The Good Life October 2020

A YARD IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE ON GRASS

WENATCHEE VALLEY’S

NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE

October 2020

Price: $3EN FOR FUN AND ADVENTURE

Price: $3

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

270 9th St. NE Suite 100 East Wenatchee 509.886.0700

During this challenging time, caring for our relatives, friends and neighbors takes on new meaning. Aging & Adult Care offers many free or low-cost services.

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Give us a call. There are multiple options sure to fit your needs.

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Offices in East Wenatchee, Moses Lake and Omak

1-800-572-4459 • www. aaccw.org

Ready, set, Winter!

Be ready for storms and possible power outages Talk with your family, make a plan and remember, if the lights go out:

• • • • • •

Call Chelan PUD 24/7 at 877-783-8123 Stay away from damaged or downed power lines Treat all downed lines as “live” and call 911 to report Turn off or unplug appliances and electronics Leave on one light crews can see from the road If using a portable generator, make sure the devices being powered are plugged directly into the generator

Independence... Choices... It’s about You! During these challenging times, caring for our loved ones takes on a new meaning.

Epledalen is here.

Chuck and Barb Dronen Administrators

Phone: (509) 782-7600 • Fax: (509) 782-1821

Email: epledalen@kashmircc.com 809 Pioneer Ave.

Cashmere, Washington 98815

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Contents

editor’s notes

MIKE CASSIDY

Have you ever changed your mind?

I’

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STRENGTH AND SILLINESS AS MOMS AND DAUGHTERS GO BACKPACKING Features

7 WE HAVE ALWAYS LOVED MEXICO

Two and a half years ago, Bill and Dana Kappler moved to a town by a lake in Mexico... and are finding it to be a delight

10 BARGING DOWN A FRENCH CANAL

Lee Martin was just going along for the ride, but soon found himself captain of a errant boat in France

12 MOTHERS, DAUGHTERS, MOUNTAINS AND DIRT These mothers and daughters sometimes struggled to stay on the right path, but reached the goal of togetherness anyway

14 hoping on hops

Linda and Ken Reid planted hops around their pergola, looking for shade — and, with the promise of beer down the line

16 GRASS BE GONE

Jaana Hatton and her husband decided they would rather look at colorful flowers and vegetables than an uniform expanse of green

18 leavenworth museum gets a makeover

Volunteers from the community reimagine and reenergize history

21 FOR THE LOVE OF IT

Lief Carlsen wonders if he can build a tiny home ... and surely, he must have a good reason Columns & Departments 6 A bird in the lens: The quick running Chukar 24 The traveling doctor: Is organic food worth the cost?

25 June Darling: Even monkeys understand fairness 26 Pet Tales: Hiking with Buckley 27 Calendar & a Dan McConnell cartoon 28 History: West called and Guy Waring answered 30 That’s life: From the mouths of children

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m having the first coffee of the day while gazing at the back half of a small farm that’s been in my family for nearly 90 years, and now belongs to my wife and me.

Over the past decades, brush has been allowed to creep up from the surrounding forest, until nearly half of the once smooth grassy fields are overgrown on this piece of land we use as a refuge from the hurlyburly of life.

But now, as the pandemic has slowed down life, we have time to deal with the brush that has grown too big for a mechanical brush hog.

So, on the occasional weekend when we can get here, my wife and I have been attacking the brush with a chainsaw, pruners, saws and axes.

If you’ve ever dug out a shrub or a row of junipers in your backyard, you have an idea of just how much muscle work is involved. Now, imagine about eight acres of shrub fruit trees, maple trees, Scotch broom, thorn trees and various other growths that I don’t know the name of.

So, as I said, I am sitting here, looking at the work ahead of us today and trying to think of just the right words to motivate my wife to put down her Kindle and pick up her gloves.

And then a lesson I learned in high school science class so long ago dances through my mind.

And the lesson is this: humans breathe oxygen and expel carbon dioxide, whereas plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.

What a nice trade for both of us.

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So, in looking at the brush, I start wondering how much any particular scrub gives off in oxygen.

My lungs are less than one cubic foot. I can see a junk tree from where I am sitting that is maybe 20 feet high and a dozen feet wide. Whereas I breathe in and out a few times a minute, would the slower process of that larger tree provide the oxygen I would need for daily living?

My eyes scan the width and depth of land we intend to clear, and I begin wondering just how many humans it is supporting with life-giving oxygen. Just me?

My wife and I? Maybe 10 humans? Maybe 50?

So, I’m thinking of hacking down and burning these green sticks of life that support maybe 50 people? Maybe more?

And, what’s our big plan for the cleared land?

We’re thinking of raising a few head of cattle on the grassy land in our retirement. And isn’t it cows that President Ronald Reagan once suggested are a cause of greenhouse gasses through their flatulence?

So, let’s get this straight: We intend to cut and burn a source of oxygen, to be replaced by methane-gas producers, that will further endanger life on this earth as we know it?

Not me. I’m not that guy. Not today.

I go in to brew a second cup of coffee. My work is done.

Now, where did I leave that detective novel I was reading?

Don’t work harder — think harder. And let the work take care of itself. Enjoy The Good Life.

— Mike

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OPENING SHOT

®

Year 14, Number 10 October 2020 The Good Life is published by NCW Good Life, LLC, dba The Good Life 1107 East Denny Way, Apt. B-7 Seattle, WA 98122 PHONE: (509) 888-6527 EMAIL: editor@ncwgoodlife.com

sales@ncwgoodlife.com ONLINE: www.ncwgoodlife.com FACEBOOK: https://www. facebook.com/NCWGoodLife Editor/Publisher, Mike Cassidy Contributors, Amanda Newell, Mark Trefry, Marlene and Kevin Farrell, Lee Martin, Jaana Hatton, Linda and Ken Reid, Bill and Dana Kappler, Lief Carlsen, Bruce McCammon, Donna Cassidy, Jim Brown, June Darling, Dan McConnell, and Rod Molzahn Advertising: Lianne Taylor Bookkeeping and circulation, Donna Cassidy Ad design, Linda Day 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 subscription services 1107 East Denny Way, Apt. B-7 Seattle, WA 98122 For circulation questions, email: donna@ncwgoodlife.com EVENTS: donna@ncwgoodlife.com BUY A COPY of The Good Life at Safeway stores, Mike’s Meats at Pybus, Martin’s Market Place (Cashmere) and Dan’s Food Market (Leavenworth) ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in The Good Life, contact Lianne Taylor at (509) 6696556 or lianne@ncwgoodlife.com WRITE FOR THE GOOD LIFE: We welcome articles about people from Chelan and Douglas counties.

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

The Good Life® is a registered trademark of NCW Good Life, LLC. Copyright 2020

by NCW Good Life, LLC.

Lake Wenatchee sunset by Mark Trefry, from the 2020 contest (slightly cropped).

Got beautiful nature photos?

