October 2015 good life issue

BUILDING A HOME FROM A KIT Y EVENTS CALENDAR

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

October 2015

3 2 1 &

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trips out of the U.S. cool treks into the mountains story of rebuilding a classic boat a woman who bigfooted 200 miles

+

Cary ordway’s central washington experience

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18 A BOLIVIAN EXPERIENCE

Contents

Family time in this country involves caring for kids, checking out local agriculture and seeing a salt hotel

20 doing the bigfoot 200

Can you imagine doing 200 miles by foot — with about 50,000 feet of ascent and 50,000 feet of descent — in four days and nights?

Selina Danko imagined it and did it

23 support crew for the bigfoot 200

They also served, and endured, who kept the runners on the trail

page 12

28 FALL TRAVEL PLANNER

warning: if you’re thinking of rebuilding a classic boat...

Fun ideas from travel guru Cary Ordway

32 BUILDING A KIT HOME

Do-it-yourselfer tackles building a family home up Squilchuck

ART SKETCHES

Features

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n Wedding photographer Nicole Conner, page 40 n Musician Michael Carlos, page 43

enchantments in the golden days

Would beauty be as memorable without a working camera?

10 Seven lakes in four days

Hiking through mountainous terrain can be rough on a not-young body, but then there’s the healing power of high land lakes.

14 drinking apples in france

Touring a region that’s been making cider for 300 years

16 the natural side of spain

Put down the iPads and look how nature is reflected in the architecture around Barcelona

Columns & Departments 27 Pet Tales: Duke and his master visit Wenatchee 36 June Darling: Winning trust 37 Bonnie Orr: Put some pepper into your life 38 The traveling doctor: Are you sure about those facts?

40-46 Arts & Entertainment & a Dan McConnell cartoon 45 The night sky: Morning planets on display 47 History: Fires of ’29 were deadly 50 Alex Saliby: Siren call to a beautiful winery

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OPENING SHOT

slippery perch for a fresh perspective

By Marc Dilley

I

shot this image about five years ago in early October, when the crisp air of late summer turns the Alpine Tamarack of the Enchantment Basin to fiery gold. Although there are other lakes, meadows and rocky ridges east of the Cascade Crest that are thick with Larch, the Enchantments are unique — a place of mystery.

Encamped at Talisman Lake, the uppermost of the five principal lakes in the main basin, I wandered down to Rune (Perfection) Lake after dinner with my camera gear. There was a biting down-valley wind, even though the basin above was most likely calm and warm.

Separating Rune and Leprechaun Lake below is the little pool Sprite Lakelet. Everyone sees this little pond; the trail traverses about one third of its shore. The charming little cascade that tumbles from Rune Lake into Sprite Lakelet is but a stone’s toss off the path and is thus another feature enjoyed by all who walk by.

Having hiked this trail numerous times since the mid 1970s, I had usually toted along a camera and shot many features including this cascade. I was never happy with the results but kept on trying. On this particular evening, I decided what was needed was a fresh perspective, something radical that I hadn’t attempted yet.

I soon realized what needed to be done… but I didn’t want to do it. As is often the case with landscape photography, it wasn’t going to be comfortable.

The tripod legs were balanced in the slime-covered rocks halfway down the cascade, while my left foot was back stepped behind me and my right foot in the slime on the right edge of the little creek. I would hold this pose for nearly 45 minutes.

My concept was to fill the frame as much as possible with the cascade, putting a stand of Larch upper left and the cliff

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above Rune Lake upper right. I used a slow shutter speed to give the water a silky look.

Because this was a very wide angle lens I had to get very close to the cascade. Water was constantly splashing on the lens, and after each exposure I had to rub the lens clean of water spots with a cloth. This little routine went on for dozens and dozens of exposures. I never got one

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October 2015

completely clean; the exposure you see here had a couple of drops that had to be digitally removed.

On the cover

Selina Danko of Wenatchee runs the Bigfoot 200 through rough terrain near Mount St. Helens. Photo by Ross Corner.

See her story on page 20.

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editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

Building a boat to float our dreams My wife and I were driv-

ing a road that took us through a small ocean side town when traffic came to a halt.

The main crossroad was blocked by a huge house-moving truck slowly backing down to the water’s edge with a boat as large as a small home on board.

As we idled at an intersection, we asked a young flagger what the heck was going on. She said her dad had been building a boat in the backyard — in this case, a catamaran — and after years of work, he was now moving it to the water to launch it.

Wow, that’s fantastic, I thought, that’s something I would love to do. When the

moving truck moved on, we did too, heading to our destination up the coast.

A couple of weeks later, we were coming back down the same highway, when, with my wife driving this time, we passed through the same small town. I happened to look towards the beach and what did I see but the homemade catamaran half tilted into the water, unfurled sails drooping, looking like a drenched dream.

Yikes.

A bit later I found out the boat builder had misgauged a couple of key measurements and had created too much superstructure

above the waterline. The result was the sails couldn’t overcome the drag from the hull, and strong wind and waves had tilted the boat into the drink.

I didn’t know the boat builder, and I only had spoken a few words with his daughter, but I felt greatly saddened.

Men, I think, are hard wired to be builders of boats. Maybe it’s the “Noah” gene in our DNA that says, “give me some wood and tools and I can build a boat.”

We ran a story last month about Ed Martinez building a boat from a neighborhood tree, and we have a variation this month about Phil Rasmussen rebuilding a classic Chris Craft runabout from the 1950s.

Phil writes, perhaps with tongue firmly in the cheek, to warn others who dream of rebuilding a wreck of a classic into the stuff of boyhood fantasies.

Not to steal too much from Phil’s tale, I will mention just his first two words: “Eight years…”

I asked Phil if the project in-

spired boyhood memories.

They did, he said, adding: “My Dad had a Century inboard which was similar to this boat.

He would let me pilot as long as he was with me, and I had to sit on a couple of cushions to see over the wheel.

“Woodies have a much different feel, ride and water/wave sound moving through the water than that of a fiberglass boat, not to mention the unmuffled engine music. And you get a little more splash in the face riding in them than you do in a modern craft because of the simpler hull shape…

“When I started this project, I had hoped that Dad would be around to see the finished project. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. But while I was building it, we shared many memories of our time on the lake together

back in Wisconsin.”

Dream on, you boat builders.

Ride on the tide of The Good Life.

— Mike

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fun stuff

®

Year 9, Number 10 October 2015 The Good Life is published by NCW Good Life, LLC, dba The Good Life 10 First Street, Suite 108 Wenatchee, WA 98801 PHONE: (509) 888-6527 EMAIL: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

sales@ncwgoodlife.com ONLINE: www.ncwgoodlife.com FACEBOOK: https://www. facebook.com/NCWGoodLife Editor/Publisher, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Marc Dilley, Andy Dappen, Brad Brisbine, Phil Rasmussen, Alan Moen, Christy Kimmel, Mary Schramm, Selina Danko, Lisa Therrell, Nicolette Manning, AJ Howard, Rachel DiLorenzo, Donna Cassidy, Bonnie Orr, Alex Saliby, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, Susan Lagsdin, Peter Lind and Rod Molzahn Advertising manager, Terry Smith Advertising sales, Lianne Taylor and Donna Cassidy Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Proofing, Dianne Cornell Ad design, Clint Hollingsworth TO SUBSCRIBE: For $25, ($30 out of state address) you can have 12 issues of The Good Life mailed to you or a friend. Send payment to: The Good Life 10 First Street, Suite 108 Wenatchee, WA 98801 For circulation questions, email: donna@ncwgoodlife.com BUY A COPY of The Good Life at Hastings, Safeway stores, Walgreens, Mike’s Meats at Pybus, Rhubarb Market, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere) and A Book for All Seasons (Leavenworth) ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact advertising at (509) 8886527, or sales@ncwgoodlife.com

a full LISTING of what to do begins ON PAGE 41

The joys of October October starts out with a

party and ends with a fright.

And all during the month, there are plenty of local activities to keep you from being home-bound during this beautiful fall month.

Check out these items found in this month’s What to do list: (Oh, and the fright at the end of the month is when witches, princesses and goblins roam the downtown streets.)

Wings and Wheels — Carni-

val rides, food and craft vendors,

car show, swap meet, helicopter rides, Red Apple Flyers model aircraft demos at Red Apple Flyers Field and an old fashioned cruise begins at Eastmont Community Park and Ends at the Hot Rod Café on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. Info: Wenatchee.org.

Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 1-4.

Skyfest —There will be

hundreds of skydivers building large flying formations, record attempts, wing suit formation flights, tandem sky dives for first time jumpers, and much more.

Lake Chelan Airport. Info: skydivechelan.com. 9 a.m. – 11 p.m.

Friday through Sunday, Oct. 2-4.

Leavenworth Oktoberfest

— Live music, German food, arts and crafts and activities for

Anyone Can Give

Call us at (509) 663-7716 to learn more.

The Good Life® is a registered trademark of NCW Good Life, LLC. Copyright 2015

by NCW Good Life, LLC.

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Shellfish Festival — Three types of oysters, mussels, clams, sausage and chef Richard Kitos.

Mugsy’s Groove will perform along with Cascade Mountain.

White Heron Cellars. Cost: $10 for musicians and shellfish available for purchase. Info: whiteheronwine.com. 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3.

Custer’s Arts and Crafts — Over 100 Northwest artisans.

Artwork includes one of a kind jewelry, pottery, woodworking, fiber, photography, metal art, seasonal décor, food and more.

Town Toyota Center. Info: towntoyotacenter.com. Weekend of 16-18.

Wildfires and US Fire Ecology Field Trip — Landscape

Let us help get you started.

Open a new charitable fund by December 31st and we will match 10% of your donation, up to $1,000.

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 whole family. Oh yeah and beer. Downtown Leavenworth.

Info: leavenworthoktoberfest. com. First three weekends of October.

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October 2015

ecologist Paul Hessburg and biologist/photographer John Marshall will lead this tour of fire-prone forest environments.

Meet at the museum, then board a bus that will make two stops for short interpretive hikes near Cashmere and Leavenworth.

Hessburg and Marshall will show how repeated wildfires maintain dry forest, how plants and animals respond to fire, how topography influences fire behavior, what the forest was like in Indian times, and challenges springing from homes intermingled with forest.

Bring a lunch, dress for all weather conditions, and be prepared to hike up to two miles on rough ground.

Cost: $30-$35. Call 888-6240 to reserve a spot. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 17.

Was beauty in the eye of the lens?

When a camera fails in the wildness, does it alter the human experience?

By Andy Dappen Photos by Allison Dappen

She was melting down.

I wanted to rush in and fix things, but resiliency, adaptability and creativity all bloom when parents aren’t overly protective.

Resisting a paternal urge, I gave my daughter some distance.

There was also her long-time boyfriend to consider.

He was now the front line of assistance and, when necessary, consolation. He had already tried and failed to explain why her expensive camera had clicked once and flashed off. A father shouldn’t try to play superhero too closely on the tails of wellintended failure.

She continued to tinker, hoping some combination of pushed buttons might miraculously resurrect the lifeless camera. I empathized with her disappointment.

Her old, beloved digital SLR had been robbed by knife point earlier in the year. Replacing that first love required research and had cost her precious coin. And now, on her first-ever hike through the Enchantments,

Cameraless father enjoys the views of Crystal Lake and McClellan Peak.

carefully timed so that she could photograph the area in peak color, her Wunderkind had bellied up. She kept pushing buttons but Lazarus was not rising from the dead.

Her eyes were wet now and after a half hour of photographic CPR it was time to pull the plug. “You’ve tried what you can,” I said moving in beside her. ”Time for us to get moving.”

“It’s only a month old — I don’t understand how it could be broken.”

“It’s what stuff does,” I told her.

“But why now?” The disappointment of getting to this place she had heard so much about at the right time so she could combine two of the things she enjoyed most — hiking and photography — made her eyes water anew.

October 2015 | The Good Life

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“It will never be a good time. You’ll be out of the country in two weeks. It would have been worse if it had happened then.”

Explaining that things could be worse was an odd consolation, but it helped scab the poor-me bleeding. “That’s true.”

“The good news is that you’ll be carrying a paperweight for 20 miles today,” I continued.

“Nothing like moving junk around to make you stronger.”

She gave me a weak smile, “And the bad news is?”

I unstrapped my camera and handed it to her. “You’ll have to use this guy. It’s not as good as yours, but it is working.”

“But you’ll want that,” she protested.

“I’ve done this hike maybe 10 times. My

}}} Continued on next page

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More fantastical elements making the lake basin worthy of its name.

Beauty in the eye of the lens }}} Continued from previous page computer is drowning in Enchantment pictures. You’ll be doing me a favor.”

She took the camera tentatively, “You sure?” +++++ She was happy again.

Sure, she’d be happier still if the cranky Mr. Canon Stinkola were still clicking, but now she knew that after 20 miles of walking and 4,500 vertical feet of stair stepping she’d return home with a fistful of beautiful photographs.

Meanwhile, because I was relieved of photographic duty, I walked pondering why pictures were so important to our family.

Was the camera a tool for unleashing creativity, a contrivance forcing us to slow down and see a place more closely, an aid to help us remember our experiences, an instrument for inducing envy among friends, or a device for self-promotion and self-aggrandizing?

Likely it was all these things but in this age of social-media induced narcissism, some of these motives were troubling.

With Facebook Envy to create, perfect online lives to craft, and FOMO (fear of missing out) to escape, cameras had become

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October 2015

Daughter Allison with happiness restored.

critical tools for proving we were awesome people living fascinating lives.

Temporarily freed of the burden of capturing images that would then be used to shape my image, the Enchantments and the people passing through them seemed different to me.

Rather than seeing the landscape statically as it looked in pictures, it pulsed with water and wind. Rather than seeing other hikers as complements or as detriments to my photographs, they took on personalities — some were racers, others gawkers; some were joyous and

Details, details: Enchantment thru-hike

Flora, fauna, and fantastical rock spires — not a half-bad combination of elements.

awestruck, others sore-of-body and suffering.

I was also free to watch my daughter employ photography fundamentals we sometimes discussed.

Here she lined up smooth water-streaked slabs as a foreground that contrasted with the angular crags of the background. There she used goldenneedled larch branches to break up the monotony of the sky’s shade and shape.

Everywhere she searched for unusual elements, angles, light, or textures to make her scenes pop. Frequently she concentrated on details — yellow carpets of needles, gnarled trunks of trees, strewn clusters of rock —

I had been blind to. There were so many different ways to see this place.

The day proved extra long.

For the photographers along there was so much to take in, analyze, frame, and capture. We started the day walking toward Colchuck Lake with headlamps blazing. Twelve hours later we walked out along the Snow Creek Trail with headlamps blazing again.

Our tired legs and sore feet were extra happy to reach the car around 8 p.m.

“What a beautiful place,” my daughter said as we loaded packs in the car, “Now I understand why everyone raves about it.”

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I was happy she had experienced this classic hike, but the issues of bucket lists, sharing one’s life online and cameras documenting every detail of everyone’s most-awesome existence raised questions.

“Would it have been as beautiful without the camera?” I asked. “If you’d been forced just to observe and remember the experience, would you have enjoyed the hike as much?”

The question was vaguely related to the Observer’s Effect — the scientific principle that no phenomena can be observed without impacting the result.

Whatever your motive, did cameras fundamentally change the experience?

Unlock your dream home!

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The thru hike of the Enchantments is spectacular any time of summer or autumn.

Some years the route can be snowy through the upper Enchantments until mid or late July. By mid-October precipitation often falls as snow and visitors should be properly prepared with storm gear, warm layers, MicroSpikes, gaiters, hat and gloves.

Depending on summer temperatures and precipitation, Golden Week, the week when the changing larches hit their peak color, can vary between late September and mid-October. Historically, the first weekend in October is the go-to weekend.

Backpackers will need an Enchantment Permit to camp in the Enchantments, at Colchuck Lake, or at Snow Lakes. Day hikers only need a self-issued wilderness permit obtained at the trailhead.

Doing this hike as a day trip is a hefty endeavor requiring good fitness. The route is roughly 20 miles long and entails about 4,500 vertical feet of climbing.

For more details, see: www. justgetout.net/Wenatchee/post/ Enchantment-Lakes-Traverse.

She thought as she unlaced her boots. “I guess if I’m honest about it, for me, it’s not as beautiful or as fulfilling without a camera. I mean I did have a meltdown when mine broke.”

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LAKES on a 4-day

loop

Peggy’s Pond sits on the shoulder of Cathedral Rock. Looking east with 9,415-foot Mount Stuart in the background, the highest peak Brad Brisbine has climbed.

Story and Photos

by Brad Brisbine

Why does a 60-year old hiker continue to abuse his body on

strenuous hikes with little prior conditioning?

MAGIC WATER! The minute I arrive at a high lake I feel that the bodily sacrifice was worth it.

I admire the peaks, but I love the lakes. I’ve hiked to alpine lakes every summer since being in the Alpine Club at Wenatchee High

Our route skirts above cliffs overlooking the azure waters of Deep Lake. Our first night’s camp will be at Circle Lake, just below The Citadel, seen at upper right.

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School in 1972.

I’ve held Spade Lake in high regard from the photos I’ve seen.

The desire to see it finally overshadowed the thought of the 25mile hike with lots of steep climbing needed to get there.

The second weekend in August, Len Lamb, Justin Weedman and I made a Cle Elum river valley loop-trip encompassing 7 lakes, taking in Squaw Lake, Peggy’s Pond, Circle Lake, Venus Lake, Spade Lake and Waptus Lake, including looking down on Deep Lake, and passing several smaller tarns.

Circle Lake, at 6,014 feet, sits in a lunar bowl, given life by its water. To me, the mountains seem most alive around the lakes.

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October 2015

Circle Lake’s cobalt blue sky reflection belies the depth of its turquoise delight when the sun penetrates into its clear waters.

