Good Life July 2011 by The Good Life

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S #1 MAGAZINE

A H t

om e

Fr for esh id the eas ho me IN

SIDE

July 2011

EXOTIC PLANT DETECTIVE Searching for life on the edge

plus ‘I was given 2 years to live 5 years ago’ Killers in food: What to avoid

Cover price: $3

OPENING SHOT ®

Year 5, Number 7 July 2011 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 sales@ncwgoodlife.com ONLINE: www.ncwgoodlife.com Editor/Publisher, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Andy Dappen, Al Piecka, Alan Moen, Bridget Egan, Pamela Camp, Doug Morger, Donna Cassidy, Bonnie Orr, Alex Saliby, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, Susan Lagsdin and Rod Molzahn Advertising sales, John Hunter and Donna Cassidy Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Proofing, Joyce Pittsinger Ad design, Rick Conant

Ka-boom! Wenatchee writer/photog-

rapher Andy Dappen sent us a series of Fourth of July pictures with this story of how he photographed them: “Two years ago I took my new, slightly fancy, point-and shoot camera (Canon G-10) down to Wenatchee’s July 4 fireworks show at Walla Walla Point Park and started shooting wildly as the rockets’ red glare and the bombs bursting in air exploded all around. “I didn’t know how to take good fireworks shots, but in my mind’s eye I figured slow shutter speeds and underexposed images would create cool images of streaked light with jet black backgrounds. “One of several advantages of digital photography is you instantly see what’s working and

can immediately fine tune that strategy. This is important for something like fireworks that come once a year in a 15-minute blaze of glory. “After the event, I weeded out the many failed results and ended up with a fun gallery of shots that looked like psychedelic sea creatures, or the birth of the universe, or a nebula seen through the Hubble Telescope. “I posted 35 images, some that were quite unique, on the WenatcheeOutdoors.org website in a gallery (see the ‘Photos’ tab at WenatcheeOutdoors.org or enter http://www.justgetout. net/Wenatchee/pages/ page/?pgid=77). “Peter Bauer, who is a much better photographer, sent me an email asking how I got the images. I gave him the stupid-simple strategy listed above. He replied, ‘You mean you hand held these and just relied on dumb luck?’ “Yup.” July 2011 | The Good Life

On the cover

Rare plant detective Pamela Camp sits not too far from the start of the Foothills Trail near the end of Horse Lake Road in Wenatchee. She said those flowers near her are Yellow Fleabane Daisies, and no, they are not rare at all. >> RANDOM QUOTE

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” Jawaharial Nehru www.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. Send payment to: The Good Life 10 First Street, Suite 108 Wenatchee, WA 98801 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, Eastmont Pharmacy, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere), A Book for All Seasons (Leavenworth) and the Food Pavilions in Wenatchee and East Wenatchee ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact advertising at (509) 8886527, or sales@ncwgoodlife.com WRITE FOR THE GOOD LIFE: We welcome articles about people from Chelan and Douglas counties. Send your idea to Mike Cassidy at editor@ncwgoodlife.com

Contents

editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

‘Liking’ us and wine-flavored meat The printing of magazines

page 5

Walking the rails of a disaster

Features

7 what’s the deal with facebook? Social media has everyone talking — online

8 335 pounds no longer

When Doug Morger heard his doctor’s warning, he took drastic action — and today weighs at least 100 pounds less

10 have clippers, will travel

Professional sheep (and llama, alpaca and even dog) shearer can denude an animal in minutes

12 plant detective

Rare plants inspire respect because they are hardy survivors

14 Surprisingly well fed in Bangladesh

Rotary trip to Southeast Asian country made the jeans tighter, but also raised questions about the future

21 Quilts for kids

Volunteer knows what it is like to be an abused child... so she wants to do something warm for local children in need today

16 At Home

with

The Good Life

• Boat builder tries his hand at an unique house • Good stuff — on a roll with wine barrel furniture

Columns & Departments 23 Alex Saliby: Pizza and wine? You bet 24 The traveling doctor: Killers in food 25 June Darling: Handling negative feedback 26 Bonnie Orr: Making delicious potato dumplings 27-31 Events, The Art Life & a Dan McConnell cartoon 32 History: The dam that held back the Depression 34 Fun Stuff: 5 activities to check out

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has been around a long time — certainly before computers, before automobiles, yes, even before the commercial development of electricity. And yet, while some are blathering that “print is dead,” magazines are growing again as we leave the recession behind. (We are leaving the recession behind, aren’t we?) One way print is growing is to become more savvy about electronic media — it’s not just about ink and paper; now it’s also about bytes and electrons. Here at The Good Life, we launched our website (www. ncwgoodlife.com) earlier this year, and while we are endlessly tinkering with it, I’m surprised by the number of weekly unique visitors we get — along with orders for subscriptions and story ideas. Now, we have published our Facebook page (http://ncwgoodlife.com/facebook) with the notion of filling it with cool pictures — some that made the physical magazine and some that, while good, were shoved aside because of space limitations. Take a look at the Facebook page, and if you enjoy it, click on the “like” button. In this, the cyber world is just like the real world: Having people like you is a good thing. Speaking of liking, Wenatchee artist Sara Lippert suggested her friend, Chelan woodworker Bob Buhl, would make an interesting story because of his wine-barrel furniture. Sounded like a cute idea.

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Which shows how even the simplest stories can lead up alleyways of understanding. After talking with Bob (see his story on pages 20-21), we wanted to learn more about the barrels and their uses by vineyards, so naturally, we contacted our own wine columnist, Alex Saliby, who told us more facts that you can fit on a wine label — including that barrel prices are $900 to $1,00 for those made of French Oak, $700-plus for American Oak and $550 to $700 for Hungarian Oak, with the most common sizes being 58 and 64 gallons — big enough to make 25 cases of wine. Barrels are only used once for the best reserve wines, said Alex. “The reserve reds are aged anywhere from 18 to 24 months in these units. One local winemaker uses new French Oak and ages his reserve Cabernet for three years (actually 1,000 days). “The reserve barrels are then used once or twice more for the lesser quality wines of the same varietal, or for wines made from different grapes. Each of these secondary uses is for approximately nine months of aging.” Incidentally, if you are a backyard BBQ aficionado, you might enjoy buying a used barrel, one used for red wines. “I have a friend in Idaho who drives over here to pick up used barrels; he uses that wood exclusively in his smoker,” said Alex. “He says the red wine stains impart a wine aroma to his smoked meats.” What’s not to “like” about The Good Life? Enjoy. — Mike

snapshots

Cascade tunnel entrance: Look but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enter.

Walking the railbeds following the tracks to the site of the deadliest avalanche in U.S. history photos and story By Al Piecka

n 1893, after three difficult years of amazing and dangerous work, the Great Northern Railroad completed its line across the Cascade Mountains connecting Seattle with the rest of the world to the east. Completing this line across the Cascades was one of the most remarkable engineering feats of the 19th Century. Located just west of Stevens Pass, the original route consisted of an intricate array of switchbacks cut into the steep

mountainside. The slopes and sharp curves limited the speed of the trains and required huge quantities of coal and water to feed the locomotives as they transcended the mountain range. In 1900 the railroad completed the 2.6-mile Cascade Tunnel with its western entrance on the west side of Stevens Pass near the town of Wellington. The tunnel allowed the line to bypass the switchbacks, and for safety they added several wood roofed snowsheds to help protect the trains from mas-

You can still stroll through the old concrete snow shed completed in 1916 to protect trains from slides.

}}} Continued on next page

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“White Death moving down the mountainside above the trains. Relentlessly it advanced, exploding, roaring, rumbling, grinding, snapping...” }}} Continued from previous page sive snow slides that piled up as much as 25 feet of snow on the track during the hard winters. In late February of 1910, heavy snows delayed two westbound trains traveling from Spokane to Seattle in the town of Leavenworth, one a passenger train and one a fast mail train. They later proceeded through the Cascade Tunnel from the east to west when avalanches ahead stopped them near the town of Wellington, a small town consisting of mostly railroad workers. The train was stopped beneath the peak of Windy Mountain above Tye Creek. They sat on the tracks for six days as blizzard conditions ripped through the area with snows totaling as much as 11 feet a day, knocking down the telegraph lines resulting in no communication with the outside world. Then came the thunderstorms

with warm winds and lightning strikes shaking the snow-laden mountains. About 1 a.m. on March 1, a massive slab of snow 10 feet high, a half mile long and quarter mile wide broke loose from Windy Mountain and headed down the slope for the town. Logging and fires had stripped the slopes of the trees so there was nothing to slow the fast moving snow. The avalanche missed the town hotel but hit the train depot. At this time in the morning most of the railroad employees and passengers were asleep on the trains. The impact threw the trains 150 feet downhill and into the Tye Valley below. Ninety-six people died that night in what is still the worst avalanche tragedy in U.S. history. Charles Andrews, a Great Northern employee, was walking toward the warmth of a bunkhouse when he heard a rumble and turned toward the sound. In 1960 he described what he saw. “White Death moving down the mountainside above the trains. Relentlessly it advanced, exploding, roaring, rumbling, grinding, snapping — a crescendo of sound that might have been the crashing of 10,000 freight trains. “It descended to the ledge where the side tracks lay, picked up cars and equipment as though they were so many snow-draped toys, and swallowing them up, disappeared like a

white, broad monster into the ravine below.” Twenty-three people survived but it wasn’t until 21 weeks later in late July when the final bodies were recovered from the wreckage. Wellington was quietly renamed Tye in October 1910 because of the unpleasant association with the name, the same month the railroad began construction of concrete snowsheds to shelter the nearby tracks. The Wellington depot was closed in 1929 when the second Cascade Tunnel eight miles long was opened. The town was eventually abandoned and burned with only the old track, a few concrete foundations and concrete snowshed remaining and preserved in the Iron Goat Trail Parkland. The old grade is now a hiking trail from the old town of Wellington, now a parking lot, to the old townsite of Scenic and on to Martin Creek. At Wellington the western entrance to the original Cascade Tunnel is still visible but entering is prohibited, as it is in all the existing tunnels along the trail. The trail is a gradual slope and very comfortable to hike and in many places is wheelchair accessible. The Wellington to Crossover trail is three miles, and from there you can drop down the trail to Scenic Interpretive Center or continue on to Martin Creek about three miles further down the trail. The trail from Scenic to the

Crossover is very steep rising about 700 feet in one mile. The upper leg of the trail is the most interesting in that there are two tunnels and the remnants of the old wooden roofed snowsheds with their existing massive 30-feet-tall concrete retaining walls. You can still walk through the old concrete snowshed completed in 1916. You can find the old town site of Wellington west of Stevens Pass Summit just off U S 2 (milepost 64) down the Old Cascade Highway and then down Forest Service Road 050. Parking is available, as well as restrooms at the old town site of Wellington. The Interpretive Center is at the old townsite of Scenic at mile post 58.3 on US Highway 2. If you are a history or railroad buff, or someone who just enjoys an easy day hike, whether you are a senior or family with the kids and a dog, this is a worthwhile trip. You can let your imagination wonder as you walk the trail and imagine the danger and hard work it must have taken in the late 1800s to carve out such a project from the steep wilderness. In spots the trail widens where the old work camps of Corea and Embro once stood, and if you look carefully you can find decaying debris and rusting iron spikes that once held heavy ties. As you walk through the concrete snowshed and arrive at the sight of the avalanche, you can stop and imagine the rumbling sound of the “White Death” as it came roaring down the slope and sounds of the trains and 119 people being swept off the tracks and down the hillside crashing into the valley below. Keep a watchful eye as you may even see the ghost of a victim of the deadliest avalanche in U.S. history down the track. Al Piecka is a freelance photographer living in East Wenatchee who enjoys teaching photography and hosting workshops. His work can be seen at alpieckaphotography.com or alpieckaphotos.smugmug.com.

