on tea and nibbling on dates while slicing through the Nile River with his friend John, boat owner Terek and a crewman — a recipe for a dream come true.

The felucca would be home for three nights.

The entire felucca trip was crafted with relaxation in mind and from the start to finish had a go-with-the flow feel drenched

}}} Continued on next page

Floating the Nile in a felucca }}} Continued from previous page with Egyptian hospitality and history that made every day truly beautiful, said Bruce.

Real sailing was only a few hours per day, but even during anchored down time, the slight current from the Nile ripples offered a rocking dosage of time spent in silence or chatting about cultural differences and way of life with his crew.

The first night they stopped in a Nubian village, cooked some food and drank tea together.

The boat owner, Terek, picked them up and drove them to the top of the river to his house so they could meet his family.

At his village that night there was a Nubian engagement party.

Drums and bongo music could be heard throughout the village. Nubian wedding participants still follow traditions from centuries ago. During a Nubian wedding, the entire village celebrates for seven nights and days.

What Bruce found interesting this visit to Egypt was the contrast of music from the prior visits; before the music was all traditional bongo and this visit there were speakers, subwoofers and synthesizers.

Nubians consider themselves to be the oldest human race in existence. The name Nubia actually means gold, and refers to the gold mines that made the kingdom so well known.

Most Nubians consider them-

...the slight current from the Nile ripples offered a rocking dosage of time spent in silence or chatting about cultural differences... selves Egyptian by nationality but Nubian by tradition. Hence, Nubian weddings reflect many of the traditions that were significant by the culture’s ancestors.

At the engagement party the men and women stayed segregated. After the festivity, the crew made their way back to the felucca to sleep under the stars.

The next morning Bruce and his team were still anchored near the Nubian Village when Bruce recalls, “I was standing there and here comes this guy on a bike. The man looked like he had been on his bike for a while. Come to find out he had ridden his bike from Cape Town to Aswan. It took him one year — he did the whole thing by bike!”

“He had gone through Sudan and Ethiopia through many checkpoints; he had been hassled, biked through various civil wars and more.”

Bruce and John couldn’t

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A bread seller does a balancing act along a busy side street in Egypt.

believe how lucky they were to have met this man so they invited him for dinner and they ate together and listened to his travel stories. Later Bruce checked the biker’s blog and confirmed his trip to be true, in fact the guy is still biking.

“The meals on the beach where incredible. At night we would surround the boat with a tarp to keep the bugs out, it was just so cool; just the four of us sitting on the sailboat with our food and candles floating down the Nile,” said Bruce.

The next day they sailed down the river and eventually pulled over on a sandy beach. They had been advised not to swim in the Nile farther down because of the parasites in the water but higher up is safe to swim where the water was moving faster.

Normally there would have been more water traffic but this time there were only three other boats.

“We met a couple on one of the three boats who through conversation found out were ironically from Everett, Washington; here I was on a felucca in the middle of the Nile and one of the three boats we meet is a couple who live a few hours from my home in Washington, incredible,” said Bruce.

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The next day they floated to a temple called Kalabsha Temple which was been dedicated to the sun god. They would have liked to float another day but permits were needed to go any farther.

March 19 marked the last day.

Terek drove them to the Temple Edfu on the west bank after they had departed from the boat, which began its sail back up the Nile.

Bruce spent another week exploring temples and artifacts but it wasn’t long before it was time to go home and leave this raw, distant civilization; a place where everyone once lived at the whim of the celestial yet mortal pharaoh, where an unceasing number of people could be made to work each day in the fervor of the sun, constructing lasting, astounding buildings for us to marvel at thousands of years later.

Jessica Creel has had the pleasure of traveling to diverse parts of the world including Egypt, which she calls one of her personal favorites.

Aside from her fortuitous blue moon writing career with The Good Life where she writes about the undead, she’s also been in the local funeral home business at Legacy Memorial where she drives a hearse from time to time. She lives in East Wenatchee with a black dog named Shamu.

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Volunteers

Teen volunteer learns by helping others, she appreciates her life more

By Donna Cassidy

K

enzie English, 17, a Wenatchee High School student knows about volunteering. She has been at it since she was in the fifth grade, volunteering for her church and the community.

And now, Kenzie, along with her friend, Jacob Prater, has started the One Love Project with the goal of preventing teenage suicides and stopping stereotyping and bullying.

Kenzie and Jacob created a Facebook page showing pictures of students with a handwritten message on cardboard signs stating a confession or insight about themselves.

The idea is to show the faces behind the false stereotypes and assumptions people make each day.

One girl’s sign on the site, for example, reads: “Just because it’s what you see doesn’t mean it’s what everyone sees. Fat is not a word that defines me. I prefer human!”

Kenzie said the site now has over 2,200 likes and 50 pictures of cardboard messages. “We wanted to take a stand on the high suicide rates in Wenatchee and show that we care.”

The address is facebook.com/ OneLoveProject2012.

Kenzie has also been collecting blankets for the homeless.

So far she has collected about 50.

“I’m collecting blankets because there is such a huge need of support and love needed for the homeless in our community,” said Kenzie.

“I have learned so much by collecting these blankets. I have

I have learned that I have so much more than I ever thought and that I take the most simple things, like a roof over my head or a warm bed to sleep in at night, for granted. learned that I have so much more than I ever thought and that I take the most simple things, like a roof over my head or a warm bed to sleep in at night, for granted.

I have learned to think twice before complaining that there is ‘nothing’ to eat with a kitchen full of food just 10 steps away because I have seen those who really don’t have anything to eat.

“I have learned so much about myself and the things I need to work on,” said Kenzie.

Blankets are needed year around and serve many purposes, from covering and keeping warm in the winter to adding a little comfort as people sleep in the summer, she said.

People can donate by dropping off blankets to the New Song Community Church off Grant February 2013 | The Good Life

Kenzie English collects blankets for the homeless because “there is such a huge need of support and love needed for the homeless in our community.”

She also is co-founder of a Facebook page aimed at preventing suicides and bullying by allowing local students to post their photos with signs sharing an insight about themselves.

At left is one of her favorite photos of herself on the site.

Road in East Wenatchee.

Kenzie is a busy teen.

She is also involved with the Janice Franz Talent Show, is the editor of the Wenatchee High School yearbook and volunteers on a regular basis through Youth United program.

She has received a varsity letter in community service as well as the presidential award for volunteering over 300 hours. She www.ncwgoodlife.com

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has been on a church mission to Ensenada, Mexico, has helped with New Life Adoption fundraisers and volunteers at school.

She has plans to volunteer at the hospital soon.

“I have always had a soft spot for the less fortunate in our community and I think volunteering is a great way to bring us together and help those with less than I,” she said.

Snowmobiling is Mark Evans’ off-season passion

‘The backcountry here is beautiful. In the winter you get up there, where the sun is shining, and it’s spectacular.’

By Dave Graybill

I

knew Mark Evans when I lived in Chelan and even traveled to Pasco and Seattle with his brother’s hydro racing team and would see him there.

Mitch Evans drove the last piston-powered hydro on the circuit, and I helped out with fund raising and sponsorships.

Mark was busy driving these big boats all over the country.

He raced for a number of different sponsors, and was very competitive. His energy and passion for unlimited hydro racing made him one of the best-liked drivers.

I moved from Chelan but was reacquainted with Mark in an unusual way.

He was flying home from Detroit and was chatting with the person in the seat next to him.

He said he was a hydro driver but would like to take up something like fishing to relax. She replied, “You should talk to Dave Graybill. He was my husband’s best man at our wedding, and he knows all about fishing.”

Mark and I reconnected, and are planning to do some fishing this year, as his racing schedule allows.

When Mark was home after the racing season, he satisfied his need for speed by entering local snowmobile races. Back in the day, there were races on a track at the Waterville Fairgrounds and at the Twisp airstrip.

His reputation for winning races on these machines was no secret with his hydro sponsor. “At the time I was with the

Mark Evans enjoys a fantastic view of Lake Chelan from his home on Chelan Butte. If you look closely you can see the wake of the “fast boat” making its way up the lake on its run to Stehekin. Photo by Dave Graybill

Miss Elam Team, owned by the Ellstrom family,” said Mark.

“They were into snowmobiling in a big way, and had bought some top of the line machines in Montana. They challenged me to a race, and I complained that it wouldn’t be fair. I didn’t have a snowmobile that would come close to the performance of theirs.

“They told me if I won a race for them that they would put me into a machine like theirs. That’s all I needed to hear. That year, when we were in Pasco, I won.

“As I came into the pits they

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were all celebrating the win. I was celebrating, too, but it was for getting a new snowmobile!”

The Chelan area is a wonderful area for those who enjoy snowmobiling. Mark pointed out his window saying, “You can run up the south shore to the Ramona snow park and go to Slide Ridge and take the trail over Shady Pass to the Entiat Valley.

On the north shore there’s the trail up Cooper Mountain Road, and a great ride is the one over Black Canyon into the Methow Valley.

“The backcountry here is

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| February 2013

beautiful. In the winter you get up there, where the sun is shining, and it’s spectacular. My wife Kathy and I are starting to ride together now, and she’s really enjoying it.”

There are more than 150 miles of groomed snowmobile trails that can be accessed from Lake Chelan. This has been a State Class A region for many years, and that means the trails are groomed regularly.

The Lake Chelan Snowmobile Club is very active and has built some warming huts and a yurt on some of the trails and at

He nudged the throttle slightly and the front end of the sled went straight up in the air. some of the trailheads. There is a search and rescue unit in the club, too.

They have an excellent web site with information on their meetings, membership information and more at www.lksnowmobileclub.com.

Mark also likes riding the trails in the Colockum. One of his favorites is on the road that goes past Lily Lake, and there is a lot of wide-open space to ride up here. You can go all the way over to Ellensburg or even to Blewett Pass on Colockum trails.

It’s nothing to do 90 miles or more a day riding the trails.

There are some great trails out of the Methow Valley, says Mark.