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By Amanda Newell

rom the ridge tops to the valley bottom, Chelan County provides residents and visitors alike with a spectacular place to live, work and play.

In celebration of everything the county’s natural resources provide, the Cascadia Conservation District will host a photo contest.

Anyone age 13 and up who October 2020 | The Good Life

shares our appreciation for Chelan County’s natural resources is invited to participate. Entries will be accepted from interested members of the public for six categories including: plants, wildlife, agriculture, recreation, landscapes and water.

The winning photos will also be included in a 2021 stewardship calendar. The calendar will be designed to include suggestions of things citizens can do to be better natural resource stewards.

The contest is open through Oct. 1 — so hurry!

Submit entries on the photo www.ncwgoodlife.com

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contest page of Cascadia’s website: http://cascadiacd.org/ photo-contest_347.html.

If you have questions about the contest or would like to be a sponsor contact me at Amandan@cascadiacd.org.

Amanda Newell is the education and outreach specialist for the Cascadia Conservation District.

On the cover

Lee and Susan Martin take a break — with wine and baguettes, of course — while barging a French canal. See their story on page 10.

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column a bird in the lens

Look quickly, a Chukar won’t linger for long

By Bruce McCammon Your word of the month is “gallinaceous.”

An adjective, gallinaceous is used to describe a group of heavy-bodied terrestrial birds. Included in the group are pheasants, turkeys, grouse, quail and the subject of this month’s feature — the Chukar or Chukar Partridge.

These are Bruce McCammon game birds is retired, colorand are wideblind and enjoys ly hunted. photographing the birds in north cenKnowing tral Washington. that, you can safely assume that Chukar are going to be quick to escape once they detect your presence.

Still, you can hear and see them throughout the shrubsteppe communities of central Washington. The backroads on the Waterville plateau and our foothill trails are all good places to watch and listen for Chukar.

They favor steep, rocky terrain and will run away if possible.

A distinctive black stripe sweeps from the eye to the neck on the light brown Chukar.

If they can’t run into protective cover, they will flush and fly away, usually downhill. Yes, a group of Chukar flushing in front of you will quicken your heartbeat. Hunters and bird photographers know that you must be quick to see these birds.

Chukar are not native to our area. They were imported from Eurasia as a game bird and they have succeeded in establishing

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populations in the interior West.

Utah, Nevada, Washington and Oregon all have established populations.

Like other shrub-steppe species, Chukar are susceptible to habitat loss and fragmentation.

Ecologically though, the status of Chukar is “low concern,” which means they are doing pretty well at the moment.

Chukar are plump, 12 to 14inch birds. They are seed eaters and forage through shrubsteppe areas in search of food and water.

They have light brown backs and a grey-buff colored belly and front. The red legs and bill stand out for most people.

Being color-blind, for me, the bright head with a distinctive black stripe sweeping from the eye to the neck and the bold stripes on the wings stand out more prominently. Their call is loud and distinctive. You can

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sample the call here: (www. allaboutbirds.org/guide/Chukar/ sounds).

We live against the base of the foothills in Wenatchee and can hear them calling from the Jacobsen Reserve and the Castle Rock area. Every once in a while one or more of these interesting birds visits our backyard to compete for food with the quail and sparrows.

For a relatively big bird, Chukar seem fairly passive. They do not command the area when in a crowd of mixed species. They simply move about their business, calmly and steadily.

We are fortunate to have Chukar in our area. Your chances of seeing them are higher when it is not hunting season. Listening for their call will help you find them. Be quick with your binoculars or camera — they will be gone in a heartbeat once they are alert to you. Good luck.

‘We have always loved Mexico’

The beautiful malecon in Ajijic is where many events happen, including family gatherings and live music.

By Bill and Dana Kappler

When we did retire and started considering places to live, we said why not Mexico.

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riends and family said, “Why Mexico? Aren’t you afraid of crime and the food?”

Well, we have always enjoyed the food and the Mexican people are the friendliest, warmest people anywhere.

There is crime here like everywhere and we read about it but do not see it. Our area is safe.

We are living in the town of Ajijic, on Lake Chapala, Mexico.

We have enjoyed many vacation trips to Mexico. We visited many beach towns along the Pacific coast from Tijuana to Zihuatanejo. We have travelled all over Baja and the larger cities like Mexico City and Guadalajara.

Zihua is a favorite place for us. Bill first visited there in 1972 before the International airport and Ixtapa. La Ropa beach then had no hotels. Fishing (Bill’s) was great and still is.

If Bill had not worked until he was 82 we might have moved to

The Kapplers pose with a special guest warrior dressed in the ancient local Indian style. On a lake island, they fought off the Spanish for many months.

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Mexico years ago.

When we did retire and started considering places to live, we said why not Mexico.

Costs in the greater Wenatchee area were rising and there was so much unrest in the States. We explored cities, towns and villages. We did not consider Zihua due to the summers being too hot and humid.

The Lake Chapala (largest lake in Mexico) area kept coming up. It is said that National Geographic named it the second best weather in the world. International Living named it the best place in the world to retire.

We did a lot of research on line and we visited and explored

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WE HAVE ALWAYS LOVED MEXICO

I like to say, “people here take care of dogs, cats and each other.”

We have never lived in a place where this is so prevalent.

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the area for one week and returned a year later April 2018 to rent a furnished home.

During normal healthy times, we are only three to five hours away from most U.S. airports.

We are only one hour driving time away from Guadalajara and the airport.

Before COVID 19, we had 175 restaurants. Now, maybe 100.

All are very COVID restricted — only 50 percent occupancy, masks and temperature checks.

Most people here are being very careful and self-isolating for the time. We have been very lucky here. We do not know of one case of COVID 19 personally. Large cities have suffered but very little in our area even though the age here is high.

We are impressed with the doctors, nurses, hospitals and dentists along with the quality of care and prices are much lower. Insurance is private and very expensive. Medicare does not work here. It is a big issue for retirees here.

Mexico celebrates everything and we love that about this beautiful country but it brings noise, firecrackers, etc… One must accept that it is a cultural thing and go with it or live outside the busy towns.

We are fortunate to have a variety of international fine restaurants of all countries. Prices are about half of U.S. Many expats (people living outside their native country) never cook at home. There are many expats here from the U.S., Canada and Europe.

I like to say, “people here take care of dogs, cats and each other.” We have never lived in a place where this is so prevalent.

We have two rescue dogs along with wonderful Mexican and expat friends.

a very bad way. Mexico has no welfare so everyone must do something to earn any wage.

People will sell a piece of homemade pie on the street. Sometimes the only thing left to do is beg. It is certainly a worldwide issue.

We have a Mexican bank account here and deposit a check once a month from our U.S. account. Cash is pesos and the exchange rate changes daily.

Credit cards are fairly new here and most small businesses prefer to deal in cash. I would say it really is a cash society.

Financing is not available and houses sell for cash. Gringo prices are going up rapidly and the bargains are harder to find.

Many here are looking to move somewhere less expensive.