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guest column // MOLLY STEERE

Why Facebook? It’s like coffee with friends H

ave you guys heard of that thing called Facebook? Apparently it’s a big deal. I know there are a few luddites out there trying to pretend they aren’t affected by the deluge of social media raining down on them. I hereby crown them as the Royalty of Productivity because they most likely aren’t spending time nurturing a virtual garden or commenting on vacation pictures of someone they haven’t seen in 20 years. For the rest of us, Facebook is a pervasive, but mostly positive, presence in our lives. Facebook is a wildly successful social networking service that, as of the beginning of 2011, had more than 600 million active users. Users can create a personal profile, update their status — a short blurb about almost anything — as often as they like, add other users as friends, upload pictures and videos, exchange messages and chat. Additionally, users can join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics. Commercials and print ads ask us to “Find us on Facebook!” Facebook 101 has become a popular training class for continuing education programs, senior centers and technology alliances. After meeting for the first time, people say “friend me!” instead of “goodbye,” and companies routinely offer deals and discounts for Facebook fans only. Oh, and Facebook played a starring role in the toppling governments of Egypt and Tunisia. Like I said, Facebook is kind

of a big deal, but why should you consider joining the masses on something that began as a dorm-room phenomenon? It all comes back to communication — that’s what social media is all about. Facebook is an easy platform to create, build and maintain relationships. Personally, it was the perfect platform for me to keep in touch with friends when I moved here from the other side of the mountains, making me feel like I was still part of my friends’ lives. It was comforting to keep up-to-date about their major milestones as well as some of the minutiae of their day-to-day life. I also use it as a way to share pictures of my maniacal son with family and friends, meet new people in the writing industry through the groups function, get to know new acquaintances better, promote my blog, and answer the perennial question of “whatever happened to soand-so?” The driving force behind the success of Facebook is vanity. Most people have a need for constant affirmation. Admittedly, I am one of those people. I post cute pictures of my son just for proof that if I left him on a street corner with a “free” sign, someone would actually take him in. I test snarky one-liners in my statuses and take note of the ones that got the most “likes” or positive feedback. Lo and behold, the winners end up in my next blog. And yes, I post pictures of my vacation in hopes of making people jealous that I left my desk for longer than 10 hours. I am drawn in by my friends who are doing the same thing. Facebook has achieved its goal July 2011 | The Good Life

Facebook can be as fun, fastpaced and fascinating as your friends are, but it can also be a surprising time suck. Molly Steere is a full-time mom, and freelance writer and editor. She spends far too much time on Facebook for both work and play. You can reach her through her blog at www. mollyflewthecoop.com

Facebook 101

Get started: Go to Facebook.com Fill in the blanks under “Sign Up” Follow the prompts. You can always click “Skip this step” Once signed in, click “Account” in right corner Click “Privacy Settings” Change settings to what you’re comfortable with I recommend that you don’t let everyone see your posts and pictures. If you’re not sure how to manipulate your settings to best suit your needs, do an internet search of “Facebook privacy settings” and familiarize yourself. It’s worth it. of humanizing the virtual experience to the point that online interactions can feel like you just met your friend for coffee and finally caught up on each other’s lives. It fills in the gaps of our busy lives. Facebook can be as fun, fastpaced and fascinating as your friends are, but it can also be a surprising time suck. When you start a Facebook www.ncwgoodlife.com

account, you’ll probably want to customize your page with pictures and information about yourself and search for people you might know. Once you gather your circle of friends, it’s hard to refrain from reading everyone’s statues, looking through all of their pictures, having a virtual conversation with whoever is online, and searching groups that are aligned with your passions. Just remember, you control how much time you put into it. If you don’t have a Facebook account, it’s worth it to sign up just to see what the hullabaloo is all about. It’s free, it’s easy and it’s reversible. Just make sure you aren’t broadcasting personal information out to the general public (see sidebar). If you’re uncomfortable getting started, use Facebook’s online Help Center, or check with local schools and organizations to see if they have an entry level workshop to get you going. The most important step is to have fun! It’s all about building and maintaining relationships. >> RANDOM QUOTE

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. Gandhiji

‘I was given 2 years to live 5 years ago’

Doug Morger before his surgery, above, and now, exercising on a bike.

By Doug Morger

ing, I will be dead in two years.” He agreed, saying, “That sounds about ive years ago I went to my doctor’s ofright.” fice. My weight had reached 335 pounds. His response was my wake-up call. Only a As I sat talking with Dr. Brent Barber, I felt person who suffers from obesity can underterrible and said, “I feel like the way I am go- stand what that means.

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What other choice did I have — paying for about $20,000 of surgery versus death was not a real tough choice.

In addition, I had suffered from sleep apnea, congestive heart failure, atrill fibulation, high blood pressure and gout. I had just had my second heart surgery. The first was called an ablation — it is where the doctor tries to use a laser to change the way your heart beats, then installs a defibrillator in my chest. If my heart stopped beating or went into arrhythmia, the defibrillator would give me a jolt. A normal heart has an ejection fraction of 55 — which is a measurement of the percentage of blood leaving your heart each time it contracts — mine was at a mere 15, only 27 percent of normal. Two heart surgeries, a diagnosis of two years to live and a computer in my chest — that was when my doctor told me: “Maybe you are a candidate for weight loss surgery.” I asked, “Would it be covered by insurance?” His answer was, “Depends.” I called my wife while I was sitting on the gurney in his office, and said, “Put another $15,000 in that home re-fi loan you are working on.” The way I looked at it was, if insurance did cover the surgery, I would pay back the money on the loan but if it would not, I would

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2 years to live pay for the surgery myself. What other choice did I have — paying for about $20,000 of surgery versus death was not a real tough choice. Doc gave me a phone number of a group in Edmonds — Puget Sound Surgical Center — and I made an appointment. I must say I never feared the surgery, as in my mind, I was already dead. Then the insurance company turned me down. Insurance required that I have a five-year weight history. The problem was, as I reached morbid obesity my doctors had stopped weighing me. What the insurance company required was for me to wait two years to get the required weight history, but as I only had two years to live, that was not going to work. I went to plan B: I would pay for the surgery myself. On Jan. 28, 2008 I went to Stevens Hospital in Everett for my surgery. I had a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. What that means is, they used a robot and removed 80 percent of my stomach. The open edges are then attached together to form a sleeve or tube. With a smaller stomach, patients eat less and lose weight. I had the surgery one day and home the next. What the doctors did not tell me was that I was only the fifth person they had performed this procedure on. Within nine months I had lost 120 pounds. Other things changed as well. I was in a sales job, talking with the general public. Because of changes within the company, I knew I had to change jobs. Yet, I also knew that people who are grossly overweight are discriminated against in the hiring process, that they are treated differently by others, they are thought to be lazy. My personality did not change

with the weight loss, but the way I was perceived was. I could exercise now, my diet improved. Since I could not eat much, I started taking vitamin supplements. The last thing I had prayed for was that my heart might improve. Losing the weight was one thing but would it truly help my failing heart? I went to my cardiologist and had my echocardiogram ran one more time. The previous one showed ejection fraction 15. My doctor called me at home ecstatic. He told me the good news. “Your heart is now at ejection fraction 40, I do not know what you are doing but keep it up.” I almost cried with joy. I had done it. In December of 2008 my wife, Sandra Dee, had the same stomach operation. It was my Christmas present to her. Horrible heart disease runs in her family. She has already lost two brothers to heart disease — Guy was 38 and had his aorta tear and Sam was 40 and had a heart attack. What I gave her for Christmas that year was life. Now, I try to work out every other day and just recently started riding a peddle bike. What motivates me is, if I don’t, I will go back to where I was and that was not a fun place. I am blessed with a second chance at a good life. Doug Morger is a loan office with Eagle Home Mortgage. He and his wife live in East Wenatchee.

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Professional animal shearer Clint Goodwin has to use a few cowboy rope tricks before he can get started.