It’s easy looking at this magic to believe that we’re in an Adriatic Harbor with a white sailboat just out of the picture…

Hiking over 6,850-foot Citadel Pass gave us my first-ever view of Spade Lake. It was everything I had built it up to be. Perfect! The peninsula camp awaited, with its double beach.

In the distance, from left are Mount Rainier, Three-Queens, Hibox, Four Brothers, Chikamin, Lemah Mountain, Chimney Rock, Summit Chief and Little Big Chief, with Bears Breast at the far right.

All are peaks that hold alpine lakes in their clutches, and I’m living the Good Life because I’ve been to many of them.

Getting down to Spade Lake was not as simple as we might have imagined. This is definitely a back door route, and there was no trail. In the rocks close to the pass I saw only one cairn, and it was only two-rocks high.

After being stymied by one cliff band after the other, we finally found a place where we could lower our packs with a rope, and down-climb, at times sliding with one foot dragging in a rock crack so as to not pick up too much speed.

We enjoyed shallow inlets on each side of camp for superb color displays. The featured attractions were blue and green, of every possible combination.

I was ecstatic.

This intimate scene of clean water and unspoiled beach is a rarity on this planet. I feel blessed that I live so close. It would be a shame to not come back.

October 2015 | The Good Life

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It floats! Phil Rasmussen takes out his rebuilt 1954 Chris Craft runabout.

Ahoy, Captain!

If you are thinking of rebuilding a classic boat, here’s a real world story of one man’s journey — a long, long journey of boat building the hard way

By Phil Rasmussen

E

ight years was not my original plan.

What started as a restoration of a derelict 1954 Chris Craft runabout became a personal crusade to turn a pile of rotten wood into something that would float.

Though I admit to pride in the final result, I’m a bit ambivalent about the total experience. In order to enable any potential wooden boat enthusiasts out there to enter into such an endeavor with eyes wide open, I offer my insight.

First, you will need more space than you think.

Restoring a boat requires a space that is at least twice the

size of the boat being restored, plus power tool space. It will begin with just one of your garage stalls. Then a portion of the next stall will be requisitioned, requiring cars to be left outside.

A rental unit will then be taken on in order to store the wood being removed that will later become patterns for new wood. After a year or so, you will give up and build a shop. Sadly, the cost of this structure will not be taken into the cost of the project, an early sign of irrationality taking hold.

There are things you will not know how to do. You will need to read, search the Internet and marine catalogs, and make calls to strangers … i.e., other enthusiasts who may be as nutty as

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you are.

In this early process, perfectly good pieces of mahogany and white oak will be ruined. You will discount this cost to “expected losses.”

This will be followed by the realization that white oak will not bend without subjecting it to steam. Pioneers knew this from building wagon wheels.

You do not know how. You will learn how from some old books.

This methodology will result in additional “expected losses.”

Old wooden runabouts are built with over 2,000 brass screws that have to come out.

They do not unscrew. They break. You may break down yourself before they are all out.

Playing music loudly is advised so that neighbors do not hear what you are saying during this process.

As your project progresses, you will see ways to improve on the original design. (The hot-

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October 2015

Phil used African mahogany to finish the boat. The frames for the boat’s structure are made of white oak.

rodders among you know how this works.)

In spite of the fact that you learned to water ski behind a boat with a 25 horsepower outboard, you will decide that 260 horsepower is about right for a 17-foot boat. The new engine will cost more than any of your first 10 cars, such costs being mentally assigned to “worth it” status due to the prospect of 45 knot top speeds.

Trips will be required to the west side to procure ancillary hardware like, for example, a transmission.

You will need friends.

Boat building requires a “bottoms up” approach to start. My wife and I retrieved our hulk from across the Cascades where it had rested “bottom down” on

In a story from the September 2009 issue of The Good Life, Phil said he was two years into rebuilding the 1954 Chris Craft power boat and figured he had another year and a half to go. Turns out, he was a little optimistic.

a rusted-out trailer, half-filled with greenish yuk. After an afternoon of blocking and jacking and pulling and sweating to place it on a good trailer, she informed me that such projects were really for MEN, and I should go find some the next time.

So, arriving in Wenatchee “bottom down,” friends were enlisted to make the flip. Even with friends, a crane is required.

This process would be repeated once more later.

Recognize that you may not be able to do everything yourself.

Excellent hardwood and advice is available right here in Wenatchee as are welding and machining services and upholsterers.

However, you will likely not be able to chrome plate hardware in your kitchen. Never fear, an excellent chrome plating facility is available just over the hill.

But a word of warning: the

chrome plating process creates beautiful highly reflective pieces that will temporarily blind you while your checkbook is being drained.

You will learn that varnishing anything this big without leaving brush strokes, runs or dust often requires re-sanding multiple times. You will do this until you can’t stand it any more, and finally just stop.

Finally, as a parting reminder, I call to your attention that saws are inherently unsafe on so many levels. Blade guards, hearing protection and dust protection are important.

Still, fingers can easily be broken or sawn, such casualties causing project delay. (I would like to take this opportunity to compliment Confluence Health Immediate Care and Orthopedics for minimizing these delays in my case.)

If you decide you want to tackle an old boat, I hope this insight will help you to be rewarded by the same feeling of accomplishment that I feel in bringing something that was a few seasons from a pile of dust back to its original beautiful state.

October 2015 | The Good Life

And of course, there is the thrill of launching it for the first time and ripping up the Columbia.

Oh…. one last thing I’ve

learned: there is no shame in just going out and buying a fiber glass boat.

Wake up with

“Dave-in-the

Weekdays on.....

Morning”

93.9 FM Wenatchee 95.3FM Chelan 97.1FM

Leavenworth • Cashmere • Rock Island • Hwy. 28

We’ve got you covered from the Okanogan Valley to the Wenatchee Valley www.ncwgoodlife.com

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101.3FM Brewster/Pateros 101.9FM Okanogan Valley 106.3FM Methow Valley

Drinking apples in France

Doing the cider route where apples have been pressed for hundreds of years photos and story

By Alan Moen

W

hen my wife and I decided to visit the French regions of Brittany and Normandy this spring, it wasn’t just because we wanted to see the famous abbey of Mont-St-Michel, France’s biggest tourist attraction next to the Eiffel Tower.

Nor was it because we planned to walk the beaches made famous by the D-Day invasion during World War II, 71 years afterward.

Well, we did those things. But we also came for the cider.

Cider has been produced in the regions of Normandy and Brittany in France since around 800 A.D., and was likely introduced to the ale-drinking English by William the Conqueror, the Norman king, in 1066. Historians have found that cider was used as cash in Britain for years afterward to pay tithes and rents.

Although wine is by far France’s national drink, cider is still the standard alcoholic beverage in the cooler Northern Normandy and Brittany regions where wine grapes can’t be grown.

And French cider is quite unique.

Typically low in alcohol compared to British or American versions, these “hard” ciders are made from a variety of bittersweet and bittersharp cider apples.

Norman and Breton cider is usually created in a sweet, semi-

sweet or dry style with natural yeast, and aged up to two years before consumption. Normandy ciders include Cidre Doux, about 3 percent alcohol by volume, Demi-sec, from 3 to 5 percent, and Brut, about 5 percent or stronger. Pear cider, called poiré, is also made in smaller quantities.

Around the rural town of Cambremer in Normandy, there are more than 20 cider producers, easily reached on what has become known as the Route du Cidre (Cider Route.) Tourists come by car and even bicycle to travel this 25-mile loop and sample these artisan ciders (as well as calvados, the region’s famous apple brandy).

Our first stop along the route was the Ciderie Marie-Louise Fouchet, an unassuming farm with a sign announcing that they were open for business. We drove into the farmyard, greeted by a friendly, barking dog, but all seemed closed. Then an elderly woman came out of the house and approached us.

“Est-ce que vous êtes ouvert?”

I asked in my rudimentary French, not sure that the place was actually receiving visitors.

“Oui, oui, monsieur, suivezmoi,” she replied, and we followed her into her humble cellar.

There Madame Fouchet offered us a taste of her Cidre Brut (dry) and Doux (sweet), which were both very good, fruity with a rich earthiness. Curious, I asked her how long her family had been making cider there.

“Très cent ans,” (three hun-

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A cow grazes under a cider apple tree at Domaine Drouin.

dred years) she replied, matterof-factly. This was our first taste of Normandy cider, and a good swallow of local history as well.

We drove on to visit one of the region’s top producers, Domaine Étienne Dupont, by contrast a large gated estate with a long driveway to its 19th Century manor house. There we met Jérôme Dupont, third generation manager of the operation.

Cider is very much a family business in Normandy. The Duponts actually began producing cider in 1887, Jérôme told us, making it mostly for distillation into calvados, but the international cider boom in recent years has led them to more than double their cider production.

The export market for Dupont cider is mainly in Europe and the U.K., but their cider is now “invading” America as well.

“Cider is a peasant drink in Normandy,” he said. But he, along with the best cidermakers in the region, has raised this simple beverage to a much higher level of taste.

Dupont grows 14 different va-

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... (this third generation manager of the operation), along with the best cidermakers in the region, has raised this simple beverage to a much higher level of taste. rieties of apples for their ciders, and buys about 50 percent of their apples from other local orchardists. Cider production has grown to 150,000 bottles a year (and 60,000 bottles of calvados). Dupont planted 3,500 new trees this year, with the goal of eventually growing all their own apples.

They began exporting cider to the U.S. in 1994 through craft beer importer B. United International of Redding, Connecticut. “I thought they were crazy

Domaine Étienne Dupont, Normandy, in a 19th Century manor house.

A glass of Normandy cider.

Madame Marie-Louise Fouchet with her cider.

when they wanted to import our cider,” Dupont recalls. “But it’s doing quite well now in the U.S.” At Domaine Christian Drouin, we met Guillaume Drouin, the very engaging and passionate director of the cidery founded by his grandfather.

Many Normandy cideries such as Domaine Christian Drouin

are probably better known for their calvados. But with cider’s big surge in sales in the U.S., their ciders have also become hot.

“We’ve doubled our production of cider in the last three or four years,” says Guillaume Drouin, current manager of the family’s firm. Drouin’s total proOctober 2015 | The Good Life

duction of cider, all from their own orchards, now surpasses 400,000 liters annually.

As we strolled through the organic Drouin orchards, we saw how different apple production is there compared to that in north central Washington.

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planted about 10 meters (over 30 feet) apart, and only lightly pruned. Most apples are quite small (fist size) by U.S. standards. Cows often graze calmly beneath the trees, and fruit is not picked until it begins to fall to the ground, usually in stages, depending on the variety or cultivar.

Apples are then washed, crushed and gently pressed before fermentation takes place from natural yeasts, at cool temperatures. This may take as long as two months. Afterward, the cider is carefully aged in a variety of oak barrels, sometimes for several years before bottling.

We were not about to leave before sampling some of Drouin’s excellent calvados as well as his fine cider. Guillaume poured us sample after sample of different vintages of his brandy, including a bottle from my birth year of 1948 (too bad I couldn’t afford that one!).

As a parting gift I handed him a bottle of cider from our own area — Snowdrift’s Summer Red, a unique cider made with experimental red-fleshed apples.

He promised to try it and let me know what he thought about it.

French ciders have a lot of wine-like complexity, and are obviously not for everyone. “The way we do it (blending from at least 10 different varieties) looks crazy, but it’s not that crazy,” Guillaume Drouin said. I had to agree.

After we got back home, Guillaume sent me an email to tell me that he had tried our East Wenatchee cider. “It was a very interesting tasting,” he wrote. “A crispy, acidic cider with a lot of red fruit flavors. Well balanced.

Thank you again for this bottle.”

And so our French-Northwest connection endures — not just with wine, but with cider as well.

Alan Moen is the co-owner of Snowgrass Winery in the Entiat valley, and makes his own cider from a blend of North American heirloom cider apple varieties in his orchard.

SEEING SPAIN au naturel

By Christy Kimmel

“Can I use the iPad?” Abi-

gail asks from the backseat.

We have started the first leg of a journey to Barcelona, Spain.

Outside, the Wenatchee River cuts a curvy path through its narrow canyon, leaving eddies of still water behind tumbled boulders.

“Not yet,” I tell her. “Look out your window. There might be something interesting around the next bend.”

Recently, we started going outside. Our family life had turned into a dull routine of work-study-screen. From a living room window, we can see Saddle Rock. Ten years in the valley and we had never hiked it.

So we did that.

Then we climbed Burch Mountain for a picnic. It got cold and windy. We underestimated the length of the hike. Two of us cried for an hour on the way down, certain we’d have to be ambulanced or airlifted back into town. Nature threw us a curve that day, but we made our way home and felt empowered.

Life got more interesting.

We padded through fields of balsamroot, dangled over the cold waters of the Columbia on a homemade swing, and let the mud ooze through our toes at Porter’s Pond.

But this was to be no wilderness adventure. This is a European holiday. Civilized. Educational. A postlude to three years of world history for my homeschooled kids, and a chance for my art-teacher husband to get up close and personal with some well known pieces.

Almost immediately upon arriving in Barcelona, Matthew and I pull 10-year-old Gabriel and eight-year-old Abigail out of our apartment and into the Gothic Quarter.

These medieval streets are so narrow, lined with the straight, thick walls of perfectly preserved buildings; we spend the whole day roaming without ever experiencing direct sunlight.

We consider it a blessing. The heat and humidity are testing both our physical and emotional stamina.

The next day we head into the Eixample neighborhood where we encounter the architecture of Antoni Gaudi. We tour a mansion — La Pedrera — where we first discover Gaudi’s passion and his inspiration: Nature.

There is something familiar about his work. Those brick arches supporting the long attic make us feel like we’re caught in the belly of a snake. The rooftop doorways resemble giant conch.

At the basilica, La Sagrada Familia, we join a throng of tourists. I’m bumping into strangers, everyone craning their necks toward the ceiling.

We are in a forest of stone.

The supporting pillars are tree trunks, branching out to hold the weight of the structure. The trees are topped with tufts of spiky leaves. We stare up in a kind of surprised delight, trying to imagine the reaction of the church’s patrons when Gaudi proposed this design in 1883.

A few days later, we are on a train to Valencia, where we will stay with friends. I’m thinking about Gaudi and nature. The train passes a nudist beach on the Mediterranean and people

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Abigail and Gabriel roam in the shade of the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona.

are taking pictures.

Overheated and sweat soaked, I think I could be a nudist for a day. The kids are on their electronic devices. Although we enjoyed our time in Barcelona, I feel like we’ve missed something important about Spain, something that wasn’t in our guidebooks.

Gaudi said that nothing is art if it does not come from nature.

So where is this nature that inspired Antoni Gaudi?

We rent a car and drive to El Perello, a Valencian agricultural community that boasts a pristine stretch of Mediterranean beach, fronted by vacation homes.

We greet our friends and quick-change into swimsuits, running across the sand into bathtub warm saltwater. The kids drip sand into shapes that look uncannily similar to the

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spires of the Sagrada Familia.

When a jellyfish washes onshore, we are fascinated. But then we see three more in the water and a neighbor boy runs out of the sea screaming, stung.

We decide to pack up the car and drive into the mountains. I read about a natural hot spring that bubbles into a cold river, called Fuente de los Banos.

Parking the car and walking down a paved trail, we come upon a turquoise lagoon so beautiful it takes our breath away. Matthew and I swim through a canyon, sheer cliff walls on either side, and find a cave behind a dripping waterfall.

The kids join the local youths who jump into the water from a rock outcropping.

We had planned a day in the old city of Valencia. There is a 14th Century silk market, a UNESCO world heritage sight.

So, who’s Antoni Gaudi?

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (1852 –1926) was a Spanish architect and practitioner of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí’s works reflect an individualized and distinctive style. Most are located in Barcelona, including his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família.

Gaudí’s work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature and religion.

He rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and molding the details as he conceived them.

Gaudí’s work enjoys global popularity and continuing admiration and study by architects. His masterpiece, the stillincomplete Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain. Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites

by UNESCO.

A sand castle on the beach, a rooftop in Barcelona’s Park Guell: Seeing what Antoni Gaudi saw.

But we wilt from the heat before seeing it.

I search the Internet for places to swim in fresh water. It leads me to Los Cloticos, where waterfalls run into a mountain stream. The locals in El Perello have never heard of it. We drive to the end of a ruthlessly twisting mountain road, and find an empty campground. The kids fill water bottles from a medieval spring.

The waterfalls are dry, but the stream is running and is ice cold. We drop our towels next to a rosemary bush and take turns dipping into the water until we’re shivering.

Our last day in Spain, the jellyfish are gone and we float like driftwood in the sea. Matthew builds an Egyptian pyramid and a Roman aqueduct in the sand.

I think I’m seeing what Gaudi saw.

The sun is going down and the light makes everything look like

a painting. The ridges on a tiny clamshell are steps on a grand staircase. Little sea creatures and smooth stones tumble in the surf and there is not a straight line in sight.

Nothing about this trip is exactly as I expected.

The heat is oppressive. The relief to be had in a mountain stream is profound.

A basilica is made of trees and its spires can be recreated in

stunning detail by sand dripped through the fingers of a child.

Our itinerary, carried home in a sandy suitcase, bears witness to museums and landmarks we left unvisited, but our experience of the land and water give us a deeper connection to this country; perhaps a bit uncivilized, but no less educational.

I think about Gaudi and his genius. Taking geometric patterns from nature and using

Celebrate the Season!

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them to create spaces for human habitation, recreation and worship, he brought people closer to the real and the divine.

Because what is more real, more divine, than a curve?

When she’s not teaching reading, writing, ‘rithmetic, or prowling the library for historical fiction, Christy Kimmel enjoys exploring the outdoors with her family and writing about it on her blog www.educatingmountaingoats.com.

A Bolivian EXPERIENCE Poverty, working with children of prisoners and a salty landscape

By Mary Schramm

The good life comes with a

variety of experiences.

One of the most memorable is good quality time with your family, especially when you are doing something in service to others.