Amazon, Sam’s Club, Costco, Bed and Bath Beyond, Home Depot are available online or one hour away in Guadalajara.

English TV networks are available for approximately $50 U.S. a month.

We have been here for twoand-a-half years now and only intend to rent and not buy.

Lovely two to three bedroom homes with nice yards rent from $900 to $1,400 a month. Many places are available for much less depending on size.

A huge consideration for us was leaving family and friends.

We have returned to the Wenatchee area once and to Denver for a grandson’s wedding. Our son from Ohio has visited once. Our Wenatchee son and his family had purchased airfare to visit this past

TOP: Their current rental is two bedrooms, with small kitchen, queen bed, an office, a huge yard and a purple blooming vine.

RIGHT: Bill is especially proud of this photo of a 70-pound Dorado (Mahi Mahi) caught in Puerto Vallarta Bay.

There are many charities supporting the orphanages, food drives, animal care, and the like.

The expats are most generous in their giving and taking care of many projects. It is a wonderful thing to witness and be a part of this generosity.

The economy is suffering in

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Ajijic has many homes and businesses painted with beautiful murals, such as this one.

April but then COVID hit and plans were cancelled.

We had planned a two-week trip to Wenatchee to celebrate Bill’s 85th birthday in early September but we also had to cancel. We were terribly disappointed but we are all in the same boat and must ride this out as best we can.

This was a huge leap of faith for us to take and we are so happy we did it. We look at this as our “Last Hurrah” in the latter part of our lives.

We are very happy, healthy, grateful and content. We are living the good life in Mexico.

The Kapplers owned a seafood export Company for 42 years, exporting Alaska/Canada caught and frozen seafoods to Japan, Scandinavia and Western Europe. This led to over 25 sales trips to each country. Dana joined the company after retiring as a paralegal in Seattle. They moved the business to Leavenworth in 2001 for five years and then to Wenatchee for 12. Their son, Peter, and family live in East Wenatchee.

GRATEFUL. For Our Patients. For The Communities We Serve.

Grateful for the Opportunity to Serve.

We are Grateful for the trust our community puts in us with the things that matter most in life—family and friends.

We are Grateful each day for the opportunity to improve the health and quality of life of our friends and neighbors. It’s the daily encounters with members of our community that mean the most.

We are Grateful | We are Confluence Health

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Barging down a French canal

By Lee Martin

Not too long ago — before the

COVID-19 travel restrictions — some of our friends, who had travelled the world extensively, were planning a trip to France for three weeks.

They were planning the whole thing and I liked the idea of someone else doing all the work. I half seriously asked them if my wife, Susan, and I could come. And being friends who we had know for years, they said yes.

The highlight, apparently, was renting a barge for a week to float along the Canal du Midi. Not knowing anything about what they were talking about, I did do some research.

I found a Rick Steves’ video that showed exactly what it is about. There Rick was floating by beautiful French vineyards and villas, glass of wine in hand, smiling that Rick Steves’ “good life” smile. He looked relaxed and peaceful. Who WOULDN’T want to do that!

I am not a mariner or have I ever owned a boat. So I was relieved when my friend said that he would be piloting the barge. That meant all I had to do was sit back and sip wine and enjoy the scenery.

When we arrived to pick up the barge, it appeared as advertised: a 1940’s era, wood varnished interior that exuded charm and nostalgia. She was about forty feet long with three bedrooms and three baths. There were six of us to make this our home for the next week.

A local French man gave us a brief introduction to the barge.

We had six days to reach our final destination so we wanted to know how long we

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Lee Martin, right, takes a break with the crew while tied up along the canal.

direction. It was like driving an RV down the highway battered by strong crosswinds.

My friend took over for me again to figure out if he could steer her straight.

And she seemed to have a mind of her own. It became obvious it required some finesse or instinct. And it was exacting a toll.

My friend finally gave up. “I can’t do it” he said, “you’re going to have to do the steering.” should motor each day. “Oh, about two to Now when he said this, I thought he meant three hours a day” is what I remember him until lunch or maybe dinner. What he meant saying. was he had capitulated for the rest of the We left shortly after the introduction, trip. but since it was late in the day, we motored I’ve never seen a discouraged Rick Steves smooth and easy to a nice quiet peaceface, but if there is one I imagined it was on ful spot to spend the night. There wasn’t a my face at this moment. breeze in the air.

So much for someone else planning the The next day we awoke to strong crosstrip. I was now the pilot of a barge with no winds over the canal. boating experience and on a canal I had My friend was piloting as promised. But never even heard of before the day we picked now the steering was more difficult than it up. the night before. MUCH more difficult! The I spent the rest of the day learning on the crosswinds were catching us broadside and job. And it was exhausting! At the end of making us fishtail down this narrow canal. day, I collapsed barely able to move.

The barge seemed to be fighting my I felt the pressure now of having to get to friend’s effort to steer her in a straight line our final destination alone. And this wasn’t so as to avoid obstacles like other boats com- even my dream trip! I was supposed to just ing at us. It became nerve wracking. go along for the ride.

My friend started to panic so I took over. It However, it was about to get worse. was all the concentration I could muster to While my friend was recovering from his avoid hitting not only the side of the canal panic, he had decided to read the map in our but also other boats coming in the opposite boat.

My friend started to panic so I took over. It was all the concentration I could muster to avoid hitting not only the side of the canal but also other boats...

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This is the vision the words “barging on a French canal” conveys. Not seen are the dozen of locks and grumpy locksmen.

What the Frenchman at our introduction had failed to mention is that there were more than 53 locks between us and our final destination.

But not just 53 single locks, there were also double and triple locks! I had never heard of such a thing.

I loved to go to the Ballard locks and watch the boats maneuver through, but it was a single lock, and I had never been through them myself.

What’s the big deal you say?

The locks needed to be manned by Frenchmen and they needed to take long lunch breaks every day from 12 to 2 p.m. It didn’t matter how

In other words, they would take lunch in the middle of a canal lock traffic jam. And it would last two hours no matter what. many boats were waiting to go through the locks.

In other words, they would take lunch in the middle of a canal lock traffic jam. And it would last two hours no matter what.

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But if waiting for them to finish their lunch wasn’t bad enough, it would usually take us up to TWO hours just to get THROUGH the locks depending on whether they were single, double or triple.

These two hours would be some of the tensest of the day.

It meant all six people had to be on deck to tie lines to the side of the lock without hitting other boats. All this was to be done while those same French lock workers were cursing at us in French.

I’m not sure if they were cursing but they weren’t encouraging.

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of two to three hours of barging, it would now take between 8-10 hours a day. I was a full-time pilot! It left very little time for admiring the local scenery, which was stunning. But my “passengers” enjoyed it immensely.

My recommendation for anybody who wants to travel the Canal du Midi.

Watch the Rick Steves video and then book travel on a barge that has a REAL captain and crew. Then you can sit back and enjoy all the romance and beauty France has to offer from this unique vantage point.