Shear pleasures: Have clippers, will travel By Alan Moen

lint Goodwin knows that the good things in life don’t

come sheep. They also come alpacas, llamas, and even dogs sometimes. A professional shearer by Clint can cut the winter coat off a sheep in just a few minutes — he once sheared 92 sheep in seven-and-a-half hours.

trade, Clint travels across the Northwest to trim off the wool, hair and excess fur from a variety of farm and domestic animals. He’s on the road from April to October in Washington and Oregon, traveling as much as 500 miles a day to ply his trade. Clint grew up in Hartline, a small community on Highway 2 just east of Coulee City. Now 52, he worked a number of jobs after high school, including running a shoe repair store and a saddle shop. He also drives a school bus for the school district in Northport, where he now lives. He and his wife Kamiah have a 50-acre farm, raising sheep, goats and Tennessee walking horses. “I’ve been a shearer since 1998,” Clint told me. “I tried to do it on my own for a while, then realized I needed to go

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to school to learn how to do it right.” The “hands-on” wool instruction he got was at the Moses Lake Sheep Shearing School, a nationally recognized fiveday course administered by Washington State University. Clint has often been back to the school in the years since, teaching a class there during the first week of April. He’s now become a senior shearer, the highest rank in the profession. Clint has sheared up to 100 sheep in a single day. His best performance was 92 sheep in just seven-and-a-half hours. “If you can do 20 an hour, that’s usually regarded as very efficient,” he said. Clint has also sheared llamas, alpacas, goats and even a few dogs, including a longhaired Chihuahua. Most of his business is from mid-March to mid- June,

but he also works as late as October and as early as February. “Icelandic sheep need to be sheared twice a year, both in the spring and fall, which gives me more to do,” he explained. Wool might be soft, but shearing is hard work. Sheep can weigh up to 400 pounds, and getting them in position to remove their wool is a very physical job. Once put on their backs, though, sheep are quite helpless, and relatively easy to handle. But sometimes just catching the critters can be a problem, calling for other skills. As he prepared one spring morning to shear my Cheviots and Southdown Babydoll sheep, two of them escaped through a fence. Clint took out a rope and followed them around their pasture, finally lassoing them both cowboy style. Then he dragged The Bruce, my handsome but very shy black sheep, into position. Clint held him firmly between his feet on his back in a semi-upright position and fired up his electric clippers. “I always start with the belly first, which has the least desirable wool,” Clint explained. After carefully shaving The Bruce’s belly and around the sheep’s private parts, he began making long careful strokes along the sheep’s sides and back. He finished with the head, gently removing the soft gray fleece. In just five minutes, he was done. Spread out on the ground, the fleece almost looked as if The Bruce was still inside it. The hardest animals to shear, Clint told me, are llamas, which are not only very large and tall, often weighing several hundred pounds, but also often ornery. “They can be a real challenge,” he said. “I have to do them standing up. First I cut down the back, work one side, then the other. It takes a long time to learn how to do it. You have to move with the animal.” A normal day for Clint is nearly 10 hours, when he’ll shear up to 40 alpacas or 100 sheep, but

Clint and the final product: A sheep ready for summer and a fleece ready for processing.

he usually does less, since he has to move around a lot between jobs. The day before he sheared my sheep, he visited seven different farms, shearing one to three alpacas at each one. Since he always shears on site, Clint has to carry all his tools with him. His pickup is

July 2011 | The Good Life

crammed with $8,000-$10,000 worth of shearing equipment, including four electric shearing machines and three boxes of different combs. Clint estimates that he travels 15,000-20,000 miles a year to ply his trade. Because he’s on the road so much, especially

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during April and May, he often stays overnight with customers, friends or family, but he also keeps a bedroll in his truck in case he has to camp out. Even though he’s had his share of bumps and bruises working with large animals, Clint obviously enjoys his job. “I really like doing this,” he said. “I enjoy both the animals and the people. Most of my business is referrals from other customers.” As he packed up after another shearing job, Clint was ready to hit the road again. “Gotta go,” he said with a grin, “I’m late for my next appointment.” And then he was off, raising a cloud of dust as his truck headed up the driveway, leaving a few somewhat surprised and naked-looking sheep in my vineyard, and three beautiful fleeces on the lawn. Alan Moen owns Snowgrass Winery in Entiat, and uses his sheep to mow his vineyard.

On the trail of RARE AND UNIQUE PLANTS Local botanist co-edits a book about some great finds in nature By Pamela Camp

have enjoyed a lifelong fascination and profession with rare plants in Washington State. Rare plants are different from other native plants. They teach us about life at the edge of biological constraints and at the edge of weather and climate constraints. Rare plants inspire respect because they are hardy survivors. They are living mysteries — teachers of biology waiting for their lessons to be decoded and appreciated. Awe and wonderment is what I feel when I come upon a rare plant in bloom, knowing that I may be the first human in years, maybe decades, to view the bloom of this shy and beautiful miracle. Finding rare plants sometimes is merely a matter of learning the location and getting there. Other times rare plants can be nearly impossible to see, even when they are right in front of your nose.

The water howellii — so pretty in the camera, so difficult to see on a cloudy day. Photo by Joe Arnett

Longsepal globemallow grows only in three counties in Washington, nowhere else, and can be found when hiking in local foothills. Photos by B. Legler

One of my more memorable examples of the trials of rare plant botany was in the search for water howellii in the late 1990s. Water howellii (Howellia aquatalis) is an annual, aquatic plant and member of the harebell family occurring in a few wetlands in western Washington and then in a few ponds in the Spokane area, which became the focus of my search. We knew the specific habitat — ponds in Douglas fir and ponderosa pine forest with

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aspen adjacent to the ponds; ponds that have a shallow edge and which must, by evaporation, be exposed during the summer in order for the seeds to set in dry soil. The best time to see this aquatic plant is while it is blooming, in shallow water, usually during May to June. Water howellii lives submerged under the surface of water. The diffused light of a cloudy day reacts differently with the water surface than

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direct sunlight, a lesson we learned the hard way. On cloudy days, it is absolutely invisible to an observer who tries to view down into the water. It was, of course, on a bright sunny day when we did finally find and identify water howellii. One of my first rare finds in Washington came when I was a recent college graduate and was hired by the Bureau of Land Management. That first summer, my field partner and I visited several sites to identify rare plants. The most thrilling find was Coyote Tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata), which was important to early Native Americans but by 1979, had not been seen in many years in the state.

At least 20 rare plants grow within 20 miles of Wenatchee valley. We were hiking in one of the dry, rocky side canyons of the Moses Coulee draining east of Wenatchee, and as we rounded a bend in the canyon, there stood a sole plant. It was unmistakable, as well as hard to miss, standing about two feet high, sporting bright white trumpetshaped flowers and blooming in the heat of August when little else was blooming. The sight of that ancient plant transported my mind a century into the past. What a thrill to make such a discovery. Now well documented, although still rare, Coyote Tobacco still grows wild in Washington State and still is a connection to a culture from our recent past. Rare plants are not necessarily challenging to see nor do they all live in unusual or remote places. At least 20 rare plants grow within 20 miles of the Wenatchee valley. One of the easiest rare plants to view while hiking in the Wenatchee foothills is a lovely, pale pink hollyhock-like plant member of the mallow family, longsepal globemallow (Iliamna longisepala), which grows three to six feet tall and has inch-wide flowers. It is what botanists call

2 raRe plants of washington book events

Coyote tobacco is a connection to a culture from the recent past. BLM photo

“endemic,” meaning that it occurs only in a small locale of our planet. Longsepal globemallow grows only in three adjacent counties in Washington State, nowhere else. It happens also to be the essential and only food source for an unusual species of native bee, which is only found where this flower grows. The reason for the extremely restricted distribution is a biological mystery that will eventually be solved by someone with curiosity and creativity. I had an idea back in 1990 of a

July 2011 | The Good Life

Discover Washington’s Rare Plants with botanists Pam Camp and Joseph Arnett, 7-9 p.m., Friday, July 15. A slide show of elusive rare plants and a virtual tour of the natural areas of Washington. Free. Barn Beach Reserve. Info: http://abookforallseasons. com/events/2011_camp_arnett/. Book signing, 1-3 p.m., Saturday, July 16. Location: A Book For All Seasons Bookstore, 703 Hwy 2, Leavenworth.

single source guide to locate and identify the rare plants of Washington. I had no idea, back then, that I was setting in motion a project that would ultimately involve 147 photographers, as well as countless illustrators and dozens of people working on information collection. The new book I co-edited, Field Guide to The Rare Plants of Washington, was released by the University of Washington

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Press earlier this year. The book includes 324 species (317 vascular plants, six mosses and one lichen) of rare plants in Washington. Color photographs of the plants and their habitats, line drawings, detailed species descriptions, distribution maps, identification tips and key times of bloom are all presented with a minimum of technical language, to make this book user-friendly for both wildflower enthusiasts and professional botanists. There is still much we do not know about the rare plants of Washington, new locations to be found, and much work to be done to better understand these rare plants. Someone will unlock the mysteries of the rare plants. Will it be you? Pamela Camp retired from the Bureau of Land Management where she was especially interested in rare plants at the end of 2009 and is now a part-time consultant in field botany and restoration ecology.

Bangladesh: Plenty of food for us, but what about the future? By Bridget Egan

hile traveling in Bangladesh, my friends and I joked that we had developed a serious condition whose only remedy was raw food and Gold’s Gym — rice belly. None of us expected to gain so much weight on our sojourn to this tiny, alluvial nation, but by week two all of us had trouble getting into our jeans. We were happy for our colorful shalwaar kameez with a draw string waist. The reason for our expanding middles was that hospitality meant food, and I have never met any people more hospitable than Bangladeshis.

Meals were reasons to celebrate, to show good fortune and win favor, and to sit down to prodigious helpings of rice, curry, fish, mutton, beef, peppers, mangoes, sweets, and… did I mention rice? I traveled to Bangladesh as part of the Rotary Group Study Exchange team sponsored by Rotary International and our local clubs. Five of us — three Canadian, two American — made the trip to learn about the culture, industry, and people of Bangladesh. In return, a group of Bangladeshis would visit our part of the world, increasing understanding and goodwill in the process. We visited so many differ-

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A street market vendor offers a few suggestions for lunch.

ent regions in the country: the tea and pineapple plantations in the northeast; the mangrove covered southwest where fish is a breakfast food; the hilly area on the Burmese border where tamarind and mushrooms are a favorite. Sitting down to eat meant a lesson in food and cultivation as hosts delighted in our ignorance of the local flavors: Ilsha fish (white and oily) in spicy sauces, mishti doi (sweetened yogurt), curried brinjal (eggplant), different gourds in rich sauces, including the awfully memorable bitter gourd — the name is accurate. Most Bangladeshis use their

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| July 2011

hands to mix rice with the various dishes and scoop it into their mouths in a graceful maneuver that I failed to master. I was often given a fork with a polite smile and words of encouragement for my failed attempts evidenced by dribbled sauces on crisp linen tablecloths. Since food security is a pressing issue in Bangladesh — the country is rapidly losing arable land due to climate change and is not self-sufficient in food production — we were interested to see how scientists tackle the problem and the blessing of food. At the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI),

we toured hectares of flowers, vegetables, native plants and a small organic test garden — the scientists’ pride and joy. Here, some of the first lines of tropical crops, like carrots, are being developed. Hydroponic peppers and cucumbers overran several large greenhouses, and a creative urban garden system had been designed to teach people how to feed a family using only a few square feet, either on a roof or on the ground. Most common vegetables, like cabbage and cucumbers, were introduced during the British colonization of the subcontinent. Now, the Bangladesh people grow prodigious amounts of these crops, and they are stacked in three-foot high pyramids at street markets. Pests, mold, storage problems and overuse of pesticides harm not only the sale of the veggies, but also the people who eat them. So the scientists at BARI are working on ways not just to make the typical Bangladeshi self-sufficient, but also ensure the health of the land and the people. The research institute is in Gazipur, a sprawling urban area near the capital Dhaka, home to 15 million people. When we traveled to Rangamati, the hilly region of Bangladesh, we found respite from the crowded, chaotic cities below — clear air, vibrant color and elevation. We visited the Moanaghar School, home for more than 2,000 students. Their teachers, a mix of lay persons and Buddhist monks, walked us through the dormitories, the classrooms, the grounds, and finally — after much haggling and gnashing of teeth — the farm that sustained the school. This was a hard fought battle — walking for pleasure was not something any of our guides neither understood nor encouraged since it meant that they would also have to trek, usually in wingtips and dark suits. But soon we descended into the rice fields below. This was

Harzat Shah Jalal shrine in Sylhet honors a teacher of the Muslin religion who died 600 years ago.

our first venture into the working agricultural land of the country, and it was spectacular. The rice fields were engineering marvels, all using the same water source with canals and levies built with mud. Banana trees shaded the homes of the farmers and massive tamarind trees gave fruits that would be turned into delicious sweets. We saw pollinators busily keeping the cycle going as women worked in the fields. Nothing was wasted; everything was reused; compost was a way of life. Earlier, after our daylong tour of BARI, the workers had prepared tomato slices with salt — warm from the sun and amazingly sweet. Now, in Rangamati, we snacked on curry soup with cilantro. It was a lovely way to

July 2011 | The Good Life

learn about our food, and we brought those lessons home. Each bite has a complex history of environmental, cultural and social issues. Most importantly, as we sat at the table with our hosts and new friends each day, language and

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cultural barriers fell away to be replaced with the universal happiness of sharing delicious food. Bridget Egan lives in Wenatchee and teaches English composition at Wenatchee Valley College and is the membership coordinator at the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust.