He remembers one ride particularly. He, his brother and couple of other experienced riders were headed to Harts Pass. This was after some bad conditions and there had been some slides that had come down across the trail. If he hadn’t been with people that knew what they were doing they never would have attempted the ride. They ended up digging their way over 12 slides, and it took hours to get back.

“I have learned a lot about riding safety over the years,” said Mark. “We always carry avalanche beacons and other equipment with us when we ride. You learn to have what you need along to repair a snowmobile if it breaks down, too. You don’t want to get stuck out in the backcountry in the winter, and we even go prepared to spend the night if we have to.”

Mark is from the old school, and knows how to navigate with a map and compass. This has gotten him home when fog or

snow has reduced visibility to nearly zero.

There are handheld GPS units available now that can lead you back to your rig. This has made it much easier for folks to get home when conditions turn for the worse.

Snowmobiles have come a long ways, too. Most are four-stroke now, and are much more dependable and quiet. The outerwear is also much better than in years past. Staying warm even in the most severe conditions is possible with the new hi-tech gear.

Speaking of hi-tech; Mark’s snow machine doesn’t look that impressive. It’s an older model and still has a short track.

What’s under the hood is a different matter.

He has applied the know-how he has learned from racing these machines over the years, and he loves to deceive people into thinking they can best him.

He showed me some of the changes he has made to the out-

side of the engine, but he told me most of what he has done to the inside is a secret.

We took a short ride up the hill behind his house to get a shot with Lake Chelan in the background. He nudged the throttle slightly and the front end of the sled went straight up in the air. He chuckled and said this was nothing. When he really opens it up, it is flat scary!

Whether you go fast or slow, snowmobiling is a great way to explore our backcountry. Often, when clouds blanket the valleys, there is blue sky over the snowmobile trails. You can ride through the fir and pine forests, or the wide-open high desert.

Trying the trails from Chelan, to the Methow, the Colockum and beyond is part of the fun.

Mark’s snowmobile fun is being interrupted this winter with hydroplane races in the Middle East. Whenever he gets a break you can look for him on the local trails.

Buried in the snow in front of

his home, and serving as a hose bracket now, is a 1961 Ski Doo. Mark has photos of him and his brother Mitch riding this odd looking machine when they were small children. As crude as it was, this early snowmobile provided thrills enough to get him hooked for life on the fun of riding snowmobiles.

If you would like to learn more about snowmobiling in our region, you can visit the Washington State Parks website at www. parks.wa.gov. Here you will find locations of Sno-Parks, related fees, where to rent machines and other information.

If you would like to keep up with Mark on the hydroplane racing circuit, log onto www.H-1. com. You can also follow him by visiting www.U4hydro.com.

Dave Graybill is the owner of FishingMagician.COM LLC that provides fishing information on this region through newspaper, radio, video broadcast and website. To learn more or contact Dave, log onto FishingMagician.com.

Pl ay too hard this season?

We’re here for you.

Our Orthopedics

team is committed to providing our patients with high quality, comprehensive treatment of bone, joint and muscle disorders. Our goal is to help you return to function and resume your active lifestyle as quickly and safely as possible.

Orthopedics 820 N. Chelan Ave. Wenatchee, WA Phone: (509) 665-5825 Mon. – Fri.: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Visit us online at wvmedical.com February 2013 | The Good Life

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SKIING THE

OUTBACK REMEMBERING THE

WAY IT USED TO BE

By Lief Carlsen

T

ucked in the forested, round-shouldered hills on the north shore of Lake Chelan is Echo Ridge Nordic Ski Area, a delightful web of trails that dip and rise over a succession of gentle hills while offering unsurpassed vistas of Lake Chelan, the Waterville Plateau and the distant Cascade Range.

Perched at an average elevation of almost 4,000 feet, it is blessed with dependable snowfall and sunshine. Many are the days when the valley is obscured by low clouds while Echo basks in the sun.

Only 10 miles from the com-

forts of Chelan and boasting 26 miles of groomed trails, Echo caters to the needs of Nordic skiers of all skill levels.

But enough about the amenities of Echo Ridge in general.

I want to tell you about an outlying trail in the Echo complex that few skiers visit anymore. Its character is distinct, its terrain is rugged, but its charms are many.

I’m talking about The Outback.

In the wild and wooly early years of Echo’s existence when most trails were narrow and groomed sporadically, The Outback was just another trail — albeit the longest single trail,

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at 4.2 miles — in a network of primitive trails.

Nordic (or cross-country as it is sometimes called) skiing was still emerging from obscurity in the shadow of its more popular cousin, Alpine (downhill) skiing.

Nordic skiers were only just trading in their wooden skis, corduroy knickers, leather rucksacks and knee-high gaiters for newer, lighter, more colorful gear. They still expected to power their way through deep, untrammeled snow and considered it a lucky break to chance upon the tracks of a previous skier.

In the ensuing years as the in-lying trails were widened at

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Mary Carlsen stops on The Outback trail to pay a little attention to her and Lief’s pet, Vera.

Echo and their steepness tamed, The Outback alone retained the wild, primitive nature that had once characterized all of Echo’s trails.

You might say it became the neglected, step-child trail on the northern fringe of Echo Ridge.

Its remoteness, its steepness, its exposure to drift-building wind — all of these things made it a low priority for grooming machines and, consequently, for skiers.

Now, I’m not immune to the lure of a well-groomed trail

or the convenience of modern equipment. I long ago traded my “woodies” and wool for state-ofthe-art air-core skis and breathable fleece. And yet, there are times, like a few days ago, when I go to The Outback to remember the way it used to be.

It was on The Outback that I once looked into a coyote’s eyes from no more than 50 feet away.

I was hurrying home in the late afternoon with darkness imminent. A heavy snow was falling. All sound had been muffled by the huge flakes.

I had just emerged from a dense fir grove on the backside of the mountain when I saw him, crossing the trail and starting up the steep slope on my right.

I stood motionless atop my skis but the downward slope of the trail transported me, as if on a conveyor belt, ever closer to the coyote.

I was no more than an easy stone’s throw from him when he spotted me. I snow plowed to a stop.

To my surprise and delight, he didn’t run; he stared at me.

What was it I saw in those eyes?

Curiosity? Resentment? Disdain? I’ve often wondered.

We both stood motionless in the silence for some time as the snowflakes drifted to earth between us. Then, he turned and loped up the hill, stopping once to glance over his shoulder, before disappearing into the storm.

I have been on the north face of The Outback when a bitterly cold wind has driven sharp, icy flakes up the steep slope and into my face while at my feet it sculpted the ground snow into streamlined geometrics more exotic than anything to be found in a museum.

I confess to having indulged in a fantasy that day that I was a polar explorer, the lone survivor of my team, struggling to return to base camp.

Many times I have skied Outback, the recent outing included, when the air was cold,

the sky shockingly blue and the snow blindingly white.

I could see Lake Chelan, 3,000 feet below, glimmering in the afternoon sun.

But just as often when the winter sun towers over The Outback, the lake is blanketed by clouds that fill the valley much as the glaciers of old must have.

Drifted snow made for some dicey sidestepping as Mary and I came to the steepest section of the trail on our recent outing.

We would have been disappointed if it had been any other way.

When you do The Outback you expect the trail to push back.

On the backside of the mountain we reached the high point and it’s mostly downhill from there. Six inches of new powder kept our descent at a comfortable pace as I watched the tips of my skis, barely submerged, create a bow wave in the snow like two porpoises guiding a ship.

The distant thunder of two passing jets pulled our gaze skyward where we saw the white

February 2013 | The Good Life

head and tail feathers of a circling bald eagle.

The characteristic sets of four bunny paws (two spread wide and two close together) in the snow frequently crossed our path as well as those of featherlight deer mice able to scurry across the surface of the fluffy snow.

Back at the car, we reflected on what we agreed had been a fine day of skiing.

The Outback had delivered, once again, that element of wildness that newness and technology cannot.

To us, The Outback will always be a special place; the scene of memorable winter days from our youth when we skied on wooden skis and dressed in wool and corduroy.

Lief and Mary Carlsen are retirees whose home base is Chelan. They travel extensively — afoot, tandem bicycle, RV and skies. Lief documents their travels and his random thoughts in his blog: chelantraveler. wordpress.com.

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A large Western Red Cedar on the far left provides cover for birds feasting on mountain ash, elderberry, Douglas hawthorns, and gooseberries. The Oceanspray bush in the front attracts pollinators and other insects.

This landscaping is for the birds

By Bonnie Orr

M

y garden provides meals for my friends and food for the birds.

My friends were stupefied five years ago when I moved from the garden I had lovingly attended for 20 years to a piece of property that had been neglected for years.

Yet, I figured I had an open palate to create a bird sanctuary on this 1/3-acre urban lot. I was inspired by Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest by the urban wildlife biologist Russell Link.

In an urban setting, I was not going to lure in lynx, wolves, bears, bobcats or skunks. But I really was interested in creating a bird and insect refuge.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife provides a list of criteria for a sanctuary: native and non-native plants, feeders, water, cover/shelter and

nesting sites.

Sadly, my property is too small to build a wetlands (that’s on the list for the next move!). Water is by far the most important feature for birds and insects. I have a marvelous water feature built from old harrow pieces by my Ephrata farmer friend, John Morris.

I used basalt rocks with depressions and placed them around the flowers. The depressions fill each time I water, and dragonflies, butterflies and moths drink from the very shallow water that evaporates in a few hours.

During the winter, water is even more important since the birds are eating seed that is dry rather than moist insects. I fill a birdbath by hand and use a thermostat-controlled heater in it.

The water needs to be changed nearly every day because no matter how cold it is, the birds still bathe as well as drink.

And then, the fun part — de-

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signing a dining experience.

First I deliberately planned a pesticide-free garden. Then I selected plants.

My neighbors claim they had never had hummingbirds visit until I arrived and planted a nectar-filled garden.