Leavenworth resident Peter Spiegel knows this as he thinks back to his July trip to Bolivia with his wife, Marcy Ostrom, and children Caleb and Ivy. Marcy works as a professor for Washington State University in Wenatchee, overseeing a statewide program in sustainable small farming. She was interested in doing research at Universidad San Simon in Cochabamba, Bolivia, a school known for its emphasis on Andean agricultural systems.

The family decided it was also a good place to learn some Spanish. Caleb was on a three week, Harvard University choir tour to Brazil. The concerts would be completed by the time the family arrived in Bolivia.

“We gave 10 concerts in four cities and received standing ovations each time!” Caleb said in describing his three-week, student-arranged tour.

“This was only the second time the Harvard choir had toured in South America and the people were very receptive.

They loved the music, from Bach and the classics to more modern compositions. Concerts were free and we sang to standingroom only crowds.

“The 45 of us stayed in the homes of Brazilians and met some amazing people. Food was good — butter, butter, butter

The Spiegel-Ostroms — Peter, Caleb, Marcy and Ivy — at the shallow salt lake of Laguna Colorada. Photos by Caleb Spiegel Ostrom

with a little beef thrown in. I was interested to learn there are relatively few indigenous people in Brazil but many of Italian and African descent. Slavery ended there in 1870.”

Caleb joined his family in Cochabamba, Bolivia late June and they spent three weeks together volunteering at a non-profit called Sustainable Bolivia. Its focus is education, health, safety, microfinance, empowerment of women and environmental concerns.

Ivy, a senior at Cascade High School, spoke of the differences she encountered there.

“The poverty — 53 percent, the highest in South America — is so great and the pollution is intense.

“There are not many private cars or trucks,” she said. “If someone owns a car they stick a ‘taxi’ sign on it and try to make a little money. No seatbelts, of course.”

The Spiegel-Ostroms spent

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their mornings taking Spanish lessons and in the afternoon volunteering with a local organization that is part of Sustainable Bolivia to care for 70 children whose mothers were incarcerated for various reasons — some of whom were caught up in the drug trade.

“Since indigenous people may not speak Spanish, they naively become involved without knowing the consequences,” Peter surmised.

They are poor and may lack legal help. The women are kept in houses and the children are allowed to spend the nights with their parent. They need a place to go during the day.

Classes are in half-day shifts.

There are not enough teachers or classrooms for full-day participation. Many have no school supplies. Peter, who is a second grade teacher at Cascade, said it would be very difficult to teach in Cochabamba.

The Spiegel-Ostrom’s time

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with the children was unstructured, so the family planned activities in a small yard behind the brick building.

Fortunately there was a park not far away. They played a lot of soccer and volleyball on concrete — with balls supplied by Peter and Marcy.

The children, especially the boys, loved to dance, and danced well. “They seemed like carefree kids, and did what kids like to do. Keeping them busy was a challenge,” Ivy said, adding she was impressed by how efficiently their charges did chores. From mopping, to dishes, to wringing out towels, they seemed very capable and did it without complaint.

Some 700 volunteers from 43 countries — mostly young and single — volunteer with Sustainable Bolivia (www.sustainablebolivia.org). Normally volunteers stay in Bolivia for several months but the organization accepted the three-week stint

Rory Turner

“They seemed like carefree kids, and did what kids like to do.

Keeping them busy was a challenge.”

for CHELAN COUNTY PORT COMMISSIONER

offered by the SpiegelOstroms.

Marcy’s interest in rural agriculture found her researchIvy holds a child from CAICC. ing quinoa, the highly nutritional grain first harvested A Quechua guide took them in the Andes 7,000 years ago.

by Land Rover, and for a day The international resurgence they drove over miles of salt of interest in this crop has been mosaics. There were no roads, bittersweet for the Bolivians. only a “tire track” path to follow.

Marcy was shocked to learn the The flats are impossible to drive amount of the fragile land high on during the rainy season. up in the mountains that now is “We saw only two signs,” Peter used to produce quinoa. said. “One was illustrated for the “It has been an economic sake of international visitors: A boom for the farmers but beskull and crossbones — Dancause few Bolivians eat the ger!, (with a drawing of) a man grain, they must find other urinating and a woman urinatland to grow the vegetables ing — No!, and an arrow pointfor the indigenous population. ing to the restroom. Out in the The worldwide consumption of desolate vastness we also saw a quinoa is changing much of the ‘wifi’ sign.” rural face of Bolivia.”

One morning the guide woke It was also an amazing experi- them at 4 to drive to the therence for her to visit a farm with mal geysers. Through cracks 800 llamas. Llama meat is an in the earth a dozen geysers important part of the diet there. noisily spewed boiling water 50 Eager to see and learn more feet into the air. “We were at when their volunteer assignabout 13,000 feet and it was 10 ment ended, the Spiegel-Osdegrees out. We were bundled troms traveled to the Andean up in parkas, trying to warm highlands and into the vast salt ourselves with the steam,” Peter flats of southwest Bolivia. This recounted. flat, 4,000 square miles of salt, Their visit to a salt hotel seaat 13,000 feet, used to be a lake soned the delight of the family. but dried up 16,000 years ago.

The flat building was made com“It looks like a moonscape with pletely of blocks of salt — salt fox and the endangered James’s walls, salt floors and salt furniflamingos walking around,” ture, an excellent way to use the Peter said. environment around you.

October 2015 | The Good Life

New leadership for a diverse and dynamic Port of Chelan County

EFFECTIVE | COLLABORATIVE | TRANSPARENT www.electroryturner.com

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Paid for by the committee to elect Rory Turner. Chris Goetz, Treasurer

200 miles pushing through the bigfoot: 200 miles of hard trail, fallen trees, boulders, short nights, a sore ankle, trail mysteries and a mother skunk blocking the path

By Selina Danko

T

hings can get a little surreal when you are 180 miles into a 200-mile run, having been on the trail for more than 70 hours.

Not everything you see is taken at face value at first.

So when the skunk came scampering up the trail straight toward me with its tail up in the air, I really expected it to turn away before it got too close. But it was very aggressive and kept coming toward me until I stopped and stepped off the trail.

I have encountered skunks before and had never seen one behave this way. People are known to hallucinate when sleep-deprived, so it is easy to doubt what you are seeing.

I know there was, in fact, a skunk because I was able to have the presence of mind to snap a picture of it when it finally retreated up the trail. My theory is that it was a mother skunk escorting her babies somewhere and she was just tryI have a family, ing to keep me away kids and a job. I from her family.

I had never run don’t have three a race longer than weeks to leisurely 100 miles before and never in the mountrek through tains like during Bigfoot 200 – so I woods like this. was open to seeing just about anything.

There were hard moments, but they were never cumulative, just one moment at a time, dealt with, laid aside and ready for the next. The skunk was

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another moment like the 260 downed logs we scrambled over, the bush whacking, the indecision when trail markings were inadequate, the miles of walking through the forest in the dark, a swollen ankle, and the like.

Each obstacle is just a step in the bigger journey.

The Bigfoot 200 is the only 200-mile plus point-to-point trail race in the U.S., covering a variety of mountainous terrain including nearly 50,000 feet of ascent and close to the same in descents.

It interested me because of the adventure and the opportunity to see so much beautiful country in a relatively safe way.

I have a family, kids and a job. I don’t have three weeks to leisurely trek through woods like this. And many of the trails on the course are not normally open, so I saw it as a rare opportunity to see parts of the world that most people never see, plus meet amaz| The Good Life

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Selina Danko steps carefully across boulder fields, where a misstep would have stopped her run on the first day. Photo by Howie Stern

ing adventurous and positive-minded people and challenge myself.

I had to use a provisional qualifier for the race since all registered runners were expected to have completed at least a 100-mile race. My longest race before Bigfoot was the 62-mile Plain 100k — notoriously hard as it is unassisted (no trail markings, no aid, carry your own food, filter water, etc). The Bigfoot 200 race director knew about it and was kind enough to let me in the race.

9 a.m. Friday Aug. 14 – Race day The first leg of the race is 12.2 miles from the Marble Mountain Sno-Park on Mount St. Helens to the aid station at Blue Lake. I felt really comfortable here.

October 2015

Started out at the very back of the pack on purpose to keep from going out too fast — something I have a habit of doing.

Slipped into a comfortable pace and running behind eventual winner, Gavin Woody from Kirkland. Gavin was taking it easy at the time, taking video and snapping pictures as he went. Later, he would see a runner in the distance and take off after him or her.

I soon realized his pace was going to be a little more ambitious than what I had trained for and let him go on without me after about 30 miles.

It was important to watch footing through the rock fall and boulder field sections. A misstep could have meant the end of the race.

Reached the Blue Lake Aid Station in twoand-a-half hours. My stomach wasn’t ready for real food at Blue Lake. Stayed there just two minutes to down some energy gel, refill

my H2O bladder with another 70 ounces of water then off for a 19-mile stretch to Windy Pass.

This is where most of us ran out of water and suffered some heat exhaustion. The temperature was climbing during this section that featured thick forest with a river crossing, a fixed rope descent into a rock faced canyon, another knee-deep river crossing then a fixed rope climb out of the canyon to a steep climb up an exposed mountain side followed by more trees and scrambles through dry river beds.

All in all, 4,184 feet of ascent and 4,010 feet of descent before reaching the Windy Pass Aid Station 7 hours and 31 miles into the race.

From there, the trail headed into a short (7.8 mi.) section to Johnston Observatory Ridge I was carrying baggies of electrolyte bites, energy gel, turkey The sun was jerky, plantain chips and Tums that I rising and I thought would feed felt great, felt me through the race. By the time I fantastic. After reached Johnston two hours of Ridge it was clear sleep it felt like a that wasn’t going to work. I did make a normal morning. lot of friends of the four-legged kind thanks to the turkey jerky. I couldn’t eat it myself, but many of the aid station workers had brought their dogs along. They were happy to eat it for me.

The Tums were good and I continued to eat them throughout the race but the rest of the stuff was disgusting. I couldn’t chew or swallow it anymore and switched to squeezable baby food pouches packed in my drop bags at aid stations along the course.

Stayed at Johnston Ridge only long enough to down some watermelon but my stomach wasn’t ready for the burger they offered there.

From the ridge the trail, mostly runnable now, dropped down 2,100 feet in 6.6 miles to the Cold Water Lake Aid Station. This was the first of seven designated sleep stations but I chose not to sleep there. It was too early to sleep — still daylight and only 46 miles in.

I wanted to push on to Norway Pass, 18.7 miles away for a first day total of 64 miles.

I did change out of my heavy pack and into a much lighter and smaller pack stashed in my drop bag at the aid station. That meant tossing some of the load and reducing water capacity from 70 ounces down to 50 ounces.

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Left Cold Water Lake still running with Gavin Woody but that ended when he started spotting racers ahead and reeling them in — picking them off — one by one. I knew it was time for me to back off.

The trail to Norway pass was a big push for me — 5,100 feet of climb with 3,900 feet of descent. I was tired and suffering a little from running out of water in the St. Helens blast zone.

I thought it was the right decision to push on but I did have to sit down by the side of the trail once and regroup for a few minutes.

I don’t think I doubted my finish here, just wasn’t sure I could make it all the way to Norway Pass before I fell asleep on my feet.

The first “out and back” of the race came near the pass where racers had to leave the main trail for a round-trip to the summit of Mount Margaret, the highest point on the course at 5,858 feet. Also the best view, which I, arriving at the peak just before midnight, got to enjoy in the darkness.

Arrived at Norway Pass just before 3 a.m. (two hours behind Gavin Woody) and asked the aid volunteers to wake me at 5 a.m. You don’t want to get stuck sleeping too much or you’ll never finish.

5 a.m. Saturday morning, Aug. 15 The sun was rising and I felt great, felt fantastic. After two hours of sleep it felt like a normal morning. Had my first real food for breakfast — pancakes and hash browns with salt. They were great, especially the hash browns and salt. So was the coffee, which I continued to drink at every aid station from there on.

My goal was to reach the Lewis River Aid Station before sleeping again. That meant 47 miles with 8,679 feet of ascent and 10,414 feet of descent.

The first leg, 11 miles to Elk Pass was easy.

It got tougher after that. There was no water on the 15 miles from Elk Pass to the aid station at Road 9327. My 50 ounces of water didn’t make it all the way.

Running out of water before the next aid station was common the remainder of the race. Huckleberries and thimbleberries kept my mouth from drying out but gave only the illusion of real liquid.

The route from Road 9327 crossed several small streams before climbing to the Spencer Butte Aid Station. Then it was two miles of pavement, four miles or so of brushy descent with a disappearing trail ending with three-and-a-half miles of groomed trail along the Lewis River and a fabulous view, again in the dark, of Lower Lewis River Falls.

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200 miles

my head down and kept pushing with the poles — in the dark. I don’t think they understood switch-backs because there weren’t any.

A racer from Mexico named Julio, who spoke no English, ran with me part of the way from Chain of Lakes to Klickitat. We feasted on huckleberries just out of the Chain of Lakes aid station but were scared off by a noise that sounded like an “oso” (bear) in the bushes. }}} Continued from previous page We reached the Klickitat aid station about The lights of the Lewis River aid station midnight. I was ready for my final two hours came into view just before midnight. They of sleep — in a chair with a blanket over my were like twinkle lights in fairy land after head. Up at 2 a.m. for the best hamburger so long all alone in the forest. It felt like you ever… it was fantastic (included avocado, were stepping into an enchanted circle of onions, cheese, the works) … made by the aid light, warmth and welcome. I briefly considstation guy. ered pushing on here, but decided against it So good I had them make me another one when it started to rain. After 19 hours on the to eat on the trail. It just fit in one of the trail it was time for another sleep stop. gloves hanging from my pack.

It was raining lightly when I got there but

when a volunteer woke me at 2 a.m. the rain 2 a.m. Monday morning, Aug. 17 had stopped. Ate some breakfast, refilled my I’m headed for the Twin Sisters aid station pack and water bladder, turned my head17.5 miles away. This was truly the nightmare lamp back on and headed out towards the section; full of no-trail brush, bush–wacking Selina puts her feet up at the Klickitat aid station.

Photo by Howie Stern next goal — the Klickitat aid station 46.1 and 260 downed trees to clamber over. No miles away. hurdling by this time in the race. I would sit

the side of the trail had I not brought the down and use my poles to help maneuver 2 a.m. Sunday morning, Aug. 16 poles. over the obstacles.

Not so easy to get started here as it had During the next 10 miles to the Chain of The whole section was poorly marked been in the morning sun at Norway Pass.

Lakes aid station my left ankle started to go with one intersection completely unmarked.

Here it was dark and cold. Deep, dark, dank bad. By the time I reached the aid station it Julio took the wrong turn and was lost for 12 forest running — completely alone. was killing me — really, really painful. Took hours. Another runner was lost for 24 hours.

Constant ups and downs. Trying to find off my shoe and wondered if I was going to With the help of my map I fortunately rocks in a creek crossing in the dark while be able to go on. I’d never seen my ankle guessed right. My ankle was acting up again keeping my feet dry (for some reason I was look like that before. and I kept telling myself, “I know I’m going obsessed with staying dry) while wonderThere was a medical person at Chain of to finish but it’s hard and it hurts — but I’m ing, “Where on the Lakes who knew about ankles. She said I going to finish.” other side of the was wearing the wrong shoes for this kind of Stayed 30 minutes at Twin Sisters with my Took off my shoe creek the trail starts distance trail running and the right one had feet elevated and ankles iced. Then on the and wondered if up again?” Spotted it been pressing against the ankle aggravating run (or hobble) again for 16 miles to the last I was going to be when my headlamp a tendon. aid station at Owen’s Creek. hit the reflective She massaged the swelling out, iced both My H2O bladder tore and was unfixable. able to go on. I’d marker. At dawn ankles and assured me this was normal and I I couldn’t finish without water. One of the never seen my the forest filled with was good to go on. pacers gave me his bladder. (Pacers were part By pure dumb luck there was a pair of the of the racer’s crews and could run with their ankle look like that amazing birdcalls.

I reached the right shoes stashed in the drop bag: my Altra racer on parts of the course, just run, not asbefore.

Council Bluff aid Lone Peaks. I changed to them and with the sist. I ran without a crew.) station about 9 a.m. aid of my poles set off again: 17.5 miles to the At this point everybody was just helping with 128.7 miles of trail behind me — over Klickitat aid station. everybody because it’s about finishing, right? half way. I started to feel pretty good about After 138 miles you can’t just stop. Come The trail to Owen’s Creek boasted more myself. I’d never run over a hundred miles whatever, I was pushing on. The first 10 bushes and bush–wacking, more downed before. miles were good. Down to a log crossing of trees and an encounter with the aggressive I dug into my drop bag for a change of Adams River then a steady climb back up. skunk. clothes, a fresh supply of baby food (should Three more river crossings and an easy deStopped for another half-hour at Owen’s have brought more) and trekking poles. scent into the Cispus River Valley.

Creek with feet elevated and iced and reGrabbing the poles was the best decision I Then the going got tough again. Another wrapped the duct tape blister protection on made during the race. Turned out I couldn’t “out and back” — a four-mile climb to the my toes. Then, with edema creeping up my have made it without them. I probably would top of Elk Peak then back to the main trail. legs almost to the knee, it was down to the have had to improvise with some sticks from It was a monster climb. So steep I just put last 13 miles of trail to the finish line.

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Actually, only the first three miles were trail. The final 10 miles were asphalt pavement. This was the hardest part of the race for me mentally. It was not challenging physically, just in my head. I just kept thinking that those 10 miles of flat road would never end. Believe it or not, I would have loved to have another hill to climb here.

The books on tape I had loaded on my iPod were no longer enough of a diversion.

For the first time in three days I had cell reception. I called my family and put them on speaker phone and had them talk me into the Selina crosses the finish line — 85 hours, 36 minutes and 53 seconds finish. I told them to talk about anything but the race. after the start. Photo by Jerry Gamez It was a good thing they had three days’ worth of family news to talk about.