The traditional braced roof line has European origins, as do the small bedroom balconies and the weather-proof stucco walls.

Boat builder tackles a house on the old homestead Story by Susan Lagsdin Photos by Donna Cassidy (“At Home” usually introduces you to lived-in, fully finished homes — but this month we chronicle the growth of this long-imagined and traditionally crafted heritage house, a little piece of the history of Plain.)

From the new windows of

the timber frame house, which has just been freed of scaffolding and awaits its flooring and porches, Jon Pobst of Plain can look in three directions to the homes of his ancestral family. His own parents, Dennis and Debbie Pobst, live 300 yards away behind a screen of trees in a house they built together in 1974. His grandparents (Aubrey

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The interior features half-exposed beams and other wood harvested from the Pobst property in Plain.

and Mary) lived in a little house at the road 80 years ago. Up the hill you can spot the roof of the home where his grandfather grew up. Uncles and aunts also lived and worked on this land, and tilling the front pasture sometimes still yields tiny remnants of the early farm.

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The family is proud that Jon’s young daughter Chloe will be the fifth generation to live near the site of the “Pobst Blue Ribbon” dairy her great-greatgrandparents Otho and Ada started in 1914. After years on the sunny edges of Europe, and despite the surprise of our area’s cold

Relaxing in the sunny atrium, Jon’s a man with a mission almost accomplished. He credits the support of family and friends for his progress so far.

This slim balcony, with a slab of granite in lieu of old-world marble, will feature a decorative iron railing. Serious attention was also given to Plain’s snowmelt.

damp summers, Jon, 32, is glad to be settling again and at last in the valley he calls home. His house on 12 acres, still a work in progress, has grown to full height and solidity over the last few years with the considerable expertise of skilled friends and family in the building trades. He’s adamant — “I’m not a

in earnest when furniture and family are housed comfortably. In 15 years Jon’s made a very full circle back to this idyllic spot. After high school he spent some time traveling around Europe, where he met Nadege, his wife-to-be. Back in the States, with waterways luring

builder, I’m just a carpenter. Builders do everything: foundation framing, roofing, electric — I just do… “(and here he modestly lists a dozen fine interior woodworking tasks). He’s hoping his accumulated skills will serve him well in his own carpentry enterprise, Cascadia Woodworking, re-starting

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him, and a yen for learning more about wood, he moved to Port Townsend to sail and build, graduating from the Wooden Boat Institute in 1999. His skill and fascination with boat building led him back to Europe for steady work on yachts. And one day walking

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Last winter in the family barn’s heated shop, he built all the window frames from scratch to fit the framed-in house. }}} Continued from previous page in Bremen, Germany through streets of solid old burghers’ homes he saw the ideal house. He never went inside or saw the back — he recalls, “It was the roofline that caught my attention. I figured out the rest from there.” That first gleam in his eye, dreamed and sketched and finalized as an architect’s blueprint by March 2010, became the home he’s proudly erecting on the family farm this year. A healthy stand of Douglas fir trees nearby on the property

A Greek motif from the French Riviera, etched glass in this upstairs bathroom frames a slope of very northwestern Douglas fir trees.

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and a few months with a friend’s portable mill yielded all the timbers and framing wood he needed. Some power tools and big equipment were necessary (like dad Dennis’s excavator creatively adapted to lift ceiling-high beams), but mostly Jon brought to this work a sensibility from another era, using familiar hand tools and handcrafting intricate templates for patterned pieces. Much of the home shows his handiwork, and Jon said he’s learned from boat building, and from this year’s house building tutorial, “how to make the tools you have, do exactly what you need.” Jon uses traditional joinery — wood-to-wood connections like pegs and mortise and tenon instead of the more typical metal nails, screws, brackets and hangers used in mass-produced houses. Last winter in the family barn’s heated shop, he built all the window frames from scratch to fit the framed-in house. He’d already shipped back from France special cremone window bolt hardware as well as the big front door he’d pre-built while still working in Nice. He’s prepared to build his own stairs and cabinetry, At this almost-finished stage, any vantage point showcases the home’s attributes. The timbered walls with sheetrock, insulation, sheathing and exterior finish ensure weather protection. The floors will be hydronic (radiant heat) tubing covered with laminated bamboo. But Jon’s current point of pride is at ceiling level on both floors, where the overhead beams that cause the most stress to the builders take the most strain of the structure. Everything’s exposed, a diagram in a timber frame textbook: valley rafters and ridge beams at improbable angles, purloins mid span in the rafters, splines and dovetails. There’s a story, laughable now, of two friends shouldering the massive ridge beam into place

FAR LEFT: Framed and framed again, an efficient stove rests in the center of the house. Upstairs, electric wall units augment wood heat. LEFT: Jon’s handcrafted windows were made to fit spaces in the already-framed walls.

in the master bedroom because “the extension on Dad’s excavator just couldn’t put it up quite that far.” Good people doing smart work solved the problems, and the house is rock-solid. The house is much more than a woodworker’s showpiece. It’s a family home with European elegance and close attention to personal and environmental concerns. The small bedroom balco-

nies feature granite floors and wrought iron railings. Both bathrooms have central drains for easy clean-up. Nadege’s request for a favorite Greek maritime design “somewhere” became an etched view window from the garden tub, and one room is outfitted with mirrors and specialized flooring for her yoga and Middle Eastern dance classes. The romance of an open

July 2011 |

fireplace was outweighed by its heat-stealing draft up the chimney, so the shallow Rumford fireplace became an alcove for the compact woodstove. Boyd’s Ice House in Yakima yielded circa 1925 bricks, creatively repurposed. Jon avoided using chipboard with its toxic glue base. “Landark,” a compound with just five organic ingredients, coats all the wood and brickwork. The mustard yellow exterior walls — Dijon, perhaps? — are fire-retardant, low maintenance stucco, and nine inches of insulation were tucked under the roof. Confident that “eventually, the house isn’t going to look so tall,” John cites an upcoming rock

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patio, a wrap-around porch, and major landscaping edging the two-foot high foundation (better than a slab for unpredictable weather and water). He figures the patio and porch will help the house to look more settled, closer to the ground. Every day another task brings this house closer to move-in ready. But even when his wife and daughter have occupied it, they’ll all be ready for adventure. Jon will keep his ties with France, take the sailboat out, travel some more. Responding to a compliment about the house, and the life, he has built, he said, “I’m young — I’m just getting started!”

good STUFF // Ideas for the home

WHAT ONCE HELD WINE CAN NOW HOLD YOU “I’m an avid recycler and I love recycling wood,” said Bob Buhl, standing at a worktable in his Chelan wood shop, with his arms folded across a wooden child’s table under construction. As the wine industry has taken root locally, Bob has found a new source of used wood: wine barrels made from quarter-sawn French Oak. The barrels, originally costing upwards to $1,000, usually can be used for a few seasons before they are discarded… often either trashed or sold to recyclers like Bob. Bob gets the barrels, removes the metal bands, quality checks the aged wood (some pieces are too nicked or checked to use), then creates tables from the tops and bottoms, and chairs from the stays. From each barrel, he can create two tables and one to two chairs. Some pieces display a rich merlot color if the wine stored in the barrel was a red (red wines can age for two years or more in the barrels), while others have a charred appearance. The interior of wine barrels are burned — or toasted as the wine barrel makers say — to improve the flavor of the wine as it ages. Bob, a woodworker most of his adult life, started making the wine barrel furniture when his friend, Dean Neff from Nefarious Cellars across the road, gave him a couple of the old casks. Now, he has completed 60-70 chairs, including 24 scattered around the grounds of Campbell’s Resort on Lake Chelan. “I like to see the satisfaction of people who buy them — they are so tickled and the chairs so comfortable,” said Bob. “I use the natural curve of the wood to grasp you as you sit.” For more information on Bob’s furniture, visit www.barewoodworks.com.

Bob Buhl and a child’s table he is making from a wine barrel top.

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FAR LEFT: Bob’s bodyconforming swooping recycled wood chairs grace Campbell’s Resort. ABOVE: The individual stays that make the back of chairs show their different colors earned from years of being a wine barrel. LEFT: Bob also makes a backyard cooler.