Lee Martin has lived in Leavenworth for past quarter century with his wife, Susan, of 38 years.

Mothers, daughters, mountains and dirt

TOP: This area of the Pasayten Wilderness was only moderately visited. A fellow backpacker took this group shot at Silver Pass. ABOVE: Alice demonstrates good downclimbing technique on a steep stretch.

by Marlene Farrell We stepped onto a trail, one after the other, until all seven of us stood on that flat dusty ribbon.

And we danced!

Each with our signature moves, made sillier under the hulking weight of our packs.

The dance was short-lived; we knew to conserve energy. This was day three with more elevation and mileage than our map (and map reader — me) led us to believe.

Despite the brevity of our shimmies, it was a joyful moment. A small triumph.

We — three moms and four daughters — had just negotiated

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our way through four-plus hours of bushwhacking. And yes, we did it on purpose.

We knew where we wanted to go, a trail hidden in deep woods, sometimes hugging the Middle Fork of the Pasayten River, and 1,400 feet lower than our starting point on a ridgeline trail.

After the first off-trail steps, there was no looking back.

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I had done my share of crosscountry travel, developing a modicum of comfort with terrain features and map, using them to guide my directional instincts.

But the rest of the group had less experience. I wanted to shower confidence on moms Allison Gunter and Teara Dillon, teens Teyva, Taye and my

daughter Alice, and Taye’s younger sister Eve about our chosen course.

However, three and a half hours in, as the number of downed logs multiplied and Taye received three swift wasp stings, the unspoken doubts had grown.

The whole trip, four days, ebbed and flowed in this way.

We began as a giddy carload driving past Mazama on a long dirt road to the Slate Peak trailhead.

The car ride passed quickly with catch up; although we live within three miles of one another, we hadn’t done a trip together for seven years, as our lives and those of our children diverged, Enjoying the log “furniture” of a campsite. though only a stone’s throw apart. allowed, so we gathered near We survived driving the our little stoves, lounging on log Deadhorse Point road section, furniture. which is slowly crumbling into The next morning in camp a gaping chasm, and parked at spooled out languorously, with 6,900 feet. books propped next to bowls of We took in the first of many oatmeal and everyone following mountains-beyond-mountains Teara’s and Teyva’s instructions views and began descending the for headstands. Thick grass trail. cushioned our heads, and the We zoomed downward, even upside-down stacking of bones with packs loaded with food and felt so good. a tent and stove per family unit I thought, only these enthusi(three tents were our best effort astically flexible teenagers could toward health safety given the be so encouraging to a stiff close sleeping quarters). Only 45-year-old like me. when the trail ascended did our The restful morning yielded breath become labored and our to a day on the trail with little pace slowed. relief. The map fooled us (me) We arrived at the lake hungry into thinking we’d be at the next for dinner and coated in sweat lake by two. Our group moved and dust, only to find that other in an accordion style, and we’d hikers had staked their claims. regroup after spreading out…

Contentment buoyed us when until anticipation got the better we discovered a better campof us. site farther along the shore. It When the lake was not “just matched the feeling of lightness around the bend,” Allison, Taye as we busied ourselves, now and Eve, at the rear, worried packless, at making a temporary about a wrong turn, hunkered home. down and cooked a meal.

Peals of laughter rang out Meanwhile, two miles away, when the girls dipped into shalat the lake, the rest of us swam, low water that bloomed with played hearts, waited and then mud particles. Campfires aren’t started to worry.

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We split up — the others setting and sprucing up camp while I sprinted down the trail, hoping I would find the Gunter gals.

At 6 p.m., we had a happy reunion, and the Gunters let me — and then, joining us, Alice and Teyva — shoulder their packs the last half mile.

We made camp on a hilltop over the deep still waters of a slender lake. After dinner we played a mash-up of a word game, charades and memory.

Moms dominated, though Eve was the most theatrical with a spot-on British accent and musical flourishes.

The third morning we had the choice — return the way we came, or bushwhack into the unknown toward a trail that guaranteed to be a gentle climb back to the car. We chose the latter.

If I can speak for all of us, trailblazing filled us with a sense of power and wonder.

Picking the best path meant deciphering brambles and boulders, thickets and decaying logs, to go around or through, under or over, all while checking the www.ncwgoodlife.com

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internal compass of our desired direction.

We passed a lake and dubbed it Dragonfly Lake and wandered through a boulder field before we had to down climb through steep scree and scraggly plants. Alice and Teyva served as calm guides for those who were a bit nervous.

When we finally reached the river bottom trail, we savored the success and were rewarded with easy walking under stately firs and hemlocks.

The last morning, we woke early, packed and flew up the trail, with the wind at our backs, to the trailhead. While we were happy in our grime, bakery treats, showers and beds beckoned.

On the drive home, we watched the world transform into a jaundiced sky, inky river, touched by a smoky stench.

Luck was truly on our side to avoid the smoke by a matter of hours.

Looking back, I feel like fortune followed our every step. Easily, this trip could have remained a mere possibility.

Easily, we could have been so worn down by COVID-19 to not muster the energy to prepare.

We had blue sky days, temperate nights without dew, a paucity of mosquitoes, and no twisted ankles on the rocky stretches.

Most importantly, we had connections reaffirmed, among friends who have been isolated from many meaningful encounters, and, for me and the other moms, time with our beautiful girls who are nearing the threshold of independence.

It was priceless to fully participate in their lives, to witness their strength and see their uniqueness shine, while we hiked along, sharing comfortable silence and spontaneous laughter, and laying our heads down together at the end of each well-spent day.

Hoping for hops: Shade and a cold beer

shipping as if they were Ukrainian Easter eggs.

Story by Linda Reid When we opened them, Photos by Ken Reid they looked like dead twigs to us. We kept them have always prided in the garage, spritzing myself in being a life-long them often, until the learner. I push myself to soil outside warmed up keep trying new things. enough to plant them.

So does my husband, Finally, step two, plantKen. Quite often we eming day arrived in early bark on these new chalApril. lenges together. This is As a retired teacher you the story of one of those would think I would be learning experiences we good at directions. I am, both stepped into eagerly, when I am giving them, or maybe I should say but reading them and fol“hopped” into. lowing them can have unAfter our new latticeintended consequences. topped pergola was comFast forward three pleted over our southern weeks. Still no sign of life. exposure patio a year We talked to them, visago, we began to brainited their little “graves,” storm a natural way to and even went so far as to use vine-like plants as a sprinkle them with some shade-producing curtain holy water we had from and cover for those hot Lourdes. Still no results.

Wenatchee summer days.