I do not need to set out sugarwater hummingbird feeders because I planted salvias, especially black and blue salvia, agastaches, bee balms and scarlet runner beans. www.ncwgoodlife.com

| February 2013

The idea for the beans came from Nathaniel Hawthorne who wrote about the hummingbirds feeding at the scarlet runner bean flowers trained on the side of the House of Seven Gables.

(Actually, I now have put out a feeder since an immature, male Anna’s hummingbird is overwintering in my garden.)

A mixture of evergreens and deciduous trees would attract pollinators and beneficial insects that in turn provide a pro-

A netted back deck allows cats access to fresh air, but keeps their claws away from birds.

ABOVE: A valley quail gleans seed from Calendula and the Joseph’s Coat Amaranthus, a relative of quinoa.

UPPER LEFT: A multi-level water feature made from harrow pieces attracts birds and food for birds — insects.

LEFT: This nearly spent Crocosima is a hummingbird favorite-- in fact they sit on the pendulous stem of buds seeming to wait for the blooms to open and offer their nectar.

tein source for the nesting birds.

Fruit is high in sugars, and the seeds provide protein as well.

Last year, Eastern Kingbirds showed their young how to grasp a berry and swallow it whole. Then the Bullocks Orioles lined up their four fledglings on the branch of the nearby western red cedar, and flitted up and down harvesting a currant to stuff into a widemouthed juvenile bird.

And then I got lucky, so to

speak.

The big windstorm of January 2007 blew down an 86-foot-tall white fir that lying on its side had branches sticking up taller than my house. It had been the wrong tree in the wrong place, and it damaged nothing when the winds spun it out of the ground.

Growing at the base of this huge fir was a little sapling mulberry planted by a bird. As soon as the big tree was gone,

the mulberry exploded in size.

It now produces hundreds of pounds of delicious berries just in time for the parent birds to feed their offspring.

In early July, I saw seven species of birds, adults and juveniles, simultaneously feasting on different levels of the tree.

For my use, I grow blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and black currants in another section of the yard. The birds do not harvest these fruit because there is food elsewhere and also because I have deliberately planted my bushes in areas that are closed in and not as safe from predators, so the birds avoid this area.

I own two potential predators, Oedipuss and Rex, my indoor cats, who are allowed outside with me under supervision as I garden. They are good about coming in when I go in because there is a tuna treat waiting for them. I also created a “cattery.”

I netted in my upstairs deck. It does not obscure my view but

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provides the cats an “outdoor” experience and protects the birds.

I feel it is important to protect the birds eating at my feeders during the winter when the Merlins, Coopers and Sharpshined hawks come in for a feathery meal.

The feeders are hung in a deciduous tree with lots of open views and cover is close by in a fir tree. In addition, each winter, I create a brush pile of evergreen prunings and other woody stuff near the feeders so that birds can dive into this sanctuary when the hawks dive-bomb the feeders.

Yes, yes, I know the hawks need to eat also.

In addition to the feeders, I leave all the seed pods from the annual and perennial flowers such as Echinacea and Liatris, Mullein and sunflowers in the garden beds.

By spring, the birds eat all the seeds and some of the over-wintering insect eggs and larvae. In this way, the feeding activity is spread out and the birds are not as vulnerable to attack.

I have had a number of species nesting in the conifer and deciduous trees in my yard and in the trees in the yard across the street.

This past spring, the aspen from the Arbor Day distribution five years ago were large enough to provide a nesting site for chickadees.

I drilled a one-and one-quarter inch hole in a snake gourd that I had grown last year, and I hung it in the aspen grove. The birds moved in the next day and began to remodel the interior of the gourd to create a nesting site.

Many people keep a “yard list” of birds that are seen in their yards.

So far, I have seen 91 species from my yard, and I intend to see more as my landscaping for wildlife matures.

Bonnie Orr is a WSU Master Gardner and columnist for The Good Life.

Cedar siding, a brick entry, shutters and generous shade trees add to this house’s “old Wenatchee” look. The brick walk and a side patio to the right were late-century additions.

This old house Built by a working orchardist family in 1916, this once common wenatchee-style home glows with appeal from an earlier time

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Story by Susan Lagsdin Photos by Donna Cassidy

A

t first, Freeman Keller demurred a bit, “Oh, there must be a lot of places all over town that are built like this — it’s really just an old orchard house.”

True. But that’s its appeal.

This sturdy two story (probably not “Craftsman” or even a

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bungalow) is Every House. It’s the home of a simpler time. It’s the one everyone’s seen on a side street and admired from the curb, looking a bit sturdier and more settled than its fellows.

The house, like many others in our town, was built in 1916.

The first owners, the Wines, were hardworking orchardists in Wenatchee’s horticultural hey-

FAR LEFT: All the light and heat without the crackle — this new gas fireplace is a comfort on cold evenings.

The clocks on the mantle, a gift and a family heirloom, are both older than the house.

LEFT: A glimpse into the music room (Freeman makes his own instruments), that was the main floor bedroom in 1916.

LEFT LOWER: Happy to be at home (even after a good long morning at the ski hill) Freeman and Sherrill playfully take their roles as lord and lady of the manor.

And the Kellers, who bought it in 2000, think that steadfast family ownership “kept it safe from some of the awful remodels of the ’70s and ’80s.” They are proud to be only the third owners in 97 years.

Freeman and Sherrill had already lived for 25 years in another older home in town with double the square footage, but its deterioration became a problem. Freeman explained, “Our decision was either to commit to that house or move to something similar without the issues.”

Renovations aren’t necessary in this house, and maintenance doesn’t intrude on their love of the outdoors where (especially now in retirement) they use their daylight hours vigorously enjoying the rivers and mountains.

“Even having irrigation water

day, when the west side of the city was covered with carefully tended trees. In 1989 the property passed from 86 year-old Lola Wines to a relative, Sharon Grubb.

Uprooting, subdivision and build-out in the early 1970s meant the surrounding acreage is now suburban neighborhoods.

But the house stands.

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These blue herons, Sherrill’s favorite bird, were painted for her by Freeman’s sister, and hangs beside a built-in glassware closet. Freeman’s mother and grandmother painted other pieces that the Kellers display.

}}} Continued from previous page from the Highline ditch makes a difference — no more hauling hoses with city water,” said Freeman. Smaller at 1,926 square feet, but in great shape and with more storage, this Washington Street veteran also met the Keller’s standards for vintage charm.

In this good, solid house, everything old is new again.

A 1916 look-alike front entrance door was a recent replacement because the first door’s irregular shape caused a chilly air leak. Most of the original windows are still in place and functioning, and the golden-hued pecan wood floors throughout would be a luxury in most modern homes.

The living room’s biggest change was the insertion of

Freeman’s grandfather’s desk displays gas lamps and old family photos. This sunny upstairs anteroom opens onto two bedrooms and a surprisingly large bathroom.

gas logs where a fireplace once glowed. Sherrill applauded that modernization. “It’s really great — it’s clean, it’s warm and it looks just like a log fire.”

Three doors to the outside are distant from the fireplace wall, “so now (with the gas fireplace) we don’t have to haul firewood all through the house.”

The old-fashioned kitchen has a big open shape with an almost

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invisible update.

“The previous owners had Bagdon design all these cabinets,” Sherrill pointed to a full wall, “to match these ones from 1916.” Cream colored paint and discreet pulls are the same — the only giveaway is the crisp lines of the new additions versus the 94 years of repainting that have rounded the edges of the older cabinets’ layers of molding.

With its big bathroom accessed from two directions, the original downstairs bedroom has become a cozy music and media den, and a clothes closet now holds family and company coats. Up a narrow staircase, an open hall showcases an antique desk decorated with mementos and family photos.

Two bedroom doors open off that upstairs space.

In earlier days a nursery and family bedroom may have been up here; now one is a sleeping room, the other a shared office.

A spacious bath off the latter means a little bit of travel from bed, but big deep closets and total privacy actually help the whole second floor serve as a

The unfinished basement has multiple uses for the couple, and Sherrill is now eyeing the insulated larder... as a future wine cellar. spacious 1,000 square foot master suite.

Outside, the French doors in the kitchen open to brick steps and a broad, shady patio area, one of the few remodeled elements from Owner #2. “Almost every summer evening we have our dinner out here,” said Freeman.

He indicated where blooming shrubbery and leafed-out deciduous trees provide shade and effectively still any commotion from Washington Street.

From the back yard, a small door swings right onto the basement stair landing. And there’s a disused metal shower stall in the basement. Freeman deduced, “It was easy access for anybody who’d been dealing with all those chemicals in the orchard to head right down, get out of their work clothes and clean up.”

The unfinished basement has multiple uses for the couple, and Sherrill is now eyeing the insulated larder, with its constant 45-50 degree temperature and many shelves, as a future wine cellar. She’d once converted a less tidy root cellar into one, and knows this will be even easier.

Freeman and Sherrill have adapted the deep garage out behind the house to suit their particular needs. It accommodates not only their shared everyday vehicles, but a vintage sports car, pampered and blanketed and spaces for woodworking and storing four seasons of sporting gear. Their kayaks, skis and snowshoes all hang there, easy to retrieve and put away.

The cabinetry on the left was installed in 1916; that on the right was added recently. Hardwood floors and built-ins were everyday features in a formal dining room.

Living in an older home is a pretty natural fit for these two.

Freeman comes from early south Washington settlers.

His family home in Stevenson looked a little like this one.

Antique furniture and paintings by his female relatives fill this house.

Sherrill, a Victorian literature scholar, whose Bronte editions fill part of the glass front bookcase, has an affinity for bygone eras.

Yes — there are other heritage houses in Wenatchee, some with more dramatic history, some with more acreage on the old

deed, some grander, some ready to tear down. But this old house, built to last, needs nothing fancy in the way of renewal and doesn’t ask much in return for shelter.

It has weathered almost a century of life and will probably be around for a long while.

NCW Home Professionals

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PET PIX

Submit pet & owner pictures to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

O

ur rescued Pit Bull Terrier Blu, loves hanging out with his brother Aden and sister Malia.

