May 2021 The Good Life

DIVING THE COLORFUL WATERS OF INDONESIA

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Contents

14 bouncing back to childhood home

Tennis pro Charl Grobler is going back to live among the animals

page 6

16 SOMEWHERE IN IOWA

Watching the Black-necked stilts

Chance meeting on cross-state bike ride finds a connection among the gnomes

18 LOVING LETTERS FROM LONG AGO Letters reveal what a long, strange trip life can be

21 ZERO LOT LINE HOMES, WITH OPTIONS

Chase and Harlee Cooper are creating a shared-wall community in East Wenatchee they believe offers a choice for buyers

26 CONFLICT AND CLOVIS POINTS

Authors talk: Dan Gemeinhart interviews Teri Fink about her new novel, The Clovis Dig Art sketches n Musician Wylee Williams, page 28 n Dance studio owner Lindsey Martin, page 29

Features

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LIVING WITH PURPOSE

Betsy Dudash asked some friends: Where to you find purposeful meaning in this noisy world?

9 back in the bike seat

Judy Weaver and her husband are once again two-wheeling

10 DIVING AND SIGHTSEEING IN INDONESIA

The warm waters of Asia offered incredible sights... and so did the travels over land

May 2021 | The Good Life

Columns & Departments 6 A bird in the lens: These sparrows look like their name 20 Pet Tales: French Bulldog love 24 The traveling doctor: Diverticulosis 25 June Darling: Finding yourself in a dark place 30 The calendar and a Dan McConnell cartoon 32 History: Bridging NCW 34 That’s life: Americana in chicken coops

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OPENING SHOT

®

Year 15, Number 5 May 2021 The Good Life is published by NCW Good Life, LLC, dba The Good Life 1107 East Denny Way, Apt. B-7 Seattle, WA 98122 PHONE: (509) 888-6527 EMAIL: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

sales@ncwgoodlife.com ONLINE: www.ncwgoodlife.com FACEBOOK: https://www. facebook.com/NCWGoodLife Editor/Publisher, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Kristen Lovene McCamey, Betsy Dudash, Judy Weaver, Jeff W. Radford, Jamie Howell, CarolAnn Seaman, Dale Foreman, Mike Irwin, Dan Gemeinhart, Teri Fink, Susan Sampson, Bruce McCammon, Donna Cassidy, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, Susan Lagsdin and Rod Molzahn Advertising: Lianne Taylor Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Proofing, Dianne Cornell Ad design, Linda Day TO SUBSCRIBE: For $30, ($35 out of state address) you can have 12 issues of The Good Life mailed to you or a friend. Send payment to: The Good Life subscription services 1107 East Denny Way, Apt. B-7 Seattle, WA 98122 For circulation questions, email: donna@ncwgoodlife.com EVENTS: donna@ncwgoodlife.com BUY A COPY of The Good Life at Safeway stores, Mike’s Meats at Pybus, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere) and Dan’s Food Market (Leavenworth) ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact Lianne Taylor at (509) 6696556 or lianne@ncwgoodlife.com WRITE FOR THE GOOD LIFE: We welcome articles about people from Chelan and Douglas counties.

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

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

by NCW Good Life, LLC.

Cool dip in Lake Clara

By Kristen Lovene McCamey

Although the trek is short

on the Clara and Marion Lakes Trail — nestled in the mountains at Mission Ridge Ski Resort — its elevation gain never fails to get your heart pumping and sweat flowing.

An astounding view of the

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mountains accompanies you as you venture through thick-forested woods, rich with wildlife and native plants.

As you approach your destination, the landscape opens before you, with views of the mountains on every side as Lake Clara sits peacefully in the center.

With your adrenaline booming, you decide that jumping into the lake is the perfect way to celebrate a hike well done, and you were right.

Moments such as these make you realize how fortunate you

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May 2021

are to live in such a beautiful location: a place that offers you freedom away from the nuances of everyday tasks and routines.

On the cover Wylee Williams has always loved music, but he picked up the guitar for the first time just ten years ago to teach himself to write songs. He discovered his strong singing voice shortly thereafter — and now there’s no stopping him. Photo by Mike Irwin

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editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

We cluck for chicken stories I never knew chickens were

so popular.

Oh, I like to eat fried chicken and the eggs live hens produce, but beyond idly thinking that “someday” when I move to the farm in my dotage it would be fun to watch the herky-jerky motions of chickens chasing bugs, I don’t spend much time talking about these wacky birds.

Yet, apparently, mention “chickens” in a conversation and someone will be eager to share a story.

My son, visiting from Boise recently, told of the pleasure he finds with his flock of hens.

“The thing I like the most is greeting them all in the morning,” he said. “They run up to me and get all the scraps from the day before. They make so much noise when they see me coming and give nice little clucks as they are devouring the goodies.”

At the mention of chickens, my mind went to Susan Sampson and her story this month (see page 34) about these quintessential farm outbuildings.

She grew up around chicken coops, but was still surprised at how many people had their own stories.

Said Susan in an email: “When I ran the chicken coop essay past my writing group, immediately I started hearing chicken stories.

“Mary Roy has enough chicken material that she plans to assemble a book.

“Cheryl Siler Adkins wrote about the house she rented as a young woman, newly single with a little boy to raise. She lived in a house comprised of three chicken coops cobbled together to make living quarters for humans, but the ceilings were only

six feet high, so her taller friends didn’t stick around much.

“I suspect that if you used a chicken piece and allowed feedback, you’d get lots of it.”

If readers want to share their chicken and chicken coop stories, lay them on us.

! y a m n i g n i Com

We are in our 15th year of publishing The Good Life, but still, stories of what people do and want to do come along that surprise us.

Jeff W. Radford writes this month about diving and exploring beautiful areas of Indonesia (see page 10). That story and photos taken during a trip in 2019 are nice indeed.

Then, I asked Jeff if — now that COVID restrictions are being phased out — he had future scuba trips in mind.

“There’s a submerged Titan missile silo in eastern Washington that you can scuba dive in.

It’s a deep dive (~130 feet). So that’s on my bucket list,” wrote Jeff in an email.

What!?

“Yeah, pretty crazy. Flooded Titan missile silo right in our backyard!” wrote Jeff, who then shared a YouTube video. (You can find it by searching “scuba diving in a Titan 1 nuclear missile silo.”)

I’m not a diver, but I do love snorkeling.

However, I prefer the pretty reef life, rather than a relic from the Cold War. Still, bucket list items should be something to stretch for — or dive deep for.

We trust this issue won’t lay an egg. Enjoy The Good Life.

— Mike May 2021 | The Good Life

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column a bird in the lens

Black-necked Stilt: An elegant bird A

By Bruce McCammon

pril and May are peak times to see Black-necked Stilt in central Washington.

It is entirely possible that you will need to get in a car and drive to see these delicate, seasonal birds. I think that any trip you need to take to view them is worth your time.

I’ve seen them in ephemeral ponds near Mansfield, Bruce McCammon at the mouth is retired, colorof the Walla blind and enjoys Walla River in photographing the birds in north centhe Tri-cities tral Washington. area, in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Oregon, and at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Utah.

Their range is mostly in the southern United States, Mexico and Central America so we are lucky to have them as seasonal visitors to many areas in eastern Washington.

The Black-necked Stilt is an elegant bird. With its slender,

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

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

A pair of Black-necked Stilts walk slowly through the shallow water, looking for insects to feed on.

long black beak, dramatic blackabove-white below color pattern, and long, rose-pink legs they seem to beg you to linger with your binoculars or scope.

These 14- to 15-inch-long birds feed visually. You will see them walk slowly along the edges of marshy areas and occasionally grab an insect from the surface. They will also plunge their beaks into the water to grab crustaceans and other aquatic organisms.

They are one bird that may be increasing in number due to increasing habitat created by dikes, flooded fields and sewage ponds. Climate modeling by the Audubon Society shows their range expanding into Nebraska,

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the Dakotas and north into Canada with a three-degree warming.

Black-necked Stilts nest on the ground, often on small islands or clumps of vegetation. They are often seen in the company of American Avocet and may mix nesting in the same area. When you see a Black-necked Stilt (or several) you should quickly start looking for the American Avocet to enrich your time out birding.

Like most shorebirds, Blacknecked Stilts will tend to be wary of your presence. However, if you sit still long enough, they may move in close to you.

I sat on the ground next to a small pond and just watched the birds for about 30 minutes. My

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camera was ready when they got closer and began parading back and forth in front of me. It was wonderful to watch them up close and to have multiple photo opportunities.

May is a premier time to be out birding. When you get your fill of warblers and other small migrant songbirds (is that possible?), grab your lunch, camera and binoculars and go for some early-day viewing of long-legged shorebirds on the vernal ponds in central Washington.

When you find Stilts, look for Avocets and other seasonal shorebirds. Be prepared to spend enough time to watch them all.

Good luck!

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MY WORLD // A personal essay

Living with purpose in a noisy world

By Betsy Dudash

We live in a complex world.

When you factor in a global pandemic that has cut many of us off from the people, places, and activities that ground us, life can seem overwhelming.

How can we find our place — our purpose — in such a world?

Can we find balance by living more simply and intentionally?

To explore this idea, I reached out to some of the people who’ve been a part of my own journey of self-discovery as a native plant enthusiast and advocate, educator, Sustainable Wenatchee board member and artist.

I asked them how they find meaning and purpose in life and how they savor the everyday moments. Some of those who opened up to me are in their post-retirement “second act,” others are still mid-career.

Not surprisingly, the answers they gave were as different as they are, but one common motivation is simply, as Rick Edwards put it, “Striving to live in a way that matches your beliefs and values.”

For Rick, that translates to “promoting environmental stewardship and helping people in need.”

Kirk Beckendorf seeks “a simple life both for mental and

For Kirk Beckendorf, simple things such as a hike with his wife, Tracey, give his life meaning.

... one common motivation is simply, as Rick Edwards put it, “Striving to live in a way that matches your beliefs and values.”

Jenny Montgomery said, “Yoga taught me to breathe, sit in meditation, and opened my eyes to a new kind of strength and balance.”

emotional calmness as well as minimal impact on the environment.”

As an educator, Kirk strives to have a positive impact on students’ lives and hopes to enhance their curiosity about the May 2021 | The Good Life

world.

Environmental stewardship and education are important to many of those I interviewed, including Sherry Doolittle. “I find meaning by volunteering time and energy to organizawww.ncwgoodlife.com

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tions like the (Chelan-Douglas) Land Trust and the Wenatchee Museum (and Cultural Center),” she said. “Helping build trails and participating in conservation efforts with the Land Trust and teaching groups of school children at the museum are very rewarding.”

“My faith in God underpins my belief in being in community with others,” said Susan Ballinger. “We are called to take care of one another and our

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LIVING WITH PURPOSE }}} Continued from previous page Earth, so all can thrive.”

Jana Fischback also finds meaning through her relationship with God and feels her purpose is to share his love with others. She feels called to do that by “educating and inspiring others to be better stewards of creation, and thus protecting the global poor. I want to help people to understand that caring for ‘the environment’ is as much about defending the lifethreatening impacts of environmental degradation and climate change on people as it is about protecting the natural world.”

Sometimes we need time, introspection, and a change of pace to figure out our place in the world.

When Jenny Montgomery was easing (her word) into her 30s, she began to feel that something was missing from her life. She had “checked off goal after goal” and was financially stable, yet still felt unfulfilled.

Then a friend introduced her to yoga. “Yoga taught me to breathe, sit in meditation, and opened my eyes to a new kind of strength and balance. There is so much growth in the moments you allow yourself to slow down.