Got an egg tossed at me from a passing car on a bridge crossing. I got passed by a few people on the road. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, one of those passing me ended up in third place in the women’s race.

goal of placing, but of finishing each race safely and becoming a better person through the process.

Jim now works at a Job Corps engulfed

by Great Smokey Mountains National Park, where a myriad of mountain trails beckon from his doorstep.

In the weeks leading up to Bigfoot, packages started arriving in the mail. Gel super foods, energy bars, trekking poles, wipes, body glide, crystalized ginger for indigestion, mustard packets for muscle cramps, and four bottles of Bigfoot Barleywine for a celebration.

One day two green T-shirts arrived.

Jim’s passion in The design was life is running. He a modified Forest Service shield strings together saying U.S. Forest Service Department one race after of Bigfoots. Instead another, not with of the iconic tree at the goal of placthe center, Bigfoot took center stage. ing, but of finAs a Forest Service ishing each race retiree I loved that.

We were the Forest safely and beService Team. coming a better Our job was to meet Jim at aid sta- person... tions, hand him a quart of chocolate Midnight, Monday Aug. 17 milk (he bought three gallons), have a spot I crossed the finish line at midnight, 85 ready for him to sleep in a rental van, feed hours, 36 minutes and 53 seconds after the him once awake, and get him back on the Story and photos By Lisa Therrell start — 22nd out trail with a briefing. We were to resupply I kept telling my- of all 59 finishers his fast pack, and recharge various batterhen our friend Jim Dees asked us to ies. Somewhere in the midst of moving from self, “I know I’m and 4th among the crew for the Bigfoot 200 Endurance Run, he aid station to aid station, we also had to get women runners. going to finish warned us that CREW stands for Cranky Gavin Woody, some sleep ourselves.

Runner, Endlessly Waiting.

On race day we were up before dawn to but it’s hard and the overall winner We weren’t at all sure whether crewing finished in 64 hours, drive to the Marble Mountain Sno-Park it hurts — but I’m 12 minutes and 35 could be much fun, as we would be drivsouth of Mount St. Helens. Bigfoot was in ing 500 miles through the Gifford Pinchot going to finish.” seconds. attendance, and 30 minutes later the runners National Forest while foregoing exercise and My registration had disappeared into the woods. sleep. But we certainly knew it would be an for next year is in We drove out to I-5 and around to Mount adventure. the mail. I’ll wear St. Helens. Our green T-shirts with the yelMy husband, Rich Haydon, and I first met low Forest Service shield made us immedithe right shoes, bring more baby food and Jim when he came to Washington in 2003 to ately recognizable to the general public, who not run out of water. I am sure next year will attend graduate school, and took on a volun- started asking us random questions. “Yes, if bring different challenges presented by the sheer variety of the course, but I am looking teer wilderness ranger job at the Wenatchee you drive up this road for 40 miles you will forward to taking on the journey again, this River Ranger District. I was his boss. come to Mount St. Helens, which is a volcaLiving in Soap Lake a few years later, Jim time with a little more seasoning. no. It erupted in 1980 and is very scenic. You took up running in the coulees. He started

are welcome.”

Selina Danko, 46, started running ultramarathons running farther, and farther, and farther We went to Coldwater Lake at dusk to two years ago, after participating in several road into the heart of the desert. Soon he entered wait for Jim. This was a “sleep station” with races from 5k to marathon distance. Her first his first endurance race, the Echo Valley 50k, airbed mattresses for runners ready to sleep. was the Sun Mountain 50 mile. She enjoys explorand the rest is history.

With nowhere to camp, we placed our tent ing the foothills at all hours from her Wenatchee Jim’s passion in life is running. He strings home with occasional training excursions to the over a sewer vent by the restrooms, which }}} Continued on next page Enchantments. together one race after another, not with the

Trail wisdom & chasing Bigfoot

They also endure & suffer, those who support ultra runners

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Trail wisdom }}} Continued from previous page saturated our tent with a noticeable aroma. We moved the tent to the sidewalk.

I sautéed veggies for a scramble. Rich prepped the van in case Jim wanted to sleep. Also with us was Adam Gresham, ready to pace Jim (pacers run for only part of the race). Adam tried to snooze. Rich offered to stay up and wait for Jim. The aid station was a noisy place with cheers for each runner, laughter, and a generator running to recharge cell phones and other batteries. I put in ear plugs and tried to sleep.

Next thing I knew, Rich was waking me from a dead sleep by hitting me on the head. Jim had arrived on schedule at 12:15. I scrambled out of the tent, fired up the stove, and got the eggs and coffee going. We poured water in a wash pan so Jim could wash his feet.

Forty-four miles into the race,

Ultramarathoner Jim Dees and his pacer, Adam Gresham, get back onto the trail for the remaining 45 miles of brush, logs, cliffs and holes in the tread.

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Jim was feeling strong and ready to keep pushing on into the darkness.

The race director, Candice Burt, had warned about trail challenges on the first segments; a gully with ropes for down climbing and up climbing, a lava field with sharp boulders, and the lack of water. Jim had also found the endless dips in and out of ashy gullies wearing, and some segments the trail tread was non-existent.

Already the route was proving to be harder than what he had imagined.

On the long drive to the starting point Jim had shared that running would be like a moving meditation for him. “I know that I will gain so much good from this run. I just want to gather up that goodness and direct that out into other areas of my life.”

Jim works with youth at Job Corps where he fills the role of life coach. I felt so proud and part of something bigger. I could help facilitate his goal.

Once Jim and Adam headed out into the darkness for the next 30 mile stretch, Rich and I grabbed a few hours sleep before getting up at first light for our next big drive around to the Elk Pass Aid Station, back south of Randle. Thus began the series of six more hops we would make over three more days to support Jim. As we waited for Jim, we watched a number of runners come in.

“This isn’t a trail run. It’s a 200 mile obstacle course,” one said.

“This isn’t a trail run. It’s a power hike,” said another. “This last stretch is a motorcycle trail with a narrow groove in the bottom. There is nowhere to put your feet.”

Some were starting to drag and we heard that 12 had already dropped out due to various runner injuries. As runners exited the aid station to cheers, they moved slowly, allowing their muscles to warm up for a mile or two before resuming a running gait.

The runners had already gone

74 miles. I was just about to use the bushes when I heard a runner coming in singing in a rich baritone voice. It was Jim and Adam. I ran over to take their picture. We whisked them off to the van, where Adam handed over a baggie of huckleberries he had picked while running after Jim. Jim said, “I tried picking huckleberries too. I kept missing the bag and they ended up in my mouth.”

He also shared how the race was going for him. “The night was very dark, and I found myself in a very dark moment out there. I realized that section after section I kept thinking that the trail would improve, but there was always some new challenge. My expectations were

only making me frustrated. I decided I had to let go of any expectations. I decided to enjoy, embrace, and be thankful. I will go out mentally prepared to enjoy whatever comes. I will embrace obstacles as challenges to test my endurance and overcome. And I will be thankful for the easy sections as respite from the difficult sections. That is my new trail mantra. Enjoy, embrace, and be thankful.”

After three hours of sleep (two REM cycles) and a meal of Cajun skillet beans and pork breakfast sausage, Jim was back on the trail. I started offering leftovers; chocolate oatmeal cookies, garden tomatoes, plums, and ripe nectarines to other runners and their crew, which turned out to be a good way to make friends.

Adam bumped with us down to the Lewis River Horse Camp, where we were hoping another pacer from Seattle would join us. We reached camp just before dark and prepared to sleep. By first light we were restless and up, knowing that Jim could be in as early as 6:30 a.m.

Jim arrived closer to 9 a.m. and went to sleep, now having run 109.8 miles, further than he had ever gone before in a single run. He was still doing well and ahead of the cutoff times for each station.

Before the race, Jim explained his strategy of “Tortuga power,” travelling slow and steady like a turtle so that he would have the reserves needed to finish the race. He was towards the back of the pack from the get-go,

at one point in the very back, then inching his way forward as sprinters played out. As we prepared to get Jim up, one of the aid “I know that I station volunwill gain so much teers good from this caused us run. I just want alarm. to gather up that “Why is your goodness and rundirect that out ner still into other areas here?

He of my life.” should be back on the trail.”

We were well ahead of the 10 p.m. cutoff time, but the volunteer pointed out that the cutoff

}}} Continued on next page

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Trail wisdom }}} Continued from previous page for the next aid station was 1:30 a.m. giving only 3.5 hours to travel 19 miles with almost 6,000 feet of elevation gain.

Yikes.

Jim thought he would sleep at each aid station from now on, but we could see this was not going to happen. I served up buckwheat pancakes with huckleberries alongside lamb tacos with homemade tomatillo salsa.

We strategized. Our other pacer had showed up in the night when we were asleep and was now somewhere at large.

Adam wanted to pace Jim again, but we reasoned that Jim was fresh and had daylight for this next segment.

We would take Adam to Council “You guys are Bluff, my happy place. where Knowing that you he would are there waiting likely for me keeps me pace Jim going.” for the remaining 70 miles of the course.

Jim knew that some runners start having hallucinations around mile 140. Adam was a safety net. Jim left each aid station singing, which the aid station volunteers loved. “Rolling, rolling, rolling…”, “Happy trails to you…” and so on.

We repeated this process of meeting Jim and Adam at Chain

Bigfoot Barleywine at race’s end: Jim Dees, his pacer Adam Gresham and support crew Rich Haydon and Lisa Therrell.

of Lakes (three hours sleep), Klickitat (eat and run), and Twin Sisters (three more hours sleep) with adventures of searching for drinking water and finding insanely rough roads in between due to a wrong turn.

By Twin Sisters, Jim was starting to show signs of exhaustion, but was still strong and clearheaded. His feet weren’t even swollen, which Jim attributed to dosing with anti-inflammatory sour cherry juice, a tip I had read just ahead of the race.

After a three-hour sleep Adam was completely renewed and ready to pace Jim to the finish.

In contrast, Rich and I were exhausted from lack of sleep.

Jim said there is no way he could do this without us. We point out

Keep Moving

that aid station volunteers are up all night to wash feet, nurse wounds, and feed runners. He really doesn’t need us.

Jim said, “No. You guys are my happy place. Knowing that you are waiting for me keeps me going.”

Once it was light, Rich and I went to the high school to wait at the finish line.

Someone with a smart phone located Jim using spot locator technology. He was just four miles out. I am excited to watch the runners come in and cheered for them.

Some runners we have been following have already crossed the line. One resourceful runner stopped at a latte stand enroute to get coffee for the last mile.

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October 2015

Their fortitude just amazes me.

Two hundred mile races are new. Last year the Tahoe 200 was the first one and on a much easier trail. This year a Colorado 200 was added, as well as the Bigfoot 200. Some runners plan to tackle all three in one year.

The average age of the runners is 49, in case you are thinking this is a young person’s sport.

There were lots of women, including Selina Danko from Wenatchee who placed 22nd.

Only 14 runners are from Washington, with the remainder being from all over the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Japan.

Finally we heard a Bigfoot yodel from out on the road. Jim was nearing the finish line. He broke into a loping sprint for his victory lap.

Jim’s time was 99 hours, 3 minutes. He was 48th out of 59 finishers. Seventy-nine started the race.

There is one more runner I really wanted to see finish — Koichi Takeishi from Japan. He had been just ahead of Jim at each aid station, talking to us in exuberant Japanese.

A runner shared that Koichi was the last to finish at the Tahoe 200, coming in just three seconds before the cutoff. He slid across the line like a baseball player coming in to home plate, endearing himself to all the other ultra-runners. They are a tribe.

I noticed Koichi’s t-shirt which had a mountain with a snowy top and the words, “Piece of Cake.” We all cheered and Koichi was hoisted overhead in a chair to the applause of his fans.

The runners affirm one another. They know they have run the most difficult race yet. Even though we are exhausted, Rich and I are inspired and exhilarated to be around these people who test the outer limits of what is humanly possible.

Lisa Therrell lives, writes and plays from Leavenworth. Once she has caught up on her sleep she can be found biking, hiking, gardening and volunteering.

PET tales

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

J

J

im Lillian and Bert walk a couple miles each day, partially as therapy for Jim’s recent back surgery.

Bert is a 7-year-old Rough Coat Collie and the last of his line of pure bred champions.

“I didn’t think he would live after six months since Bert ate the lawn furniture, the hot tub cover, outside wires and sprinklers. But he is a great buddy,” said Jim, a resident of Malaga.

October 2015 | The Good Life

erry Falconi from Monroe and his pal, Duke, visit the Riverfront Park as they check off some items on their bucket list.

Duke is 12 years old and was an abused rescued dog. “He has never peed, pooped or chewed anywhere he shouldn’t have,” said Jerry. “He is the best thing that has come along in my life.”

Jerry and Duke are thinking of moving here soon, because among other reasons, “I’ve heard there are excellent medical facilities here,” said Jerry, who was injured while working in Alaska.

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s ’ y a w d r O y Car CENTRAL

WASHINGTON

Experience

Wildfire Chelan recovers after going to the brink

by Cary Ordway

A

s families and vacationers from all walks of life enjoyed warm summer temperatures and the inviting waters of a perennial summer beach resort, a menace was lurking nearby that would change many lives forever and drive tourists to scurry for protection.

No, this wasn’t Amity Island, the fictional small town made famous in the movie Jaws, and the menace was not a shark. But the overall impact was pretty much the same: people were frightened, and the local tourism industry – for two weeks in August, anyway – came to a standstill.

Early morning lightning strikes on August 14, 2015 were about to lay siege to Lake Chelan, Washington, arguably the most popular vacation lake in the state. Flames that might otherwise have been managed and even contained were quickly fanned out of control by unusually strong winds. Mid-morning, as vendors set up their tents in a downtown park for the Lake Chelan Fine Arts Festival, flames began racing across the Chelan Butte, a high ridge just on the edge of town. Thick, dark smoke billowed into the air. Tents flapped in the winds as the strong gusts made

Lake Chelan still has amazing views, but several cabins on South Shore were destroyed by fire.

it apparent that Friday’s art show was not going to proceed as usual.

Soon, the sky was alive with airborne firefighters – tankers full of retardant, scoopers with water, spotters, helicopters – each joining in a carefully choreographed effort to lay retardant or water as quickly as possible on fire that was threatening dozens of homes and potentially the very heart of downtown.

“If that fire would have gotten into South Chelan, it would have been horrible,” said Richard Uhlhorn, a reporter and photographer for GoLakeChelan. com. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that the flames were much too

close to town and the winds way too strong. Chelan residents were torn between feelings of awe as they watched the spectacular air show, and a nagging sense that maybe it would be wise to leave town now before the narrow two-lane roads into and out of Chelan were clogged with residents literally fleeing for their lives.

While 40 structures did in fact burn to the ground – including homes and businesses that sustained major losses – residents credit the authorities for bringing in a big DC-10 tanker aircraft that was so accurate in its “bombing” runs that in many places it just stopped the fire in its

Cary Ordway is publisher of NorthwestTravelAdvisor.com and host of Exploring the Northwest, heard at 8:45 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. weekdays on KPQ 560 AM, Wenatchee.

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tracks. Russ Jones, the local manager of Cashmere Valley Bank, reportedly had his house drenched in retardant in one run that felt like the DC-10 was trying to land on his house. The red retardant made a mess of several homes and neighborhoods, but locals were only too happy to clean it up.

As Chelan Valley Mirror Editor Sebastian Moraga remembered, “I’ve never seen people so happy to do another chore.”

Uplake a few miles on the South Shore, Watkins Harverene Resort owner Robert “Bub” Watkins was not able to rely on air drops when flames from the First Creek Fire burst onto his property adjacent to Lake Chelan State Park. At first sight of the fire, Watkins and his oldest son fought back the flames entirely on their own.

Later another son, neighbors and good Samaritans joined in to help

last two weeks of August. Chelan City Parks reported $200,000 in losses because of RV space reservations being cancelled, while business at local hotels also suffered. Chelan area hotels generally are 95 percent full in August – during those two weeks it was 25 percent. Passenger traffic on the Lady of the Lake and Lady Express excursion boats was just 15 percent of normal.

Thick smoke billowed into the air as flames reached edge of downtown Chelan

Bub save all of the resort lodgings.

Further north, the Wolverine fire was threatening Stehekin, Lucerne, Holden Village and one of the most pristine getaways in the entire Northwest: Domke Lake Resort. With its two simple cabins and boat rentals, it has been a favorite fly-in fishing getaway for Seattle moguls and generations of families from North Central Washington but on this weekend it would cease to exist. The fire roared into the lake area so quickly that owner Sid Burns was forced to ride it out in the middle of the lake on a boat.

It wasn’t quite that bad for Chelan High School’s Class of 1965 50th Reunion that was scheduled for that weekend at the Chelan Senior Center.

They were already in town and

decided, to heck with it, the event was going on as scheduled – even if they did have to settle for finger-food instead of a big dinner Saturday night after their caterer was less willing to fight on through impending doom.

Huge losses were sustained by some Chelan businesses, with the biggest losses reported by Chelan Fruit. There were 450,000 packed boxes of apples ready to ship that all went up in smoke, along with buildings, sorting lines and bins. Power outages forced restaurants to throw out thousands of dollars in frozen food. Bear Foods gave food away to anyone who wanted to take it home.

Businesses all over Chelan suffered a severe drop in revenue as smoke lingered over the lake for the entire

But with all of the negative impacts from the fires, the overwhelming sense in Chelan now seems to be one of gratitude for the help the city has received from firefighters, and for the help local residents have received from each other. Even the businesses that lost considerable money were simply thankful to still have their businesses.

That’s now translated into a movement in the local community to make things right again for the fire’s victims. Benefit concerts and events are springing up and crowd sourcing pages on the internet are generating relief funds. Local residents are being urged to buy from local businesses.

The Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce is reaching out to the Seattle metro area to help. A Fall Revitalization Campaign has begun with major market radio and digital ads emphasizing that “Lake Chelan is here for you” and that fall would be an especially good time to come back for great weather and fun events like

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the Lake Chelan Crush Festival put on by local wineries. Lots of good deals are being offered.

The rejuvenated spirit is fairly obvious in Chelan these days, as many local residents and business people breathe a collective sigh of relief that they still have their homes and livelihoods. But there is an underlying tension about why the fires are wreaking so much havoc these days and some locals say that Forest Service and other agencies’ policies may be flawed.

“Right now they just want to forget it and get back to their lives,” said Richard Uhlhorn. “Later on they’re going to want to sit down and hear from the agencies. There’s a lot of anger out there.”

Among the agencies coordinating help for fire victims are Chelan Valley Hope, 509888-2114, www.chelanvalleyhope.com and the Chelan Valley Fire Relief Fund, 509-663-7716, www.chncw.org. ✦

Rio Vista

‘Retirement’ brings out hidden talent for wine-making

Y

ou might call it beginner’s luck, but an unexpected thing happened to John and Jan Little when they opened Rio Vista Winery back in 2005 and shipped some sample product off to a major wine competition in Dallas, Texas: They took third place in the category of red blends – an amazing accomplishment for an upstart winery and still-novice winemaker.

“We thought we’d just try it,” remembers John about entering that first competition. “But as you can see, we’ve gotten lots of awards since then.”

He was referring to the formal awards on display in the Rio Vista tasting room a few miles north of Chelan just footsteps from an inviting beach on the Columbia River.

It seems they keep winning awards just about every year for the various blends and variations that John has an uncanny ability to create.

It’s not that John went to France or Napa to study with the world’s greatest winemakers because the reality is he picked up most of his knowledge from wine experts right here in North Central Washington. He took a few wine classes and he was a “cellar rat” at Lake Chelan Winery for a while.

But he thinks his most important training came from a guy in Mattawa named Miguel Martinez, who knows everything there is to know about growing grapes – the most important part of the process, in John’s opinion.

John recalls a favorite saying: “Good wine is made in the vineyard – all the winemaker has to do is keep from

spilling it on the floor.”

So John’s knack for winemaking is at least in part a knack for growing grapes, and he comes by that naturally having grown up on a farm and spending 10 years as an apple orchardist. Later he worked as a maintenance carpenter at Wenatchee Valley College while Jan taught elementary school in the Wenatchee School District. They bought the Columbia River property in 1995 with an eye toward retirement.

“Retirement was going to be a vacation,” remembers Jan. “We were going to be sitting on a beach and reading a good book.”

But they now had the land and they wanted to do something with it. They planted grapes starting in 2000 and, by 2005, they were selling their first wine. They now have six acres of grapes and soon will produce wine entirely from their own grapes. They have also opened a second tasting room, a move that has been wildly successful.

Today, Rio Vista is a family operation with the Littles’ son, John Jr. helping out as assistant winemaker among other duties, and daughter Kerry Siderius designing the impressive wine labels as well as displaying her art in the Rio Vista at the River tasting room. Granddaughter Kelsey Chavez is in charge of the new tasting room, Rio Vista at the Cabin, an authentic log cabin in downtown Manson.

Rio Vista is the only waterfront winery in North Central Washington and, in summer, a regular clientele

Top: John and Jan Little: they have 300 new friends.

Right: John Little gets grapes ready to load into the presser.

arrive by boat, beaching their craft on the sandy waterfront just down from the tasting room. Located about half way between Chelan and Pateros, the winery also can be reached by seaplane from Chelan for just $69 roundtrip.

The winery is quite popular for weddings and even includes a tastefully decorated room for the bride and group to stay overnight – and anyone else who wants a unique getaway.

Rio Vista has a live-music stage and hosts several musical events each year, the biggest being their Fourth of July picnic. The winery will host a concert to benefit the recent Chelan fire victims on October 10 with music by the Lake Boys. Last year, a similar event raised $11,000 for victims of the Carlton Complex Fire.

The Littles never did end up on that beach with that good book – unless you count the riverfront just a few

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steps from their tasting room – but John says “retirement” at the winery means their social circle just continues to grow as more people sign up for the Rio Vista Wine Club.

“I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I have,” he said. “I’m really happy to say we have 300 new friends now.”

Rio Vista’s riverfront location at 24415 SR 97, Chelan. The turn-off is about 3.5 miles north of the junction of Highway 97 and Highway 97A. More information is at www.riovistawines.com or please phone 509-682-9713. For information on seaplane flights to the winery, phone 509-682-5555. ✦

J

ason Boyes is what you might call a confidence-builder. For several years, the 39-year-old outdoors enthusiast has been teaching ordinary people like you and me how to meet challenges and overcome our basic fears as we try things like rock climbing, ropes courses and, most recently, ziplining 190 feet above the ground.

Confidence Builder So, you’re not Bear Grylls – Jason Boyes can help

Riders are outfitted in snowmobile suits, gloves, boots and helmets and are instructed how to start, stop and lean into their turns. They also are asked to follow in a single line.

Boyes has brought his background in “experiential education” to Mountain Springs Lodge, home to one of the Northwest’s newest zipline adventures and a lot of other forms of outdoor recreation. The Plain-area resort opened Leavenworth Ziplines on its forested property in 2014 and Boyes is the person in charge of making sure everyone has an amazing -- and safe -- experience.

But before you get the idea that Boyes is some sort of Bear Grylls that will make you wrestle a crocodile or eat maggots to quell your innermost fears, the zipline adventure at Mountain Springs is actually tame enough for our most senior senior citizens such as the 86-year-old who has completed the Mountain Springs adventure, along with a whole host of people well beyond retirement age. Ziplining is as simple as clipping your harness onto a line and letting gravity take you high across the forest canopy.

It’s a thrill ride, but not the kind that leaves your stomach turned inside out. The lines are at a slight downward angle with just enough gravitational force to keep you moving at a decent clip, but not so fast that you’re out of control. When you reach the other side, the system automatically brakes.

There are eight ziplines at Leavenworth Ziplines and you can do all eight, or do five out of the eight for a shorter adventure. Figure up to three hours for the longer version, about half that for the five lines. Prices range from $85 for an adult on the longer tour to $55 for a child on the

than ride on the back, and Boyes takes the time to carefully instruct new riders about the do’s and don’ts of riding snowmobiles through the gorgeous backcountry of North Central Washington. Up to 80 percent of the people taking these tours are first-time riders.

“Corners are where all the problems happen,” Boyes said. The solution is to keep the sleds in line traveling at the appropriate speed for the terrain, he says. There is a minimum of one guide per five customers.

Jason Boyes helps guests master the ziplines at Mountain Springs Lodge

shorter tour. Kids just have to be at least seven years old and a minimum of 70 pounds while adults can’t be over 270 pounds.

complishment, although the only real challenge here is accepting the idea that you are high above the ground suspended from a cable.

Boyes will make sure you’re comfortable with the whole procedure by having you try it first on a shorter line close to the ground.

Your confidence will start building pretty fast, Boyes says.

The ziplines have surpassed all of the resort’s expectations in terms of customer interest -- the lines have been busy ever since opening last year.

They close down during the winter months, generally late October, and resume operation in May depending on the weather.

“People in their heads may think it’s scary and talk themselves out of it, but once they get up there they see we take safety seriously. Then they step out and really start enjoying it,” Boyes explained.

The end result, of course, is spectacular. It’s the feeling of soaring like a bird through some of the prettiest mountain scenery anywhere. For some it even can be a feeling of ac-

When the lines aren’t operating, Boyes takes his confidence-building skills over to the resort’s snowmobiling operation. Mountain Springs has 10 miles of trails right on its property and access to 150 miles of trails through Forest Service land.

The snowmobile tours allow guests to drive their snowmobiles rather

Fall 2015 | THE GOOD LIFE | Central Washington Experience |

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A lot of families take the snowmobile tours, as well as couples. It turns out that riding a snowmobile with your significant other or extended family members can be a really fun shared experience that is unique, but not difficult, while allowing everyone to participate.

Boyes is a Southern California native who especially enjoys getting out in the Northwest mountains on a pair of cross-country skis, or hiking in the summer. But he says he’s really come to appreciate the convenience of getting deep into the backcountry very quickly on a snowmobile.

You might think a SoCal boy would get a little cold on a snowmobile, but he says the equipment they provide keeps it comfortable.

“And,” he adds, “I really do love the seasons up here.”

You can have Jason help build your confidence by visiting Mountain Springs Lodge where you will find Leavenworth Ziplines. Find them on the web at www.leavenworthziplines. com or phone Mountain Springs Lodge at 800-858-2276. ✦

An owner/builder’s creative choices can change the simply traditional FirstDay home to lodge or farmhouse or Cape cottage. Photo by Nicolette Manning/ Nicolette Jean Photography

Do-it-yourselfer builds a

KIT HOME

By Susan Lagsdin

J

ason Hess is a full-time Seattle firefighter, not a builder.

But while his wife Joanna and three children lived in a rental in a Wenatchee neighborhood, he constructed their 1,900-square-foot house, five miles up Squilchuck Canyon on a two-acre view lot, from footings to rooftop.

He’s strong, he’s focused and he has carpentry skills gained from part-time building jobs in his youth, but his success was due to FirstDay Cottage, a

AT e HSPoONm SOR

20-year-old New Hampshire “kit home” company gaining a reputation way beyond New England for its sensible, do-able home packages.

Two hundred and fifty homes total, a few in other countries, attest to the company’s popular designs.

FirstDay sent two truckloads of quality building materials to the site (including coveted Eastern white pine) and provided copious clear instructions meant for the visionary non-builder with a lot of determination.

The company’s owner, architect

David Howard in Walpole, NH and his son A.J. Howard, based in Seattle, were also available for consulting and trouble-shooting.

Essentially laboring alone up at the two-acre lot, with strategic assistance from friends and family, Jason worked from May of 2013 to move-in day the next spring. It was a tough year, he admitted. “Some days I’d come off a 24-hour shift and drive straight over the mountains to the site, then work 12 hours.

Those probably weren’t my most

productive times…”

Jason calculates that he worked about 1,500 hours, with very few breaks beyond single days. A.J. said the number of hours matched the company’s projections for building a house this size, originally a 1,500 square-foot blueprint, at one hour per square foot.

FirstDay Cottage offers both 1.5 story and single story homes on basement or slab, and it entreats owner-builders to follow the building plans exactly, hiring day labor when necessary

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The Hesses weren’t sure about the available window light when they went shopping for overhead light fixtures.

Solution?

They bought a bunch, and they love the look.

Contrast is a key element in this made-for-family room, with a sleek expanse of dark concrete flooring at the base, and clean white pine overhead and on the walls. Interior photos

by Donna Cassidy

and bringing in professionals for foundation, plumbing and electrical work.

The firm’s founders believe that early success matters — they don’t want unfinished First Day homes languishing on the landscape, so they encourage owners with a push to “get it;

then edit.”

They expect interior choices to be individualized, and their kits accommodate future addons, but they also know it’s irresistible to tweak the plans in process, just a little here, a little there…

That’s what Jason did, and he admits it cost him some time and tribulation to add amenities like the big front porch, the gallery entrance and the offset staircase. He didn’t take any shortcuts — what he did was create “long cuts,” but he and Joanna are pleased with the outcome.

Any non-professional building a home from scratch has to be highly motivated, both the Hesses and the Howards agree.

The work is grueling but the rewards are plentiful, and Jason was motivated by several interplaying factors.

He wanted to build “sweat equity” doing the work on a low cost per-square-foot home (and is very pleased with the high rate of return).

He wanted a simple “green” structure with natural materials and clean honest lines. And he wanted an empowering project that would impact his family’s life. “I wanted my hands to do the work,” he said.

Some of the labor was strictly tedious — cutting and fitting 21,000 linear feet of tongue ingroove lumber inside and out, for instance. Electrical installation with an optimistic friend

did indeed take only three days, but they were aggravating 20-hour days. “You finish the outside and you think you’re all done,” Jason remembered, “and then you come inside and see all the finish work that needs to be done…”

There were several nice surprises, like superb energy-efficiency. Fellow firemen working inside in January were amazed at how warm it was, and the additional radiant heat in the concrete slab floors makes cold days toasty.

High ceilings and big windows drew in more light than the family anticipated, and space seemed large on completion, with a laundry room, space for a

}}} Continued on next page

Thanks to all the top quality local builders who allowed us to feature our counter tops in this year’s Tour of Homes!

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touch, make the Hess home unique.

Most notably, wall space is dedi}}} Continued from previous page cated to several piano, big bedrooms and a playlarge landscapes, room for the three children. which had been The basic interior of a FirstDay long in storage, home features open cathedral echoing the rich ceilings with exposed wood. natural colors of Some families leave the interior the house. They studs, some mask them with were painted by sheet rock.

Joanna’s grandThe Hesses painted kitchen mother. cabinetry a pale sage green, but French doors to kept white pine walls throughthe backyard patio out. “Sometimes you can walk in open opposite the still smell that pine after a year entrance door, and a half,” Jason noted. and a big, friendly A similar floor plan and extewood table fills rior look might be seen on the the kitchen/eatwebsite or in existing homes. ing area. The kids’ But individual design decisions, The upstairs children’s bedrooms are large enough to play in, small enough to counteract clut- rooms can double many of them showing Joanna’s ter. Mountain breezes and views up and down the canyon are a bonus. Photo by A.J. Howard up as guest quarters. Eschewing a big closet in the master bedroom, the couple has simplified their clothing life, instead filling armoires with seasonal items.

By now, a year and a half after BUY MORE, they first moved in, all building scraps have vanished, the garage SAVE MORE! is built, the hydro-seeded grass Receive up to $1,500 towards purchase of is green, a huge future garden seating or accessories! plot is fenced against deer, rock*See store for details work and native plants edge the If your room needs extra assistance, site. That didn’t happen right Highway 2 • Wenatchee Ask Buffy or Renée for Boswell’s away.

663-2548 Complimentary Design Service “Oh, we took a break, a good www.boswellfurniture.com long break, before we started over on the landscaping,” Jason laughed. For him it was a break from a year of commuting from work to work; for Joanna it was a break from solid and sometimes solitary childraising.

And for them both, it was a year to fit into their brand new house, spend time together, and make plans for the future. The house is one that Jason knows intimately — so much so that he’s sometimes dismayed by a cut that’s a half-inch off, or the flaw in a board.

The good side of that familiarity is there are no mysteries — he’s aware of every functional piece of the entire structure, how it was installed and how it

KIT HOME

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October 2015

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Buffered from wind and summer heat in a U-shaped courtyard, this patio with its playing, sunning and dining space faces east across a big, well- fenced garden area. Photo by A.J. Howard Whatever the near future brings them, Joanna and Jason are proud of their project, and their three kids will have lifelong memories of “the house that daddy built.” Photo by Donna Cassidy

works.

With the project complete, this past spring life finally felt normal, with breathing time before Jason and Joanna dealt with future plans. Though tempted to stay in their brand new house, they decided instead to realize a projected 60 percent gain on their two-year investment and move on.

They’ve recently put the house on the market, priced it competitively at $500,000 and are pleased with its reception.

The home may bring them the return that any DIY builder dreams of, and with it the freedom to build a new design

on another lot, or even choose a place in town for a while.

Joanna loves their wide-open, high bench up Squilchuck Creek, surrounded by timbered foothills with distant views of the Wenatchee Valley and the plateau beyond. And she speaks proudly of her husband’s accomplishment. “Jason always does such a good job on everything!

He’s amazing.”

Whatever the future brings, they know that together they’ve worked hard to build a house and a home.

Find more information, plans, photos and building blogs at www.firstdaycottage.com.

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column moving up to the good life

june darling

Build trust and happiness through win/win Awhile back we toyed with

going to the Galapagos, but the idea eventually fizzled due largely to my lack of enthusiasm.

Blue footed boobies, bah.

Before you judge me, know that I’ve had a change of heart.

The Galapagos Islands are now our top travel priority. The change didn’t have anything to do with the allure of the Galapagos, but rather with my desire to be more trustworthy.

Galapagos, trustworthy?

What’s the connection? Read on, it’s big stuff.

I’ve been reading about how vital trust is for communities, for our businesses, our wider world, but most especially for our close relationships. Political scientists like Robert Putnam (author of Bowling Alone) keep telling us we are basically going to hell in a hand basket because trust and relationships are eroding.

Trust IS a big issue because it seems to have a significant affect on the good life — on crime, longevity and health in general, academic achievement, prosperity and on quality of relationships.

What is trust actually and how do we build it? That has been a confusing issue until recently.

You may have thought that trust is about being reliable, but reliability is only a part of it. Or perhaps, if you are a professional or business person, you think that trust is primarily developed through showing your expertise and that’s a bit of it too, but not the big enchilada according to Dr. John Gottman.

Gottman, along with his wife, heads the Relationship Research Institute in Seattle. He is not only a psychologist, but also a physicist and mathematician.

By using observation and mathematical models, Gottman ascertained that a person, let’s call him Mr. X, becomes more trusted after he repeatedly acts in ways that makes it clear he’s not just looking out for numero uno, but also cares about others.

Here are four behaviors that send powerful signals to others that we are not just out for ourselves.

We are reliable. We keep our word. We repeatedly do what we say we will do even at some cost to ourselves. (There’s the reliability piece.)

We look for win/wins. We look for ways that we all can get at least some of what we need.

We listen, we ask questions, we consider others’ perspectives.

We are kind. We notice what

others are doing right. We express appreciation. We don’t act superior, we don’t make fun of, or show contempt for others.

We are fair. We share our mutual resources and we do our share of the work.

As I mentioned earlier, evidence of expertise also makes a difference if we are being sought out for that. That does not seem as important as the other, “softer” areas.

Gottman emphasizes that it’s not the big betrayals that cause the most damage to trust, but rather it’s the small instances of continually choosing one’s own interests over others’.