— Joanne Renteria

T

his is my husband, Steven Bechard, and our boy, Cooper.

Cooper has been a part of our family for nearly two years now, a rescue of course. In this photo, Cooper had just looked up at me and gave me a big kiss and that is why we are laughing. He is such a love.

We will be at the Auction for the Animals, our fundraiser for the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society on Feb. 22. It is going to be a very fun evening with John Curley, former host of King 5 TV’s Evening Magazine. Don’t miss out on the fun, join us!

— Michelle Jeffers, board treasurer Wenatchee Valley Humane Society

THE GOOD LIFE PET DIRECTORY

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>>

column GARDEN OF DELIGHTS

bonnie orr

The Yuck Factor: Foods you choose not to eat W

hat foods do you avoid?

What do you “hate,” “can’t abide,” “grosses you out”? Is it something about a particular food, or is it a trauma associated with a food? Could it be the foods were poorly prepared or too strange when you first encountered them, so they have never been eaten again?

I asked folks about foods they won’t eat and determined that “yucky” food falls into four categories: • It has an unpleasant mouth feel.

• It smells bad.

• It looks unpleasant.

• It tastes terrible.

Leading the yucky list are beets, canned peas, Squash, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, oatmeal, beets, peas, eggs, bananas... these cabbage family members can be yucky foods for some people. (kale, Brussels’s sprouts), indulge in? lima beans, mushrooms, oysters, it is unfamiliar and MAY not taste good.

I had a fabulous mother; she fish, oatmeal mush, squash, baMost Americans will not try was creative, positive and ennanas and plain avocados. (I did Marmite or Vegemite, the Britcouraging, all the best aspects not ask people about their food ish Empire’s Brewer’s yeast con— but she could not cook. Meals allergies.) coction just because it is so odd. were colorless, tasteless and An interesting aspect is that Some think food repulsive watery. some people love a particular because of its ingredients: headThe best example was turkey. food and others loathe it. cheese (gelatin mixture of all This poor fowl would be boiled Mike, the Good Life’s editor, the hog’s odds and ends molded in the pressure cooker until the wrote to me about how awful arugula tastes because of its bit- into the skull) or haggis — ditto meat fell from the bones, and stuffed into the sheep’s stomach, the gray meat and “sauce,” with terness; I enjoy the snappy bite come to mind. no condiments, not even an of the leaves mixed in an otherSome people are repulsed by onion, was served over lumpy, wise dull salad. dishes featuring dogmeat. mashed potatoes in large bowls.

People say they have learned Is it cultural bias? Does each Behind my mother’s back, we to eat certain disliked foods. Cicuisine have yucky foods? called it Turkey Swill. I still canlantro is most often mentioned.

Personally, I have never heard not stand the smell of cooking When I was first exposed to it, Norwegians say they adore turkey.

I thought it tasted and smelled eating Lutefisk, the dried cod When I went away to college I “soapy.” Now, I find ways to soaked in lye. In a culture alencountered dorm-food. My felincorporate it into the dishes I ways on the edge of starvation, low students complained about design. do people avoid eating foods their initial introduction to Some people avoid foods out institutional food. I loved every of vanity — with food bits stuck that do not taste good to them?

Or is food avoidance someflavor-filled morsel. I gained 10 in their teeth, their self-esteem thing only prosperous, well-fed pounds during Fall Quarter. will be mortally wounded. OthMy mother had beautiful ers won’t eat something because peoples with food “options” February 2013 | The Good Life

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hands and when cooking did not want to get them messy. She broke open eggshells by striking them with a knife, thus, creating shards to be incorporated into nearly every breakfast and lunch.

Today, I still do not choose to eat boiled eggs because their smell reminds me of the shell shards lurking in the egg salad.

My mother tried to make scrambled eggs more inviting by smearing them with strawberry jam.

Even now, the smells of eggs and strawberries on the same table assure me that my breakfast is only going to be a cup of tea.

My sister, Nina, has the most interesting reason for not eating fish.

When we were pre-schoolers, our family went to the ocean for the first time. We walked around San Francisco’s fisherman’s wharf when it was still functioning as part of the fishing industry.

All the new smells and sensations fascinated us.

The crates of live snow crabs being unloaded from a vessel horrified her. She thought they were crates of large spiders. She not only does not eat fish; she can’t abide its smell.

Despite early unpleasant experiences with food, I think it is worthwhile to try a food, especially vegetables, one more time.

So why do you avoid certain foods? Are they truly unpleasant, or have you ruled them out without giving them a fair, recent taste test?

Bonnie Orr — the dirt diva — cooks and gardens in East Wenatchee.

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column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

Juicing for the health of it

When we visited our son

and his family in the Bay Area this last Thanksgiving, we noticed how healthy he and his wife looked.

Steve had lost about 10 pounds and his wife six pounds, although neither had been overweight. Patty, of Dutch Indonesian decent, was already genetically blessed with beautiful skin and boundless energy, but now her skin and hair glowed.

When we asked her what she was doing differently, she replied, “Juicing.” She had purchased a Breville juicer and had become a juicing aficionado.

After drinking her dark green natural juice every day, we became interested. It looks a bit forbidding but actually tasted very good.

Not long after we got back to Wenatchee, a package arrived.

Yes, my wife had ordered a Breville juicer for us, too.

As a physician, I am sometimes skeptical about health claims, so I started researching more about this process to see what we might have been missing by not juicing all these years.

It is well known that the American diet, at least for many, is quite unhealthy. Our diet

Carrot juice has been called “the miracle juice” as it is loaded with antioxidant carotenoids. has caused a rampant obesity epidemic, which has lead to consequences of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Unfortunately, a large number of children and young people grow up on fried foods, fast foods and too much sugar with little emphasis on the health benefits of fruits and vegetables.

Many people try to compensate by taking multivitamins and supplements, but there is little evidence that they counteract the damage done by their diet.

On the Internet you can find

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many proponents of juicing. The question is whether or not it is actually healthy or just overhyped. Many make wild claims that have no scientific basis to support them.

There are claims that going on a three-day juicing diet will “cleanse” your body. Others recommend a 30-day juicing diet to lose weight.

I am sure you could lose by doing that, but is that healthy? I think not.

Others say that juicing will “clean out” your entire digestive tract. As a gastroenterologist,

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| February 2013

I really don’t think they have any idea what they are talking about or any basis for their claims.

So what, if any, are the benefits of juicing?

Basically, when I say “juicing,” I’m referring to extracting natural juice from raw fruits and vegetables. This does make sense, since that is where we generally get our natural vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

We are supposed to eat several servings of these fruits and vegetables daily, but it seems unlikely to me that many people actually consume what is recommended.

When we buy fruit or vegetable juices at the grocery store, they usually contain several additives and preservatives that are not “natural.” It is hard for most of us to know what, if any, benefit this adds to the juice we are purchasing.

There is no good evidence that taking multivitamins and vitamin supplements will prevent chronic disease, aging or cancer.

A study by the National Institute of Health reviewed randomized trials of the effectiveness and safety of multivitamins and mineral supplements and

I am not saying that juicing is “the answer,” but it certainly can help in getting natural vitamins, minerals and antioxidants into our system. concluded that current evidence is not sufficient to determine that multivitamins and mineral supplements prevent cancer and chronic disease.

What might be the best fruits and vegetables to eat or to juice?

We know that the greener the leaves and the darker the colors of the fruits and vegetables the more they are loaded with the beneficial ingredients.

Take for example kale, beet greens and spinach.

Kale is called the “queen of the greens” and is one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet.

It is loaded with vitamin A, C, K, B6 plus it is a good source of calcium, copper, iron, manganese and phosphorus.

The trace minerals are elements that originate in the earth and cannot be made by living organisms, yet they are essential to our health. Plants get them directly from the earth, and most of the minerals we eat come from plants or meat from

animals that eat these plants as part of their diet.

Carrot juice has been called “the miracle juice” as it is loaded with antioxidant carotenoids, which form Vitamin A, essential for eye health and for keeping the mucous membranes throughout our body healthy.

Nearly any fruit or vegetable, preferably organic, can be used in juicing and in nearly any combination. Most of the brightly colored red, orange, yellow and green fruits and vegetables contain high quantities of carotenoids, flavinoids, phytochemicals and vitamins A, C, and E which also have an antioxidant role.

Why are these important?

Antioxidants combat oxygen free radicals. Free radicals are rogue particles mainly derived from oxygen and nitrogen that result from our own damaged cells.

Our bodies normally produce a small number of free radicals, which in itself would not be a problem.

However in recent years we are producing more of these free radicals due to external toxins especially including cigarette smoke, air pollution, pesticides and chemicals in our environment.

Excessive alcohol contributes to their formation as well. Sun damage can increase free radicals in our skin. These free radicals go throughout our blood streams causing damage to our normal cells. They may cause

February 2013 | The Good Life

a chain reaction of cellular and DNA damage.

Free radicals are thought to be a significant contributing factor in aging, cancer, heart disease and may possibly play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s’ diseases.

The antioxidants I have mentioned are our best friends and best hope in combating these rogue free radicals.

There are some warnings about juicing that need to be stated.

Since kale is very high in Vitamin K, which inhibits the effect of the anticoagulant coumadin or warfarin, folks taking those drugs should avoid it. It is also loaded with oxalate, and people with a history of oxalate kidney stones might want to avoid it as well.

Grapefruit juice has been shown to interfere with the metabolism of over 40 drugs, so anyone on medicine of any kind should consult their doctor as to the advisability of eating or drinking it.

Fiber is an important part of a healthy diet, and juicing removes much of the fiber. It is still important to include adequate fiber in one’s diet.

Our son raises chickens, and the fiber residue from juicing makes a great chicken food.

It also can be used to thicken soups and used in muffins, so it need not go to waste.

Since homemade juice is not pasteurized, it is best to drink it right after making it or at least

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the same day if refrigerated. In my view, juicing should not be a substitute for a meal but should be used in addition to a meal or for a between meal snack.