That is where it all changed. Today I am 36, and I know learning inspires me, investing in the community is time well spent, and living an intentional life is where my soul is happiest.”

She realized that the void she felt in her 20s was due to her “living without awareness, creativity, and gratitude.”

As you might imagine, living intentionally is often about the small, everyday choices we make. “I want to minimize the footprint I leave on this Earth and I strive to practice actions

Betsy Dudash: How can we find our place in this world?

For Susan Ballinger, “When I hang wet laundry on the clothesline, deliver a bucket of compost to the chickens, or pick berries in my backyard, I feel grounded and loved.”

that will minimize harm,” said Susan Ballinger.

“I’ve discovered that many of these practices bring daily bits of joy and pause. When I hang wet laundry on the clothesline, deliver a bucket of compost to the chickens, or pick berries in my backyard, I feel grounded and loved. These small daily practices fuel the harder work of engaging in local and regional issues to advocate for policies in support of our community’s health and for protection of our lands.”

For Kirk Beckendorf, simple things give his life meaning: a hike with his wife, Tracey, a conversation with family, or a walk along the Wenatchee River with his dog, Ranger.

“My mind wants to be thinking about everything that I think I need to be working on the rest of the day. But I try to follow Ranger’s lead and just focus on what is around me — bark hanging from a tree, wood

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“My mind wants to be thinking about everything that I think I need to be working on the rest of the day. But I try to follow (my dog) Ranger’s lead and just focus on what is around me...” chips lying on the snow under a dead tree dislodged by a woodpecker, the sounds of the water rushing over and around the rocks, ducks and geese chattering.”

Sherry Doolittle gets outside and connects with nature any way she can. She finds joy in watching the birds or “multitudes of insects doing their jobs” and savors the ritual of watching the sun rise and set.

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Jana Fischback’s young children “have been my greatest lesson in how time passes so quickly and how we must cherish each moment with our loved ones,” she said. “I try to soak up everyday moments with them, even though sometimes parenting is really hard, because I know I’ll never get this time back.”

A belief in the importance of community seems to be an integral part of living an intentional life.

Sherry Doolittle enjoys volunteering because it connects her with like-minded people. Rick Edwards loves to “identify… a need… and then help bring together the people and resources needed to address (it).”

Jan Theriault always had a job working with others; now that he’s retired, he spends part of his time giving back to the community. As he said, “There is no better gift than giving to others.”

By striving to live in harmony with their values, every one of these individuals makes a difference in our community.

Betsy Dudash is a self-employed, Purdue-trained landscape horticulturist and designer in Wenatchee. She serves as Sustainable Wenatchee’s board president and writes occasional blogs on sustainability. Betsy also teaches Continuing Education classes at Wenatchee Valley College.

The joy of bike riding cycles around again

By Judy Weaver

I have loved riding a bike

since I was just a kid growing up in a small town in Arizona.

My first bike was red and “used.” It was given to me by my mother’s friend because we could not afford to buy one. I rode that bike until it quite literally broke in half.

Since then, my husband and I have had some standard bikes including a tandem that we rode for several years. When we moved back to the Northwest we each had a bike, but found that we didn’t ride them very often — since it is pretty hilly in Leavenworth and many of the streets do not have bike paths.

So, between a combination of getting older and finding it more difficult to take longer walks or regular bike rides, I was frustrated. I yearned to spend more time outside enjoying this beautiful area and getting some much-needed exercise.

Of course, living through a year’s worth of a pandemic did not help with the frustration.

As a result of that frustration, my husband and I decided to explore the possibility of purchasing electric bikes. Several of our age-bracket friends already had e-bikes and seemed very pleased with them. We began doing some research on types and styles of e-bikes.

We were also encouraged in this process by our daughter and her husband who are both bike riders. They really encouraged us to pursue the purchase of electric bikes. (A side note: our daughter and her husband, on any given day, will easily bike 40 miles.)

So, the hunt began. We checked out a variety of local bike stores and found the perfect bikes. We had a hitch

We have taken several short bike rides around the area and have loved every outing.

I can honestly say that I am “almost” obsessed with riding my new bike daily. installed on our car. We purchased a rack with a ramp so we could easily load our bikes. We already had bike helmets, so we were ready.

We have taken several short bike rides around the area and have loved every outing. I can honestly say that I am “almost” obsessed with riding my new bike daily.

When we called and told our daughter and son-in-law that we had biked six miles, they couldn’t have been happier for us.

Needless to say, getting these bikes has already been a worthwhile experience.

We will probably be “fairweather” riders, but when it is over 55 degrees and not raining too hard — you will find two “seniors” out on their bikes with smiles on their faces enjoying this beautiful area, exploring new bike paths and getting that much needed exercise.

Judy Weaver and her electric bike: Exploring a beautiful place on two wheels.

Judy Weaver is a retired elementary principal. She teaches memoir writing classes for adults in Leavenworth and Wenatchee. She has had added bike riding to her daily activities.

We want to know of fun and interesting local events. Send info to: donna@ncwgoodlife.com May 2021 | The Good Life

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Diving and sightseeing in

Indonesia

Story and photographs

by Jeff W. Radford As our flight makes its final approach into the Denpasar airport, I can make out the ovalshaped Bukit Peninsula on Bali’s southernmost tip.

Including the drive to SeaTac and a five-hour layover in Taipei, my friend Eric and I have been traveling for nearly 28 hours to get to this Indonesian island, and we’re experiencing that giddy feeling that comes with sleep deprivation and the excitement of a new adventure.

I took up scuba diving in 2015 — and by the time of this trip, in 2019 — I still considered myself a novice, and Indonesia would be my first big diving challenge.

Lying in the Coral Triangle,

Indonesia is infamous for its strong currents, and equally famous for having one of the healthiest and most diverse marine ecosystems on the planet.

We muddle through an endless customs line and make our way to an outdoor rendezvous with our hosts, who manage a small homestay in Padang Bai on the east coast of Bali.

The very first things that assault your senses are the heat, humidity and traffic; the latter of which we came to fondly refer to as controlled chaos.

Any thoughts of renting a car or scooter, especially in the urban areas, were quickly extinguished.

We’ve chosen to avoid the crowds and

TOP: Clownfish and anemone hideout, Bali.

MIDDLE: Green Sea Turtle, Komodo National Park.

BOTTOM: Manta Rays, Komodo National Park.

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TOP LEFT: Morning grooming session. Ubud Monkey Forest. LOWER LEFT: Komodo Dragon. Rinca Island. RIGHT: Jatiluwih rice terraces. Bali highlands.

tourist frenzy of the Bukit Peninsula, and have set our sights on eastern and northern Bali and the island’s central highlands. Eric (a wildlife biologist) and I (an RN) prefer to travel off the beaten path rather than lingering in areas overrun by fast food franchises, designer shops and other impositions of modern culture.

On our way to Padang Bai, Eric and I hit an ATM machine to get some cash. With a fluctuating conversion rate of roughly 14,700 Rupiah to 1 US dollar, we each exchange $200 and are instant millionaires!

Padang Bai quickly became our base for the next 12 days.

The town is a unique mix of small-scale fishing village and fledgling tourist center.

From Padang Bai we made

several dives, the most memorable of which was on the USAT Liberty wreck in Tulamben.

After being hit by a Japanese torpedo in January of 1942, the Liberty was towed and beached at Tulamben. In February of 1963, a massive eruption of the nearby Gunung Agung volcano and its ensuing tremors nudged the ship into its shallow, watery grave where it lies today.

The Liberty is arguably the most popular and well-known dive site on Bali, offering a unique mixture of human history and a remarkable variety of coral, anemones and myriad fish species. We were fortunate to dive this wreck both during the day and at night.

During our time in Padang Bai, we also visited Ubud in south-central Bali. The town May 2021 | The Good Life

and its surrounding area is largely regarded as Bali’s cultural, religious and artistic center. Ubud’s high concentration of museums, temples, art shops and galleries, along with a vibrant “foodie” culture, scenic vistas and yoga retreats make this area one of Bali’s most popular destinations.

The controlled chaos on the streets, largely dominated by the ubiquitous 100-150cc “stepthrough” scooter was perhaps more apparent here than any other place we visited on Bali, making Ubud an ideal walking town.

A large portion of our time here was spent at the Ubud Monkey Forest, a learning center and 27-acre sanctuary for the Balinese long-tailed macaque.

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trails, boasts 115 species of plants and trees, several small temples and a population of roughly 1,000 monkeys. If you like monkeys, this is the place to go.

After 12 days of diving and exploring eastern and southcentral Bali, it was time to move on.

Hiring a car and driver, we made our way north up through the central highlands en route to Pemuteran on Bali’s northwest coast. The highlands are truly mesmerizing; offering cooler temperatures, photogenic terraced rice paddies, scenic waterfalls, volcanic landscapes and a vibe that is different from that of the coast.

While exploring this area, we stumbled on a small farm producing the unique, expensive

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TOP: Hindu pilgrims with food offerings. Pemuteran, Bali.

Diving

ABOVE: Explorer Jeff W. Radford

and sightseeing in

FAR LEFT: Taman Ujung Water Palace. Bali.

Indonesia }}} Continued from previous page and controversial Kopi Luwak coffee.

The coffee cherries are eaten and partially digested by the Asian palm civet, a wild cat-like mammal common to southeastern Asia. As the coffee cherries pass through the civet’s digestive system, the bean is fermented, and is then collected from the civets’ poop. The remaining pulp around the bean is removed and the bean is dried and roasted, producing a uniquely flavored coffee.

The civets are usually captured and caged for this purpose, making this type of coffee an ethical and controversial issue among environmental and animal rights advocates. Global

LEFT: Hindu Temple Priest. Java.

demand for “civet coffee” continues to rise, and in the US, one pound of civet coffee can sell for $300 or more.

Pemuteran on the northwest coast of Bali was a welcome change from the hustle and bustle of southern and eastern Bali.

In the shallow waters off of Pemuteran is the Biorock Coral Reef Restoration Project.

For decades now, Indonesia has suffered from bombing and cyanide poisoning of its reefs.

This practice, largely for human subsistence and the global aquarium industry, has impacted Indonesian reefs in many areas.

The Biorock Project has attempted to mitigate this de-

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struction with the building of dozens of whimsical metal structures. In addition to offering fish habitats, these structures also employ a technology called Electrical Mineral Accretion, which uses low-voltage electrical current through the structures to promote coral growth.

Diving these structures of bicycles, Hindu deities, domes and fanciful sea creatures with their brilliant coral mantles was truly captivating.

While in Pemuteran, we also visited Menjangan Island, diving its south-shore walls and coming across the flamboyant and aptly named electric flame scallop or disco clam.

We swam with the (usually)

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docile yet highly venomous Banded Sea Krait, and on land we came nose to nose with the Muntjac “Barking” Deer, one of the oldest deer species in the world.

From our first day in Indonesia, Eric and I we’re continually impressed by the kindness and friendliness of the Balinese people. Not once did we feel threatened or unsafe.

In fact, our experience was just the opposite. Other than the occasional language barrier, we consistently found the people of south-central Indonesia happy and eager to please.

En route to Denpasar in Bali, we made an extended stop at the expansive Jatiluwih rice terraces, a picturesque UNESCO World

Traditional Pinisi scuba liveaboard in the heart of Komodo National Park.

Heritage Cultural Site.