You and I have a choice that comes up over and over again — will I just look out for myself or will I consider your needs and dreams?

Will I continue to read my spell-binding book when you look sad, or will I close my novel and see what’s troubling you?

Circle back to me, my husband, John, and the Galapagos.

John has been talking about his desire to see the Galapagos for years. Lately when he’s talked about the Galapagos, I’ve acted like I’m listening, but really I’m humming in my head to drown him out.

In the meantime, we’ve been

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October 2015

to places I’ve wanted to go — like Europe, Tennessee to see my mother, China, and now are planning a trip back to the Virgin Islands.

Let me just say it straight out.

I’ve been selfish. Not good, if I want to be a trusted partner and reap all those trust-associated benefits.

Luckily, there’s hope for people like me. Now I have a vision of what trustworthiness looks like, how trustworthy people actually behave. I see the error of my ways. And I know how to fix me.

In general, I can build my trustworthiness by thinking more and asking more about others’ needs and dreams.

Specifically I can increase my trustworthy behaviors by doing what I say I will do; being kind; sharing not only what I have, but sharing the work too.

Especially I can look more for the win/win, ways we both can get our way — that’s the clincher.

When we continually look for ways we all can win, we make a substantial leap forward toward trusting each other and living the good life together.

How might you move up to The Good Life by becoming more trustworthy?

(P.S. I know you may not need this article as much as I do, but your uninformed spouse, sleazy cousin and clueless boss may. Go ahead and share it so they can move up to the good life too.)

June Darling, Ph.D. can be contacted at drjunedarling1@gmail. com; website: www.summitgroupresources.com. Her books, including 7 Giant Steps To The Good Life, can be bought or read for free at Amazon. com.

>>

column GARDEN OF DELIGHTS

bonnie orr

Let’s put some pepper into life I

nspired by a trip to the McIlhaney’s Avery Island Gardens in Louisiana, we decided to grow tabasco peppers.

We stood in the garden late that summer and tentatively nibbled the first little red gems.

Our neighbor strode into our garden stripped off a half dozen of the peppers and popped them into his mouth with the judgment, “Ah, these are nothing hot.”

After about three days, I asked the neighbor’s wife where Harry was. “Oh that ol’ fool. He ate those peppers, and the juice blistered his entire mouth underneath his false teeth plates.

He can’t talk nor eat.”

Well, we being northern Rocky Mountain natives we were stunned at the power of peppers! And to be quite frank, I have never recovered.

The capsicum family contains hundreds of flavor-filled and colorful peppers and is related to its South American cousins, potatoes and tomatoes. Peppers were introduced to Europe and then Asia by early explorers. Capsicums are featured in worldwide cuisine.

I love to grow the sweet, flat Hungarian peppers from which I make my own paprika. I grow mild, slightly hot capsicums such as Jimmy Nardello or ancho.

But, never again blistering hot peppers. I avoid cooking with peppers infused with bravado but enjoy the rich chili pepper flavor of Hatch.

My friend and fellow Washington State University Master Gardener Emilie Fogle uses hot peppers to punch up a dish that lacks pizazz. She cooks both Asian and Mexican dishes with hot peppers. Her favorite pepper is a small Thai red pepper.

even more versatile because you can serve it over pasta, rice, wheat berries or pearl couscous.

Plan ahead because the wheat berries take 50 minutes to cook, and the pearl couscous takes about 20 minutes.

I selected poblano (a purple and a yellow bell pepper), two red Hungarian sweet peppers and two anchos to make up the four cups of peppers.

Serves 4; 30 minutes

Tubs of peppers: different varieties have different heat.

She says that you have to know your peppers because they have distinctive amounts of heat — and that heat can be moderated or increased by the soil and the weather.

Emilie dries her peppers on a string and when she needs flavor, plucks and grinds them. She sprinkles this pepper powder on pizzas and bruschetta. She has discovered that processing peppers diminishes the heat, especially when canning them.

She also pickles jalapenos with red onion because pickling peppers makes them less fiery. Also, she has found that if you let a cooked dish sit overnight in the refrigerator, the pepper’s heat will be diminished.

Peppers, except bell peppers, usually need to be peeled before being incorporated in a cooked dish because the peels roll up into un-chewable strings. And yes, small peppers are difficult to peel. However, if you heat the peppers and let them sweat in a October 2015 | The Good Life

bowl as they cool, the skins just slip right off.

When peeling the peppers, you may want to remove the spicy seeds and white connecting fiber.

Some people heat the peppers on their barbecue grill, or under the broiler of the oven or put them in a paper bag and microwave them for a couple of minutes. All of these techniques need to be carefully supervised so the peppers do not burn.

Peppers can be chopped and frozen. They do not lose their color nor all their heat. They are softer and should be used in cooked dishes. I prefer them to dried peppers since they have more texture. I usually do not peel the ones that I chop and freeze.

Peppers & pasta Peppers can be combined to mix flavors and color. This dish can be www.ncwgoodlife.com

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2 tablespoons olive oil 4 cups sliced peppers 3 tablespoons minced garlic 1/4 cup finely chopped chives or green scallions 1-1/2 cups cannellini beans (canned or cooked at home) 1 tablespoon lemon zest 3 tablespoons lemon juice 3/4 cup pitted cracked green or black olives 1/2 cup chopped parsley 3 cups cooked grain of your choice Garnish: 16 cherry tomatoes Boil water to prepare the grain.

Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the peppers and garlic for 8 minutes until they are limp and the juice begins to run out.

Add the drained beans, lemon juice and olives. Heat through.

Add the lemon zest, chives and parsley.

Pour the mixture over the grain and stir.

Serve either hot or cold with bread and cooked shrimp or chicken breast.

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

>>

column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

Are you sure about that?

I love science, history and

medicine.

There is, however, a vocal segment of our population who deny science, scientific research and scientific opinion on nearly everything but particularly on climate change, global warming and the role humans might have in it.

When politicians make such statements, I have to look behind their opinions to see who are their biggest financial backers. Thanks to Google, it is easy to obtain that information. It is quite enlightening.

Not all scientists agree on everything but when a preponderance of experts do agree, I pay attention to them.

As I look back at history, and

medical history in particular, it is almost humorous now to see that in different eras even brilliant individual people occasionally made statements that now seem to us ridiculous.

Even a genius like Einstein became a doubter at times.

“There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will,” said Einstein Early medical theories seem strange to us now.

In ancient Greece, Galen espoused his theory that humours or principal fluids — black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm — were produced by various organs of the body.

For a person to remain

healthy, these humours had to be in balance. Healing of illness included using the right herbs, following a suitable diet, and having clean bedding, which actually make sense but for the wrong reasons.

In addition, he recommended going to mass, having relics of saints and listening to music to calm a troubled mind. We have come a long way from his theories of imbalance of humours.

One of my favorite historical physicians was Ignaz Semmelweis, who was a young physician in Vienna in 1846. At that time illness was attributed to an imbalance caused by bad air and evil spirits.

His first job was in a maternity ward in a Vienna hospital. He was curious as to why so many

women were dying in maternity wards of what was referred to as “childbed fever.”

There were two maternity wards, one staffed by male physicians and medical students and the other by female midwives. The death rate in the male-staffed ward was five times that of the ward staffed by female midwives.

Semmelweis wanted to find out why.

One of Semmelweis’ colleagues died of a similar illness after he did an autopsy on one of the dead post partum females.

He had nicked his finger during the autopsy.

Semmelweis then found out

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many other doctors had previously died in similar fashion, all after doing autopsies. Since none of the patients from the female ward had autopsies, Semmelweis thought that small bits of tissue had gotten into the cuts that these dead physicians had experienced. Remember that this was prior to any knowledge of bacteria and other “germs.”

Semmelweis ordered the male maternity staff to wash their hands with soap and water as well as a chlorine solution. He picked chlorine to reduce odors, but he had no idea it was a powerful antiseptic.

This dramatically decreased the post partum death rate in the male staffed ward. Rather than being thrilled with his discovery, the medical staff rebelled against his recommendation and ideas, and he subsequently lost his job.

Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the United States. This is not necessarily a “modern” illness as researchers have shown that Egyptian mummies 3,500 years old had evidence of atherosclerosis, which narrows the arteries.

Dr. Harvey, King Charles’s physician, discovered in the early 1600s that blood moved from the right ventricle to the lungs then to the left ventricle and then to peripheral vessels and back to the heart.

It wasn’t until 1912 that an American cardiologist coined the term “heart attack.” In 1950 a researcher identified HDL, the good cholesterol, and LDL, the bad cholesterol. Today we know how to treat coronary artery disease and hopefully prevent it in many cases.

My point is that it took centuries to get from the knowledge that blood moved from the heart to treating the number one killer in our country.

The same might be said about those who think they have all the answers today. In the future they might be shown to be drastically wrong. Yogi Berra

once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

Can you imagine undergoing surgery without anesthesia?

Before anesthesia the sounds of patients thrashing and screaming filled the operating rooms. The patients’ groans and pain forced surgeons to chose slashing and speed over precision.

The first reported use of ether was by a dentist in 1846. It was the first anesthesia to be used in surgery. This changed the future not only for surgery but for medicine as a whole. Despite the favorable reports, it took years to become the standard in surgery and to win over the opponents of anesthetic agents who described them as “needless luxuries.”

In London ether was called a “Yankee dodger” and considered a fad much like hypnosis. Once ether came into common usage, there was no turning back.

In October I am having cataract surgery. From all reports it is painless, bloodless and highly successful.

I am relieved that I am having this surgery now rather than before 1812 when Dr. John Warren, surgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital, reported a new surgical treatment for cataracts.

Until that time the prevalent method involved putting a needle into the orbit of the eye, using it to push the clouded lens out of the line of sight. Warren’s patient had undergone this procedure for six attempts without success leaving him blind.

Dr. Warren then tried a new approach, separating the eyelid with his left thumb and forefinger and then inserting a cornea knife into the eye. Then with a special small forceps he grasped and pulled the milky opaque lens out of the eye.

After two months and three bleedings of the eye from inflammation, he reported the patient could see again. Just think, this was done without October 2015 | The Good Life

any anesthesia. No thank you!

Here are some other skeptics whose statements now make us smile: “The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty, a fad.” The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co. in 1903.

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“Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.” Dr. Dionysius Lardner, 1830.

“The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.”

Sir William Preece, chief engineer, British Post Office, 1878.

“The coming of the wireless era will make war impossible because it will make war ridiculous.” Guglielmo Marconi, pioneer of the radio, 1912.

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”

Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

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I would like to suggest that we should not be so positive about our positions since our knowledge is constantly changing, evolving and improving.

However, we do need to know when our doubts and denials are fueled by fear of change.

There are tipping points when the preponderance of evidence supports an idea. If the medical staff in the maternity wards of Vienna had listened to Dr. Semmelweis instead of dismissing him, more lives would have been saved.

What are the scientific voices we need to be listening to today?

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

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Happiness behind a camera ‘It’s funny — I can’t paint, sing, dance, play an instrument or sew — but I can take pictures!’

By Susan Lagsdin

“I

have some very favorite locations for my family, wedding and senior photos — the base of Saddlerock, Beecher Hill House, the Monitor bridge and the Pipeline bridge… the colors are a perfect mix in late afternoon light…”

Wenatchee native and commercial photographer Nicole Conner knows this area, and she’s conscious of using sites where the mix of water, tree foliage and dry grasses augments the ethereal look of her photos.

Nicole, enjoying her cozy corner studio in the Hotel Building in downtown Wenatchee, is just where she wants to be right now.

With two young children, she’s more likely to do business at her computer or just head out into the field on a commission, but this high-ceilinged, country chic little work and meeting space is an emblem of her resolution.

In her 32 years she has traveled in Europe (Italy is a favorite destination) and succeeded in college and a first career; now she and her husband are raising their family in a house she’s having fun re-designing. Two years ago she took the leap from a highstress retail position to follow a dream, and the dream has become a happy and everevolving reality.

She said, “I’ve actually wanted to be a photographer all my life. When I was young

40

Nicole Conner in her downtown meeting place: After a high-stress career in the corporate world, she has found her own corner on creativity.

I always had some kind of disposable or point-n-shoot camera close by, in my pocket or purse. I took pictures all the time.” A few photo classes at Wenatchee High School convinced her that was a career option, and she aimed at an art institute.

Cautious voices prevailed, and she attended Washington State University instead, eventually earning a degree in merchandising, design and textiles. (Nicole confessed, “I was actually flunking out of international econ and finance, and a friend told me about her fashion major. ‘What!? You can major in | The Good Life

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that?’”)

She loved it. But after seven years of retail management’s long hours at Target, Old Navy and The Children’s Place — on the corporate ladder following corporate protocols — she was ready for a change.

In 2010 she turned to her first love: taking pictures. For two years she tested her skills part time with a good camera and a business license; then, she said, “I took a leap of faith and left my retail career.” It’s been a good choice.

Her good eye for decorating with antiques

October 2015

“I would travel the world and photograph weddings everywhere I could.” may have come from her mother, and her own design sense shows in her period-look photo stagings. (She tends toward a ’30s-’40s look). Nicole said of pursuing a creative career, “It’s funny — I can’t paint, sing, dance, play an instrument or sew — but I can take pictures!”

And she does.

She figures she shoots now about 100,000 pictures annually. From May through October, Nicole does wedding photos (booked over a year in advance) almost every weekend, and autumn afternoons are filled with senior portrait appointments.

It’s tempting to outsource on larger events, but she’s aware that it’s her own artistry that clients are attracted to — a particular stylized photo technique that’s dreamy, diffuse, airy, sometimes abstract — so she personally takes every shot.

With senior photos, part of the fun for Nicole besides the actual camera work is helping young women realize their potential.

“It’s kind of a ‘pay it forward.’

I love it when I can document their talents,” she said. And the wedding couples? “I can tell, I can just see it when they are in

love. They pose themselves so naturally; I just have to guide them a little.”

She books only one wedding per weekend, reminding the couple, “I’m going to spend more time with each of you than you will spend with each other.”

High maintenance brides, nervous negativity and the occasional mega-wedding can make her job tough. But enjoying the reaction of people afterwards, seeing their images for the first time, is a big bonus.

The only part of her business that’s not a pleasure is editing.

Nicole uses a digital camera, a Canon 5D Mark III, often with a fixed 135 mm lens, which offers a desirable depth of field. She doesn’t Photoshop individual shots, but she does choose from sometimes hundreds of extremely similar poses to find the very best ones.

“That makes me wish I were shooting with film,” she said, “I’d have to be more selective with every shot. But film would add a lot of expense.” She has learned to create digital photos, however, that do have the texture and depth of those taken with film.

What does a perfect future look like? Nicole has international aspirations, and can envision taking her talents abroad. “I would travel the world and photograph weddings everywhere I could. I’d take my children and experience the globe together… it’s my dream to shoot a wedding on the Isle of Capri.”

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WHAT TO DO vendors, car show, swap meet, helicopter rides, Red Apple Flyers model aircraft demos at Red Apple Flyers Field and an old fashioned cruise begins at Eastmont Community Park and Ends at the Hot Rod Café on Friday night at 5:30 p.m.

Info: Wenatchee.org.

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

NCW Blues Jam, every second and fourth Monday, 7:30 – 11 p.m. Columbia Valley Brewery, 538 Riverside Dr, Wenatchee. Info: facebook. com/NCWBluesJam. Wenatchee Farmers Market, every Wednesday, 4 – 8 p.m. and Saturday, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Pybus Public Market.

The Breach, 10/1, 7 p.m. This film is Mark Titus’s journey to discover where the fish have gone and what might bring them back. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $12 advance or $14 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Weekly Club Runs, every Thursday check in between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. at Saddle Rock Pub and Brewery. Either a 5k or 10k walk or run on the Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail. Complete 10 weekly runs and receive a free shirt. Cost: free (other than a smile). Info: Joel Rhyner 387-0051.

Skyfest, 10/2-4, 9 a.m. – 11 p.m.

There will be hundreds of skydivers building large flying formations, record attempts, wing suit formation flights, tandem sky dives for first time jumpers, and much more. Lake Chelan Airport. Info: skydivechelan. com.

2 Left Feet, every Thursday, 7 – 9 p.m. 2 Left Feet is a loose organization of local dance enthusiasts who would like to see more dancing in the Wenatchee Valley. Beginner lesson at the top of the hour followed by carefree social dancing. No partner necessary to join in the fun.

Dance style will be 1940s swing with a bit of salsa, blues, waltz or tango thrown in. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Shawn Mullins, 10/2, 7 p.m. Live music from Atlanta based singer/ song writer and bandleader. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $28 advance or $32 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Village Art in the Park, now through Oct. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Downtown Leavenworth.

Pack Walks, every 4th Saturday, 9 a.m. Starting in November every 4th Sunday at 3 p.m. Bring your friends and dogs on leashes and walk the riverfront trail. Meet on the loop behind Pybus Public Market at the boat launch. Info: wenatcheefido.org.

Wings and Wheels, 10/1-4, 11 a.m. Carnival rides, food and craft

The Saddle Rocker, 10/2, 7 – 9 p.m. Live performance on the railcar. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Mahogany and Merlot, 10/25. Vintage unlimited and inboard hydroplanes, antique and classic boats, classic cars. Don Morse Park and Marina, Chelan. Info: mahoganyandmerlot.com.

First Fridays events: n Two Rivers Art Gallery, 10/2, 5 – 8 p.m. Featuring paintings and poetry by Martha Flores. Her theme is Looking For Shelter. A poem will be accompanied by each of her paintings. Connie Celustka on hammered dulcimer. Wines from Horan Estates Winery and complimentary refreshments. 102 N Columbia, Wenatchee. Cost: free. Info: 2riv-

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The

100%

of proceeds goes to W ENATCHEE R ACQUET & A THLETIC C LUB

NCW COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FIRE RELIEF FUND!