I am not saying that juicing is “the answer,” but it certainly can help in getting natural vitamins, minerals and antioxidants into our system.

Normally most of us do not care for the bitter flavor of kale nor do we generally eat the greens of beets. Juicing them along with an apple or pear for sweetening makes them more palatable.

A long-running NIH-AARP study has given us the strongest evidence to date to links between diet and cancer in older Americans. They recommend that our plates of food should be two-thirds filled with plant-based foods — vegetables, beans, whole grains and nuts — and no more than one-third with animal-based foods including seafood, chicken, lean beef or low-fat dairy products.

Processed meats with their high nitrate levels are best avoided including luncheon meats, hot dogs and bacon.

As for me, juicing tastes good, is good for me, and best of all, my wife likes to be the chief juicer in our household.

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.

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column moving up to the good life

june darling

You’re a pretty nice person... like yourself I live with a real downer of a

person. She is often judgmental, unkind and totally uncensored.

She has called me really bad stuff right to my face like: stupid, lazy, weak, ugly, fat, worthless, fake, selfish, untalented, careless, hateful, clumsy, old, mean loser, liar and hypocrite.

I am not making this up.

Worst of all, I must get along with this rude person because, well… she… is me.

If you are like most of us, you will realize that you, too, have what seems like a nasty little person who is out to get you, living right in your very own head.

Many call this the inner critic.

The inner critic makes sure we do not forget just how bad we really are.

Hopefully it makes you feel a little better to know that you are not alone. Everyone has something about themselves that they don’t like, something that causes them to feel shame, insecure and not good enough.

Dr. Kristin Neff says we can do something about this.

According to Neff we could be more productive, happier and better people if we could learn to be more self-compassionate.

Neff says self-compassion is “being as kind to ourselves as we would be to another person.”

Neff makes a big point of differentiating self-pity and self-indulgence from self-compassion.

Self pity is viewing yourself as a victim, blaming others for all your ills, and obsessing on your suffering as if you are the only one in the world who has some life problems.

Self-indulgence is doing things that actually are not very good for you because you think you deserve it (like eating a whole container of ice cream because

you had a stressful day).

Some people, however, are so afraid they might fall into self-indulgent and self-pitying behaviors that they turn toward self-flagellation. (This is where the nasty little person living in your own head comes in.)

As it turns out constant selfcriticism, unrelenting self-flagellation, just doesn’t work very well as long term strategy for self-improvement for most of us.

Self-flagellation turns us into wimpy cowards who try to hide our faults from others and our own selves.

Unabated self-criticism can also turn us into loners and depressives who are unable to make decisions and take action.

The counter-intuitive outcome of becoming more self-compassionate and self-respectful is not only that you raise your happiness and enhance your relationships, but also that you improve your behavior and performance.

Self-compassion helps you live more easily and truthfully with yourself.

You are more able to be warmhearted toward your suffering.

You become better at keeping things in perspective (take a balanced view of the situation rather than blowing things out of proportion).

You see yourself as human and gently address your faults if need be.

Neff says the first step toward changing the way you treat yourself is to notice when you are being self-critical.

She says many people are so used to their negative self-talk they have trouble catching it.

Your emotions are the giveaway.

Whenever you are feeling badly about something, think about what you have just said to

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Learn tips for being kinder to yourself

Did you know that love, even kindness for yourself, can positively affect your immune system as well as your effectiveness?

Learn how to transform yourself into someone who can work better with yourself to achieve your goals and be happy.

Join us at Caffé Mela for a happy hour of inspiration and growth. We are making it easy for you to Move Up To The Good Life, 4-5 p.m., Feb 13. Drinks and food available.

Contact drjunedarling1@gmail. com.

yourself. Neff claims it is very important to know exactly what the inner critic says.

Make an active effort to soften and re-frame the self-critical voice.

For example, after you have drunk that first, second and third glass of wine, the critical voice harshly screams, “Look what you have done! Once again, you have proven that you are a worthless loser. This is exactly why nobody respects you and why you will never amount to a hill of beans.”

Softening and re-framing might go like this (You are talking to your inner critic here): “I know you are just trying to keep me safe and point out ways that I need to improve, but you are causing me unnecessary pain.

“How about saying this to me, ‘My friend, I know you drank that wine because you are feeling really sad right now and you thought it would cheer you up. But you see, you are actu-

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| February 2013

ally feeling worse. Let’s take a walk or go visit some pals if you really want to feel better.”’

One of the biggest helps for me, in many cases including beating up on myself, has been to remember words attributed to psychotherapist and Jesuit priest Anthony de Mello, “There is only one reason you are unhappy — you are thinking about what you don’t have instead of what you do have.”

When I say this quote to myself, I am able to turn my attention more toward my strengths (I keep a list handy) and be thankful.

As I do this, I unleash what I call my “inner champion.” She pats me on the back and encourages me to keep growing.

Another way of being selfcompassionate is to allow yourself to do things which re-center and re-charge you; that is, bring you back to a healthy state of mind.

Some ways I do this are: exercising, talking to encouraging friends and family, re-visiting my purpose, reading and watching uplifting materials. Do what works for you.

This Valentine’s Day if you would like to be happier AND achieve your goals, stop fighting yourself. Try something weird and different —experiment with being kinder to yourself.

How might you move up to The Good Life by practicing self-compassion?

June Darling, Ph.D., is an executive coach who consults with businesses and individuals to achieve goals and increase happiness. She can be reached at drjunedarling1@gmail. com. Her website is www.summitgroupresources.com.

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Vista Rehab Therapy Wenatchee’s Premiere Rehab Center Inpatient or Outpatient — Vista Rehab Excels at both

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BJ

hen Carl Campbell built the Colonial Vista campus, caring for people of all ages here in the Wenatchee Valley was his desire and his passion. Enter BJ Little and the start of aquatic therapy.

BJ, certified by the Aquatic Therapy Rehab Institute, along with Mr. Campbell, helped to pioneer this innovative and tremendously successful therapy program that is used in conjunction with landLittle based therapy.

Vista Rehab has been widely successful treating patients of all ages and with a wide array of therapy needs such as: ■ Sports injuries of all types, recreational and work related injuries, knee and hip replacements, foot surgeries, sprained muscles, fractured or injured backs, ■ Spinal cord injuries, as well as traumatic brain injuries. Vista Rehab offers North Central Washington’s only deep water pool (depths to 7

feet), non-weight bearing patients can be treated enabling them to maintain their strength until weight bearing is possible and a more inclusive treatment program can be implemented.

■ One previous patient, a nationally ranked karate competitor hoping to reach the Olympics in the near future.

Once the initial injury was treated, he was able to continue therapy to increase overall strength and speed.

Another patient, a competitive ice skater, experienced successful results in a very short amount of time enabling her to return to the ice quickly.

■ Rehabilitation therapies are specifically designed for each patient where a detailed assessment is taken and a very comprehensive treatment program is outlined and followed to maximize treatment and minimize recovery time. What are the benefits of aquatic therapy? To mention a few, faster recovery times with less pain resulting in fewer pain medications, decreased swelling/edema, improved and increased circulation, and one of the biggest benefits, quicker recoveries and back home sooner. Water can reduce weight bearing by up to 90% depending on depth (a 180 pound person only weighs approximately 60 lbs. in chest deep water). This is why deep water therapy is so important and a large advantage over small shallow pools.

Vista Rehab Therapy’s pool is kept at a comfortable, therapeutic tempera-

February 2013 | The Good Life

ture of 93 degrees. Vista Rehab offers our patients the most innovative equipment on the market, ACP, the equipment of choice for professional and collegiate sports teams utilize highly sophisticated omnicycles and patterned electrical nerve stimulation or Pens devices that improve outcomes and gains for a broader range of patients and conditions. Vista Rehab Therapy is able to treat the small needs to the more intensive therapeutic interventions by introducing new treatment options due to years of experience unmatched in the valley.

■ Vista Rehab is a complete and comprehensive therapy center employing full time therapists with a wide array of specialties including physical therapy as well as occupational and speech therapy. One thing is certain, all therapy is not equal.

These guys and gals have the experience, the technology, and the equipment to help you with your rehab and therapy needs. We all have a choice and when it comes to your health, don’t settle for second best.

For more information: www.VistaRehabTherapy.com 509-663-3337

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‘Sorry — that’s not enough. How about doing the new theater wall?’

Terry Porlier: ‘I love all the facets of pottery’ T

erry Porlier makes it look easy at first.

He holds a blank 12 inch-diameter tile — a terra cotta hexagon — and begins describing his next pottery project for the Snowy Owl Theater at Sleeping Lady in Leavenworth: a mural at the entrance.

Then things get complicated.

“We’re going to depict the progression of the seasons left to right. All the tiles will be made in four different thicknesses, for texture when the light hits them...three owls, one in the center with a 50-inch wingspan… all painted and glazed.”

And then the kicker: “Oh, it’s 4-by-20 feet. I have a 20-foot table in my studio ready to go.”

Luckily, Terry’s a born problem solver. He is a self-described rule-breaker and a thinker way outside the box.

That’s why he loves delving into new pottery possibilities like toying with temperature, recombining minerals, adjusting composites, switching heating/

A humanities class art project at the UW in 1970 foreshadowed his artistic potential.

“We were all getting engineering degrees — and so we couldn’t enroll in a regular art class in those days — and most of the guys were stumped on this project. I invited them over to my place and we all made ‘Jackson Pollock meets The Scream’ type paintings.”

On Monday morning, his professor realized he was the ringleader, and praised his initiative.

But the personal arts revolution was short-lived.

Terry Porlier at the wheel — with two of his bowls below. Porcelain, hand-thrown His later work in cepottery, ceramics, and raku — all sub-genre of the shaping and firing of clay — he’s ramics in the aerospace equally comfortable with each industry involved making mysteriously unspecified one-of-a-kind components to exact, and exacting, specifications of size and heat tolerances.