Much of Bali’s arable land is covered in rice fields and terraces, some of them strikingly beautiful. These terraced rice fields, along with Bali’s temples, statues, landscapes and people were a feast for the senses and a photographer’s dream.

After 10 dives and a little over two weeks on Bali, Eric and I were ready for a change.

Hopping a twin-prop commuter plane, we flew 320 miles east to Labuan Bajo on the west coast of Flores Island. Labuan Bajo is the gateway to Komodo National Park (KNP), another UNESCO World Heritage Site and home of the world’s largest lizard, the Komodo Dragon.

In KNP, Eric and I kicked our diving into high gear, spending a week on a diving liveaboard and doing little more than eating, sleeping and diving in this amazing underwater realm.

As the name implies, divers live aboard a boat designed for scuba diving. These boats, many of them traditional Pinisi sailing vessels, vary greatly in size and luxury. Trip lengths generally range from three days to two weeks and usually include brief excursions onto dry land.

For decades, the islands that make up KNP suffered the same fate as other marine areas around the world. Over fishing, pollution and the bombing and cyanide poisoning of the reefs are still common practice in many places.

KNP has gradually recovered from this onslaught through its national park status and UNESCO stewardship, and now offers one of the healthiest and most diverse coral ecosystems Balinese demon statue. Ubud Monkey Forest. in the world.

We dove with schools of huge kept us constantly entertained. and graceful manta rays, some The variety of hard and soft of them with wingspans of 15 coral, and smaller critters like feet or more. Green and Hawksthe pygmy seahorse and colorful bill turtles, moray eels and other slug-like nudibranch’s was stagfish with such whimsical names gering as well. as sweetlips and clown fish nesOn our last day there, we tled in their anemone hideouts visited Rinca Island and strolled May 2021 | The Good Life

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with the dragons. Watching these remarkable reptiles, some measuring eight feet or more and weighing as much as 200 pounds was like catching a glimpse into a prehistoric age.

Trying to wring-out the most from our last three days in Indonesia, Eric and I headed to the small island of Gili Meno.

Part of a triad of tiny islands, Gili Meno provided a rustic, laid-back counterpart to Bali.

Transportation on Gili Meno is accomplished by ornate horsedrawn carriages, fat tire bicycles and by foot.

The island can be circumnavigated on a pleasant sandy trail in less than an hour; or substantially longer if you stop to beach-comb or enjoy the several enticing watering and dining holes along the way.

Gili Meno turned out to be a relaxing place to wind-down after a remarkable month-long journey in this enchanting archipelago.

Jeff Radford is a registered nurse who was born and raised in Mexico, now living in Leavenworth. He enjoys international travel, photography, skiing, hiking, sea kayaking, scuba diving and good food.

‘Totsiens’ to a tennis pro Longtime WRAC fixture returning home to South African family — and the animals

“I

By Jamie Howell

need to tell you something.”

That’s the kind of opener that gives anyone pause — revealing nothing except that, good or bad, it’s gonna be big.

Wenatchee Racquet and Athletic Club (aka “The WRAC”) General Manager Evy Gillin took a deep breath, let the open front door she’d nearly made it out of swing closed again, and turned back to see her colleague of nearly 35 years, Director of Tennis Charl Grobler, looking serious.

It had been one heckuva year already, and it was about to get … heckuv-er.

‘Totsiens’ is the shortest translation of what she heard next.

That’s how they say good-bye in Charl’s native South Africa, a place he’d left at the age of 18 to pursue a career on the tennis court in America.

Forty-two years later, the time had come at last, he said, for his return.

“It really is surreal for me,” said Charl (pronounced “Shawl”), sitting courtside at the WRAC outdoor facility on a recent spring afternoon, the very spot that won him over back in 1985 as he was passing through the Wenatchee Valley on a tennis trip.

“I just totally fell in love,” he recalls. “I could see myself teaching on this court here and looking out at this mountain.”

Two years later, Evy hired him to do exactly that — teach tennis and see what he could do to expand the WRAC’s tennis

programs. He packed his rackets and began his new life on the sunny side of the Cascades.

A teaching pro is born “Formidable,” is the word Stew Cusick, son of one of the WRAC’s founding fathers and current vice president on the club’s board of directors, uses to describe the new pro’s prowess on the court upon his arrival in 1987.

Charl continued to play competitive tennis even after signing on at the WRAC, showing up, often on a motorcycle with rackets poking skyward out of his backpack, and cleaning up at some of the biggest tournaments the Pacific Northwest had to offer.

“He’d come in from dinky Wenatchee and he would show them how to play tennis” recalled Stew. “He just is that good.”

He got that good while growing up in Pretoria, South Africa, where a passion for sports was standard issue.

He attended the Pretoria Boys High School (the same school from which centi-billionaire Elon Musk would later graduate), where it wasn’t uncommon for the school, with its 1,500 pupils, to field literally dozens (each) of rugby, soccer and cricket teams.

South Africa had begun churning out some big players in the ‘80s, as well — Kevin Curren was making trouble in the majors, bouncing the likes of Connors and McEnroe out of repeated Grand Slam events; while fellow Pretorian Johan Kriek

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Tennis pro Charl Grobler: Coming up with a new game plan for his next years.

took two Australian Open titles.

Charl took the inspiration to heart, eventually landing himself a full ride tennis scholarship in America, where he played a never-ending circuit for Oral Roberts University out of Tulsa, Okla., until he graduated.

Post-college, he’d been having early success working his own way up the pro tennis circuits, pursuing ever bigger purses at ever bigger tournaments, until he slipped … in the shower.

The resulting wrist injury proved serious enough to force Charl to consider developing some alternative methods of paying bills with his racket skills - and a teaching pro was born.

Expanding the tennis footprint The tennis pro position at the WRAC had been a revolving door in the years preceding Charl’s arrival.

“That’s unusual, when you have a pro of that caliber who

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will stay around,” said Stew.

That long-term stability, coupled with an unflappable positivity and a heartfelt passion for sharing the game as integral to the WRAC’s growth over the past few decades, according to Stew.

In his efforts to enlarge the footprint of tennis around the Wenatchee Valley, Charl produced new annual tournaments like the Cusick Cup, for example, and brought USTA League tennis to the area for the first time.

At one point, the WRAC fielded 17 recreational traveling tennis teams in a single season, including one season when two of them (one men’s team and one women’s team) won the National Championship - quite a feat in a nationwide league with more than 300,000 players.

The Good Life — left behind?

“Wenatchee, to me, is a gem. A perfect place to live. It’s hard to

years of retirement.

(In truth, there is a great deal more evidence to support the idea that working longer leads to living longer, but that doesn’t make the idea of retiring on Tuesday and kicking the bucket on Wednesday any less frightening.)

“Soon, I’ll be walking out of my house and there will be a giraffe right there.” beat, and I love what I do,” said Charl.

So, if you’ve found the Good Life already, why leave?

For Charl, at 60, it’s primarily a question of mortality and the importance of family. Both his parents passed away recently — parents he saw only periodically on return visits to South Africa every five years or so.

He can’t reconcile the idea of extending his earning years in America with the idea of missing out on the chance to reconnect with his only remaining sibling, a sister 10 years his junior, while they still can.

He also confesses to being bothered by those stories you sometimes hear about people dying within the first three

The animals of his childhood But it’s also about the Wildebeests — blue Wildebeests, and rhinos, giraffes, impala, warthogs and, of course, oh my, the lions.

He misses the animals of his childhood. As a boy in South Africa, he once held a weekend job manning the gates of a small game reserve, where the lions were kept on one side and everything else on the other.

Charl’s job was to let visitors in and out without letting any lions slip across.

Sitting there, a young man reflecting, getting to know the animals, taking in the smell of the Bush — he’s never forgotten it and he wants that for himself again.

That’s why he, his wife Chris of 30 years, and his sister now plan to share a house with separate living quarters on the outskirts of Kruger National Park. At 7,523 square miles, it’s one of the largest game reserves on the African continent.

“Soon, I’ll be walking out of my house and there will be a giraffe right there,” he said with a smile.

There do come some trade-offs with that kind of proximity - no pets, for example, unless you’re okay with them becoming hyena May 2021 | The Good Life

snacks. In fact, the neighborhood where they will live has a messaging system specifically designed to alert residents to dangerous animal sightings.

But, Charl noted with a shrug, “They haven’t lost a resident in at least 25 years.”

“It’s all a leap of faith,” he added. ’N Vriendelike afskeid’ - (a fond farewell) In the final months of his tenure at the WRAC, it wasn’t uncommon to find Charl on the court, feeding tennis balls to youngsters whose grandparents he had also taught to play tennis.

“I feel good about what I’ve done,” he said. “Tennis has helped tremendously at many times in my life. It’s enables you to enrich people’s lives.”

He will board a plane the first week of May, following a farewell tennis tournament and potluck in his honor at the WRAC - a marker of the many lives he has touched through tennis. For many of them, Charl had become a touchstone, an eminently reliable, kind and constant presence ready to share his time, energy and talents.

“I’ve had members tell me that it saves them going to a therapist every week,” said Evy. “I don’t think the members would have let him get out of here with anything less.”

“He’s given an awful lot,” said board member Stew, who, while wishing their departing pro only the best, maintains with a grumble, “I’m not happy about it.”

The sentiment is shared by many at the WRAC, and Charl would agree — there’s never a good time to go.

But you know what they say about the present — there’s never a better time, either.

Jamie Howell, owner of Howell at the Moon Productions, takes breaks as frequently as possible from his writing and filmmaking by swatting at yellow felted balls on the tennis courts of Wenatchee.

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MAY

Two Rivers GALLERY

102 N. COLUMBIA ST. WENATCHEE

www.Brad Brisbine.com

SOMEWHERE IN IOWA Chance meeting on cross-state bike ride finds a connection among the gnomes

By Carolann Seaman RAGBRAI (Resister’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) is back! After a cancelation last year due to you-know-what, the famous and fabulously fun bike ride is on this July.

My husband, three friends, and I joined 32,000 other bikers on the 2018 RAGBRAI. It was a rolling party with bikers of every shape, size age and ability.

For me, in my 60th year, it was an adventure, a challenge, and a vacation all in one.

With 900 miles of training on the roads of Leavenworth, Wenatchee, and Lake Wenatchee, we were more than ready.

We dipped our back tires in the Missouri River on the western border of the state.

Over seven days, we rode 468 miles, averaged 65 miles a day, with over 12,500 feet of elevation climb.

We passed through cities, small towns, tiny towns, but mostly, farm country. At the end, we dipped our front tires in the Mississippi River at the levy in my hometown of Davenport.

Everyday we met friendly people that were glad we came.

Even the air had a friendly quality, the humidity softly settling on our skin.

Each morning, we would ride together for a while, then eventually splinter off to regroup later.

On the fourth day, I was looking ahead for the meeting place when something caught my eye.

Off to the right was a small, tidy, white house with a billow-

ing American flag casting its shadow over a gravel garden.

Red bricks lined the edge of the garden and inside it was the finest collection of concrete lawn statues I’d seen in a long time.

I worked my way to the side of the street.

A man in a t-shirt and baseball cap was seated in a lawn chair watching the steady parade of bikes. He looked a lot like one of my brothers, with a full face, graying mustache, and a stocky build. A proud chin suggested a gruffness that his soft eyes betrayed.

Laying my bike on the grass, I asked him if those statues were his and if I could take a closer look. He agreed.

Half a dozen or so painted statues stood on raked gravel.

They were all about two feet tall and brightly painted. The colors were well chosen and had the confidence of many layers having been skillfully applied.