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Volunteers

Sewing quilts for kids who need extra love By Donna Cassidy

Quilts stay with the children

Leitha Weller, Wenatchee,

likes to quilt. And, she likes to help other people. So much so, in fact, she has given away hundreds of quilts — especially to children who have been abused or neglected. The quilts go to the local CASA office (Court Appointed Special Advocates), which is a national network that recruits, trains and supports volunteers to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in the courtroom and other settings. These volunteers make sure the children don’t get lost in the legal and social service system or languish in inappropriate group or foster homes. For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence in their lives. “I love helping others — especially kids in foster homes,” said Leitha. “They are in need of comfort. When I was younger I left home because of abuse. I was put into foster care. Thank God for foster parents,” she said. From her experience she knows these neglected and abused kids need comfort. Leitha is a registered nurse’s aide and does in-home health care and some Hospice. She says she works seven days a week and loves working with the elderly. Some of these elderly people have become helpers in making quilts with her. “I know from working with the elderly they are always willing to help and love the feeling of helping others, the same as I do. I am also aware that if you give Know of someone stepping off the beaten path in the search for fun and excitement? E-mail us at editor@ncwgoodlife.com

Leitha Weller — and her senior helpers — have made hundreds of quilts for abused and neglected kids.

the elderly a purpose they live a longer life. So in seeking help I felt I was giving them a purpose of knowing they would feel great and live longer,” she said. Leitha goes to Columbia Heights, the senior center, Bonadventure and other senior facilities and meets with anyone who wants to quilt. There have been as many as 20 helpers on a regular basis. “I always find the time to meet with these ladies to quilt. It is such an enjoyment for me,” she said. “They get so much enjoyment doing the work and knowing it is a great cause, and it

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keeps them active.” Sue Baker, executive director for the Chelan-Douglas CASA program said, “Leitha is a caring, high-energy person. “She appears to want to help people of all ages. She is passionate about her quilting program and also the ladies she gets involved in the quilt project. When she speaks of “Her Ladies,” she shows such great respect for their giving of their time and energy and what they receive back from participating.” Leitha calls this enterprise Buttercup Quilting. She gets a few donations for materials but

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Sue Baker said CASA helps 150 to 200 children a month locally. “Many times when children are removed from their biological homes, they leave with very little, if any, personal belongings. We tell the foster family members that these quilts belong to the child and when the child leaves the quilt goes with them. We try to match up a quilt with a child’s age, gender and personality. The children are very proud of their quilts,” said Sue, who is the local executive director of CASA. CASA is a non-profit organization that has several programs to help raise donations for scholarships, high school yearbooks, prom dresses, bicycles and shoes. One can donate to CASA’s annual Christmas Stocking project and put a team together for the Rock n’ Roll for Kids Bowla-Thon. For more information about becoming a CASA volunteer or to make a donation contact Sue Baker at CASA, 662-7350.

she purchases much of the fabric and batting. “I love what I do. I have made hundreds of quilts and I have taken pictures of every one of them,” she said. Leitha also volunteers for Relay for Life and works part time at the Gorge Amphitheater and is a Silpada Sterling Silver representative. To learn more about the Buttercup Quilting project for abused and neglected children, email Leitha at leitharcomedy@ hotmail.com or call 470-6076. She welcomes fabric donations and volunteers.

column ALEX ON WINE

ALEX SALIBY

What’s new at the lake? Try pizza & more On the worst of times side,

this has been one of those years I’d rather not live through again — cold, too much snow, too much rain, way too little sunshine. Lilacs at our place didn’t show blossoms till the end of May. But then, that’s just the weather aspect of things. On the best of times side, however, we’ve had fun enjoying ourselves at many of the new haunts in and around our part of the world. New wineries — Ron Ventimiglia will be opening his tasting room in Chelan during the middle of the month. Some of you may remember Ron for his work as a kind of consulting winemaker with the folks at Big Pine Winery. One of my early favorites was their Merlot. Ron has a Pinot Noir now available at the Wine Thief in Wenatchee if you have difficulty getting to the grand opening of his tasting room in Chelan this month. Rob and Donna Mellison are now owners and operators of a new winery in Chelan, Mellisoni Vineyards. They don’t have a public tasting room. They are by appointment only, but when you consider their recent awards from the Seattle Wine Competition, you have all the reasons you need to phone ahead and make that appointment to go taste these wines. Call (509) 293-1891, or www.mellisonivineyards.com for appointments. I suggest you try the Riesling; it’s an off-dry fermentation but beautifully finished showing both fruit and floral on the nose. A new tasting room — Firehouse5 opened for business late last year; it’s an interesting spot

What wine goes with pizza? Try Chardonnay with a flatbread chicken-basil pizza made by Natalie Asher and Tom Addison.

where you can taste the wines of the proprietor, Paeton Bangart, as well as the wines of Amelia Blue. The Amelia Blue wines are made from grapes grown by Paeton sold to others who in turn convert them into wine. Wine tasting at Firehouse5, as usual, has a modest fee associated with it, but too, it comes usually with the accompaniment of some cheeses nicely paired to showcase the wines being tasted. In Firehouse5 — an actual, former firehouse — you may also purchase bottles of wine from a broad array of wineries, some local, some not. And now pizza with the wine — Wine girl Angela Jacobs and Jonathon Hill (go to winegirlwines.com) have had the Blending Room in Manson up and running now for over a year, but the place has been constantly amended, improved and worked on to create a userfriendly atmosphere to complement the wines. This summer, a new feature has been added: a portable pizza oven now sits in the parking lot, operated by Natalie Asher and July 2011 | The Good Life

Tom Addison of Orchard Wood Ovens. Natalie preps the dough and tops it while Tom stokes the ovens and keeps fires at the correct temperature to bake a pizza or a flat-bread to order while you wait. Customers can get their orders, sit outdoors on the lawn at the winery and dine while sipping one of Angela’s beautifully crafted wines. Her Chardonnay, for example, blends beautifully with the Chicken Basil flat-bread. It’s the perfect way to sit and enjoy the fact that you are fortunate enough to be at the lake this summer.

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But there’s more — Further on down the road, or should that be up the road, since it’s actually uplake one is travelling? Well, no matter. Leave the Blending Room and your flat-bread or your pizza and drive on in to Manson itself to the newly done CRSandidge tasting room where you can taste Ray’s award winning wines, then enjoy a glass of the wine on the patio with some cheeses you’ve purchased from the newly opened Fromaggio shop. I had a lot more to say in this month’s article, but that was before I got whisked away on a flight from Seattle to Atlanta, where Joanne and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. Somehow, the pleasure of the company of family and old friends just seemed to take precedence in my life and I almost forgot I had a writing deadline. That, and Georgia peach pie our granddaughter made captured my attention completely. 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.

column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

Killers in food: What you need to know Once again E. coli strikes,

and we read about illness and death. In 1993 we first became aware of the strain E. coli O157.H7, which was linked to undercooked contaminated hamburger at a Jack-in-the-Box restaurants. Another large outbreak a few years ago was associated with E. coli O157, which contaminated spinach grown in California. In that case the bacteria had entered the plant through contaminated water and could not even be removed by washing the leaves before eating. The recent outbreak in Germany has been attributed to a rare, highly virulent strain of E. coli named O104.H4 found in contaminated sprouts. This outbreak has resulted in over 3,100 people becoming ill, including over 800 with acute kidney failure and 31 deaths to date. These are scary statistics because they are so unpredictable and occur from eating food that we associate as being good for us. Despite our mother’s advice to eat our vegetables, we have become wary. A vegan friend wrote to me and said, “Now, sprouts, what am I going to do?” It is estimated over 50 million Americans get sick each year from food-borne illnesses, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and over 5,000 deaths. It is hard to comprehend such a staggering figure, and it is clear that it is a major health issue. Food-borne illnesses can result from several causes, including invasive or toxin producing bacteria, viruses and parasites. Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the dominant bacteria in human and mammal feces. It is a large

family of bacteria, most of which are beneficial to us and medically harmless. There are many strains of E. coli. Some invade the bowel tissue and others, such as E. coli O157, release toxins that cause illness, kidney failure in some and even death. The E. coli strains found in many Third World countries cause traveler’s diarrhea. When we ingest those bacteria, we are miserable for a few days, but it isn’t fatal. Are there new bugs now? Bacteria evolve, change and mutate for many reasons. Personally, I think the common usage of antibiotics in animals and poultry grown for food stimulates the growth of antibiotic- resistant bacteria and possible mutations into more virulent bugs. Despite all the publicity about disease producing E. coli bacteria, there are many other causes for food-borne illnesses. The most common bad bug is salmonella, which accounts for about 17 cases of illness per 100,000 people annually. Salmonella enteritis is a diarrhea illness caused by ingesting contaminated food, most commonly beef, poultry and eggs. Typically the patient has diarrhea, cramping, chills, headache and muscle aches for three to five days. One of the largest U.S. food related outbreaks occurred last year and involved salmonella tainted eggs. According to a Center for Disease Control estimate, over 50,000 people became ill from these tainted eggs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration initiated new rules that should reduce illnesses caused by salmonella associated eggs. In 2009, hundreds of people got sick from salmonella con-

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It is estimated over 50 million Americans get sick each year from food-borne illnesses, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and over 5,000 deaths. taminated peanut butter. In March of 2011, peanut butter recalls were made in 16 states due to risk of contamination. Seafood also can be a source of food-borne illness. Particularly in the tropics, poorly refrigerated fish can harbor a bacterium that causes cramping, diarrhea and a distinctive flushing of the face and torso. A different bacterium, found in carnivorous fish like grouper and amberjack, releases a toxin that can cause neurologic and gastrointestinal symptoms. A different group of bacteria is associated with shellfish and is preventable if the shellfish are flash frozen and if oysters are pasteurized. Can we prevent getting these illnesses? We probably can’t completely prevent them, but there are some precautions we can and should take. When possible, we can buy meat that is grass-fed free range and is antibiotic free. In particular, ground meat has to be well cooked. We should buy eggs and poultry that have been raised from cage-free birds. When cutting uncooked meat and chicken, I

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cut it on either a glass or composite cutting board that can be washed in the dishwasher. The sponges that are used to clean the counter and dishes should be micro- waved for at least one minute after use, killing the bacteria harbored there. Our counters and sinks should be wiped down frequently with readily available Clorox disinfectant wipes. Since 1990 there have been over 45 sprout related outbreaks of E. coli and salmonella in the United States. Sprouts are a high-risk food for carrying harmful bacteria because of the warm, moist conditions in which they are grown. It is wise just to avoid eating sprouts altogether. The World Gastroenterology Organization has listed the following 10 food and drink tips while traveling. Most of them are common sense advice, but it never hurts to be reminded. 1. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially before eating. If you cannot do that, use an alcohol based hand gel with at least 60 percent alcohol. This tip applies at home and when traveling. 2. In areas where tap water is possibly contaminated, as in most Third World countries, travelers should not even brush their teeth with tap water. 3. Drink only bottled or boiled water, or carbonated (bubbly) drinks in cans or bottles. 4. Do not drink tap water or fountain drinks, and avoid ice cubes. If this is not possible, learn how to make water safe to drink. 5. Water on the surface of a beverage or bottle may also be

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Killers in food: Be prepared when traveling }}} Continued from previous page contaminated, therefore, wipe clean and dry the area of the bottle or can that will touch the mouth. 6. Do not eat food purchased from street vendors. 7. Make sure your food is fully cooked. 8. Avoid dairy products, unless you know they have been pasteurized. 9. Some fish are not guaranteed to be safe even when cooked because of the presence of toxins in their flesh. 10. Infants younger than six months should either be breastfed or be given commercial powdered formula prepared with boiled or bottled water. As I write this, I think of my travels to many different Third World countries as well as countries on most every continent. I love to eat and generally try everything. So far (knock on wood) I have not experienced any of these illnesses that I have been writing about. I do remember the time I was volunteering at the McCormick Hospital in Chiang Mai, Thailand, when on a very hot day my wife bought an ice cream bar from a street vender. She learned what a bad idea that was, as she got violently ill rather soon after eating it, but fortunately it was short-lived. I always carry two different antibiotics with me just in case I get travelers’ diarrhea or have travel companions who are not prepared. Before traveling, it might be wise to ask your own physician about doing the same.