Corporate ennui ensued, and life in the country looked good.

Fully retired from Boeing three years ago and by now firmly a part of the Leavenworth arts scene, Terry cooling times and making ungenre of the shaping and firing and his wife Linda live busily in usually sized and shaped pieces. of clay — he’s equally comfortwhat he calls “perfect picture He’s all about trying new able with each. things, usually solo, but someWith a degree in ceramic engi- postcard country” up the Chumtimes with potting friends from neering, military service in Viet- stick Highway.

And he’s got the time and Wenatchee or a student who nam, a stint at the Pentagon and comes in for half-day sessions. starting two new arts businesses space he needs to experiment in his big studio, an easy stroll Porcelain, hand-thrown pottery, from scratch, Terry is familiar down the hill from the main ceramics, and raku — all subwith lifestyle flexibility also.

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| February 2013

Terry Porlier house.The studio houses a few of his several kilns, a wheel, a slab-roller, and tables and racks that hold a range of in-progress pottery pieces.

Terry’s been involved for years as contributor and mentor artist in The Empty Bowls project that helps fund Upper Valley MEND (Meeting Every Need with Dignity). His work there lead to a position on the Icicle Fund Board of Directors.

He offered to make a bowl for founder Harriet Bullitt, who’d admired his work. As he recalls, “She said, ‘Sorry — that’s not enough. How about doing the new theater wall?’”

Now he’s hooked. He’ll keep making his smaller pieces, some with caches of upper valley clay that complete the “made in Leavenworth” promise to downtown art buyers. But he’d love to stay focused on major — and complex — arts installation projects.

“I love all the facets of pottery,” Terry says. “From the original concept to design, determining materials, developing them in clay bodies, glazing.”

He’s eagerly preparing tiles for the spring installation of the Snowy Owl mural, and he’s got his work cut out for him, literally — right there on the work table.

To see more pieces and learn more about the artist, go to LeavenworthPottery.com — by Susan Lagsdin

>>

WHAT TO DO

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

Go Red for women heart walk, 2/1, noon. Meet at the foot of Fifth Street at Riverfront Park. The walk will progress along the Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail to the boat house at Linden Street and return.

This walk kicks off upcoming series of heart health awareness activities. Info: ncecc.org.

Wenatchee First Fridays, 2/1, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. Walk downtown for art, music, dining and entertainment. Downtown Wenatchee.

Two Rivers Art Gallery, 2/1, 5 – 8 p.m. Ginger Reddington continues to exhibit her encaustic paintings. Meet Reddington and other local artists. Music by guitarist Kirk Lewellen. Local wines from Wenatchee Wine Country wineries.

Complimentary refreshments. 102 N. Columbia, Wenatchee. Cost: free.

Tumbleweed Bead Co., 2/1, 5 p.m. Jan Cook Mack’s jewelry will be hosted. Cost: free. Info: tumbleweedbeadco.com.

Church. Cost: $30. Tickets: 6632644.

Twilight Snowshoe Trek, 2/2, 9 & 16, 5 p.m. Treks last 1 to 1.5 hours. Headlamps suggested.

Snowshoe rentals available. Mission Ridge. Cost: $10.

Back to the Future (black and white photography), 2/2, 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Morning session with camera techniques, afternoon session on processing and printing with Reed Carlson. Beach Barn Reserve, 11734 Highway 2 Suite C, Leavenworth. Cost: $35. Info: iciclearts.org.

Food and Wine Pairing, 2/2.

Taste winter harvest stew and garlic Ciabatta bread paired with four red wines. Lake Chelan Winery, 3519 Highway 150. Info: lakechelanwinery.com.

Mountain Music Festival, 2/2, 5:30 p.m. Scott McDougall is a oneman band who uses his fire-andbrimstone Christian upbringing as a guide for his toe-tapping, stomping and hollering, old-time folk music.

Hampton Lodge, Mission Ridge.

Cost: free. Info: missionridge.com/ events.

Cascade Quest Sled Dog Race, 2/1-3. Meet the mushers and their teams, learn about sled dog sports and northern breeds. Lake Wenatchee Recreation Club, 14400 Chiwawa Loop Rd. Cost: free. Info: cascadequest.com.

Night skiing, 2/2,9,16,23, 4-8 p.m.

Mission Ridge. Lift tickets $15, rentals $15. Info: missionridge.com/ events.

St. Joseph School’s Have-AHeart Auction, 2/2, 5 p.m. This year’s theme “A Night in Tuscany,” silent auction, dinner by Garlini’s Napoletana and live auction. Proceeds benefit St. Joseph School.

Kuykendall Hall at St. Joseph

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Lion’s Club Crab Feed, 2/2. Over 1,400 pounds of Dungeness crab will be primed for cracking at the annual all-you-can-eat crab feed.

Lake Chelan Eagles, 209 E. Woodin Ave. Cost: $35. Info: lakechelan. com/events.

Follies, 2/2, 7 p.m. This community variety show occurs every three years showcasing local talent.

This is its 65th year and has raised over $350,000 for local organizations and charities. This year’s beneficiaries are Wellness Place and Solomon’s Porch. Performing Arts Center. Cost: $32 & $28. Info: wenatcheevalley.org.

Bakke Cup, 2/2, 11 a.m. Ski jumping, Nordic races and Alpine events.

Watch or join in. Leavenworth Ski Hill. Info: skileavenworth.com.

Chicks on Sticks, 2/3, 8 a.m.

This 8 km ski event is for skiers of all abilities. Proceeds benefit The Wellness Place in Wenatchee. Prize given to Best Dressed Chick, refreshments and many raffle prizes.

Leavenworth Fish Hatchery. Info: skileavenworth.com/events/chickssticks.

}}} Continued on next page

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WHAT TO DO

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

}}} Continued from previous page Improv/Acting Workshop, 2/5, 7 p.m. Every Tuesday night with theater games for novice and experienced players. Fun, casual and free. Riverside Playhouse. Cost: free. Info: mtow.org.

Cashmere Art and Activity Center, needle art every second Tuesday, 1 p.m. Pinochle every fourth Tuesday, 1 p.m. Hat Group every Thursday, 1:30 – 3 p.m., knitters, crocheters and loom artists welcome. On 3/9, 1-11 a.m. will be serving a free brunch. Info: 7822415.

Jazz Nights, 2/7 & 7/9, 7:30 p.m.

Top jazz musicians spend a week teaching, playing and performing with local jazz students. Thursday night the professionals take the stage. Saturday the concert will showcase students from WHS, EHS, Eastmont Junior High, Foothills, Orchard and Pioneer middle schools.

Performing Arts Center. Cost: $24 adults, $22 senior, $10 students.

Saturday night all seats $10. Info: pacwen.org.

Alice In Wonderland Junior, 2/7, 8, 9 & 10, 8 p.m. 2 p.m. on 2/10. Students kindergarten through 8th grade of the Cascade School District will perform. Cascade High School auditorium. Cost: $3-$5. Info: iciclearts.org.

Pride & Prejudice, Live Radio Theater, 2/8, 7:30 p.m. Performing Arts Center. Cost: $50 adults, $45 seniors, $40 students and children. Info: pacwen.org.

Library Wine tasting and cheese pairing, 2/8 & 15. If you’ve been collecting wine — wine you’ve carefully been aging

for later enjoyment — then you are building a library. Join us in our Library Wines with cheese from Lake Chelan Cheese. Lake Chelan Winery. Cost: $12. Info: lakechelan. com/events.

Red Wine and Chocolate, 2/8-10 & 2/15-17. Two weekends for tasting red wines with decadent chocolate treats with Wenatchee Wine Country wineries. Info: wenatcheewines.com.

Builder’s Home Show, 2/8-10.

All-new layout of vendors... everything you could want to see for remodeling to building a new home.

Also a Build & Grow Kids’ Zone by Lowe’s and the jumpy castle from Trinity Inflatables. Do-it-yourself workshops will be going on all weekend such as: Laying Tile Made Easy, Installing Faux Rock, Starting Seeds/Patio Gardening and Garden Preparation. Cost (with coupon) is $5 and $4 for seniors. Kids 12 and under are free. Info: BuildingNCW. org or NCHBA.cc, or 665-8195.

Town Toyota Center.

Red Barn Friday with Ken Bevis, 2/8, 7 p.m. Ken Bevis is a lifelong naturalist, fisherman, hunter, skier and birder. His professional background includes fish and wildlife biology, land management, and regulatory work as a Habitat Biologist.

He currently works for WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife as the watershed steward for the Upper Columbia region. He is known for his odd sense of humor, entertaining presentations, and gravelly singing voice.

The Barn at Barn Beach Reserve, Leavenworth. Info: cdlandtrust.org Mike Clark, 2/8, 8 p.m. Live music at Caffé Mela. Info: caffemela.com.

Sweetheart Musical Soiree, 2/9, 7 p.m. The Symphony’s Valentine themed musical soiree featuring soloists and ensembles, wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres and

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desserts. Wenatchee Museum and Cultural Center, 127 S Mission. Info: wenatcheesymphony.org.

Heart Fund Auction and Sweetheart Ball, 2/9, 5 p.m. Silent and live auction, dinner serving prime rib, music and dancing. Lake Chelan Eagles, 209 E Woodin. Info: lakechelan.com/events.

Lake Chelan Winery’s chocolate fountain, 2/9 & 16. Sample some wines and dip everything from bananas to cookies in our chocolate fountain. Info: lakechelanwinery.com.

Mountain Music Festival, 2/9, 5:30 p.m. Jumpin’ Johnny will perform at Hampton Lodge, Mission Ridge. Cost: free. Info: missionridge.com/events.

NCW Blues Jam, 2/11 & 25, every second and fourth Monday, 7:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. Clearwater Steakhouse, East Wenatchee. Info: facebook.com/NCWBluesJam. Alzheimer’s Café, 2/12, 2:30 p.m.

– 4 p.m. Mountain Meadows Senior Living Campus hosts a cafe the second Tuesday of every month.