Two sea-going gentlemen in royal blue uniforms and captains’ caps had gray beards.

One had a pipe in his mouth and a gold sextant in his hand.

The second had his hands in his pockets and was peering straight ahead.

There was a fisherman, wearing a red nor’easter rain hat, holding a fish. Another wore a yellow rain slicker and cradled a pipe to his mouth in a thoughtful pose.

Behind them was a naked blonde woman clutching fabric to her exposed breast. I remember being confused that she was neither a ship’s masthead nor a mermaid. Next to her, a boy

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The brightly repainted gnomes, Carol and the former seaman and a tribe of kids and a mom on a rainy day aboard the USS Missouri.

with a basket, then a decorative birdbath, and, finally, a Union soldier resting his arms on his rifle.

“It looks like you have a nautical theme with a touch of Civil War,” I said to him when I’d finished my inspection.

“Ya,” he answered.

“They look great,” I said, “like

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they’ve just been painted.”

“I did that all last winter in my basement,” he said. “To get them ready for today.”

He asked where I was from.

I told him, “Washington State, the OTHER Washington,” so he wouldn’t think I meant Washington DC. “Oh,” he said, “I lived in Wash-

ington State. I was stationed at the Bremerton shipyards, in the Navy.”

“Oh, ya,” I said, “The battleship Missouri was docked there for a couple of years. The Japanese signed their surrender papers right on the deck of that ship. Were you there,” I asked, “when it was there?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I led tours through the Missouri. That was my job.”

“I thought you looked familiar!” I exclaimed. “My Dad took us kids there when I was a teenager.”

He looked at me and we both laughed.

Giving him my hand to introduce myself, he said his name was Roger. I asked him for a selfie, and we both smiled into the screen, cheek to cheek.

I thanked him for all his hard work to make this day special May 2021 | The Good Life

for the riders, and for sitting out to greet us. Saying goodbye, the stream of bikes carried me on to find my husband and friends.

According to the time stamps on our phones, the whole exchange took four minutes.

For months, I thought about our visit and could visualize a photo of me and my family standing on the deck of the Missouri. No one had seen that photo in decades. It had to be in one of my Mom’s 27 boxes of belongings that were in my basement and garage.

The coincidence of meeting Roger niggled at me until I had to find it and send him a note.

Loaded with five random boxes, I headed for Thanksgiving where my siblings and I began the arduous task of sorting old family photos.

I had a secret mission. I positioned myself to be the one to pull the photos out of the box before they were passed around.

No treasure hunter was more pleased than I when I found that photo. Mom and eight of us motley kids were bunched, according to size, on the deck.

There I was, smiling, hair pulled forward and shoulders slightly hunched, with the insecurity of a 14-year-old girl.

The battleship’s tower rose skyward in the center of the photo, gray and ominous, just like the day. On the back, Mom’s handwriting read, “Feb 1971, Crew of Missouri, Sure was wet and cold.”

Now, to find Roger. I knew it was day four of the ride, maybe the second or third town? I Google mapped it and rode sections of the route again through my computer. Nothing.

Scouring the photo of the lawn statues, I detected address numbers above the door of Roger’s house. They were fuzzy but when I zeroed in, they read “202.”

AHAH! The cross street was 2nd Street or 2nd Avenue. None of the towns I chose worked, so I asked my husband to check the photos on his phone. He’d had www.ncwgoodlife.com

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For months, I thought about our visit and could visualize a photo of me and my family standing on the deck of the Missouri. his location button “ON” and a photo of us taken together right after my visit with Roger. We were standing next to the multidirectional sign that marks the geographical center of the state.

“State Center!,” I said. “He’s in State Center!”

Sitting at our kitchen table, we worked our way backward on the bike route on Google maps satellite images. Fourth Street, Third street, BINGO! There were the statues, and the white house and the billowing flag.

As I dropped my letter, with photos, in the mailbox I wondered if Roger would write back.

I hoped he would.

But if not, I came away with a story and a feeling. A feeling of being welcomed. Roger had prepared for my visit even though he didn’t know it was me that was coming.

All across the state, countless people had done the same.

Farmers had parked their tractors in a neat row on the edge of their fields. Families sat out on lawn chairs waving their flags.

Even a young girl on a trampoline jumped her highest as I rode by.

The air is different in Iowa, and I’m glad I got to breath it in.

For more info about RAGBRAI, signups, and training schedules, go to: ragbrai.com.

CarolAnn Seaman has lived in Leavenworth for 32 years and was the original owner/creator of the Gingerbread Factory. She is an artist, writer and designer, who loves outdoor life and adventure. Along with bicycling, she also loves to ‘up-cycle’, making useful things out of discarded items.

Check out her website, crayolaberry. com

Loving letters from long ago, part 3

Letters reveal what a long, strange trip life can be I

By Dale Foreman

n 2018 a packet of very old love letters arrived in Wenatchee. Written by a dozen people over 100 years, these shine a light on the ways and means to keep a family, and a nation, together during hard times. Times like these.

The view from high up in the tree was all shades of green lush jungle, the sounds of birds screeching and monkeys screaming and down below a young goat crying out in fear.

Clyde Foreman knew he might be up in the tree for hours, waiting for the tiger to come for the goat once darkness fell. He realized he might fall asleep and fall from the tree and be tiger bait himself, so he tied himself to the tree and thought, “How exactly did I wind up in this tree?”

It was 1915 and Clyde was in Yeotmal, India.

But the story began a few years earlier when he jumped onto a moving train in Oil City, Pennsylvania and headed out west.

He was a young man, no job, no college education, he was “riding the rails” looking for a future. The economy was bad in 1907 and the Standard Oil Trust, had bought up all the independent oil wells in the area and laid off workers.

His family had been cutting trees from their small woodland to survive. He heard about the vast forests in the Pacific Northwest and decided he could go out there and cut some big trees and earn his living.

Riding the rails was a tough

business. The conductors on these trains were often thugs who took great pleasure in pushing riders from the moving trains. One such conductor pushed one of Clyde’s fellow riders from the train and he was cut in half.

He roughed it riding with hobos and drunks to the end of the line in Tacoma and got a job in the woods.

He was young and strong, could wield an ax and a saw and he survived on beans and bread and stories around the campfire.

But the constant rain and cold weather gnawed on his spirit and after a couple years he jumped a train to go back home.

There, he met folks at church who encouraged him to volunteer as a missionary to Africa.

First he had to learn Portuguese and so he went to Lisbon for a year of language school.

When he came back to Pennsylvania he met a beautiful young woman, Frances MacGeary. She had gone to Greenville College, she was a talented musician.

Her father had been a preacher and he blessed the union and encouraged the couple to follow his footsteps as a missionary.

On July 16, 1912, “Daddy” MacGeary wrote to them from Natal, South Africa: “Dear Children, Just four weeks ago we left on our trip to Inhambane... we went from Durban by boat and had all the horrors of seasickness at the time... The coconut groves are very beautiful to look upon. Our mission station stands on one of the eminences overlooking the bay... one could not ask for a finer view...

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Clyde Foreman and his bride Frances MacGeary on their honeymoon just before they left by boat for India.

“The curse of the country is known as ‘Inhambane fever’ an insidious malaria borne by mosquitoes. In time all who go there are overcome by it. We have three missionaries buried in that field who laid down their lives for the people there... Africa is a great mission field. All who go must take their lives in their hands...”

On Aug. 16, 1912 “Mama” MacGeary wrote to them from Malvern, South Africa: “We have travelled about 1,600 miles this past month, by donkey and by a hammock contraption carried by men. The swinging made me seasick. I was in one hammock and Pa in another and 10 men took turns carrying us through the jungle at a trot...”

And so in 1914 the young married couple, thinking of coconut palms and lovely vistas but not of malaria, or the sick and dying missionaries, boarded a steamship in New York heading east.

They were bound for India.

Shortly after they arrived in Yeotmal, the headman of the village came and asked for help.

A vicious tiger had been coming into the village at night, killing goats and frightening the people. No one had a rifle, could

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the new missionary get a gun and shoot the tiger? Only white people could possess firearms in the British colony at that time.

Clyde had grown up deer hunting in Pennsylvania but had never shot a tiger. He went to the nearest city and was able to buy a rifle and some bullets.

He found a tall tree with spreading branches near the main jungle footpath. He tied a young goat as bait at the foot of a nearby tree and waited for the sun to go down.

As the hours passed he thought of the long strange trip his life had been so far.

He did not know in the years to come his wife would contract malaria and nearly die, that they would return home from India in 1916 and he would work in the Goodyear Tire and Rubber factory in Akron, Ohio until he was laid off.

He couldn’t imagine that they would move to Los Angeles in search of a climate where Frances would suffer less from the malaria that would plague her for the rest of her life. He had no idea that he would become a successful home builder to wealthy movie folk in Beverly Hills.

He could not dream they

would have three sons who would all go to college and become successful: Roland who served as the state architect of California under Ronald Reagan; Melvin who earned a Ph.D in sociology from the University of Washington and became dean of Seattle Pacific University; and Kenneth, World War II hero who earned a doctorate in education from USC and became head coach of the US Women’s Olympic Team.

All Clyde could think about was the tiger who was silently stalking the terrified sacrificial goat.

He heard a twig snap, then saw a light glint in the tiger’s eye and he pulled the trigger. Bang, the shot rang out and the tiger thrashed about in the bushes and died.

As Clyde approached the downed tiger, he caught another glint of light in the jungle and fired his last remaining shot.

He approached the bush and found a black panther that had been stalking him. That black panther’s skin with a hole over the left eye adorned his office for years.

The village headman came running, shouting for joy. The villagers all came out of their huts to join in the celebration and thank the young missionary hero. The village had been saved. From that day they called him “Sahib Foreman.”

The letters are a gift.

Before the telephone, before the internet, before television and before Zoom, people wrote letters. They wrote them slowly, carefully, they wrote them to the ones they loved. And a few people kept the letters, saved them for years to reread and to remember their past.

And so the letters from long ago did provide a recipe for the secret sauce that keeps a family and a nation together.

Courage, hard work, sacrifice, faith, hope and charity. Charity, the old Biblical word for love.

And the greatest of these is love.

Whole bushels of love.

Subscribe/renew for less than the cost of a few apples a month

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

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

Keep these positive stories coming to your home!

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PET tales

➥

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

➥ This is Olive with Sebastian Bor-

den, 13, in Lake Wenatchee.

Olive is a 3-year-old Standard Poodle.

“Olive loves to hike and play with other dogs. She doesn’t care much for the water, but she’s a good sport and goes paddle boarding with us without complaining,” said Sheila Borden of Wenatchee.

Sheila also said they brought Olive home on Christmas Eve 2018 from a local breeder.

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LeeAnn Patin, Wenatchee is with

her one-year-old French Bulldog named Felicity.

“Felicity is a sweet, gentle, quiet little girl. She loves everyone.

“French Bulldogs are great family dogs, good with children and are playful and silly,” said LeeAnn, who breeds and sells French Bulldogs.

LeeAnn has three French Bulldogs and two Dachshunds.

The open plan living area in this model home (staged by Harlee Cooper) shows value-adding details: the fireplace surround, abundant lighting, easy-care flooring and just enough outdoor space for relaxing in sun and shade, with no yardwork required.

Zero lot line homes, lots of options East Haven subdivision offers a new choice in a crowded marketplace

D

By Susan Lagsdin

ownsizing? Snowbirding?

Investing? First-timing? Want a garden/tired of gardening? Got a dog? Heaps of sports gear?

Single? Kids?