October 2015 | The Good Life

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www.wrac.org

662-3544 41

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WHAT TO DO

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

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your home. Come meet the artist Andrea. Snacks and beverages. 23, S Wenatchee Ave. Cost: free. Info: facebook.com/merrimentpartygoods.

n Tumbleweed Bead Co., 10/2, 5-7 p.m. Join us in welcoming Acorn Wishes as our First Friday n Merriment Party Goods, 10/2, artist. Katie Moser is a wife, mom, 5 – 8 p.m. Farmhouse B specializes teacher and knitter. When Katie in creating unique crochet home had her daughter, her mother gave décor items to accent any space in her a box of hand-knit goods from Katie’s Rchildhood as a gift. The OB ET H of the gift drove her to OCTsentiment create & 11 hand-knits hats for little 10 T H ones and grown ups. Refreshments served. 105 Palouse St. Cost: free.

Info: tumbleweedbeadco.com. ersgallery.com.

October 10 & 11

Please join us for the fun!

• Live Music • Kids activities • BBQ • Bin Train Orchard tours • Pumpkin Patch • Cider Tasting • Apple Slingshot and more!

Orondo Cider Works

1 Edgewater Dr., Orondo, WA 98843

ciderworks.com • 509-784-1029

n Small Artworks Gallery, 10/2, 5 p.m. Local artists works will be on display at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

Info: wvmcc.org.

Leavenworth Oktoberfest, 10/2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, Live music, German food, arts and crafts and activities for the whole family. Oh yeah and beer. Downtown Leavenworth. Info: leavenworthoktoberfest.com.

Fall Family Day Hikes, 10/3 and 10/10, 9 – 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. –

12:30 p.m. Join the Land Trust and the City of Wenatchee Parks and Recreation Dept. for morning walks in the Foothills. Explore a recently burned trail and experience the regeneration of local wildflowers.

Learn about fire ecology in the foothills. Learn about what fire is and what it needs to burn. RSVP required. 888-3283.

Salmon and Naturalist Walk at Entiat Stormy Preserve, 10/3, 9 – noon. Join biologist Phil Archibald for a hike along the Entiat River during salmon spawning and learn about their incredible journey from the Pacific to Entiat. RSVP required 667-9708 or cdlandtrust. org.

Opera Series: II Trovatore, 10/3, 9:55 a.m. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $22 advance or $24 at the door.

Info: icicle.org.

Charged up about electrification, 10/3, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. See electric vehicles. Hear about even more public power benefits voted on by customer-owners. And, get tips on Columbia River angling from Fishin’ Magician Dave Graybill.

Pybus Public Market. Cost: free.

Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Wenatchee Valley Symphony Presents National Anthems, 10/3, 7-9 p.m. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Info: wenatcheesymphony.org.

Mini Maker Faire, 10/3, Mix of makers displaying their projects, performers showing their talent, and organizations revealing ideas and trends of the future. Town Toyota Center. Cost: free. Info: makerfairewenatchee.com.

Wings and Wheels Kids Day, 10/3, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Airplane art, balloon animals, bean bag toss, car races, computer games, live performances, magnet games, mini pumper rides, tattoo art, petting zoo, safety booths, snacks and drinks and more. Eastmont Committee Park. Cost: free.

Lake Chelan Crush Festival, 10/3, 4 and 10/10, 11. Come visit the wineries of Lake Chelan and experience the joy of winemaking.

Info: lakechelanwinevalley.com.

Film Workshop – Drones 101: Aerials for Everyone, 10/3, 1 – 5 p.m. Learn to fly, shooting your own magnificent aerial footage

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COMING UP AT ICICLE CREEK CENTER FOR THE ARTS IN LEAVENWORTH OCTOBER

EDUCATION SIGNATURE FILM

OCT 1, 7PM

THE BREACH

OCT 2, 7PM

SHAWN MULLINS

EDUCATION

OCT 3, 1-5PM

FILM WORKSHOP

DRONES 101: AERIALS FOR EVERYONE

OPERA

OCT 3, 9:55AM

IL TROVATORE

SIGNATURE

THEATER

OCT 16-17, 7PM

BLOOMSDAY

OPERA

OCT 17, 9:55AM

OTELLO

FILM

OCT 22, 7PM

GOING CLEAR

OCTOBER: 13-18

FILM

OCT 24, 7PM TRANSFORMATIVE STORIES JILL BOLTE TAYLOR & CARRIE NEWCOMER

OCT 8, 7PM

REEL ROCK 10 FESTIVAL

CLASSICAL

OCT 9, 7PM

TRIO TARA

EDUCATION

OCTOBER 24-28, 2015 & MAY 21-25, 2016

ADULT PIANO RETREATS

FILM

OCT 29, 7PM

FRANKENSTEIN

ICICLE.ORG - (509) 548-6347 - 7409 ICICLE ROAD, LEAVENWORTH, WA 42

| The Good Life

THE ART OF NATURE RETREAT

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|

October 2015

OPERA

OCT 31, 9AM

TANNHÄUSER

The Art Life

// SKETCHES OF LOCAL ARTISTS

‘Living things inspire me’

by Rachel DiLorenzo

J

ust imagine, you’re relaxing on the grass at Memorial Park during Apple Blossom Festival.

While munching a funnel cake and tapping your toes, you’re enjoying Michael Carlos’ spirited rendition of Desde Medianoche (or Until Midnight): From below, from above I see new light shining From the outside, from the inside I have so much desire, yet so little time Or else, picture this: It’s a lazy July evening. You’re watching children frolic in Centennial Park. Michael warms up the crowd with a stream-of-consciousness banter, then belts out Winning Streak: Fortune was a high-class burden Then one day it just stopped working Left a bigger weight upon your shoulder Payback showed up to collect Slide uphill and watch the wreck Feel the ground beneath you getting colder Your little winning streak is over.

This multi-talented musician has lived in Wenatchee since 2003. By day, he is a biologist at the Forestry Sciences Laboratory, as well as a part-time anatomy and physiology professor at Wenatchee Valley College.

But to his local fans, he is also an innovative musician, singer and songwriter.

A Wenatchee favorite, Michael performs throughout the valley,

Michael Carlos performs with his group at downtown Wenatchee’s Taste of the Harvest celebration: his performances are known for their festive mood.

and around eastern Washington as well.

One of his favorite venues is the Centennial Park Summer Concert Series in Wenatchee.

“The park is just the right size,” he states, “A few hundred people come, but the park is still small enough to share the energy back and forth with the audience, just like in Caffé Mela.”

The community returns his affection. He explains, “At my last performance at Caffé Mela in 2013, the founding owner said, ‘You know everything is right in the world when Michael Carlos is playing at Caffè Mela.’ Biggest compliment ever.”

Besides appreciating his fans, he also is a devotee of Wenatchee’s mild climate and moderate size. “This is the only place I have ever lived with a climate consisting of four distinct and equal seasons,” he adds, October 2015 | The Good Life

“You know another thing more important than a lot of people realize? I have no commute to work to speak of. I can get there just as fast by bicycle as by car.”

After a hard day at the office (or out in the field), where does all of this creativity come from?

“Living things inspire me. I have an endless sense of wonder at the biological world,” Michael says, “But most of my music is inspired by amusement at the irony that constantly pours out of people. A lot of the rest of it comes from personal experiences.”

One of the recurring themes in his music is the desire to bridge the cultural divide.

This idea is rooted in Michael’s childhood. Born to Hispanic parents, Caucasian parents adopted and raised him.

“I grew up in a white American household and had no ingrained www.ncwgoodlife.com

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43

‘heritage’ experience,” he recalls.

He felt a disconnect from his roots. In order to fill this void, he began exploring his Hispanic heritage through music.

As a child, his grandmother (a former ragtime pianist) taught him to play the piano. He later mastered the guitar, accordion, and harmonica.

Throughout college, he performed in cover bands. Later, he started writing his own songs.

In 2004, he released a debut album, Yesterday’s Icons.

Michael’s shows are known for their festive mood. On rare occasions, a fan will get a bit too enthusiastic about his songs.

Take summer, 2014: “A woman clutching a stuffed raccoon climbed on stage. I tried dancing with her, but she was too intoxicated to successfully twirl.

Luckily, the event staff came to the rescue.”

Desde Medianoche is a new song. LEAP (Local Enterprising Artists’ Project) recently released it as part of its LEAP Sound Album. The organization also holds a single-day, all-arts event. This year, LEAP placed special emphasis on music, hence the sound album. Michael is excited that it features a compilation of local musicians. More information is available at www. theleapevent.org.

Given all of his success, he admires other hard-working, everyday people. “I think everyone is a hero who is making their way through life by making an honest effort to do the best they can.” That’s what makes this musician unique: thoughtful observations, simply expressed.

Michael will perform at the Holiday Spice event on Thursday, Nov. 19 at the Numerica Performing Arts Center. Part of the 2015 Numerica Festival of Trees weekend, this holiday revue features area performers saluting the season.

Rachel DiLorenzo loves meeting new people, and tracking down old-time candy bars.

>>

WHAT TO DO

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}}} Continued from page 42 high over the picturesque campus of Icicle Creek Center for the Arts, in this hands-on workshop. Learn the ins and outs of drone operation, tips for getting great shots and the important regulations to keep you on the right side of the law. Cost: $55. Info: icicle.org.

Shellfish Festival, 10/3, 4 p.m.

Three types of oysters, mussels, clams, sausage and chef Richard Kitos. Mugsy’s Groove will perform along with Cascade Mountain.

White Heron Cellars. Cost: $10 for musicians and shellfish available for purchase. Info: whiteheronwine. com.

Seahawk Rally, 10/5, 4 p.m., 10/17, 2 p.m., 10/22, 4 p.m. Wear your Seahawks clothing and help raise the 12th man flag. Crafts for kids, raffle. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Reel Rock 10, 10/8, 7 p.m. The raddest sport climbers, off widthclimbers, daredevils and moun-

taineering maestro’s on the planet featured in this film. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $12 advance or $14 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Lord of the Ringtones, 10/9 and 10/10 at 7 p.m., 10/11 at 2 p.m.

Original Amberleaf Theatre production. Snowy Owl Theater, Leavenworth. Tickets sold at the door.

Notable Exceptions, 10/9, 7 -9 p.m. Live performance on the rail car. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Geology Hike at Mountain Home, 10/9, 11 am. – 3 p.m. Join Kelsay Stanton for a geology hike.

RSVP required 667-9708 or cdlandtrust.org.

Trio Tara, 10/9, 7 p.m. Live performance by Trio Tara (Laura DeLuca, clarinet; Mara Gearman, viola; Oksana Ezhokina, piano) performs works by Bach, Schumann, Kurtag, and Kalevi Aho.. Canyon Wren Recital Hall, Leavenworth. Cost: $22 advance or $24 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Girls Night: The Musical, 10/9, 7:30 p.m. A touching and hilarious “tell-it-like-it-is” look at the lives of 5 female friends. Bursting with energy and packed with hits like Lady Marmalade, It’s Raining Men, Man, I feel Like a Women, I will Survive, We are Family and more. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Cost: $19$35. Info: numericapac.org.

Fall Family Day Hikes – Animal Tracking and sign, 10/10 , 9 – 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Join the Land Trust and the City of Wenatchee Parks and Recreation Dept. for fun morning walks. Learn about the kinds of animals that live in the Foothills. Learn how to tell if an animal has been in the area and what kind. Learn the basics of animal tracking and look for animal tracks along the trail. Look for other signs of animals along the way like browse marks and scat.

RSVP required. Info: cdlandtrust.org or 888-3283.

En Score with PUD rebates at Damter ou ConservationMakesCents.org Cen bor r fre ter. ee O e th Eve ct. row ryo 10 a con ne t R tes win ock t a s a y Re t th priz ach e Se e!

V i s n ior itor facebook.com/ ChelanPUD

Tailgate Art Sale and sidewalk sale, 10/10, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Sell your paintings, prints or other artworks from your car or truck. A fundraiser for Two Rivers Gallery. $10 to park and sell. Plus next to the Stanley Center, watercolors by Wenatchee artist Bonnie Johnson, Frederick M. Johnsons’ paintings, and photos, prints, frames, mats, canvas, pottery, glass, art books and more. City parking lot behind the Convention Center.

Knight Fright Ride, 10/10, 9:30

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October 2015

a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Costume-themed bike ride with two routes. Prizes.

10-mile route around the Apple Capital Loop Trail and a 40-mile route using the Apple Capital Loop Trail and out to Anjou Bakery in Cashmere. Start and end at Saddle Rock Pub and Brewery. Info: evenbrite.com.

Harvest Festival, 10/10, 10 a.m.

Pick and press apple for cider, potluck with chili and all the fixings, lemonade, cider, coffee and live music by Agnes on Fire. Table service provided. Buckner Homestead Heritage. Info: bucknerhomestead. org.

Cider Fest, 10/10, 11, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Live music, kids activities, bin train orchard tours, pumpkin patch, bbq, cider tasting, apple slingshot and more. Orondo Cider Works.

Cost: free. Info: orondociderworks. com.

Public Power Benefit Month, 10/10, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Senior Damboree celebrating senior adults 55 and older and veterans. Activities include: basketball throws, horseshoes, bean bag toss, square dance, health and services vendors.

Rocky Reach Dam. Cost: free. Info: 663-7522.

Jeff Scroggins and Colorado, 10/10, 7:30 p.m. High energy, high mountain, bluegrass explosion with powerful vocals, tight harmonies and musicianship to match.

Cashmere Riverside Center. Cost: $3 includes refreshments plus pass the hat for the musicians. Info: cashmerecoffeehouse.com.

An Evening at the Museum: American Indian Storytelling, 10/15, 7 p.m. Speakers Carolyn Wilson and Marv Speer will share stories, customs and artifacts.

Upper Valley Historical Society, Leavenworth. Cost: by donation.

Info: uppervalleymuseum.org.

A Streetcar named desire, 10/15-24, 7:30 p.m. Tennessee William’s’ classic, tragic drama. Live performance by the Music Theatre of Wenatchee. Riverside Playhouse.

Custer’s Arts and Crafts, 10/16-18. Over 100 Northwest artisans. Artwork includes one of a kind jewelry, pottery, woodworking, fiber, photography, metal art, seasonal décor, food and more.

Town Toyota Center. Info: towntoyotacenter.com.

Gavin McLaughlin, 10/16, 7 – 9 p.m. Live performance on the railcar. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

>>

WHAT TO DO

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

Bloomsday, 10/16, 17, 7 p.m. This play is set in Dublin against the backdrop of James Joyce’s Ulysses, Bloomsday follows a man in search of the woman who captured his heart 30 years earlier. Weaving in and out of time, we witness the very separate paths their lives have taken. Told with humor, wit, and heartache, this buoyant and moving new play brings the power and importance of living in the present into the light. Snowy Owl Theater.

Cost: $22 advance or $24 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Opera Series: Otello, 10/17, 9:55 a.m. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $24 advance or $22 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Light the loop, 10/17, The goal is to make the loop as bright and colorful with creative costumes and attire. The race will begin and end at Pybus Public Market. Info: runwenatchee.com.

Wildfire and Restoration in the foothills, 10/17, 10 a.m. – noon. Join Andrea Barbknecht for a morning of hiking and conversation beginning from the Balsamroot trailhead. Discuss the effects of the summer’s fires and how restoration actions following this event might give nature a head start in the coming years. Sign up: cdlandtrust.org.

Wildfires and US Fire Ecology Field Trip, 10/17, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Landscape ecologist Paul Hessburg and biologist/photographer John Marshall will lead this tour of fireprone forest environments. Meet at the museum, then board a bus that will make two stops for short interpretive hikes near Cashmere and Leavenworth. Hessburg and Marshall will show how repeated wildfires maintain dry forest, how plants and animals respond to fire, how topography influences fire behavior, what the forest was like in Indian times, and challenges springing from homes intermingled with forest. Bring a lunch, dress for all weather conditions, and be prepared to hike up to two miles on rough ground. The tour is an outgrowth of the Wenatchee Valley Museum’s current exhibit, “Wildfires and Us,” on display through Nov. 21. Cost: $30-$35. Call 8886240 to reserve a spot.

Chelan Chase 5k Race, 10/17, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Walk/run for breast

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column the night sky this month

Peter Lind

Morning planets on display The predawn darkness

will put on a dramatic display this month as four of our solar system’s planets will be out for early morning viewing.

Venus climbs higher in the predawn sky this month than any other time in this decade and will be the center point of a morning show.

Jupiter, Mars and Mercury round out this remarkable morning spectacle that awaits early risers.

Predawn viewing only holds half of what stargazers can look forward to this month, however.

The outer solar system puts on its own show starting in the evening and continuing all night.

Our tour begins with Saturn, which resides in the southwest skies as darkness falls in late evening. It forms a nice looking pair with the slightly dimmer Antares. Scorpius’ lead star sits just 10 degrees southeast of the planet. A waxing crescent moon enters the scene in mid-October.

On the 15th it’s just about a fist’s width to the right of Saturn. The following evening the crescent sits just to the planet’s upper left.

If you want to catch a view of Saturn through a telescope, make it early in the month as the planet is slipping closer to the western horizon in the evening. The planet still shows its spectacular rings and even the smallest telescopes will show 8th magnitude Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

When darkness settles in early in October, Pluto becomes a target for large telescopes. The distant world lies in the northern part of Sagittarius.

Pluto takes a little preparation to view. First comes a bit of research to find its location, either from publications or the InterOctober 2015 | The Good Life

net. Studying and familiarizing yourself with the local star chart makes the hunt much easier.

Through most telescopes, Pluto does not show as a disk, like the main planets, it resembles a star. To confirm a sighting it is best to sketch the star field that you see in your eyepiece, then return the next night or two and sketch the star field again. You will see one of the “stars” has moved in your drawing.

Neptune is the next planet to come into view. Neptune lies among the stars of Aquarius. It is well above the southeastern horizon as darkness completely overtakes late evening. Neptune lies 2.7 billion miles from earth, so you’ll need either binoculars or a telescope to find it. Through binoculars it would look like a bluish star, in a telescope, look for a small blue disk.