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june darling

Dealing with negative feedback Most of us want to be good

at what we do — our relationships, our jobs, our hobbies. You may be surprised to know what experts in a number of fields recommend to those who want to dramatically improve their performance. To become highly accomplished at almost anything, according to researchers, it’s all about feedback. Feedback is reaction from others about our performance. We need to solicit feedback, figure out if it’s useful, and then decide what to do about it. That all sounds fine until we actually get feedback. It’s rarely beautifully packaged and graciously delivered. Feedback usually comes in confusing, messy, irritating forms from our spouses, teachers, parents, bosses, friends and customers. It’s usually negative and hurtful. It stinks. We could spend a lot of time trying to get people to give us better feedback or we could work with ourselves so that we are better able to process negative feedback. Very high achievers seem to process negative feedback especially well. In fact, they often don’t find negative feedback

negative at all. We can learn from them. Three strategies are key, according to performance experts. First, set appropriate goals and stay focused on them. Performance expert Carolyn Adams says that those who set very specific, challenging, clear goals that seem attainable are best able to process all sorts of feedback and benefit. Rosy the cook wants to please her customers. She has specific goals around satisfaction and customer referrals. Her clear focus overrides her fear of negative feedback. It keeps her alert to how her customers respond to different dishes. Second, commit to growth and learning. Dr. Carol Dweck says that those who have an intense dedication to learning are able to overcome their fear of what others say which allows them to challenge themselves and recover from failures. Rosy continually tries out new dishes and pushes her limits. If a dish bombs with her customers, she perseveres, knowing that she’ll get better as she grows and learns. Third, maintain your confidence by knowing your strengths. People high in confidence, or self-efficacy, are more

Jim Brown, M.D., is a semi-retired gastroenterologist who has practiced for 38 years in the Wenatchee area. He is a former CEO of the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center. July 2011 | The Good Life

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able to work with stinky feedback. They ask questions, which allows them to better understand others’ perceptions. They don’t over or under react to criticism. Rosy is able to maintain her confidence because she knows that she has perfected her lasagna, her apple pie and her cole slaw. When her customers tell her that her carrot salad is too salty, she can hear it without becoming defensive. Many of us can get much better at what we do by learning how to work with negative feedback. Strong goal focus, dedication to learning and awareness of our strengths can help us effectively process and prosper from others’ opinions even when they’re unfavorable. How might you move up to The Good Life by learning how to effectively deal with negative feedback? 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 drjunedarling@aol.com, or drjunedarling.blogspot.com or at her twitter address: twitter.com/ drjunedarling. Her website is www. summitgroupresources.com.

column GARDEN OF DELIGHTS

bonnie orr

Making potato dumplings the Italian way July means new, red potatoes

are ready to harvest — but really now, how many potato salads and pan-fried potatoes can you cook? If you are looking for some other way to use new, red potatoes, Gnocchi is it! This Italian dumpling — pronounced “no Key” — is light and delicious and is used in place of pasta to complement meat or in Italy is served as a first course. Nearly all Western cultures have a type of dumpling that is essentially boiled dough. My grandmother made dumplings from flour and milk to serve with stewed chicken. Dumplings can be sweet and savory. Gnocchi are delicious plain but can have sweet or spicy

The Italian potato dumpling — called Gnocchi — is made from potato dough, rolled into a long sausage shape, then cut into balls, which are formed over the finger to make individual dumplings that can then be covered with a sauce or just grated cheese.

ingredients added. Gnocchi are easy to make, although time consuming. Make twice as many as you think you will need because they melt in your mouth and evaporate from the plate. Each gnocchi has a deep dimple on one side and grooves on the other. These marks make a space so sauce or butter or melted cheese won’t slip off.

Gnocchi

Serves 4 polite people or 2 hungry people 1 hour preparation time 2 pounds of potatoes 1/2 cup flour plus a bit extra for dusting 1 egg 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon of butter 1. Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender — about 20 minutes depending on the size of the potato. Don’t cut the potatoes into smaller pieces to make them cook more rapidly. This causes the potatoes to become waterlogged. Drain well and let sit until they are

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cool enough to handle. 2. Peel the potatoes and compost the peelings. “Rice” the potato with a potato ricer. If you don’t have this tool, mash the potatoes by hand with a fork. It is important that the potatoes are light and fluffy. 3. Add the salt. 4. Stir in the egg, which is the binder to hold the potatoes together. 5. Add the flour, which will make the dough easy to handle. The dough is completed. Now, it’s time to make the dumplings, and it’s OK if the dumplings are shaped a bit irregularly because you are not a machine. As with other doughs, the less you handle the dough, the lighter the end product will be. 1. Bring a gallon of water to a medium simmer. 2. Dust your hands and a breadboard with flour. Take 1/4 of the dough and roll it into a long sausage shape about as thick as your thumb. 3. Cut the roll into slices about as wide as your thumb — my thumb is 3/4 of an inch wide.

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| July 2011

4. Pick up each portion and roll it into a ball and press it around the end of your thumb so that the gnocchi has a big depression in it. 5. While it is still on your thumb, press the tines of a fork into the back of the dough. The gnocchi will be depressed on one side and ribbed on the other. 6. Lay each completed piece on a lightly-floured tray so they won’t stick. 7. Repeat with each piece. Then make three more rolls and cut and shape the dough. Have a glass of wine and some company since this will take about 1/2 hour to complete. 8. Gently drop 1/4 of the shaped pieces into the simmering water. Don’t crowd them. Do not let the water boil since that could break up the dumplings. When they rise to the surface, they are done. It will take 2-3 minutes at the very most to cook. 9. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and put them into a warmed, buttered dish. 10. Cook the remaining portions 11. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and a little more butter if you wish. Serve with a salad and grilled meat. You can freeze all the raw gnocchi and cook them at a later date. Don’t worry, there will not be any leftovers of the cooked ones to worry about saving. This recipe works with any type of potato and will also work with leftover baked potatoes. I have never met a potato I did not like, but I did not like the gray look when I used blue potatoes. Gnocchi can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Try them with various toppings.

WHAT TO DO

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

Coming Home, 7/1 - 7/30 Paintings by Sammy Korfiatis. At 5 - 8 p.m. 7/1, The Rose Trio, violinists Mary Carter Pringer and Marva Lee and celloist Cathie Lau will perform. Meet the artists and enjoy the hors d’oeuvres. Gallery 4 South, 4 South Wenatchee Ave. Two Rivers Art Gallery, 7/1, 5 p.m. Reception. Larry Gay will be the featured sculptor and bronze artist. The gallery will also feature guitarist Kirk Lewellen, wine and

complimentary refreshments. Info: www.2riversgallery.com. Flowmotion, 7/1, 8 – 11 p.m. Live band Flowmotion at Tin Lilly in downtown Chelan. Info: tinlillychelan.com. Friday Funnies, Mission: Improv, 7/1 & every Friday night thru 8/12, 7 - 8 p.m. Performing Arts Center. Cost: $6. Info: pacwen.org. The Sound of Music, July 1,2, 8, 9,14,15, 19, 21, 23, 28, 30 and Aug. 2,5, 10, 12, 16, 19, 24, 27 & 28. 8 p.m. A Leavenworth classic, now in its 17th season. Set in one of America’s most beautiful amphitheaters overlooking the spec-

July 2011 | The Good Life

tacular Enchantment Peaks. Ski Hill Amphitheater, Leavenworth. Cost: $14, $22 & $28. Info: leavenworthsummertheater.com.

Rockin’ Fireworks, 7/2, after dark. Lake Chelan waterfront, viewable from Don Morse Park and downtown.

Buddy Guy, 7/2, 7 p.m. Live concert at Deep Water Amphitheater in Manson. Cost: $35 to $75. Info: colvillecasinos.com.

Yoga in the Park, 7/2, 9:45 a.m. and every Saturday thru 9/3. Centennial Park, Chelan. Cost: $15 per class. Info: yogachelan.com.

Farmers Market, every Saturday from 7/2 at Columbia St., 8 a.m. 4 p.m.; every Sunday from 7/3 at Memorial Park 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.; every Wednesday from 7/6 at Columbia St., 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.; every Thursday from 7/7 at Methow Park 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. Fresh local fruits and vegetables in season. Bakery items, cold drinks and more.

Fiasco, 7/2, 8 – 11 p.m. Live band Fiasco at Tin Lilly in downtown Chelan. Info: tinlillychelan.com.

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Deep Water, 7/3, 7 p.m. Live concert. Deep Water Amphitheater, Manson. Cost: $35 - $75. Info: colvillecasinos.com.

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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 Miniature Railway Run, 7/3 & 7/16 . The miniature train in Riverfront Park runs on a figure-8 course of rails, bridges and trestles along the Columbia River. Rides are fun for all ages. The Wenatchee Valley Museum operates the train under the name Wenatchee Riverfront Railway & Navigation Association with a crew of dedicated volunteers. Cost: $2 kids, $3 adults. Info: Dave Sleeman 663-2900 or Bob Behler 888-1097. Chelan Cross Country Classic, 7/3 – 7/8. Hang gliders and paragliders launch from the Chelan Butte and fly distance tasks, often coming back to land at the Chelan Falls soccer field park after several hours in the air. 4th of July Celebration, 7/4, 1 p.m. Live music, craft and food vendors at Walla Walla Point Park., Wenatchee. Fireworks at dark. Centennial Celebration, 7/4, fireworks at dark, downtown Manson.

Kinderfest, 7/4, 10 – 2 p.m. A family Fourth of July celebration. Free refreshments, balloons, cotton candy, popcorn and snowcones for kids. Downtown Leavenworth. Info: Leavenworth.com.

sive knowledge of local flora and fauna, and her thoughtful philosophical mediations add richness to her engaging prose. Cost: free. Info: abookforallseasons.com/ events/2011_hess.

Mission: Improv, 7/7, 7 p.m. & every Thursday. Free open workshop, theatre games for novice and experienced players. Fun and casual. Riverside Playhouse. Info: www.mtow.org.