This is a casual setting for folks with Alzheimer’s, Dementia, their loved ones and caregivers. Desserts and beverages will be served free of charge. Entertainment and activities for those wishing to participate. Join us to meet new friends and share experiences. Located at 320 Park Avenue, Leavenworth.

Info: 548-4076.

Leisure Games, 2/13 – 16. Icicle Brewing Company, Stevens Pass and the Leavenworth Winter Sports Club host competitive lawn games with live music, food and beer. Leavenworth Festhalle. Info: iciclebrewing.com.

Winter Ice Gala, 2/15, 6 p.m.

Four-course gala dinner followed by a spectacular ice show. Directed

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| February 2013

by Disney on Ice Professional and Town Toyota Center skating director Louise Kapeikis with special guest Miss Washington Mandy Schendel. Town Toyota Center.

Cost: $100. Info: towntoyotacenter. com Radiation City, 2/15, 8 p.m. Live music at Caffé Mela. Cost: $7 in advance or $10 at the door. Info: caffemela.com.

Community Barn Dance, 2/16, 7:30 p.m. An evening of community dances including square, contra and couples. Featuring old-time fiddle band The Jake Lake Trio Stuart Williams, Sarah Comer, David Cahn, and caller Sherry Nevins.

Canyon Wren Recital Hall –7409 Icicle Road, Leavenworth. Cost: $5. For tickets call: 548-6347 ext400 or visit www.icicle.org North Country, 2/16, 7:30 p.m.

North Country is a new bluegrass band playing at Cashmere Community Coffeehouse, 201 Riverside Dr. Cost: $3 plus pass the hat. Info: 548-1230.

Mountain Music Festival, 2/16, 5:30 p.m. Steve Turner and Justice For All will play at Hampton Lodge, Mission Ridge. Cost: free. Info: missionridge.com/events.

Backyard Bird Count with Phil Archibald, 2/16, 9 a.m. – noon.

Join biologist Phil Archibald for the Great Backyard Bird Count at Entiat Stormy Preserve. Participants should be prepared for inclement weather, wearing good boots/ snowshoes and warm, layered clothing as the weather will still be unpredictable. Binoculars are highly recommended. Also bring snacks, water and a lunch. RSVP 667-9708 or email: Kelsey@cdlandtrust.org.

A Night of Broadway and Cinema, 2/16, 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.

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WHAT TO DO

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

}}} Continued from page 32 The Next Step Dance Studio will perform in a variety of styles in dance such as ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary and Broadway.

Performing Arts Center. Cost: $18 adults, $14, seniors and students.

Info: pacwen.org.

Compassionate Friends, 2/18, 7 p.m. Meeting for anyone who has lost a child. Grace Lutheran Church, 1408 Washington St. Info: 6650087.

Environmental Film Series, 2/19, 7 p.m. The City Dark is about light pollution and the disappearing night sky. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Info: wvmcc.org.

ist at Work. David Douglas was a Scottish naturalist who traveled the Pacific Northwest in the 1800s.

Wenatchee Public Library. Cost: free. Info: abookforallseasons.com Amanda Coplin, 2/21, 7 p.m.

Wenatchee Valley native and best selling author Amanda Coplin will discuss her new novel, The Orchardist. WHS new commons. Cost: $10, $1 for students with ASB cards, includes dessert buffet. Proceeds benefit WHS student publications.

Advanced ticket sales preferred.

Info: Kim Tangeman 679-9486.

Full moon ski, 2/21, 5 – 8 p.m. Full moon skiing at Icicle River Trail.

O’Grady’s Pantry will stay open until 8 to warm you up with a fire and a bowl of soup or stew, dessert and beverage. Cost: $15 adults, $7.50 kids. Info: sleepinglady.com/eventcalendar.php?page=february.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 2/20, Live performance.

Performing Arts Center. Cost: $40 adults, $35 seniors, $30 students.

Info: pacwen.org.

Auction for the animals, 2/22, 5:30 p.m. Wenatchee Valley Humane Society fundraiser.

Wenatchee Convention Center.

Info: wenatcheehumane.org/auction.

Book Signing, 2/21, 7 p.m. Jack Nisbet will be on hand to talk about his book David Douglas: A Natural-

Wenatchee Valley Sportsmen show, 2/22, 1 – 7 p.m., 2/23, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. 2/24, 10 am. – 5 p.m.

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See the latest in hunting gear, all kinds of fishing tackle, outdoor clothing, boats, motors and accessories, ATVs and UTV’s, guides and

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| February 2013

outfitters, lodges and resorts, hunting preserves, camping equipment and more. Town Toyota Center. Info: towntoyotacenter.com.

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WHAT TO DO

Hog Loppet Ski Trek, 2/23, 7:30 a.m. The Hog Loppet is a noncompetitive 30k Ski Trek from the top of Mission Ridge Ski area to Blewett Pass. Info: skileavenworth. com/events/hog-loppet.

People of our Past, 2/23, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Listen to five actors who become people of the past.

After a brief monologue, the audience is welcome to ask questions while the actors stays in character.

Newspaper publisher Rufus Woods, Sr. is played by Wilfred Woods; Homer T. Bone played by Andrew Munro; Hotel Maid Elsie Parrish played by Sally Knipfer; attorney Bernice Bacharach played by Kathy Smithson and Captain Charles Leavenworth, Upper Valley town founder, is played by John Wagner.

Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: $5 suggested. Info: wvmcc.org.

Ladies of the 80s, 2/23, 8 p.m.

Dancing, food, games, silent auction, balloon pop, photo opportunity and more. Wenatchee Eagles, 1208 N Wenatchee Ave. Cost: $25.

Proceeds go towards ATEEM and CASA’s new mentoring program.

Must be over 21.

Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra Concert: Italy, 2/23, 7 p.m. Performing Arts Center. Cost: $15, $8 students. Info: pacwen.org.

WDA Banquet, 2/28, 5:30.

Wenatchee Convention Center.

Info: wendowntown.org.

The Columbia Chorale, 3/1, 7:30 p.m. Presents Franz Joseph Haydn’s Mass in C Major. Holy Apostles Church, East Wenatchee. Info: pacwen.org.

Special Olympics, 3/2-3. Nordic skiing Special Olympics event hosted at Icicle River Nordic Trails on the Leavenworth Fish Hatchery property. Spectators welcome.

Music for the Heart and Soul, 3/8, 7 p.m. Proceeds from the concert will benefit Mobile Meals of Wenatchee, a United Way non-profit organization that provides hot meals to clients that qualify to remain in their homes. Entertainment provide by: The Old Time Fiddlers, Village Voices, Columbia Chorale, Common Bond 5, Wenatchee Apollo Club, Appleaires, and Mariachi Huenachi. First United Methodist Church, 941 Washington Street, Wenatchee. Cost: $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Info: 665-6254 or mobilemealsofwenatchee.org.

The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

Growing her musical life while raising a family “I

t was quite an adjustment moving from Seattle to Cashmere, but now I love it,” declared Jessica Wardle. “And I’m thankful for the outstanding musicians I’ve found here.”

After being fully engaged in ensemble and opera work in the Puget Sound area, since rearriving last summer (she and her husband were here a year in 2009) she’s discovered satisfying outlets for her artistic passions.

She was up front under lights as a soprano soloist singing an oratorio from The Messiah in December, but she also teaches piano and vocal students year round at home and with the Columbia River Music Conservatory Jessica, 29, looks forward to expanding her music life.

She’s already sung with Chelan’s Bach Fest for four years, plays liturgical music at the piano in area churches, and is the accompanist for a recentlyformed octet. She’d like to perform some Italian opera scenes to pique the interest of local music lovers.

She has also set her sights on producing a CD, and being wellversed in voice and piano gives her some interesting options.

In fact, those twin talents caused a dilemma in grad school at University of Puget Sound, where she was accepted with a full ride scholarship into both the vocal and piano programs.

She chose the latter as a focus, and has remained actively involved in both.

February 2013 | The Good Life

Jessica Wardle: Twin talents of singing and performing on the piano.

Jessica’s classical training makes her sensitive to student needs. She’s adamant about protecting the voice, saying “Pop and rock singers, even Broadway stars, have a short ‘shelf life.’ You need to learn not to abuse your voice.” (I.e. belting out a song heedlessly, forcing a natural “chest voice,” into unnaturally high ranges.)

She said, “I hear so often from adults I meet: ‘Oh, I wish my parents had made me practice more and stay with...’ (Piano/ saxophone/violin/singing) That’s such a common regret.”

Many young students when they reach junior high age must choose between music and sports, she realizes, and aren’t willing to devote hundreds of dollars, and hours, to a music education. Jessica says, “The best students after that age have a love of music and their own personal desire to learn more, not someone’s else’s.”

Jessica has all the talent and drive to forge a music career on her own, but she also owes a measure of her success — the inspiration and ongoing support — to three good men.

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on in group singing — just kids’ songs, but the four girls all went on to careers in music.

Her great-grandfather steadfastly financed music lessons for all the youngsters, four or five years each for six kids, until he died at the age of 101.

And her pastor husband Jared devotes time for childcare and other home front duties while Jessica teaches and performs.

“I really love having a family and being able to continue with my music life — I know a lot of people aren’t able to do both and have to quit music… so I appreciate it even more.”

Jessica is definitely a multitasking mom. You might find her shepherding her new baby and frisky 3-year-old in the grocery store, or teaching in her studio, or performing on a concert stage.

Best of, she blends those roles: her son’s voice is loud and clear (and only slightly off key), and he accompanies her as she sings during the day. “Oh, yes — I love to sing around the house,” she declared “All the time!!”

You can contact Jessica through her website, www.JessicaNicoleMusic.com.

— by Susan Lagsdin

>>

column those were the days

rod molzahn

First gold finds in the Wenatchee Valley The earliest claim of a gold

discovery in Washington Territory, east of the Cascades, came in October of 1853 when The Columbian, a west side paper, reported that soldiers with Captain George McClellan’s army expedition had panned a small amount of gold from Wenas Creek in Kittitas County.