Third step: research We imagined wistehops on the internet. ria (too messy), grape After an hour of digesting vines (too slow growing), as much information as morning glory (too inI could find, I discovered vasive), and clematis (no we had planted them luck with it in the past). standing vertically in Then we had a light their carefully prepared bulb moment: “Let’s grow raised bed when they hops!” Hops grow fast should have gone in horiand they could make zontally! a curtain and can be Step four: I carefully extrained to grow across the humed them and turned lattice to form a ceiling. each of them 90 degrees They are lush and and re-buried them, green in the summer and Hop flower cones look a lot like miniature artichokes as they spread up the backyard pergola. marking each of the 12 change color in the fall. rhizomes with a wooden In addition to all those pluses, cold to drink. Ken, however, is skewer from my kitchen junk all other hoppy things. they are perennials and you can a connoisseur of beer and has drawer.

In early spring he ordered 12 even make beer out of them. even brewed a few small batches carefully researched hop rhiWe watered, but not too much, Personally, the only beer I himself. zomes from Yakima Valley Hops: and waited. We fertilized and can choke down is an ice-cold First step: he started research- Cascades, Centennials and fed them coffee grounds (which Harp on tap, on a hot summer ing kinds of hops, where to get they are supposed to love). We Chinooks. day when there is nothing else them, when to plant them, and strung strings for them to climb, They were packaged for

I

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Backyard pergola is the home of the future hops.

and at last we saw the first tiny little bits of green appear here and there.

Those that had survived our missteps (about half of them) grew quickly, grabbing onto the green garden string just like they had done it before.

When the four hop “rock stars” reached the top of the pergola, step five was working with them daily to train them to weave in and out of the lattice.

They were very teachable and received much attention and praise as I gently coaxed them to do the slow crawl across the lattice.

They returned this positive attention by producing a prolific crop of beautiful little hop flower cones that look like miniature, baby artichokes.

Doing a little more research, I learned that hops add spiciness to beer. They contribute bittering, flavoring and stability as well as floral, fruity, or citrus flavors and aromas.

I also discovered how to tell when flower cones are ready to harvest and how many we will need to brew a small batch. It looks promising that we will have enough to meet our needs.

Therefore, our sixth step will be harvesting our crop, probably sometime before the end of Sep-

Ken, the beer connoisseur, is brushing up his tasting techniques. Once the harvest is in, the beer brewing process can begin.

Ken on hop-planting day: But what is the correct way to place the rhizomes in the soil?

tember. After that, I am turning over all subsequent steps to my brew master husband and his consultants (our daughterin-law to be and our neighbor down the block who are both experienced beer makers).

Other amateur hop growers October 2020 | The Good Life

have since told us that hops can be temperamental and that they take a long time to develop their root systems.

They can (and often do) disappoint in the first year, but once established there is no stopping them. Our experiment has given us hope and a sneak preview of what we can achieve next year when reinforcement hops are introduced.

We are encouraged and plan to continue “hoping for hops” by making use of the trials and errors of our first year. If we have learned enough to get it

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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right next year there may just be shade and a cold beer on our patio.

Ken and Linda moved to East Wenatchee from Seattle four years ago. They enjoy the increased number of sunny days where they can grow a large variety of flowers and vegetables in their garden.

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

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

A yard is a terrible thing to waste But going from grass to blooms involves heavy digging

By Jaana Hatton

When we bought our house

in Wenatchee in October 2019, we got both twice the house and twice the yard we had intended.

In both cases, we have been delighted.

A few months ago I shared our house renovation adventure — now let me share a few things about the yard.

We have a corner lot, large enough for two houses by today’s standards. Luckily the generous unbuilt portion of our lot was nothing but a well-

maintained lawn embellished by a lone dogwood tree.

Why is that lucky, you may ask? Well, it’s like a fresh canvas for an artist, a blank page for a writer; full of possibilities. And I had a few ideas.

Lawns to me are the greatest waste of landmass. I call them the “grow-mow-throw” menace — after all the maintenance and watering, we end up throwing away the grass we grow.

Yes, grassy yards are great for children and dogs, but many a homeowner maintains a putting green quality lawn just for show.

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Just above: The work begins on May 6. Top: Flowers are blooming by July 20.

Anyhow, each to his own and my “own” is this: give back to nature what you can.

The first step in getting more natural was to get rid of the lawn.

That was no easy task, let me

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October 2020

tell you. First we tried covering it up with black plastic to suffocate the grass underneath.

We had to use pegs and rocks to hold the plastic sheeting down and still the fierce spring winds (we started the process

In the meantime we had started digging up the lawn, one square foot at a time, with shovels. That was like lifting weights for hours on end.

Food never tasted so good! in March) found their way underneath the covers and tossed them into the trees and onto the street.

After a couple of weeks of playing fetch with the plastic we realized it was not going to work. In the The tall plants that replaced the lawn became a sanctuary for birds and bees. meantime we had started digging up the lawn, one square foot at a time, with shovels. That was like lifting weights for hours on end. Food never tasted so good!

Then, along came a friendly neighbor, with a look of pity on his face, and suggested we just offer the sod free for the taking.

“Why are you doing all that back-breaking work? We got rid of our lawn by just advertising it as free stuff,” he explained.

Sure enough, as soon as I had placed an ad on Craigslist about our free sod, people came — in pick-up trucks, in small cars, with trailers even.

We were getting rid of it, but still doing a fair amount of digging ourselves.

Finally we realized a sod cutter would make the work easier.

We rented one and cut the grass into squares of one-by-one foot.

The landscaping work became a whole lot easier.

By May we had gotten rid of the unwanted grass and could actually start with the fun part: Jaana Hatton pauses for a moment, perhaps to reflect on the mound of sod she dug up, or maybe just looking at the digging remaining. planting flowers and new grass.

October 2020 | The Good Life

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Yes, new grass. We ordered a native blend of fescue and clover, a huge sack of seeds from Oregon, and wasted no time in broadcasting it.

I also bought two large bags of wildflower seeds and scattered them in two corners of the yard.

A meadow was a must for the birds, bees and us — just like Mother Nature intended.

Then, some heavy digging commenced. I had decided to start a cut flower garden, but I had to establish the flowerbeds first.

For weeks I dug holes about eight feet long and a foot deep, to be filled with good soil and compost.

I started to feel like a gravedigger, looking at those nice rows of hollows in the ground.

I bought seed packets and plant starts after having done a good deal of research on which flowers are best for a cut flower garden and which veggies would be easy to grow in our area.

So, in went bachelor’s buttons, zinnias, cosmos and a whole lot more for the flowers, squash, radishes and onions to mention a few for vegetables.

I planted in mid-May and by mid-August, I felt like I was looking at a miracle. The tall sunflowers were a treat to bees and birds, flowers bloomed in every color possible and the onions were getting tall and aromatic.

Regular passers-by have been cheering us on and now enjoy seeing the yard as much as we do.

Even the mail carrier mentioned how much she loves the yard, my BloomYard garden.

I am delighted: a shared joy is twice as big. The biggest reward are the resident birds and bees that the flowers have invited to stay.

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Volunteers

Volunteer power Community members reimagine and reenergize Greater Leavenworth Museum

Story by Marlene Farrell photos by kevin farrell

I

f the Greater Leavenworth Museum were a steam locomotive as seen in some of their exhibit photographs, its fuel would be the energy of a core of dedicated volunteers.