Buyers in this year’s hot and hotter Wenatchee Valley real estate market come with a wide range of needs, causing a recordbreaking number of building permits for apartments, townhomes, condos, tiny homes,

Individual “zero-lot-line” homes are a housing hybrid the Coopers think combines the best of several related concepts (condo, townhouse, duplex, patio home). Buyers own both the lot and the house; an HOA cares for roads and landscaping.

May 2021 | The Good Life

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duplexes and accessory dwelling units as well as single-family housing.

A new and still-growing “shared wall” subdivision in East Wenatchee, built by Chase Cooper of C&C Investment Properties, provides floor plans and yard configurations that vary — or can easily be amended — to suit all kinds of buyers.

Chase has been working some phase of home construction with his dad, Randy, since he was a small boy, and he always knew he’d become part of the family enterprise. After picking up his business degree at Western Washington University, he’s made a career of developing residential properties.

One family project with his

}}} Continued on next page

ZERO LOT LINE HOMES }}} Continued from previous page dad and brother Josh was Tanglewood Townhomes, built in 2014 near the Wenatchee Golf and Country Club.

Chase’s first big solo venture was West Haven, a group of single-family homes at Maiden Lane and Western in Wenatchee; his most recent is these patio homes in East Haven, on Columbia Avenue.

Chase’s wife Harlee, with a keen eye for home decor and a real estate license, is his working partner, and together they’re designing, building and selling homes at a pace that keeps them both moving fast.

Both 34, they’re committed to the family business and to their own family, which includes a trio of sons from an infant to a five-year-old. And they stand by the quality in this subdivision: his parents and grandmother live in the two adjoining homes that were built first.

Sometimes the terms are confusing. This may help: each of the two-story homes in the East Haven development is on its own platted lot on a zero lot-line, which means it shares a wall with one neighbor. (Chase explained, “I needed a building permit for each side.”) The homeowner owns the structure and the land beneath their house.

Each discrete two-residence unit is called a townhome or patio home but is not a one half of duplex.

A current monthly fee covers East Haven’s routine snow removal and irrigation water, and a maintained green space and fence will buffer the west side of the property. However, although there will be a homeowners’ association with an elected board to adopt bylaws and CC&Rs (covenants, conditions and restrictions) once 70 percent of the homes are purchased, East

Chase and Harlee Cooper, here in the kitchen of an East Haven home, are actively continuing the family tradition of developing residential properties in the area — he’s been in the building business since boyhood; she’s a designer and real estate agent. Photos by Mike Irwin

Haven is not by definition a condominium complex.

And, not every unit is the same. Because the entire operation from land purchase to excavation to turn-key finishes is under one C&C umbrella, the Coopers can make change orders without penalty and with clear communication. Their fulltime building crew is only 8-10 people, with HVAC, plumbing and electric contracted out.

A few construction modifications Chase made over time are a more efficient use of space, like previously unused attic spaceturned bedroom and creative hardscaping on the small yards.

Later units have three-car garages; some have decks, some patios.

Three different floorplans with features like a bonus room, dining nook and office offer potential for re-thinking daily use.

Harlee’s proud of her choice of interior features like vinyl plank

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flooring, propane fireplace, Kitchen Aid appliances, and the slick “no visible wire” media connections positioned on one wall in every living room, bonus room and bedrooms.

Two of the big questions that come up are privacy in a shared wall unit and individual outdoor space, and both were important considerations for the builder.

“We use ICF’s — insulated concrete forms,” said Chase, pointing across the street to a wall in mid-construction. Those 10-inch thick sound and fire barriers make a big difference. “My dad agrees that his is the quietest house he’s ever lived in.”

Rolling lawns and soaring decks have never been part of the plan, but that doesn’t mean drinks at sunset, a vegetable garden, a barbecue party (with a dedicated propane line for grilling), a swing set or a dog run are out of the question. Though the actual amenities vary, the

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Coopers have tried hard to carve usable living space out of the small lot on which each house stands.

Fencing protects privacy between wall-neighbors and backyard neighbors, and sunken patio or deck space is a unique feature in some units. The extensive excavation for foundations yielded all the attractive and well-employed river rock, so Harlee can tell people, “Each one of these boulders is homegrown, from right here on the place.”

This spring, prices are $385,000 for the already-built 1,800 square-foot houses, and new ones will top out at $400,000. A few larger units (2,000 square feet and over) will be priced closer to $500,000.

“Housing demand is high, and prices are going to rise for a while,” said Harlee, who’s watched the market close-up for five years. “That’s partly because

sold to owners who live here full time.”

Harlee agreed and added, “It’s pretty surprising what a wide range of people are moving in here.” She knows them all and pointed out a few homes on Solomon Loop Road (named for one of their sons) owned by a single retired woman with a roommate, a young couple with a child, an active part-timer couple who RV to elsewhere.

The Coopers know that much of the appeal of the homes is their location.

East Haven, with some yards abutting the meadow and trees at the perimeter of the Loop Trail, offers access to miles of biking and walking and is an easy drive three ways: to East Wenatchee’s center and to both Columbia River bridges.

In a welter of increasingly interesting housing choices, Chase and Harlee are hoping that their spacious and sensible hitchedtogether homes offer this year’s buyers an appealing option.

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of new regulations and partly because this year it seems like materials cost more with every order — flooring, framing lumber. It all adds up.”

Affordable is a relative term, of course, but the Coopers believe

they have created homes with a wide range of potential buyers, both local and newly arrived.

Chase thinks investing here with an eye toward long-term renting is not a feasible move for most buyers. “We’ve mostly

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column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

Common diverticulosis can lead to pain D

iverticulosis of the colon is a relatively common condition.

In fact one half of people over age 60 have this condition. In most of them it is without symptoms.

This is a condition where small pea-sized out-pouchings develop primarily in the lower sigmoid colon, the part of the large intestine located in the left lower part of our abdomen.

Why do so many of us get these out-pouchings? It is thought that a low-fiber diet might be a factor as it contributes to constipation and straining to have a bowel movement.

Diverticulosis itself does not cause any symptoms to the patient.

The first time that many paA YARD IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE ON GRASS

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RIDING THE WIND

tients find out they have them is while having a colonoscopy for cancer screening.

Diverticulitis is a potential complication of having diverticuli. If one gets diverticulitis the symptoms are pain in the left lower abdomen, tenderness and usually with chills and fever.

It can develop due to a diverticula becoming inflamed, or the development of a small leak in one of these out-pouchings in the bowel wall resulting in an infection.

In some cases, they can perforate leading to an abscess or even peritonitis. If that happens it usually becomes a surgical condition, which can lead to a resection of a segment of the colon or even a temporary colos-

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tomy until the infection is taken care of.

My personal experience with diverticulitis occurred about 16 years ago while I was in Norway.

My son Steve had called me to tell me that he was going to a medical conference in northern Norway in the city of Tromso, located above the Arctic Circle.

Steve had developed an Internet device to monitor medical patients remotely on a daily basis. It seemed perfect for Norway with its remoteness.

He also said that we could visit Harstad, Norway on our way to Tromso. Harstad is a beautiful small town located on a fjord known for the fishing and shipping port.

Since my grandparents on my mom’s side came from Harstad, it seemed like a great opportunity to see where my Kildal roots came from.

As it so happened, Shirley Wadsworth, who worked at what was then the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center, told me she had had an exchange student from Harstad in the past. She gave me the student’s mother’s email address so I contacted her.

The mother said as soon as you get to Harstad, please call me, which I did.

She then said. “I will pick you and Steve up tomorrow.” She took us to a small home on the edge of town. To our surprise, there were about 15 Kildals waiting to greet us and serve us delicious Norwegian treats.

Fortunately, one person brought their book of the Kildal history dating back to 1600. They scrolled down to my grandparents and then my mother who had married a Brown, so we were accepted into the Kildal clan.

This was a wonderful, once in a lifetime experience. From

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May 2021

there after exploring the beautiful Harstad area, we went to Tromso for the conference.

The highlight for me was hearing the keynote speaker who was the head of the Noble Prize committee.

After that, Steve and I parted.

I flew to Oslo and stayed at a hotel near the airport and had a wonderful day exploring lovely Oslo. The night before my flight the next day to Seattle, I started to have pain in my left lower abdomen. It was very tender and I developed chills and fever. I knew then that I had diverticulitis.

It was fortunate in that I had the right antibiotics with me and started them immediately.

I called my wife, Lynn, before boarding my flight to Seattle and asked her to get me an appointment with my gastroenterology partner Dr. Robert Ogburn as soon as I arrived in Wenatchee.

I was feeling somewhat better after the antibiotics kicked in and thought I could make it back to the States safely.

So far (knock on wood) I have not had another episode of diverticulitis.

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

ask the doctor

Are there medical topics you would be interested in knowing more about?

Send your ideas to: editor@ncwgoodlife.com.

>>

column moving up to the good life

june darling

We have all been in dark places “Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths.”

— M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled

M

y husband, John, and I are still processing a car accident we had a few days ago while visiting our older son in Park City, Utah.

Fortunately, no one was injured. Unfortunately, two cars were damaged.

Sadly, the cherished, brand new, mangled Toyota SUV we were driving had to be towed away. The SUV belonged to our daughter-in-law. And… we were the ones cited for taking a left turn on green, not yielding to oncoming traffic.

It had been a wonderful trip up until that point. But suddenly, we were not feeling too good about ourselves. Nor Park City.

Nor the whole COVID crappy world.

Afterwards, we could not even remember how we got home.

Talk about a funk. No worse. We were in a hollow, dark, empty place.

We shared our emotions like guilt, shame, fear, confusion, shock, embarrassment. We thought we were “traumatized” though we were not sure what that meant exactly. Clearly, we were a bit messed up in the head.

Still, we felt self-centered about calling ourselves traumatized when we considered horrible accidents where people were maimed and killed.

We left later than evening for the airport. After getting through security, we headed for the pub. We thought some normally forbidden food might help. Hamburger, French fries, a beer, perhaps a chocolate brownie might fill up the hollow place. Afterwards, we did not

We were in a mishap. Were any babies killed? This is the question one friend asks herself and others to get a balanced perspective.

Thankfully, no. No babies were hurt at all. notice much change other than now we also felt guilty about eating too much junk.

The next morning, no better.

The internal darkness lingered. I told John I remembered a friend sharing a story about a time he had felt lost, sad, defeated. He was in college, away from home, not doing so well in school. He stopped going to his classes, laid in his bed with the lights turned off and played Sounds of Silence

by Simon and Garfunkel. “Hello darkness my old friend… I’ve come to talk with you again.”

Over and over.

John quickly found the song on his phone and played it for us. Something about the song helped. It could have been the music itself. Music can touch us emotionally. Perhaps an understanding that we were in a dark place where others had been felt comforting.

Then things started to change.

We looked outside. The sun was shining.

We decided to walk our legs off and check on our little community of Cashmere.

Many people were enjoying the weather. Two boys invited us over to examine a cricket. Soon the mother and baby joined in.

May 2021 | The Good Life

We became fast friends.

A 94-year-old friend told us stories we had never heard. She had, it seems, been miraculously healed of several ailments in her life including lupus.

As we left her, a friendly woman and her family halted their backyard project and introduced themselves — eventually sharing their interests and background. Little kids stopped their playing to shout out where they were going on imaginary trips in their wagon. Older kids told us how great their geodesicdome climbing equipment was for playing “king of the mountain” or simply for sliding down.

They shared about times they had hung on by their ankles.