One constellation to the east is Pisces the Fish, the home of Uranus, the next planet past Saturn.

Uranus reaches opposition the night of Oct. 11, which means it lies opposite the sun in our sky and remains visible throughout the night. It also happens to lie at its closest to Earth, but still 1.8 billion miles away, and shines brightest at opposition.

You can sometimes spot it with naked eyes from a dark location, though binoculars make it an easy target. You’ll have an easier time viewing Uranus if you wait until mid-evening when it climbs reasonably high in the east–southeast.

We leave the western evening sky for the early morning eastern sky as it comes alive with bright planets.

Three of these worlds gather near one another in Leo the lion. Venus will be the brightest followed by Jupiter, and the red planet, Mars, will be the dimmest. www.ncwgoodlife.com

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On the first of the month Venus rises about 3:30 a.m. local daylight time followed by Mars just after 4 a.m. and then Jupiter half an hour later so look to the east just passed 4:30 a.m. for a brightly shining trio of planets.

On the eighth, a crescent moon joins in to add more to the display. Also look for the bright star Regulus, just barely to the northeast of Venus. Regulus is the brightest start in Leo. You will have to wait until twilight begins to see Mercury in the mornings of October. If you are awake just as the eastern horizon begins to show light look for Mercury just above the horizon.

If you read last month’s article you may remember I mentioned that I was headed to eastern Oregon for the Oregon Star Party, and that I was going to search for Pluto as I have never seen Pluto through a telescope.

I attended the star party, had a great time, incredible viewing for three nights, but unfortunately there was just enough smoke in the air to block the light from Pluto.

While I was there I heard of a small star party to be held down

by Goldendale, that is being hosted by the Seattle Astronomical Society. They have invited me to join them this month so hopefully next month I can report that I finally had a glimpse of Pluto.

In the meantime, find a friend, grab your binoculars, and go see if you can locate one of the outer planets, and enjoy the stars all night.

Peter Lind is a local amateur astronomer. He can be reached at ppjl@ juno.com.

>>

WHAT TO DO

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

}}} Continued from previous page

Oktoberfest Pumpkin Trail runs, 10/18, 8:30 a.m. 10 mile and 8k runs. Start and finish at Leavenworth Ski Hill. Info: runwenatchee.com.

cancer. Start at Riverwalk Park downtown Chelan. Info: chelanchase.com.

Back to the Future II, 10/21, 6:30 p.m. Movie night at Numerica Performing Arts Center. Cost: $3.

Info: numericapac.org.

In my Life – A Musical Theatre Tribute to the Beatles, 10/17, 7:30 p.m. Live performance.

Numerica Performing Arts Center.

Cost: $25 and $29. Info: numericapac.org.

Going Clear, 10/22, 7 p.m. A film on Scientology based on the book

by Pulitzer Prize winner Lawrence Wright. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $14 advance or $12 at the door.

Info: icicle.org.

Thursday October 1st thru Wednesday, November 11th

Your locally owned and operated independent funeral home & crematory.

711 Grant Road East Wenatchee

884-3561

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Wenatchee School District presents

through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).

All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows.com

Jake Shimabukuro, 10/22, 7:30 p.m. Ukulele player and composer.

Live performance. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Cost: $19 $35. Info: numericapac.org.

Chloe Grace, 10/23, 7 – 9 p.m. Live performance on the railcar. Pybus Public Market. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Transformative Stories: Jill Bolte Taylor and Carrie Newcomer, 10/24, 7 p.m. Jill Bolte Taylor, internationally recognized neuroanatomist and author of the bestselling My Stroke of Insight, and critically acclaimed singersongwriter Carrie Newcomer, have come together to create a seamless story of insight into the wonders of the human brain and the resilience of the human spirit through their own stories of change and transformation. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $28 advance or $32 at the door.

Info: icicle.org.

Directed by Paul Atwood Musical Direction by Tami Lopushinsky

Nov. 12-14 and 19-21 Evenings at 7:30 pm , Saturday matinees at 2:00 pm WHS Auditorium ~ Tickets $20 adults, $15 students

Available from the PAC box office and website: numericapac.showare.com Call for information: 509-663-8711 Sponsored by

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| The Good Life

Art Lovers Sunday, 10/25, 10 a.m.

– 4 p.m. Meet and visit with local artists who are actually practicing their craft. Pybus Public Market.

Cost: free.

ROCKY REACH FALL ROUNDUP, 10/25, 1 – 4 p.m. Wear your costume and round up some treats.

Lasso toss, museum scavenger hunt, bean bag boot toss, shake in my boots relay, balloon stampede, puppet show, horseshoe corral, blindfold branding, fish in the hay-

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October 2015

stack. Special guests: The bobbers.

Rocky Reach Dam. Cost: free. Info: 663-7522.

Frankenstein, 10/29, 7 p.m.

Rebroadcast from the National Theatre in London, Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch star as the monster and Frankenstein in this brilliant and very scary stage adaptation of Shelly’s classic. Snowy Owl Theater. Cost: $12 advance or $14 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

The Just Us Band, 10/30, 7 – 9 p.m. Live performance on the railcar. Pybus Public Market. Free.

Opera Series: Tannhauser, 10/31, 9 a.m. Snowy Owl Theater.

Cost: $12 advance or $14 at the door. Info: icicle.org.

Trick or Treat, 10/31, 5 – 7 p.m.

Downtown Chelan.

Trick or Treat, 10/31, 3 – 5 p.m.

Downtown Wenatchee. Treats from businesses and cider by Wenatchee Downtown Assoc. Carnival at Wenatchee Convention Center.

Hallow-Queens Drag Show, 10/31, 8 p.m. Come watch local performers and three headlining performers: Arianna Kaine, Belle Du Soleil, and LeLani Kaine (Miss LGBT Spokane 2015). All proceeds stay local and will benefit YWCA homeless housing programs. Numerica Performing Arts Center. Cost: $30 VIP or $25. Info: numericapac.org.

>>

column those were the days

rod molzahn

Wildfires of ’29 were voracious and deadly After what the Wenatchee

Daily World called, “Probably the worst fire season North Central Washington forests ever had,” the Forest Service wrote the following report: “A condition of severe drought culminated this year in an extremely critical situation. The rainfall for the five-year period had been about half the average for the preceding five year period. This drought for such an extensive period had a cumulative effect on the forests. There has been a loss of vigor, less lush growth, less moisture content in the foliage, utter dryness on the forest floor… There had been a building up of the flammable material which resulted in fires spreading more quickly and burning more intensely.”

That summer of 1929 fires burned across all of the Pacific Northwest and California. North central Washington got an early start on the morning of July 2 at 9:30 when a fire broke out in brush and trees in Yaxum Canyon and began spreading up a southeast side canyon. It moved quickly through dry grass, sagebrush and greasewood driven by 25 mph winds and growing to 300 acres on its way.

At 10:30 a.m. Deputy Fire Warden Bill Doelle locked the doors of his Cashmere hardware store and scrambled into E.C. Jessup’s car. They headed out of town to join Fire Warden Jack Peck who was gathering men to fight the spreading blaze.

Peck needed men to work the fire line on both sides of the burning canyon so Jessup dropped Doelle off about 11 a.m. with a shovel to work the north

side of the canyon while he went to the south side to join Warden Peck.

Doelle began to dig and clear a fire break trench on the steep and narrow, north ridge above the fire. After an hour and a half he met neighboring rancher, David Coon, working from the other direction.

They agreed they had the north fire line controlled and began to work their way back down the canyon. Less than an hour later, as they crossed the mouth of a small, offshoot gully, the wind abruptly reversed direction and picked up speed, blowing the fire back at Doelle and Coon.

Four other men, including Coon’s 19-year-old son and Warden Peck, were a hundred feet above Doelle and Coon and began shouting to warn them.

Peck and the others were forced to retreat from the flames and managed to scramble to the top of the north ridge barely ahead of the fire.

Below them and now out of sight, Bill Doelle and David Coon were trapped in a low spot with fire roaring at them exploding sagebrush and greasewood in its path. The men made a last, desperate effort to climb out of the canyon but were quickly overcome.

David Coon’s watch stopped at 1:20 pm. Bill Doelle was identified by his Deputy Fire Warden

}}} Continued on next page

October 2015 | The Good Life

Food & Drink Guide

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THOSE WERE THE DAYS

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Registration is currently underway for our fall support groups. One-toone grief listening is also available by appointment.

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Fires:‘100,000 acres of burning trees’ }}} Continued from previous page

badge found lying next to his body. The fire was out by early evening. A memorial plaque to the two men now stands at the spot where their bodies were recovered.

In the first week of August lightning strikes started 181 fires in the Chelan, Wenatchee/ Okanogan and Colville national forests.

The Wenatchee Daily World wrote that, “The sunlight was yellowed and sunsets and moonrises were red with the smoke from 100,000 acres of burning trees.”

Farmers, loggers and men from the streets of Seattle and Spokane were called on to fight the blazes. There were major fires in the White Mountain and Chain Lakes A memorial honors a store owner and a areas above Leavenworth, rancher who died battling a Yaxum Canyon the Wolf Creek area west fire. of Winthrop and in, what is now, the north Pasayten Wilspiked, the humidity dropped to derness near Cathedral Lakes near zero and strong northwest and Remmel Peak. winds gusting over 40 mph blew But the Camas Creek Fire, the the wind east towards Alta Lake. biggest blaze of them all, started Douglas Ingram, a regional with a lightning strike at 2:30 Forest Service officer from Portp.m. on Aug. 2 on the north side land, and Ernannie St. Luise, a of Lake Chelan opposite Twenty- 19-year-old outstanding athlete Five Mile Creek. The fire was just graduated from Chelan soon two miles wide at the lake High School, were working the and breaking over the 6,000 foot fire line near Fisher Creek on Methow Divide on a four mile Aug. 13 when the wind changed front 12 miles north of its begin- and the fire “blew up.” ning point.

Surprised by the speed of the In 1929 there were few roads fire, now boiling towards them in the forests, no smokejumppushed by the 40 mph gusts, the ers, water dropping helicopters two men could only run for their or fire retardant bombers. Days lives as the fire crowned, jumppassed and all efforts to control ing from tree-top to tree-top the fire failed. with a monstrous roaring.

Aug. 13 the temperature For two miles they raced the

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October 2015

Their bodies were found 10 days later only feet apart on the ridge... fire through timber, underbrush and rocks following the ridgeline east with the fire gaining at their backs. Then it caught them.

Their bodies were found 10 days later only feet apart on the ridge that now bears Douglas Ingram’s name. Nothing is named for Ernannie St. Luise, though he may have been the faster

runner.

It was October before the Camas Creek Fire was done. It had burned nearly 60,000 acres of timber and taken the lives of two firefighters.

Now, 84 years after that summer of flames and smoke, new fire history has been made. The Okanogan Complex Fire ravaged the Okanogan and Methow valleys through the month of August growing larger as individual fires combined into one massive blaze — the largest fire ever in Washington State.

On Aug. 19, about 12:30 p.m., a fire started up Woods Canyon, west of Twisp. By 2:45 first

responder firefighters were on their way to confront the fire.

Among them were four young men: Rick Wheeler, Andrew Zajac, Tom Zbyszewski and Daniel Lyon. The four were in Engine 642, a flatbed truck with a tank, hoses and pump mounted on the back.

They headed up the Woods Canyon Road towards the fire.

As they neared the blaze the wind shifted 180 degrees and the fire came at the truck with ferocious speed.

Somehow, in the effort to escape the flames, the truck went off the road and down a 40 foot embankment. Smoke and flames

overcame and killed Wheeler, Zajac and Zbyszewski who were trapped in the truck.

Daniel Lyon was found wandering near the burned out engine with critical burns over 60 percent of his body. He remains in hospital. The bodies of the other three were recovered the next day.

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

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www.smithsoninsuranceservices.com October 2015 | The Good Life

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>>

column ALEX ON WINE

ALEX SALIBY

Siren call to a beautiful winery & wines Summer’s been difficult.

First came the heat and the wind, then the fires, and they’re still causing difficulty beyond discussion.

In the wine world, all that early heat brought on early harvest. In some fields, harvest was a week early, in others it was two or three weeks early. There’s nothing wrong with early harvest except that in some cases it throws things totally out of the norm for fermentation and production.

But, that’s just the seasonal side of things, the side that’s more controllable.

Fires, on the other hand, are less controllable. In this instance, our good friend Ron Ventimiglia lost his winery in the Chelan fires. Ron is a supporter of the Lake Chelan AVA and the wineries on both sides of the lake; he was one of my professional judges at the Chelan County Fair’s Amateur Wine Makers competition, and one of the reasons I’m sorry I ceased my activity in the Fair’s Amateur Wine Judging activity two years ago.

We met Ron shortly after he’d

signed up to participate in our second Chelan County Fair’s Wine Garden event and we cajoled him into participating as a judge in the fair’s annual amateur event. He was more than gracious in his acceptance and participation. He knows he can count on our support for his efforts to rebuild and reconstruct his quality winery.

Enough of that sad stuff!

In spite of this being a horrid summer of heat, wind and fires, it has also been a fine year for discovering new wineries in our area.

Before I begin chatting about one of the latest wineries on the south shore of Lake Chelan, let me remind you that most of the wineries in the Lake Chelan area, north and south Shore, escaped disaster and remain open for business, and all the businesses in the AVA need your support.

Now, let me talk about Siren Song Vineyard Estate and Winery.

The Sirens, as we all know, were beautifully dangerous female creatures who, with their enchanting music and enticing voices, lured sailors to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. That, of course, was Greek and early Roman mythology.

Germans had a similar legend of the Lorelei who inhabited the Rhine River and lured sailors onto the rocks on the banks of the river shore. A “Siren Song” in modern vernacular has come to be known as an irresistable calling or attraction.

Now the Lake Chelan area is enchanted; you need only visit Know of someone stepping off the beaten path in the search for fun and excitement? E-mail us at editor@ncwgoodlife.com

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| The Good Life

Siren Song Vineyard Estate and Winery at 635 S. Lakeshore Rd in Chelan to see for yourself.

The lure here is more than the beautifully-made wine, for Siren Song offers more than wonderful wine. The grounds, one of the AVA’s earliest planted vineyards, are beautifully adorned with spectacular buildings (Provencal French with Mediterranean influences inspired by the deep blue water of Lake Chelan) that house several areas for wine tasting and a full kitchen surrounded by beautiful landscaping.

All this is a fitting setting for the Sirens themselves, the alluring folks who own and operate the grand estate, Kevin and Holly Brown. Holly of course is, as well she should be, Chief Siren. Both are delightful people well worth your taking the time to get to know.

Upon arrival, you’ll be greeted at the entrance and graciously directed to the tasting bar where, for a small fee, you can choose three wines from the list of 13 wines.

Your choices are from among four white wines, one rosé, one blanc de Noir sparkling wine, six red blends and one enticing, unblended red.

In my job, I’m penalized with having to spend countless hours at the laptop summarizing my findings and putting things together for your ultimate pleasure and enjoyment, and I have to suffer through tasting all 10 wines just to be able to comment on them intelligently.

I know you feel sorry for me, but, I’m happy to have served you in this fashion.

I must confess, I did not sample the Blanc de Noir sparkling wine; as you may recall, it’s a CO2 bubbly thing. I do not

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October 2015

care for any sparkling beverages because of the bubbles, but I’m told by reputable authority that this bubbly, made from 100 percent estate Pinot Noir fruit, is delightful, and beautifully characteristic of Methode Chamenoise -styled bubbly.

I can, however, heartily endorse all the other wines on the tasting roster.

My personal favorites were the Chardonnay, a Beaune styled wine done lightly in French oak and offering both intense aromatics and a sensual, textured mouth-feel as a great Chardonnay should, and the Raving Beauty, a 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from Horse Heaven Hills fruit. While I’m a major fan of Bordeaux-blended reds, I have to confess that this one pleased my palate.

I’m not going to list the entire tasting menu here, but I liked the tantalizing Sauvignon Blanc, a blend of Semillon and Chardonnay, the captivating blend of Dolcetto and Zinfandel called Adagio, and a masterfully clever Italian merger of the Piedmont and Tuscan wines of Nebbiolo and Sangiovese intermingled cleverly with some Cabernet Sauvignon.

And remember, the south Lake Chelan drive has a wealth of tasting rooms; Chelan Estates, Nefarious Cellars, Fielding Hills, and Karma Vineyards are all along that road, all just a short trip from one to the other.

What a wonderful day you can have.

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

He can be contacted at alex39@msn. com.

ROCKY REACH VISITOR CE NTE R Benef it

w e o r P M c i onth l b u P Come on down

to the Rocky Reach Senior Damboree 10 a.m.-4 p.m.,

Rocky Reach

Fall Roundup Wear your costume and round up some treats

Sunday, Oct. 25

Saturday, Oct. 10

Special hours for this event: 1 - 4 p.m. only

Celebrating senior adults, 55 and older, and our veterans

with special guests, The Bobbers

Activities: • Celebrate our veterans at 1 p.m.

• Enjoy basketball free throws, horseshoes and bean bag bulls eye competition • Stroll through the Museum of the Columbia • Visit with health and services vendors • Walk or run across the dam • Square dance with Appleland Promenaders • Get active with staff from local gyms • Eat at Mama D’s Kitchen

at Rocky Reach Dam

We hope you’ll join us for this fun, FREE, family event!

Lasso Toss • Museum Scavenger Hunt • Beanbag Boot Toss D3 Geocache Challenge • Snake In My Boot Relay Balloon Stampede • Tin Can Target Practice Beanbag Bulls Eye • Puppet Show • Horseshoe Corra l Blindfold Branding • Rocky Reach Quick Draw Fish In The Haystack • Special Guests, The Bobbers Mama D’s Kitchen • Fish Viewing

facebook.com/ VisitRockyReach

For more information on any of our events, please call 663-7522