Not only did Matt Cade, Margaret Neighbors, Bobbi Ferg and other members of the Upper Valley Historical Society (UVHS) relocate their museum to a prominent downtown Leavenworth location, they also reimagined it from its previous River Haus space to its new layout that fosters chronological flow.

But like a train delayed from reaching the station, the Greater Leavenworth Museum has not been able to open its doors to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After initially pushing the opening date from May to September, the new expectation is to open when Chelan County reaches Phase 2.

So what will visitors soon get to see?

This museum is dedicated to sharing the region’s rich and rugged past as well as the secrets of Leavenworth’s transformation into a premier tourist destination. It didn’t happen overnight. Success was not guar-

ABOVE: Matt Cade and Bobbi Ferg stand next to the new blended image of Leavenworth spanning a century.

RIGHT: Visitors can learn the story of Captain Leavenworth, the city’s namesake.

anteed; it was a huge gamble.

When entering the Greater Leavenworth Museum, a large photograph begins your journey through time. This im-

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age blends two photos of Leavenworth taken over a century apart. If you could step into that scene, you’d start on contemporary Front Street below the Bavar-

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October 2020

ian façade and head toward the frontier past and Leavenworth’s roots as an outpost to industry.

Icicle Ridge towers, steadfast, above it all.

The next large display area is dedicated to the Wenatchi, or P’squosa, the first people of the Upper Wenatchee Valley.

Photos and artifacts showcase the Wenatchi’s usage of local flora and fauna, including camas roots and tule, salmon and deer.

“The current information serves as placeholders for now,” explained Matt.

The museum is partnering with the Wenatchi tribe, making sure their story is not confined to the past. The exhibit will likely include story baskets, which have regional and family influences in terms of materials, tools used and designs.

Contemporary baskets, made using traditional methods, link today’s artisans to their ancestors.

Visitors will learn about the region from Blewett, Dryden and Peshastin to Plain, Lake Wenatchee and Stevens Pass. Small towns popped up to support the industries of mining, logging, trapping, sheep ranching and orchards. Some towns weathered the ups and downs of fickle economics, while others faded

The Royal Lady dresses, worn for parades and other events, show how fashions changed over time. The museum hopes to collect all of the dresses and rotate which are on display.

away.

Local trivia will delight history buffs as well as fill in a greater understanding of the region’s colorful past and culture. For instance, one can learn how Leavenworth got its name, which was a disproportionate tribute to a man who spent little time here.

Other area names are also tied to individuals, but some like “Icicle” descend from Wenatchi words, yielding a deeper meaning.

Visitors move from the green room of earlier history to a room shaded Bavarian flag blue to learn the story of the Leavenworth’s rebirth after a decline and near demise in the mid-20th Century. It happened because diehard residents could see beyond the sleepy town to something greater.

Courageous members of local women’s clubs, the visionary duo of Bob Rodgers and Ted Price and business leaders invested in sweeping changes, the most prominent being the adoption of Bavarian architecture and the initiation of festivals, first

A few artifacts, like this stone mortar and pestle, demonstrate the presence of the Wenatchi in this area thousands of years ago.

one, then three and now enough to highlight every season and holiday.

A prominent ambassador of Leavenworth at festivals here and beyond has been the Autumn Leaf Festival’s Royal Lady, with an outstanding local October 2020 | The Good Life

citizen chosen each year. An exhibit, with eye-catching dresses representing the last six decades, explains her significance.

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England. For entertainment, he would insert a paper roll with a punched out “tune,” crank the handle and create music as bellows blew air over 25 wooden pipes.

Margaret inherited it and played it at some Leavenworth festivals. It passed to Ray Laramie, who continued to share the drehorgel’s European charm with visitors, until donating it to the museum.

Collaboration is key to sharing a collective history. For one, the museum will display photos loaned from the Northwest Ski Hall of Fame of skiers inducted on a biannual basis. Additionally, the partnership with the Nutcracker Museum, both landlord and neighbor, is at a fruitful beginning. An anticipated synergy is expected to draw more visitors to both.

The UVHS volunteers had to brush off their carpentry and painting skills to keep the move and remodel costs to a minimum.

Bobbi Ferg honed the meticulous work of archive cataloging.

}}} Continued on next page

LEAVENWORTH MUSEUM

Want to help save local history?

C

}}} Continued from previous page She worked closely with Chris Erlich, a professional exhibit curator, whom UVHS hired for help with planning and design of the space and displays. “I was her shadow for two solid days,” she said.

Chris was impressed by everyone’s efforts. “Working with the volunteers that make small museums possible is one of the best things about my work. Bobbi, Matt and many others gave tremendous amounts of time to the exhibit, the move, the remodeling and fundraising. The result is a quality asset.”

Certainly, the gems of history, if not gathered, can be lost forever. Now, instead, they are safeguarded in the Greater Leavenworth Museum. And this is only the beginning.

“Large display cabinets in our Community Gallery will display rotating exhibits of artifacts and photos from each of the Upper Valley communities,” said Cade. “To help us get this done, we need local artifacts donated

Margaret Neighbors shares some history with the displayed drehorgel.

from community members to tell their stories.”

The UVHS members have ideas that go beyond the walls of the museum.

“We plan to add a phone app that will display historical facts, before and after images of downtown Leavenworth buildings, and self-guided walking and auto tours. Also, we are

working with the Chamber of Commerce on a ‘Then and Now’ program to explain the town’s changes over the past half-century.”

True to their predecessors from the 1950’s, the museum team is visionary, giving locals and visitors a chance to learn something new and have fun while doing it.

alling all history lovers: The Greater Leavenworth Museum needs your help! There are many ways to show support.

Donations and annual membership will help sustain the museum, which has been challenged due to the delayed opening caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The costs to move and renovate the museum are not being matched by revenue.

Membership has benefits, including free entry and invitation to special events.

The Greater Leavenworth Museum also needs volunteers, including docents, archivists, accounting help, outreach and a volunteer coordinator. “Volunteers are important: They always have a special talent or skill that helps us make the current or new project exciting,” said volunteer Bobbi Ferg. “Meeting new people and hearing their ideas are always welcome, because this Museum is their museum.”

For more information about donating, volunteering and for updates, visit the museum’s website: www.leavenworthmuseum.org and also like them on Facebook.

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October 2020

A tiny challenge

Just for the LOVE of it

With all the measurements smaller in a tiny house, Lief Carlsen could easily maneuver around the building project.

T

By Lief Carlsen

he last thing I needed was another house — even if it was just a tiny house.

I have a full-size house in Chelan, a house in Arizona, two guest cabins and a motorhome. No, another roof over my head was hard to justify on the grounds of need.

Nor was I some millionaire who could afford to collect houses the way Jay Leno collects antique cars.