Waterville Days, 7/8 & 7/9. Arts and crafts, food, parade, live music, classic cars, horseshoe contest, 3-on-3 basketball, spaghetti feed. Pioneer Park in Waterville. Info: watervillewashington.org.

Guest Chef, 7/7, 6:30 p.m. Richard Kitos from the Ivy Wild Inn will talk about his food. Cost: $50 includes dinner and wine. White Heron Cellars, 10035 Stuhlmiller Rd, Quincy. Info: whiteheronwine.com.

Bach Fest, 7/8 – 7/16. Enjoy live musical concerts throughout Chelan and Manson. Info: cometothelake. com.

Wenatchee Blues Jam, 7/7, 8 p.m. Open blues jam every first Thursday of the month. Grizzly Lounge in the Red Lion Hotel, 1225 N. Wen. Ave. Info: Tomasz Cibicki 6698200. To The Woods, 7/8, 7 – 8 p.m. at Leavenworth Library, & 7/9, 1 – 3 p.m. at A Book For All Seasons. Book signing. Meet author Evelyn Searle Hess, who, in her late 50s, walked away from the world of modern conveniences to build a new life with her husband on 20 acres of wild land. Hess’ exten-

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Ohme Gardens Summer Music Series, 7/8, & every Friday through 8/ 5, 6:30 p.m. Tour the gardens enjoy live music, wine and dine. Cost: $12. Info: wenatcheevalley. org. Trekking Nepal, 7/8, 7 p.m. Meet Pat O’Brien and Nadia Hakki and hear about their 30-day trek around the little known Manaslu circuit. Their trek included an 11-day exploration up Tsum valley, with remote villages, active monasteries, village ceremonies, grand scenery, a high pass, and a vibrant local culture. Barn Beach Reserve, Leavenworth. Info: barnbeachreserve.org.

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| July 2011

Secrets of the Shrub Steppe, 7/9, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Explore the special adaptations of plants and animals that inhabit the arid landscape of the Columbia Plateau during this family-friendly event. Find out what coyotes eat, unravel the mysteries of animal tracking, inhale the aroma of sage and pine, dissect an owl pellet, and learn which critters are active in the dark. Appreciate the beauty of our natural landscape with a variety of hands-on experiences. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Cost: $5. Info: 888-6240. Poker Run, 7/9. A poker run by boat on Lake Chelan. Meet at Mill Bay boat launch, travel 5 stops on Lake Chelan. Info: lakechelanpokerrun@ gmail.com. 9th Annual Ohme Gardens Wine & Food Gala, 7/9, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.  Bring your friends to beautiful Ohme Gardens, overlooking the Wenatchee Valley, as you enjoy award-winning wines, gourmet food and live music. Cost: $45 per person if tickets are purchased before July 4; $55 after July 4. Order tickets online at www. wenatcheewines.com. Thunder SwaMp, 7/9 & 8/13. Extreme boat races in East

WHAT TO DO

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

Wenatchee. Info: www.thunderswamp.com. Doobie Brothers, 7/9, 7 p.m. Live concert at Deep Water Amphitheater, Manson. Cost: $35 - $75. Info: colvillecasinos.com. Icicle Creek International Chamber Music Festival, 7/10-7/24. Celebrating 300 years of chamber music. Wine and cheese reception follows each concert. Info: Lillia Grundy 548-6347, www. icicle.org. Summer Picnic, 7/13, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Free, family-friendly event fun for all ages. Location to be announced. Info: cdlandtrust.org. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, July 13, 16, 20, 22, 29, Aug. 3, 6, 9, 13, 18, 20 & 25, 8 p.m. Live and outdoors under the stars. Rollicking Western fun returns with the singin’, dancin’, fightin’ Hatchery Park Stage, Leavenworth. Cost: $14, $22 & $28. Info: leavenworthsummertheater.org. Discover Washington’s Rare Plants, 7/15, 7 – 9 p.m. A slide show of elusive rare plants and a virtual tour of the natural areas of Washington with botanists Pam Camp and Joseph Arnett. Barn Beach Reserve. Cost: free. Info: abookforallseasons.com/ events/2011_camp_arnett. Vive La France, 7/15, 8 p.m. Music for piano solo and piano fourhands. Icicle Creek Music Center, Leavenworth. Cost: $20. Info: iciclearts.org. Pie Baking Contest, 7/16. Judging starts at 11 am. Wenatchee Farmers Market, corner of Palouse and Columbia Streets. Info: wenatcheefarmersmarket.com. Gypsy Flair, 7/16, 8 p.m. Music inspired by the Gypsy Spirit. Icicle Music Center, Leavenworth. Cost: $20. Info: iciclearts.org. The Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Washington, 7/16, 1 – 3 p.m. Book signing. Book offers a window into the beauty and diversity of the rarest plants in our state, including our rare vascular plants, mosses and lichen. A Book For All Seasons. Cost: free. Info: abookforallseasons.com/events/2011/_ camp_arnett.

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The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

ernest palmer: Not The Usual Old Song and Dance It takes a dedicated perform-

er to concurrently take on three roles, 10-hour rehearsals and the mega-multiple performance schedule that characterizes Leavenworth Summer Theater. But veteran Ernest Palmer, 38, does it gladly. This summer he’ll play bridegroom Benjamin in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and deadbeat dad Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady, and will reprise the iconic Captain von Trapp (“my childhood dream role”) in The Sound of Music. Each role calls on all his performance skills: acting, dancing, and singing, and he’s happy to oblige because doing theater is pure pleasure for him. “There’s always a moment on stage when everything clicks. You’re in your groove, you’re totally in sync with the other actors, the audience is really excited to see what happens — it feels electric!” Ernest decided in youth that he was not bound to be a rootin’ tootin’ high falutin’ sun-ofrancher from Southern Idaho ragtime cowboy Joe. No sir, not even though he was raised on the plains and was a pretty good hand at rodeo and ranching. (He even mastered trick roping, once teaching it to a cast of Oklahoma.) Ernest, encouraged by his dad and uncle, knew early on that he had a good singing voice. Then at age 15 he saw his first snippets of musical theater on TV during the Tony Awards, and the overall exuberance of the performances sparked a change in his life. “People actually get to do that?!” he recalls his astonishment. July 2011 | The Good Life

Ernest Palmer and Kathryn Arnett: A couple of characters in Oklahoma.

He describes disking a 300acre wheat field, sitting on the tractor weeping to the taped score of Les Mis. “That music was so beautiful to me. I’d never heard anything like it.” He was hooked. Then, en route to his college business marketing degree Ernest took a jazz dance class on a whim, and found out he was darn good. So good he was quickly invited to join his instructor’s dance troupe and given a dance scholarship. But, dutifully, he took the conventional young executive path — not one that would logically lead him to starring roles in main stage musicals, the creative frenzy of summer stock. He wore the suit, he carried the briefcase, and he made the calls. A Seattle freeway accident in 1999 changed his life — in that instant when the past is supposed to flash in front of you, Ernest Palmer saw his future. “Right then I knew I wanted to be an actor.” He immediately quit his job, auditioned for a show, got a lead www.ncwgoodlife.com

role, and the rest is… theater. Specifically The Village Theater in Issaquah, The Kirkland Performance Center and the Fifth Avenue Theater in Seattle. Ernest moved four years ago to beautiful downtown Leavenworth (his condo fronts the main street, gazing onto the gazebo) and immediately became a part of Leavenworth Summer Theater. Good song and dance men are tough to find, so Ernest is frequently on stage. He and his partner run an eclectic cleaning-organizingevent planning-design business (“It’s called The Queens of Clean Design. And, yes, people sure remember the name.”) and they dream of someday designing interiors and building furniture. But Ernest will always be eager to do a few professional shows a year here, bringing together all his talents for those short happy hours under the lights. “Basically, I’m a musical theater junkie,” he declares. — by Susan Lagsdin

WHAT TO DO

}}} Continued from previous page Chelan Man Multisport Weekend, 7/16-7/17. The swims take place in the clear waters of Lake Chelan, the runs are on paved paths and roads and the bikes are along Lake Chelan and the Columbia River. Info: chelanman.com. Los Lobos & Los Lonely Boys, 7/21, 7 p.m. Live concert at Deep Water Amphitheater, Manson. Cost: $35 - $75. Info: colvillecasinos.com. Rodeo Parade, 7/21, 7 p.m. Downtown Chelan. Info: rodeolakechelan. com. Rodeo, 7/22- 7/23. Pro-West event means top contestants, stock and contract personnel. Includes “World Famous Chicken Race,” food booths, merchandise booths, Mexican dancing horses and a whole lot more. Info: rodeolakechelan.com. Vegetarian/Cherry Festival, 7/23, 6 p.m. Richard Kitos from Ivy Wild Inn will teach vegetarian cooking techniques, make dishes both vegetarian and with meat so one can see/taste the difference.

Every dish will have cherries in it. Also live music. White Heron Cellars, Quincy. Cost: $20. Info: whiteheronwine.com. The Artist’s Journey: The Perfumed Pilgrim Tackles the Camino de Santiago, 7/22, 7 – 8 p.m. at Barn Beach Reserve, 7/23, 1 – 3 p.m. at A Book For All Seasons. Book signing. Marcia Shaver’s 1,299,851 steps across Spain inspired her breathtaking visual art, shared with her signature can-do, let’s-have-fun spirit. Cost: free. Info: abookforallseasons.com/ events/2011_shaver. French Cooking a oui, c’est vrai – 7/26, 5:30 p.m. Basilsteamed halibut with lemon-crème sauce, roasted eggplants with herbs, scallops with green tea cream, green salad with hazelnut vinaigrette, nutty mussels with grilled baguette. Ivy Wild Inn. Cost: $40. Info: theivywildinn@mac.com. All American Boys’ Chorus, 7/26, 7:30 p.m. Boys ranging in ages 9 to 14 will perform in a concert entitled “In the Summertime.” Performing Arts Center. Cost: $25 adults, $ 15 children 12 & under. Info: pacwen.org.

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My Fair Lady, 7/27, 7/30, 8/4, 8/6, 8/13, 8/20, 8/23 & 8/26, 8 p.m. Travel to London-town for one of the all time great Broadway musical classics. Leavenworth Festhalle. Cost: $14, $22 & $28. Info: leavenworthsummertheater.org. Chris Isaak, 7/28, 7 p.m. Live

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| July 2011

concert at Deep Water Amphitheater, Manson. Cost: $35 - $75. Info: colvillecasinos.com. An Evening with Bill Engvall, 7/31, 7 p.m. Actor/comedian will perform at Town Toyota Center. Info: towntoyotacenter.com.