Our world warmed. Looking back these several days, I think of it as one of the lovelier days I have experienced in my life.

What, my friends, just happened there?

Here is how I see it upon reflection.

We were in a mishap. Were any babies killed? This is the question one friend asks herself and others to get a balanced perspective. Thankfully, no. No babies were hurt at all. Still, we regretted what had happened and took steps to repair the damage as best we could.

We were able to notice the mix of our many emotions, as well as our self-judgment. It was helpful to be able to sit with those emotions without repressing them or getting overly carried away and to label them if possible. (If you read last month’s article, you know we were already working on those practices.)

What we added was this visceral understanding of our common humanity, that we have all been in dark places. The music helped, moving our bodies www.ncwgoodlife.com

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was good.

Music and exercise are common ways of lifting our spirits. But then, best of all, was the authentic connecting with others.

Being present, reaching out.

John and I came home from our walk around town with rosy checks and warm hearts, renewed and ready to head back soon to see our loved ones in Park City. Best of all, we can remember the day, continue to savor it, and share it with others.

There were a lot of lessons for me in all that misery, mindfulness, music, movement, miracles, and … especially the mysterious magic of kinship.

Life IS difficult and complex.

Life IS also rich and fulfilling.

Each of us must find our own way through the wilderness to the Good Life. It seems to me, however, reflecting on and sharing our stories, connecting with others, steeping ourselves in our common humanity is what gives us perspective, hope and nourishment for the journey.

And if we need another boost, we can remember the words of a poet… “everything is possible in the month of May.” How might we take the month of May to savor our common humanity and move up to The Good Life?

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

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

Authors talk

Dan Gemeinhart interviews Teri Fink about her new novel, The Clovis Dig (Editor’s note: Dan Gemeinhart is the author of five novels for young readers: The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, Good Dog, Scar Island, Some Kind of Courage and The Honest Truth, which was a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection.

Dan sat down with novelist Teri Fink to talk about her newest novel, The Clovis Dig, which will be released May 1.

Dan Gemeinhart: This is a very local story in the best sense, grounded in the places, history and culture of our Wenatchee Valley. What were some of the challenges and joys of writing such a locally-rooted story?

Teri Fink: They say write about what you know. When I sat down to write The Clovis Dig I knew first-hand about the time, the place, and the dig itself.

The novel was inspired by the real Richey/Roberts Clovis Cache. In the late 1980s ancient artifacts were uncovered in an East Wenatchee apple orchard.

As for experiencing the history and culture of the Wenatchee valley, I’ve lived in Wenatchee for most of my life. I grew up literally surrounded by apple orchards — including apple trees in our back yard. I worked in orchards and at Columbia Fruit during my teenage years, and at WSU Tree Fruit Research my first year out of college.

Dan: Although this is a fiction story, it is based on actual

events, places and culture. How much research did you have to do to get the story right, and how much creative liberty did you take with the factual history?

Teri: I took a huge amount of creative liberty. This novel is definitely not meant to be a fictionalized re-telling of what actually happened. It’s pure creative fiction.

As for researching the book, I toured the Richey/Roberts dig when it was going on. I kept all the news articles that were printed at the time, including Wenatchee World stories and a National Geographic magazine that featured the dig.

Later, after the first couple of drafts were written, the internet came along, and I was able to research more about the science and archaeology, about other Clovis discoveries in the U.S., and about Native American history in our region.

Also, just as I was finishing up the novel, the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts came out with a film called The Winter’s Tale. In the film, oral historian Randy Lewis tells the legend of a ferocious dragon named Spexman, and how the dragon is defeated by twin brothers using spears tipped with Clovis points.

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| The Good Life

Conflict and Clovis points Amidst the beauty of the

Wenatchee Valley at the feet of the Cascade Mountains, apple orchardist Claire Courtney struggles to make a living.

When strange and ancient artifacts are discovered beneath her land, Claire wonders whether the ensuing archaeological dig will save her or be the final blow in her struggle to hang onto her home and livelihood.

Geologist Nick Zentner talks about the geology of our area.

He explains that volcanic ash from Glacier Peak, which erupted 13,000 years ago, covered our area — up to a foot deep around Chelan. That ash layer helped date the Clovis cache.

I included parts of the legend and geology from the film into the novel.

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May 2021

To make matters worse, conflict between the archaeologists on the dig — Joe Running from the west, and Spencer Grant from the east — threatens the entire project.

The Clovis Dig is a multicultural novel that brings to Claire’s orchard Native Americans, Latinos and migrant workers from the American South to grapple over ownership of what lies beneath the earth.

Dan: This is, among other things, a richly cross-cultural story. How did you approach telling the stories of other peoples and cultures? Did you reach out to local Latinx and/or native people to get their perspective?

Teri: I did reach out to people, but living and working in the area for so many years brought me into contact with folks from many walks of life and ethnic

I grew to love the cast of characters in this book, and I still think of them often — tough orchardist Claire Courtney, rookie archaeologist Joe Running, sophisticated archaeologist Spencer Grant, orchard manager Carlos Barbosa...

Teri Fink and Dan Gemeinhart at a book signing in 2019 at A Book for All Seasons in Leavenworth. Teri was signing a copy of her first novel, Invisible by Day.

backgrounds.

The Clovis Dig is a cultural merging of characters, in part, because that’s what I experienced growing up and living here.

When I was a child, many of the migrant workers traveled from the American south, particularly Arkansas and Oklahoma, to pick fruit. Then migrants began arriving from Mexico.

Also, I worked in education for three decades, most recently as Communications Officer for Wenatchee School District. I interviewed hundreds of students and teachers over the years. Kids told me about coming to Wenatchee from Mexico not knowing a word of English.

They also talked about how they integrated into life here.

The Mariachi program, for example, helped many Hispanic kids maintain their cultural identity while helping them to be a part of the community and go on to college, often the first

in their families to do so.

As for the Native Americans in the novel, I’m a fan of Tony Hillerman mysteries. One of Hillerman’s main characters is Joe Leaphorn, a Navajo policeman. That character inspired my Joe — that’s Joe Running, a WSU archaeologist.

I’m also a fan of books by Sherman Alexie, who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. I attended a talk by Alexie, and he was incredibly entertaining. His talk and his books taught me about local Native American life.

Also, I wanted to be culturally sensitive, so I reached out to the archaeology department of the Colville Confederated Tribe.

They graciously read my book and offered helpful feedback.

Dan: This story involves many characters and plot lines woven together... was it difficult to juggle such a complex story in your mind?

Teri: No, because I didn’t really juggle all the stories in my mind.

I wrote many drafts of the novel, going back to flesh out the different story lines, in much the same way that mystery writers can go back to earlier chapters and insert a clue or a red herring.

I should add, some writers creMay 2021 | The Good Life

ate an outline before they write a single page of a novel. They know ahead of time “who done it,” how they did it, and what the ending is going to be. It’s a very efficient way to craft a novel.

Unfortunately for me, I’m not one of those — yet. I’ve painted myself into a corner many times by writing with no destination in mind, waiting to see where the characters take me.

I grew to love the cast of characters in this book, and I still think of them often — tough orchardist Claire Courtney, rookie archaeologist Joe Running, sophisticated archaeologist Spencer Grant, orchard manager Carlos Barbosa, Colville tribal attorney Shawna Ross and her savvy grandfather, Sam Moses, a tribal leader.

I enjoyed writing about them all.

Dan: What originally sparked your interest in writing a story about the Clovis dig?

Teri: I’ve always been fascinated with archaeological digs — maybe too many Indiana Jones movies.

I remember reading National Geographic magazine as a kid, fascinated with the photographs of Pompeii, which I finally got to visit in 2012.

I was librarian at Eastmont High School when the real Clovis investigation was going on. I tagged along with Mike Beck’s social studies class on a tour, and I was instantly hooked.

To have an archaeological dig in our own back yard was spectacular.

Dan: This book is about conflict surrounding our region’s Clovis dig, but we all know that books are usually really “about” something other than what they’re ostensibly “about.” Moby Dick isn’t really a book about whales, for instance.

What would you tell a prospective reader this book is really “about,” on a deeper level?

Teri: There’s a theme of reconciliation with one’s past — if www.ncwgoodlife.com

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Early praise for The Clovis Dig “W

hat happens when removing a few inches of dirt transforms your life forever and reveals your destiny?

That is where this exhilarating story begins. Set in the beautifully described Wenatchee Valley near the Cascade Mountains, apple orchardist Claire Courtney makes a modest living.

Then ancient artifacts are discovered on her land. Before long, Claire finds herself thrown into the middle of a massive archaeological dig and a slow-burning conflict between two rivals.

Given the sheer volume of literature produced each year, it can sometimes be hard to find true works of such striking excellence as this tiny gem of a book … The book has some of the most creative and fully fleshed-out characters in modern fiction.

The novel’s narrative is both nuanced and breezy, and its visuals are compelling and revealing.

In short, this is a wonderful and engaging literary experience that can’t fail to bring one enjoyment.”

— Reviewed by Robert Buccellato. Reprinted with permission

by The US Review of books.

you don’t address the wounds of your past, you continue to bleed.

And the characters deal with some of the same issues we struggle with today — racism, sexism, and greed, to name a few.

Then of course there’s deceit, murder, injustice and love.

Dan Gemeinhart is a former librarian who lives in Cashmere with his wife and three daughters. He’s the author of five books for young readers, several of which are set in our region.

Teri Fink is a former librarian and communications officer. She lives at Lake Chelan with her husband Don. The Clovis Dig is her second novel.

The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

Fearless Putting it all together, this singer-songwriter finds clear direction after a career change and a move to Chelan

W

By Susan Lagsdin

ylee Williams, a singer, guitarist and songwriter newly residing in Chelan, is fearless about full disclosure of his checkered musical past.

When he was a kid, the drive to school in Monroe from home in Skykomish took 50 minutes, he said, “So there were some pretty amazing times in the car — loud music with me and the whole family singing at the top of our lungs.” He honed his voice belting out Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Journey.

And the guitar playing? “I never really had a lesson. I taught myself from YouTube videos. Then my friend needed a guitarist for his band, so I just started playing…”

Now 29, he’s also fearless about aiming his whole life toward producing his original songs. His first music video, February, a hopeful lament for a summer love, came out in early April.

The music was engineered by Wylee from start to finish in his home studio here, and the video was filmed by friends in a Sultan meadow.

The whole package (available online) has an acoustic version, a performance version and a lyrical version, plus a how-I-madeit tutorial. And, to the untrained but picky ear of this interviewer, the song sounds damn good.

Fearless is an ironic descriptor for this musician, considering Wylee’s past profession.

After dabbling as a teen in car racing at the Evergreen Speedway, at 18 he joined his dad to become the daring duo of “Mr. Dizzy and Dizzy Junior” in exhibition stunt driving that

28

involved, for instance, leaping a car (or a bus, or a limousine) off a ramp up to 120 feet over the tops of a row of dispensable cars (or boats). Not a sport for sissies.

Booked at racetracks and fairgrounds around the U.S.A, as well as Canada and Costa Rica, they’d show up with their portable ramps and a pod containing a roll cage, a five-point harness and fire suits; the venue provided all the disposables as well as the driving cars. Discovery Channel featured the team and film crews followed them for 16 episodes of the History Channel’s American Daredevils.

But Wylee’s stunt career ended in 2019 with a now-healed back injury.

How did that happen? Falling 20 feet while hiking at Eagle Falls; bad luck, but the timing was perfect. He moved from Everett to help build the family compound in Union Valley last year.