In June of 1855 an Olympia newspaper reported that gold had been found along the Pend Oreille River in the northeast corner of the territory, causing a rush of men that lasted a few months until the outbreak of Indian wars that fall. The wars and unrest persisted until the fall of 1858 when the army, under the command of Colonel George Wright, won a series of decisive victories near the Spokane River.

It was the early hostilities, between the fall of 1855 and spring of 1856, that brought the third discovery, this time in the Wenatchee Valley.

A company of Oregon Volunteers marching up the Columbia in search of hostile Indians turned up the Wenatchee River Valley.

Two men, Captain Dewitt Clinton Ingles and an Indian guide named Colawash, headed up Peshastin Creek. They didn’t find Indians but Ingles found nuggets and placer deposits in the stream’s gravel.

Fearing for their safety, Ingles chose not to stay and work the find but determined to return when it was safe. In 1860, when the wars were done, he set out with a small party of men to return to his discovery.

While traveling up the Wenatchee River Ingles was accidentally shot and killed by A.J. Knott. He died without telling anyone else the location of his find along the creek. He prob-

Ladders built by Chinese in the late 1860s helped them reach gold deposits in the rocky cliffs up the Squilchuck. Photos by Rod Molzahn

ably didn’t know that someone else had already found gold on Peshastin Creek.

Two years earlier, in June of 1858, Mortimer Robertson left The Dalles with a party of 76 men bound for new gold fields along the Fraser River in British Columbia. Their route followed Swauk Creek north from the Kittitas Valley over Blewett Pass and down Peshastin Creek to the Wenatchee River.

On June 17 or 18 they camped about 12 miles above the Wenatchee and that afternoon Robertson and two other men went two miles back up the

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creek to prospect. They washed out one to two dollars of gold from every pan of gravel.

Robertson showed it to one of the Indian scouts, Alek, who told him there was much more, higher up in the stream, some as big as the end of a finger. Clearly the Indians knew about gold but did not value it as the white men did.

The Robertson party continued the next day down the Wenatchee towards their Fraser River destination. The following day, after crossing the Wenatchee near its mouth, they were attacked by Sinkiuse/Co-

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lumbia warriors forcing them to retreat back to Fort Simcoe in the Yakima Valley.

Word of the early discoveries along Peshastin Creek spread and by 1860 various reports claimed that between 75 and 100 miners were working along the creek and its tributaries.

One was a black man named Antoine who, it was said, washed out $1,100 of gold in a single season working the mouth of a small tributary stream that came to be called “Negro Creek.” By 1868 Antoine had left Peshastin Creek for life in a small cabin and prospecting along the Entiat River.

The story of the first gold discoveries along the upper Columbia is less clear.

The first white miners to travel up the Columbia in the late 1850s were headed to Canada but it was always a practice of these parties to prospect a little at all the streams they encountered along the way. Surely that would have been true for the banks of the Columbia as well.

One of those miners, disappointed by poor luck in Canada, hired an Indian to take him back to The Dalles by canoe in 1862. As they passed the mouth of the Okanogan River the Indian offered to show the miner a large gravel bar downstream along the Columbia where there was gold.

The miner stayed two months at “Rich Bar” until his provisions ran out. He headed to The Dalles with a $30,000 fortune in his leather bags.

When cattleman Jack Splawn passed by the bar a year later he counted “500 miners strung along the Columbia in a distance of 15 miles.”

Chinese miners accounted for much of the prospecting along the Columbia. Often they followed white miners, working, with great success, claims the white men had abandoned.

There were two Chinese with the Robertson party in 1858 and by 1862 there was a large village of about 100 Chinese a few miles above Rock Island.

They were working a gravel bar they had bought from white miners leaving to follow the latest gold strike news. Camps of Chinese could be found along all the major tributaries of the Columbia from the Wenatchee to

the Okanogan. By 1870 Chinese outnumbered white miners two to one.

Chinese miners are credited with discovering gold in the high ledges along the Columbia where it had been deposited by a much larger, ancient river.

They built intricate systems of wooden ladders to access ledges several hundred feet above the Columbia south of Rock Island near the mouth of Moses Coulee. They did the same just downstream from Chelan Falls.

Another system of ladders and platforms is still in place hanging from cliffs at the end of “D

– Reef ” above the north side of Squilchuck Creek.

The Chinese were disliked and mistreated by many white miners and by Indians as well.

Jack Splawn recalled an incident when one of Chief Moses’ men, without provocation, began beating a “braided one” with the elk horn handle of his riding whip while Moses looked on.

In 1875 a group of Chinese working the 300-foot-high ledges below Chelan Falls were massacred, thrown to their deaths below.

The perpetrators were first said to be Indians but a later

telling of the story claims they were white men dressed as Indians.

The last Chinese were driven from the area in 1892 after the people of Wenatchee voted overwhelmingly to rid the town of them. Hotel owner Noah Brown cast the only dissenting vote.

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

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column ALEX ON WINE

ALEX SALIBY

Syrah, Shiraz, Sirah — what’s the difference?

W

hat’s in a name?

We all know the poet’s position: A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But what about a grape and the wine made from it? Does the name matter?

Let’s direct our focus to the wine shelf at the local wine retail store, and zero in on three names: Syrah, Shiraz and Petite Sirah.

What’s a Syrah, and how does it differ from Shiraz, if it does.

And what the heck is a Petite Sirah? Why the different spellings?

I’ll attempt to answer these questions by dealing first with the grape varietal Petite Sirah.

Despite the confusing similarity between the names Syrah and Petite Sirah, the two grapes are different, although DNA studies have proven that they are distantly related.

Durif, also known as Petite Sirah, is the descendant of Syrah and Peloursin. It was born at a research vineyard in France after Dr. F. Durif took Syrah pollen and germinated a Peloursin flower, seeking to develop a grape with greater resistance to mildew.

The grape made its first appearances in California around 1884 in field plantings amid a host of other grapes that included Alicante Bouchet, Carignane and Zinfandel.

In Washington, the first Petite Sirah was planted in the Yakima area almost 100 years later.

Today, there are sparse plantings

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

Since the early 19th Century and perhaps even longer, some Europeans speculated that the grape had its origins in the Persian city of Shiraz. in other viticulture regions of the state, though by comparison to other widely planted grapes, there is very little Petite Sirah here at home.

Wine from Petite Sirah grapes bears a resemblance to wines from both parents. It’s a dark, richly garnet colored wine high in tannic acid, often showing slightly peppery aromas similar to a finely made Syrah.

In California the spelling of Sirah in Petite Sirah was agreed upon in order to differentiate the grape from the Syrah grape.

As for the difference between Syrah and Shiraz: both refer to the same grape.

Since the early 19th Century and perhaps even longer, some Europeans speculated that the grape had its origins in the Persian city of Shiraz.

In Shiraz, a wine was once produced from a grape that had a slight physical resemblance to the Syrah grape of the Rhone Valley.

That belief spread from Europe to Australia and North America, until researchers at the University of California Davis did exhaustive DNA studies and proved that theory wrong.

The genetic truth of the grape is that Syrah is the offspring of two relatively unknown and ob-

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scure grapes indigenous to the Northern Rhone region.

The parents of Syrah are Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche, both of which are, for all intents and purposes, no longer in existence in viticulture — largely because wine from the parent grapes was described as common and ordinary. Those are characteristics that certainly do not apply to the complex and powerful wines made from the Syrah grapes.

Australians, who had plantings of Syrah as early as 1838, grew up calling the grape Shiraz in that European tradition. They know the real story just as the rest of the world does, but continue the traditional use of the name Shiraz.

Syrah grapes exist in Washington in all of the state’s viticulture areas, and while I haven’t actually certified this point, I’d venture to say that the vast majority of wineries in Washington make a Syrah wine and blend Syrah wines into other wines.

Much of the credit for introducing Syrah to our state must go to the former head winemaker at Columbia Winery, David Lake. David was responsible for bottling the first Syrah in the state, the Columbia Winery’s Red Willow Syrah, in their David Lake series of wines. Wish I still had some.

But that brings up the point of availability of any of these wines in our local market.

As of this writing, none of our local NCW area wineries makes a Petite Sirah. That will change, come 2014, when Chuck Egner and Frank DeChaine of ’37 Cellars release their 2012 Petite Sirah.

Meanwhile, let me recommend three other Petite Sirah wines from Washington: DavenLore

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Winery of Prosser, Dusted Valley Winery of Walla Walla, and Masset Winery in Wapato, just south of Yakima.

These wineries have beautifully made Petite Sirah wines worth your time to seek out and purchase.

Syrah wines are available from almost all our local area wineries. Stemilt Creek does not have one on the shelf at the moment, but perhaps that will change in a future vintage.

Till then, you can enjoy 100 percent Syrah wines from Eagle Creek Winery, Wedge Mountain Winery, Fielding Hills or Boudreaux Cellars among others.

Seek them out.

If, however, you have a preference for blended wines, look for Southern Rhone style wines of Syrah blended with Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Carignan — to name the most prominent.

They, too, are all around us locally: the Stonetree blend at CR Sandidge Winery in Manson; Tsillan Cellars 2007 SyrahGrenache; Karma Vineyards Zen blend of Syrah and Grenache and their South, a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre; Ryan Patrick Vineyards 2009 Syrah, Baroness Cellars Grenache and others.

PS. If you’re near Alameda, CA on Feb. 22, you might plan to attend the P.S. I love you event…

P for Petite, S for Sirah. Who knows, you may see us there (www.psiloveyou.org).

Alex Saliby is a wine lover who spends far too much time reading about the grapes, the process of making wine and the wines themselves.

He can be contacted at alex39@msn. com.

A new look at energy savings Take advantage of rebates on: • energy-efficient windows • insulation • ductless heat pumps New for 2013: • cash for your old refrigerator • appliance rebates • manufactured home duct sealing

See us at the Building NCW Home Show Feb. 8-10.

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