The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS A love of story telling and “fiddling with words” has made Stehekin resident Ana Maria Spagna a prolific author.

TRUE STORIES STIRRED IN THE NORTH CASCADES Ana Maria Spagna, a Ste-

hekin essayist, came sidelong into her art, a mature woman with a backpack full of life to show and tell. There was a brief childhood delight in story writing, a seemingly out-of-reach dream through high school, a literature degree with lots of analytical writing but little creativity, then years of Forest Service and Park Service woods work in the North Cascades. The love of words was always in her. Gradually the stories accumulated, the viewpoint coalesced and in 1996, she took the leap into a graduate school writing program. Even there she couldn’t quite make it happen. There was a disconnect between her subject (living and working in the beauty of the mountains surrounding Stehekin) and the form (fiction). “Then,” she said, “In my last semester, I took a class in ‘creative nonfiction.’ I knew I’d found my home, or my passion. And my voice, right away, came alive in ways it hadn’t in short stories.” Now she tells about true scenes and events, some researched. She uses the first person “I” voice freely and offers personal reflections, but she also employs the techniques of good fiction writing like plot development, character and dialogue. Her favorite subject and her point of reference has always been Stehekin, at first just a summer job in 1990, now her home. She said, “The North Cascades

— the bigness, the coldness, the greenness, the smell of pine and wildfires — they permeate every single thing I write.” But her home village can also be isolating. Ana Maria does enjoy a satisfying part-year teaching position with the Whidbey Island Writers program. Even so, “Sometimes I envy big city writers who can attend readings or workshops or just meet at a coffee shop. Or even just write in a coffee shop anonymously. Most days, it’s just me and the keyboard.” With three books published since she started writing full time in 2004, and several short essays in anthologies and journals, she and her keyboard are doing well. Ana Maria has cultivated some atypical attitudes about writing. Authors often groan at the rewrite phase of the creative process, but she loves revising, “fiddling around with words,” estimating that 95 percent of her work time is spent in the pleasure of rewriting. Self-expression as therapeutic confession? Not part of her ethic. She admitted that it’s painful “exposing so much of myself.

July 2011 | The Good Life

It’s as though my regular self and my writer self are at odds with one another. “My regular shy self says to the writer: ‘Enough already!’ And the writer just keeps saying ‘But there are more stories to tell!’” And more readers to reach. Of her awards and commendations, she values most the notes from readers who were moved by her words. After her mother read Test Ride on the Sunnyland Bus last year, Ana received her highest honor: “She’d been very ill — we didn’t think she’d live. And there was much in the book about my (late) father that she had never known. Some months after publication she said: “You know that book you wrote? You gave your father back to me.” If that’s all my writing ever achieves, that’s enough.” Read about Ana Maria Spagna’s life and publications, including Potluck: Community on the Edge of Wilderness, published in April, at anamariaspagna.com. — by Susan Lagsdin

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column those were the days

rod molzahn

The dam that held back the Depression O

n Oct. 16, 1929 a federal license was granted to Puget Sound Power and Light Company, of Seattle, to build a hydroelectric dam at the Rock Island Rapids on the Columbia River, 12 miles below Wenatchee. It would be the first dam anywhere on the Columbia. Eight days later, on Oct. 29 – “Black Thursday” – Wall Street collapsed. On Jan. 14, 1930, just three months later, construction began on Rock Island Dam. It would take three years to complete the reinforced concrete dam and anchor it to the 15 million year old solid basalt that was the bedrock stretching under the Columbia at the Rock Island Rapids. By mid 1930, one-fourth of Seattle’s workers were unemployed and breadlines were forming. Throughout the state the Great Depression was taking hold. Chelan County, however, was spared and recorded the highest per capita income in the state. The Wenatchee World claimed the valley was immune to the economic sufferings of the rest of the country and pointed to a local building boom that continued through much of 1932 including the construction of

the city’s new $70,000 police station that year. The only problem, the World editorialized, was the habit of “other communities all over the northwest to tell their beggars, their vagrants and their unemployed to ‘Go to Wenatchee, there is plenty of work there.’” Much of that work was at the dam where, depending on schedule and weather, between 1,000 and 3,000 people were employed. The payroll of these workers was a constant and

significant infusion of capital into the community supporting other businesses from restaurants to barbershops. The World proclaimed that “The Rock Island project has prevented our feeling the depression which has prevailed generally throughout the country.” Puget Sound Power and Light Company had quietly begun making plans for the dam in 1927. The plans were made public in November of 1928 and

were immediately embraced by the public and business communities of the valley. The company had been the electricity provider for the city of Wenatchee for many years, building a reputation for reliability, fair prices and good service. Rufus Woods, in the World, predicted the dam would bring “numerous, extensive industries,” including pulp, paper and

Work continues on the north abutment and fishway, looking upstream on the Rock Island Dam, Sept. 1, 1930. Photo from Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center #84-36-3a

| The Good Life

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| July 2011

“...there would never be any demand for such an output of power...” lumber mills. The Wenatchee Chamber of Commerce went to work enthusiastically in support of the dam in spite of some predictions that “there would never be any demand for such an output of power” – an argument also made in opposition to Grand Coulee Dam. Members of the Chamber volunteered their time and services appraising potential damages and negotiating settlements with landowners who would be affected by the dam and its backwater. From January of 1930 for nearly three years the privately funded Rock Island Dam construction worked like a public works project and, along with the apple industry, supported the local economy while the rest of the state and nation sank deeper into the depression. Then, in 1932, that all began to change. At the beginning of the depression falling apple prices had been offset by increasing production and industry income stayed about the same. A successful effort to promote sidewalk sales of apples by unemployed people in eastern cities resulted in 1,500 carloads of Wenatchee Valley fruit being shipped out and also helped keep orchard income at normal levels. Then, as the 1932 crop ripened, the price of apples plummeted. Railroad shipping costs remained high, even increasing in some instances. Throughout the valley, orchardists fell into economic distress, often leaving their banks holding worthless mortgages. Construction at the dam began to slow as completion came

nearer. Feb. 1, 1933 marked the end of work on the dam, the powerhouse and the first four operating units. Employment at the dam dropped to 500, the lowest since the beginning of the project three years earlier. Just as Rock Island Dam began to hold back the waters of the Columbia River, it opened other floodgates that let the depression pour into the valley bringing economic devastation and paranoia with it. The World cautioned readers

to ignore panhandlers and send itinerant families back home. The local Carpenters Union demanded the Chelan County Commissioners turn back outside job seekers at the county line. The commissioners rejected the idea. The Chamber of Commerce received complaints that workers from California were taking orchard jobs that local people needed and several area Chambers of Commerce issued “Iden-

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July 2011 | The Good Life

tity Cards” to local unemployed residents to give them the advantage in hiring. After being held at bay for three years the Great Depression had arrived in the Wenatchee Valley. 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.

Lake Chelan Bach Fest.......................................9 Laura Mounter Real Estate & Co.........................2 Local Tel...........................................................30 Momi Palmieri, Windermere Real Estate/NCW, Leavenworth...............................................23 Moonlight Tile and Stone..................................20 Premiere One Properties..................................13 Products Supply Northwest..............................18 Security 1 Lending...........................................18 Sew-Creative....................................................18 Sleeping Lady Resort King Fisher Dining Room..............................27 Swim World......................................................21 Take Shape for Life...........................................12 Telfords Chapel of the Valley & Crematory........30 The UPS Store..................................................26 Therapy Works..................................................20 Town Toyota Center...........................................28 Tracy Franklin, John L Scott Real Estate...18 & 35 Vita Green........................................................35 Wenatchee Apple Sox.........................................9 Wenatchee Business Journal............................21 Wenatchee Natural Foods................................17 Wenatchee Valley Medical Center.....................11 Wenatchee Valley Museum ..............................12 Western Ranch Buildings..................................13 Wok About Grill................................................27

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FUN STUFF // check out these activities

5 reasonS to venture out M

usic, explosions and tasty treats are among the lures this month to get you out of that chair and into the cheer. (Does that sentence even make sense? Who cares, it’s summer, when we all know the living is easy and the editors are cutting out early.) Anyway... take a look at a few of these events, plucked from the What To Do calendar this month:

Think Alps —

You probably have seen The Sound of Music on television, and you may have seen the film at a movie revival house, but to watch a play that takes place in mountainous Austria — while sitting outside at the beautiful Ski Hill Amphitheater overlooking the spectacular Enchantment Peaks — is an unequaled experience. The play runs every weekend during July and August, starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $14, $22 & $28. Info: leavenworthsummertheater.com.

fly around the twisty course, sometimes on their sides, sometimes spilling out onto the muddy banks. Racing at “The Swamp” will start at 10 a.m. with gates opening at 9 a.m. There will be a free shuttle provided by the Wenatchee Wild from the mall to the Thunder Swamp location across from Pangborn Memorial Photo by Andy Dappen, WenatcheeOutdoors.org Airport on UrbanIndustrial Avenue. Gentlemen: gun your engines!

Exploding skies — Find a good vantage point

(such as laying on your back on a blanket at Walla Walla Park in Wenatchee) to watch the free Fourth of July show. Also with live music, craft and food vendors. Fireworks at dark. If you like to jump the gun, Chelan has rockin’ fireworks on July 2, viewable from Don Morse Park and downtown.

Sprint boats —

The first Thunder Swamp race is July 9 (the second is on Aug. 13) at the 40-acre race track in East Wenatchee. This is not your dad’s genteel boat race — these sprint boats

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The Doobies are just all right with me — Merely

saying the name, Doobie Brothers, evokes a whole different era (“Hey dude, don’t bogart that doobie.”), and while the band members may have changed, along with the waistlines and hairlines of the audience, there’s no denying some music makes those days fresh again. The Doobie Brothers will be on stage at the Deep Water

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| July 2011

Amphitheater, Manson, 7 p.m. Saturday, July 9. Cost: $35 - $75. Info: colvillecasinos.com.

A little more pie, please — Bombs in the

skies, screaming engines,... boy, how about something a little more mellow? Like a pie baking contest. The Wenatchee Farmers Market is holding just that event on Saturday, July 16, with judging starting at 11 a.m. at the corner of Palouse and Columbia streets. This is the kind of contest where even the losers are winners — for the people who get to clean up the pie pan. You can also pick up some fresh, locally grown produce at the market — something healthy to balance any of the pie eating you’ve been doing. By the way, farmers markets in Wenatchee are a moveable feast this year: every Saturday at Columbia Street, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., every Sunday at Memorial Park 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., every Wednesday at Columbia Street, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and, every Thursday at Methow Park 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.