The truth was, building a tiny house was something I wanted to do and I would justify it one way or another. The justification

I came up with was that I would build it to sell it, maybe even start a small business building tiny houses.

With an initial budget of $10,000, I knew I would have to economize.

Tiny houses are built on flatbed trailers which, new, cost about $5,000 — half my budget!

Clearly I’d have to work around that expense.

My first thought was to get an old travel trailer for free or next to nothing, strip it down to the frame and axles, and start from there. As luck would have it, my brother, Hans, saved me that effort by offering me his homeOctober 2020 | The Good Life

made flatbed for $300. I figured I was off to a good start.

Building a tiny house is not that different from building a typical frame house; the difference being that everything is smaller — (duh!).

On the one hand, that’s good, because I could easily maneuver all the materials by myself.

On the other hand, cramming a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living/dining room into a space the size of a typical bathroom requires some serious head scratching.

I poked around the internet and took the best features from several different tiny homes I www.ncwgoodlife.com

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saw there. I bounced my ideas off Mary, my wife, and together we came up with a 16-foot by 8-foot house plan that has a fullsize shower, flush toilet, sleeping loft, large kitchen counter, dining table, sitting room, air conditioner/heater — plus a wood stove.

I had a blast building it. Start to finish, it took me six weeks.

In the end, I overspent my original budget by $3,000 but I got so wrapped up in “doing it right” that missing my target budget wasn’t that painful.

The project became a sort of work of art for me in the sense

}}} Continued on next page

Starting with a trailer sourced from his brother...

... Lief created a tiny home all ready for, well, who knows.

A TINY CHALLENGE }}} Continued from previous page that I poured all my creative juices into it and, cost overruns be damned, I wanted it to turn out the way I imagined it.

Having built the tiny house

The project became a work of art for Lief, causing an overrun of the original budget. But, “doing it right” became more important than cost.

under the presumption that it would be sold, once it was finished, I put it up for sale on several internet sites. It was there for two weeks. There was considerable interest in the form of inquiries but no one wrote a check.

During that two weeks, however, a peculiar change of attitude was taking place in me.

It seemed every day I would feel

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the need to go to where the tiny house was parked just to gaze upon it, walk around it, sit inside it, admire my handiwork.

After two weeks of indecision I had to admit that I didn’t want to sell my creation. There was too much of me in it. I decided I would find a nice setting for it and give it a permanent home on our property, which I did.

The idea of building tiny

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October 2020

homes for profit was still an option.

Mary suggested I could use my existing tiny house as a model home to show potential customers for whom I could build on demand.

At first, that idea had appeal but the more I thought about it, the less enthusiastic I was.

What I discovered about myself was that the essential part

something about myself.

I had to admit that far more important than profiting from my $13,000 investment was my desire to know if other people appreciated this product of my imagination.

If a large number of people were willing to pay to stay in my tiny house I would have the satisfaction of knowing that other people appreciated what I had built. I was simply looking for approval. My protective instinct won out. It was never listed for rent.

So what I have now is essentially an expensive indulgence, not unlike the antique cars that are lovingly restored by car buffs, never or only rarely to be driven.

It was a labor of A full house with sleeping loft, kitchen, bath, table is all here... just on a smaller scale. love that taught me several things inhabiting my creation was not of the process for me had been about myself — a “tiny house appealing. in the creation, in the bringing in the big woods” in which no Again, analyzing my motivato fruition an idea. Once I had one lives but dear to my heart tion for this option taught me completed it, I had no desire to nonetheless. do it again.

Another option that I considered was to rent the tiny house as a vacation rental. The previous year we had rented out our cabins to summer visitors to Chelan with considerable success.

Would vacationers want to stay in a tiny house? After all, it had all the amenities of a hotel room, albeit with a little less square footage.

In the end I nixed that idea too. The thought of strangers October 2020 | The Good Life

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column THE TRAVELing DOCTOR

jim brown, m.d.

Organics? Does it really matter?

A

t one time “organic” food was primarily found in “health food stores,” which seemed to have a limited clientele as far as I could see.

Nowadays, nearly all supermarkets have “Organic” sections in their produce sections.

When I shopped for groceries, whether it was the regular section or the organic section, the foods looked the same to me.

The main difference seemed to be that prices for “organic” produce were slightly higher than for the non-organic produce.

I have to admit for a while I didn’t really think there was much difference between the two.

As it turns out when we consider the difference from a health standpoint, this minor price difference should not sway us from the organic section.

What does organic really mean?

When I was a premedical student in the “dark ages,” in our organic chemistry classes “organic,” referred to a range of chemicals containing carbon and hydrogen as well as compounds based on carbon. So when “organic” foods started to become commonplace, it didn’t make much sense to me at first.

Beware of the term “natural” when applied to produce or other foods. It sounds good but you need to know that the term “natural” only refers to artificial colors, artificial flavors or preservatives.

We now know in order for foods to be advertised as “organic,” they have to be certified and labeled with the USDA “organic” label.

What does this really mean?

In order to get the USDA organic label, foods have to have been grown in soil that has had no prohibited substances applied for three years prior to harvest.

Prohibited material includes sewage sludge for fertilizer, synthetic pesticides, and genetically engineered crops.

Compared with conventionally grown produce, organically grown produce still might have very low detectable pesticide

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residue due to air drift from nearby nonorganic growers.

Also, in true “organic” farming, genetic engineering as well as antibiotics or growth hormones for livestock are not permitted.

Beware of the term “natural” when applied to produce or other foods. It sounds good but you need to know that the term “natural” only refers to artificial colors, artificial flavors or preservatives.

There is evidence that there are potential health benefits of eating organic foods compared to conventionally non-organically grown foods.

These benefits depend on who you ask or what studies you read. The widely used herbicide Roundup has been classified as a “probable human carcinogen” and insecticides containing chlorpyrifos has been associated with developmental delays in infants.

Studies have suggested that pesticides have been linked to reduced sperm quality in men and ADHD in children.

Organically grown foods have been shown to contain less Cadmium, a toxic chemical. Organically produced milk can have as much as 50 percent more of the good omega 3 fatty acids, which

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October 2020

is a healthy thing.

So what is the best advice for us to deal with our eating of produce?

In general most of us grew up with our mom’s telling us to eat all our vegetables and I suspect moms today do the same thing.

When I was young, I am sure the concepts of organic vs. nonorganic foods wasn’t a factor at all or was unheard of.

Nowadays, the production of our food has become a trillion dollar business (my guess). Ways to improve and increase the production of our food is a gigantic business worldwide, leading to questionable and perhaps dangerous practices.

As a result, we consumers have to be our own judge regarding the food we eat.

We all have many more choices that we did in my early years. To be safe in what we eat I recommend eating “organic” especially if you are raising young children or planning to have more children in the future.

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

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column moving up to the good life

june darling

Even monkeys understand fairness These men ask for just the same thing, fairness, and fairness only. This, so far as in my power, they, and all others, shall have.