In this peaceful setting northeast of town, with physical labor and without the stress and bad habits he’d accumulated, his health improved, he lost weight, and he started making the music that he loves.

“I’d been trying to produce music for 10 years,” Wylee said.

“It didn’t come easily – I spent countless hours practicing, learning… messing around with my own songs.”

For a long time he didn’t consider himself a singer, so he just played guitar, started and ended a few bands, and kept on with his songwriting, amassing about 500 songs (“Lots of starts,” he said) that he can go back and re-tool if he wants to.

He wrote down lyrics only, with no musical notation. “It

| The Good Life

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doesn’t matter — I can always hear the tune in my head when I read it again.”

When he’s composing, he plays a chord on the piano, lets others follow organically, then records them on the computer and re-listens.

It’s then that a word or phrase might slip into his mind unbidden, and he follows that into a kind of poetry Wylee Williams: An adrenaline rush. Photo by Mike Irwin that becomes a song.

What Wylee hear you because you’ve already brings to his resolved career created some buzz.” in music is not just a personal He plans to issue one original songwriting strategy, a sense of single every four weeks until rhythm and a clear voice, but he’s ready to release an album, an up-to-date knowledge of the then he can offer CDs and even industry. The electronic equipvinyl. ment he’s acquired allows him After that he’ll likely find a to add orchestral elements, mix, way into your favorite north master and record on his own, central Washington bistro, bar working in his home’s fullyor winery. No covers, all original equipped sound studio.

Wylee Williams music that’s And his strategy in marketing been waiting years to be heard. his music is quite different from “Playing and singing solo is that of the ’80’s groups he grew new — it gives me an adrenaline up emulating. “You don’t start rush, kind of like stunt driving.” out in bars and clubs anymore, Wylee amended that. “Well, waiting to be heard by an agent,“ with the stunts, you knew you Wylee said. might die. But with singing, He explained that it’s essential you’re digging down deep inside to have a recognizable genre yourself and you’re really vul(he’s alt-pop), use all the online nerable.” platforms, have a website and He’ll be OK with that. Remerchandise, and slowly put a member, this guy is fearless. few tunes out in the ethers to You can hear Wylee’s song February gradually build a loyal fan base. on these music sites: Spotify, Pa“Then when you play a club, treon, YouTube, Apple Music, Google people come from all over to Play and Amazon. |

May 2021

The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

A dance to being creative during COVID Owner Lindsey Martin: ‘I’m just a little hustler’

L

By Susan Lagsdin

indsey Martin isn’t going to let this year’s ever-shifting pandemic standards of Levels 1, 2 or 3, dampen her creativity.

Her Wenatchee studio, Dance Creations, adheres to safety rules by breaking a few longstanding traditions.

“The parents used to sit in here to watch their kids in dance classes,” she gestured to a small room with stacked folding chairs and two big TV screens.

“But with COVID, we Zoom the classes so they can leave and do errands and watch from their cars or at home.” She built a shelf in each studio space for a slim laptop to record sessions.

Distance watching works so well she’s considering bumping out a wall and converting the “parent room” into a fourth studio space when life and dance classes return to normal.

Overall registration is lower than usual (359 at its height, 250 this year), so for her business to survive and thrive and attract new clientele, Lindsey recently became certified both in tumbling and as personal trainer.

There’s a new YouTube page with tricks, tips and free choreography. She’s also added private dance lessons, enabling her to keep staff working. And she’s picked up a few grants. “I’m just a little hustler,” she grinned.

Her entrepreneurial agility extends to scheduling and facilities use, too. To accommodate

the COVID protocol’s smaller class sizes, lessons times are shorter (with disinfecting time built in) and individuals are limited to two classes per week.

But the place is now hopping, even hiphopping, seven full days a week in all three studios, up from four afternoon/ evenings during a typi- Lindsey Martin: “I think and live dance 24/7 these days, but I still love it.” Photo by Mike Irwin cal school year. (She’s happy that her husing her mother’s trepidations, at hallway, but in 2021 the travelband works a similar schedule.

18 Lindsey headed off to live and ing corps (usually numbering “It means we really never mess dance on her own in the beating 70, now 45) was sidelined. “In up the house.”) “I think and live heart of the Los Angles enterMarch,” Lindsey said, “we were dance 24/7 these days, but I still finally able to go to two competainment industry. love it,” said Lindsey.

Constant classes and auditions titions. And they were in heaven And no one loves dance more kept her in view and in demand. just being on stage!” than the dancers. As other perMusic videos were her bread Lindsey danced on a profesformance artists know, it’s tough sional stage younger than most. and butter, and she worked with to stay home with no audience. name-droppable names like In 2004, still a Wenatchee High For Lindsey’s Elite Team of School senior, she caught the eye Eminem, Mariah Carey, Prince highly motivated, competitive and Sir Mix-a-Lot. of a Seattle competition judge students, it’s heartbreaking.

Years of contemporary and with good connections. “He Over the years hundreds of jazz dance training at Fabulous actually told me later, ‘You were plaques, ribbons and trophies Feet studio gave her strong not the best dancer, but your have created a wall of fame skills, and her own ambition passion stood out,’” she said. in the long Dance Creations With shaky confidence match}}} Continued on next page May 2021 | The Good Life

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A DANCE TO BEING CREATIVE }}} Continued from previous page gave her drive.

Constant, sometimes demeaning hard work in a frenzied atmosphere that she said discreetly, “is just about as bad as you can picture it,” doesn’t fit most artists’ dream scene. But Lindsey learned early on what sacrifices lead to success, and she gladly made them. For a while.

“After four years, I realized it was time to come home.” Lindsey is frank about that era. “I was young, I didn’t know right from wrong. You’re always changing yourself to suit a role, and eventually I wasn’t just unhappy with who I was, I felt like I was losing myself.”

As a welcome back to Wenatchee, her grandparents fronted her $10,000 for six months with interest, to open a dance studio. The money went to her lease, laminated flooring, mirrors, barres, paint and publicity.

“I paid them back in three months.” How? Social media, a postcard mailing service, posters and flyers and a lot of legwork.

She opened her new doors in 2008 to a whopping 150 students and by 2017 won a national award from the Association of Dance Competitions and Conventions for best dance studio.

Now Lindsey, with a trimmed staff of six, shares her passion

“It breaks my heart to see them leave with so much talent and potential,” for dance every day and has become a mentor, confidante, sister and mom to many of her students, and she feels she can honestly counsel ambitious young dancers with stars in their eyes.

With unions and the Me-Too movement, the commercial entertainment industry (i.e.: L.A.) has changed for women in dance. “It’s a much better environment for them now,” she said.

“And besides, there are so many other ways to dance.” She listed myriad conventions and competitions, choreography, cruise ships, festivals, Disney, Cirque de Soleil, teaching.

“Many students give up in their late teens. Or they get busy with school. I understand, but It breaks my heart to see them leave with so much talent and potential,” she said.

Her own commendations and awards collected over 31 solid years of dancing are dazzling, but what’s most important now to Lindsey is the dance family she’s created. She’s excited to open Spring classes and said, “I don’t ever want to stop. I want to do this forever.”

Moving?

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fun stuff what to do around here for the next month

Please check all events to make sure none has canceled.

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

Zoom link: 1mcwenatcheevalley. eventsbrite.com.

Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center is now open, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org/ reopening or call 888-6240.

The Greater Leavenworth Museum is now open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. From the Wenatchi First Peoples to the present, visitors can learn about the community’s unique history. 735 Front Street,

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May 2021

right above The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum.

Norm Evans Memorial Apple Cup, 5/1, 2, 8 a.m. Seattle Inboard Racing Association will be hosting the American Power Boat Association Norm Evans Apple Cup Regatta on Lake Chelan. Info: lakechelan. com.

Wenatchee Riverfront Railway, 5/1, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Home of the Nile Saunders Orchard mini train. All train runs are weather permitting. Wenatchee Riverfront Park. Cost: $2. Info: facebook.com/ thewenatcheeriverfrontrailway.

Wildflower walk at balsamroot trail, 5/3, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Join Susan Ballinger to view the wildflowers that grace our open hillsides in the lower Foothills.

Two-mile walk that will last about 2 hours. Registration required. Info: cdlandtrust.org.

Birding the Americas Recon Trip, 5/4, 9 – 11:30 a.m. Join Team Naturaleza’s Elisa Lopez and Wenatchee Naturalist Susan Ballinger while they explore streamside

>>

Help capture the natural beauty of chelan county

WHAT TO DO

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

habitats looking for neotropical migratory birds in the Icicle Valley.

A one-mile walk that will last about 2.5 hours. Registration required.

Info: cdlandtrust.org.

Fuzzy-Tongue Penstemon Walk, 5/5, 4:30 p.m. Join Susan Ballinger to view the Fuzzy-tongue Penstemon in the wild. A one-mile walk that will last about one hour. Registration required. Info: cdlandtrust. org.

Two Rivers Gallery, 5/5 – 28.

Whole new show begins with over 50 local and regional artists. Several artists will be showing for the first time. Featured artist for May is oil painter and architect Brad Brisbine. Brad has painted over 450 paintings in 22 years. Info: 2riversgallery.com.

Chelan Thursday Evening Farmers Market, 5/6, 2 – 6 p.m.

May through October. Fresh locally grown produce and local artisans.

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

Tomfoolery: vintage fun from Wenatchee Cycle and toy exhibit, 5/6, 8, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Come kindle the sense of nostalgia for the toys of our youth and learn about the toys of past generations.

Exhibit features toys of the 50s, 60s and 70s. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Horse Lake Trail Runs, 5/8.

Wenatchee Foothills, Horse Lake Trailhead. 25k, 10-mile, 5-mile trail runs. Info: runwenatchee.com/ event/horse-lake-trail-runs.

Wenatchee Valley Farmers market, 5/8, 8 – 11 a.m. Every Saturday May through October. West parking lot at Pybus Public Market.

Mother’s Day Jazz Brunch, 5/9, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Family style brunch with live jazz music from the Stephanie Porter Quartet and Mac Potts. Campbell’s Resort. Cost: $75.

Info: campbellsresort.com.

Birdfest Recon at Mountain home, 5/11, 7 a.m. Join Susan Ballinger and Joe Veverka for a morning birding outing at Mountain Home Preserve. This trip will last about three hours. Registration required. Info: cdlandtrust.org.

Leavenworth Spring BirdFest,

5/13, 14, 15, 16. This year, a hybrid model offering both virtual workshops and in-person fields trips.

On the schedule you will find many field trips, bird walks, hikes, art workshops, education workshops and more. Info: wenatcheeriverinstitute.org.

Birdfest recon at horse Lake, 5/13, 6:30 a.m. Join Susan Ballinger and Jane Zanol for this early morning trip above the Wenatchee Valley during prime birding season.

This trip is 5.5 miles and will last about 5 hours. Registration required. Info: cdlandtrust.org.

The annual spring clean-up for Camp Zanika Lache, Saturday, May 15, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Volunteers needed to clean cabins, set up the archery range, clean the waterfront, clean the Kiwanis lodge, clean the kitchen, burn debris, repair the Kiwanis lodge roof and have fun at the same time.

Lunch will be provided. COVID procedures will be in place. Lodging is available for anyone who would like to come up and spend the night on Friday night or stay Saturday night. Contact: Theresa Samuelsen, (509) 663-1609, email: campzanikalache@gmail.com.

Wenatchee Riverfront Railway, 5/15, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Home of the Nile Saunders Orchard mini train. All train runs are weather permitting. Wenatchee Riverfront Park. Cost: $2. Info: facebook.com/ thewenatcheeriverfrontrailway.

Steam fest, 5/17, 21, 4 p.m. Spend the weekend celebrating a few of the amazing women who had careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

Info: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Birds and Blooms at Mountain Home Preserve, 5/20, 5:30 – 8 p.m. Join Susan Ballinger to view the wildflower and birds along the trail at the CDLT Mountain Home

>> RANDOM QUOTE

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.

F

rom May 1 to Oct. 1, Cascadia Conservation District, a non-regulatory grant-funded organization dedicated to wise stewardship of all-natural resources, will host a photo contest that combines appreciation for the environment with the artistic talent of local photographers.

The photo contest is open to all residents and visitors who share our appreciation for the natural beauty of Chelan County.

Preserve. This is a 2.5 mile walk and will last about 2.5 hours. Registration required. Info: cdlandtrust. org.

Hybrid Flywheel Investment Conference 4/20, 11:30 – 4 p.m.

Bringing entrepreneurs, investors and community members together to cultivate momentum for growing companies across Washington State. The conference includes educational seminars, speaker pan-

els, investment competition and resources from professional service providers. Info: flywheelconference. com.

Wenatchee Riverfront Railway, 5/29, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Home of the Nile Saunders Orchard mini train. All train runs are weather permitting. Wenatchee Riverfront Park. Cost: $2. Info: facebook.com/ thewenatcheeriverfrontrailway.

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

Look here

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

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

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

Alphonse Karr May 2021 | The Good Life

Photo entries are accepted in six categories including plants, wildlife, agriculture, recreation, landscapes, and water. Two winning photos from each category will be chosen for inclusion in the 2022 stewardship calendar.

Submit your photo at cascadiacd. org by Oct. 1.

For additional information contact Cascadia’s Education and Outreach specialist, Amanda Newell, at amandan@cascadiacd.org.

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>>

column those were the days

rod molzahn

Building bridges to connect NCW N

orth central Washington is a land of flowing water. Rivers, streams and creeks flow through and from every valley and have sustained the people in them for thousands of years.

For all those years the rivers, streams and creeks were barriers to cross.

Smaller creeks and streams could be waded on foot or horseback. Canoes conquered the rivers.

The first bridges were tall trees fallen across a waterway.

Fallen trees are an important part of north central Washington’s forest trail systems. They’re out there just waiting to be slipped off of.

As native people had done for thousands of years, the furtraders in the early 1800s used canoes to negotiate the rivers.

The bigger the river, the bigger the canoe. Traveling up and down the Columbia River meant canoes of 30 feet or more.

Freight was moved in bateaux — barge-like crafts that were wider and longer requiring 6 to 10 paddlers. The fur-men did not intend to stay so bridge building was not in their plans.

Bridges and the desire to build them came with the settlers of the 1880s and ‘90s.

In 1884, Wild Goose Bill Condon scratched a toll-road for miners and settlers from his ferry on the Columbia, above Bridgeport, to the Okanogan mining town of Ruby. He built a bridge across the Okanogan River where Omak now stands.

It was a basic design; wooden planks supported by wooden cribs filled with rocks.

The Okanogan River does not have a rocky bed. Condon hauled wagonloads of rocks from a hill above the river. The

south shore of the Chelan River at its mouth.

By 1889 the mill was turning out lumber to build the first bridge across the Chelan River to unite the towns of Lake Park and Chelan.

That same year Lewis Woodin, again using lumber from his mill, built the first dam across the Chelan River to divert water to the town of Chelan. The A man lazily rides a bicycle on the bridge that crossed the Wenatchee River near the confludam washed out ence. This view looks northward across the bridge into the Burch Flats and Olds Station area. in the next spring This was the second bridge — built of wood and steel by I. J. Bailey in 1895 — to cross the Wenatchee River at the mouth of the river. The wood portion burned a few years later and the high water. The bridge stood until structure fell into the river. Photo courtesy of Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center, 85the big flood of 0-87 1894 rammed logs against it heavily damaging its rocks were covering the graves supports. in an Indian cemetery.

I.J. (Isaac) Bailey was 21 years Ten years later the massive old in 1881 when he got a job on flood of 1894 washed the bridge a bridge building crew in Wisaway and scattered the rocks consin. In that job Isaac Bailey along the Okanogan River bed. found a life long passion — The small town of Lake Park building bridges. and the even smaller town He founded his own conof Chelan at the foot of Lake struction company and began a Chelan were separated by the bridge building journey across Chelan River. the western United States. BaiIn 1888 Lewis Woodin and ley bridges were built in Indiana, a partner brought a sawmill, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, including an 8,000-pound Montana and Idaho where J.J. boiler, up from Ellensburgh. At Hill hired him to build all the Wenatchee it was loaded on the Great Northern bridges across steamboat, The City of Ellensthe Idaho panhandle. burgh and delivered to the boat Bailey settled in Wenatchee in dock at Chelan Falls. early 1892 and was soon at work From there, Chelan Chief again for J.J. Hill’s Great NorthLong Jim and several of his Chelan where they were forded ern building a bridge across the men took days to pack and haul across the foot of the lake. The upper Wenatchee River nine all the mill parts up to Lake mill was assembled along the

Hill agreed to the bridge but insisted he would not put a train stop at any place called Brown’s Flat.

George Richardson suggested the town name be changed to Monitor in honor of the civil war Union Navy’s ironclad ship...

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May 2021

miles west of Leavenworth.

J.J. Hill wanted his Great Northern tracks to run along the Wenatchee River. The proposed right of way would pass through Deak and Lucy Brown’s land at Brown’s Flat as well as the land of their neighbors, George and Ida Richardson.

A story from the Brown Family history, as told by Jack Pusel, claims that J.J. Hill came, personally, to the Brown cabin to negotiate the right of way.

Deak, his brother George, Jim Weythman, a neighbor and George Richardson met with J.J. Hill. They said they would agree to the right of way if the Great Northern built a bridge from Brown’s Flat across to the north bank of the Wenatchee River.

Hill agreed to the bridge but insisted he would not put a train stop at any place called Brown’s Flat. George Richardson suggested the town name be changed to Monitor in honor of the civil war Union Navy’s ironclad ship of that name.

Eva Anderson wrote that the Great Northern built not only the Monitor bridge but also a bridge across the Wenatchee “near Mike Horan’s place” just west of the Wenatchee/Columbia confluence. No surprise then that J.J. Hill tapped his friend, I.J. Bailey, to build Wenatchee’s first bridge in 1892.

Two years later the massive 1894 flood lifted the wooden bridge off its piers and carried it into the Columbia River.

The next year Bailey built a new bridge in the same location.

It was a steel trestle bridge with wooden decking. The Wenatchee Daily World reported that on Sept. 17, 1908 the wooden decking caught fire “for the seventh time.” It was suggested the fires were caused by cigar butts thrown onto the bridge from passing wagons.

On July 4th, 1917 boys on the bridge shooting off fireworks ignited the creosote covered support timbers below the deck.

All of the wooden parts burned and the steel structure fell into

One of several Wenatchee River bridges built on the same location during the 1890s and early 1900s showing the Horan House, barn and orchards.

Based on the age of the orchards, this could be the bridge built to replace the burned bridge, shown on the previous page.

Photo courtesy of Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center, 012-51-112

the Wenatchee River.

The current concrete auto bridge crossing the Wenatchee River at Wenatchee was built in 1932 and widened to four lanes in 1954.

The two inverted siphons crossing the Wenatchee River on a trestle bridge immediately upriver of the auto bridge bringing irrigation water to the Wenatchee Flat were financed by the Great Northern and installed in 1898 and 1904.

In 1897 Charles Albert (C.A.) Harris got into the bridge building business when he and two partners were given the contract to build a road from Wenatchee to Twisp in the Methow Valley.

The project included the first bridge across the Entiat River and several crossings of the Methow River.

When the town of Entiat was moved, the bridge was dismantled and replaced in a new location. Some of the heavy timbers made their way to Wenatchee and became the very visible outer walls of the iconic home at the south east corner of Miller Street and Bryan Street.

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

May 2021 | The Good Life

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Lianne Taylor • (509) 669-6556 lianne@ncwgoodlife.com

the back page: that’s life

Homage to the chicken house T

By Susan Sampson

he annals of American architecture picture such treasures as Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello that you can see on the back of a nickel, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water house that straddles a waterfall, and Queen Anne-style cottages trimmed with so much gingerbread that if they were built of sugar, Hansel and Gretel would find them irresistible.

However, books don’t do justice to another aspect of historical architecture, the outbuildings. I’m referring to woodsheds, smokehouses, outhouses and chicken coops.

Of those, I think that a classical chicken coop epitomizes the architectural ideal that form follows function. There are cute models of chicken coops, good for a very few hens, at the local farm and ranch supply store, but they’re fancier than the real deal.

A real chicken coop begins with a chicken yard large enough to allow chickens to wander, fenced with chicken wire (of course), sturdy enough to keep dogs out, with a gate for human access.

The chicken coop is at least the size of a garden shed that you could buy at the hardware

Everybody imagined him, a big man, squatting on a perch and making gobbling noises, and teased him so mercilessly that he gave up on the turkey venture. store, say eight feet wide and 10 feet deep.

It has a rectangular footprint and a salt-box top — that is, the roof is higher on one long edge than on the other so that it slopes in one direction, like half of a double-wide mobile home, to allow rain and snow to run off.

It is erected on a low foundation and located with one end outside the fence, one end inside. The end outside the fence has a door large enough for a human. Inside, there is a wooden floor, a rod like a closet pole for the chickens to roost on, and shelves filled with straw for the birds to nest.

The end of the chicken coop that is inside the fenced yard has a door that slides up and down and is just large enough

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to let chickens walk in and out.

Typically there is a ramp from the chicken door down to the chicken yard.

To raid eggs from the chicken coop, my Mom would throw a handful of chicken scratch into the chicken yard, outdoors.

While the hens go crazy for the scratch, she’d enter the coop, close the chicken door so none can get back inside while she was busy, then raid the nests and from time to time, scrape out the manure.

Then she’d re-open the chicken door and hurry out the human door and close it behind her before any chickens can follow her out.

Keeping chickens in the coop got complicated only when skunks or raccoons used the chicken door at night, so Mom had to remember to keep it opened and closed on schedule.

Here is an absolutely true story. For a while, my Uncle John tried raising turkeys and housed them in a chicken coop.

It turned out that his turkeys needed to be trained to roost.

Everybody imagined him, a big man, squatting on a perch and making gobbling noises, and teased him so mercilessly that he gave up on the turkey venture.

Now, I admire the design of

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a chicken house, but I don’t want one. When we first moved to Wenatchee, my husband Jerry considered acquiring a few Susan Sampson retired with chickens and her husband to one of those Wenatchee in 2009 cute little after practicing coops. I vetoed law in Seattle for 35 years. that.

I have lived around chickens, so I know that they stink. (My boys used to sing, “…I eat like the chickens and stink like the dickens, I’m Popeye the Sailor Man!”) It’s true that poultry manure is wonderful fertilizer for my rose bushes, rhubarb, and berry vines, but I’d rather buy wellcomposted manure than deal with the fresh stuff myself.

Instead of acquiring birds, Jerry began feeding the wild ones, so what do we get? Sparrows, chickadees and goldfinches that nest in our hedge, doves that perch on our roof, California Quail that march through the yard in single file in lines that are 30 birds long, and an area around the feed blocks that smells like a chicken coop.

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