— Abraham Lincoln

T

he grandkids are yelling out those dreaded words: “That’s not fair!”

I feel I must jump into the fray.

Yet I can feel a part of me that wants to stifle the protests and synchronized shrieks of those little imps who are breaking the peace of our forest sanctuary.

This constant vigilance, stress and emotion over what’s fair strikes me as hugely annoying … AND deeply important to address if we want to live the good life.

This struggle to work out what’s fair seems to have started loooooong ago.

Researchers like Dr. Donald Pfaff, author of The Neuroscience of Fair Play: Why We (usually) Follow The Golden Rule, say our concern about fairness is hardwired into our brains.

Anthropologists like Edward Wilson theorizes that groups who were composed of people who were smarter and fairer tended to prevail over those who were less so.

But what is fairness, how do we think about it?

Some psychologists have said that fairness is a moral judgment, it is the process by which we determine what is morally right and what is morally wrong.

They mention the concern for others, treating others with kindness, making sure that others get their share of resources.

That sounds very deep and philosophical.

Yet young kids have a strong sense of fairness and an attraction to people who are deemed fair early on, even as babies,

Researchers tell us that when people feel their family, their workplace, their society is fair, they are happier, they relate better to each other.

There is less violence and aggression. experiments show.

Children who are viewed as fair are the most popular with their schoolmates. They are most often chosen as leaders.

Some think fairness is about equality or equal access to resources. Others think fairness is more about proportionality, that is, you get the harvest of your labors OR not.

In the second letter to the Thessalonians, a book in the Christian Bible, attributed to the apostle Paul, a passage has been translated: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” It was this very passage evidently that led John Smith, colonial leader of Jamestown, to utter the “no work, no food” aphorism.

However, for some, including other primates, it may be all about equality.

In one of the funniest as well as provocative research videos I have ever seen, primatologist, Frans de Waal, shows capuchin monkeys’ take on fairness (you can find it on YouTube.com by searching fairness and monkeys).

Capuchin monkey like cucumbers, but they LOVE grapes.

In these studies on fairness, monkeys are given cucumbers October 2020 | The Good Life

after they “do their work,” which is to give a rock to the researcher. All goes well until one monkey is given a grape and the other is given a cucumber for the same work.

The one who had happily received a cucumber earlier now howls and shrieks, stomps around and slaps his cage, and tosses the cucumber back at the researcher.

To wrap that all up, fairness may be something we are innately concerned about (even animals) especially if we are the ones not getting the grapes.

However, what’s fair can be seen in different ways. That is where is gets sticky and complex.

Despite the challenges, working cooperatively toward fairness is worth it.

Researchers tell us that when people feel their family, their workplace, their society is fair, they are happier, they relate better to each other. There is less violence and aggression.

So what steps can we take to become fairer? Here are some suggestions: n Be an includer. We all have easy ways of including others in discussion and activities. We can look for those who are left out and invite them in by asking them their opinions. n Notice who is getting the cucumbers and who is getting the grapes.

Appeal to people’s sense of fairness.

One of the most moving video clips I have ever seen was taken during the ’60. It is of a young girl of color sweetly asking the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee a question. Looking up into his eyes with an innocent sounding voice, she asks something like, “Mayor do you think it’s fair that www.ncwgoodlife.com

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‘Negroes’ are not allowed to sit at the lunch counters?”

The Southern mayor takes a breath, looks down at her and replies, “No, I don’t.”

Within the month, negotiations and meetings had taken place and African Americans were being served. n Become more educated on different ways of viewing fairness. You are on the right track if you read this article.

Stay alert for other articles and books like The Neuroscience of Fair Play. Be open to discussions and hearing how others view fairness. n And most of all, honor the innate drive for fairness exhausting as it can be.

We can practice shifting how we view complaints about unfairness. We can take a breath, listen to grievances. We can seek to understand how others view the world, search for underlying issues, and re-balance the fairness scales if need be.

How might we move up to The Good Life by becoming more fair?

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

>> RANDOM QUOTE

Love yourself.

It is important to stay positive because beauty comes from the inside out.

Jenn Proske

PET tales

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

Jan Hodgson is with her dog Gage.

Gage is a two-and-a-half year old Labradoodle.

“He loves all my friends and playing with other dogs.

He likes to ride in the motorhome, camp, run, swim and fetch tennis balls,” said Jan. Jan says Gage has a sweet disposition and is very playful. “He has a fleece coat that feels like velvet and he doesn’t shed!”

M

ary Houghland and Buckley are pictured on a recent camping trip.

Buckley is a 10 year old “mutt,” said Mary. “He has some Australian Shepherd and Weimaraner in him,” she added.

Buckley loves to hike and run free in the hills. Recently, he’s become a camping dog extraordinaire, said Mary.

26

| The Good Life

www.ncwgoodlife.com

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October 2020

fun stuff what to do around here for the next month We want to know of fun and interesting local events. Send info to: donna@ncwgoodlife.com

Due to the coronavirus, the order for social distancing and other measures in effect to prevent the spread of the virus, very few items are confirmed for the calendar.

We hope to be back soon with lots of fun stuff to do around the area.

Please check all events to make sure none has been canceled.

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Coffee provided by Mela Coffee Roasting. Wenatchee Valley Chamber office, 137 N. Wenatchee Ave. Leavenworth Community Farmers Market, Thursdays, thru 10/15, 4 – 8 p.m. Local eggs, meats, cheeses and bread, fruits, prepared foods, local crafts and more. Alpine Lakes Elementary School. Info: leavenworthfarmersmarket.org.

Village Art in the Park, Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Outdoor village art show sponsored by local non-profit organization provides scholarships for art education using a venue that supports amateur and professional artists. Downtown Leavenworth. Cost: free. Info: villageartinthepark.org.

Chelan Evening Farmers Market, Thursdays, 4 – 7 p.m.

Over 20 vendors, many certified organic will sell tomatoes, peppers, herbs, plums, peaches, cherries, apples, lavender and other flowers, gooseberries, currants and wool.

Riverwalk Park.

Wenatchee Valley Farmers Market, Saturdays, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Produce, fish, cut flowers, baked goods and more. West parking lot

of Pybus Public Market. Cost: free.

Scare-Crazy Tour, month of October. Drop by the chamber office in Cashmere for self guided map of scarecrows that are on display around the town.

Fall Harvest Family Seafood Boil, 10/3, 5 – 9 p.m. Outdoor event on the beach with fire pits and s’mores plus social distancing activities for families and live music. Campbell’s Resort, Chelan.

Info: campbellsresort.com.

Gear swap, 10/4, noon to 2 p.m.

Nordic, Alpine, AT/Backcountry, snowboard plus any human powered sports gear (it doesn’t have to be winter specific). Outdoors in the Leavenworth Ski Hill base area.

Face coverings and social distancing will be expected of all guests.

Cost: $5 per person, $15 per family.

Pybus University: Supporting our youth, 10/6, 7 p.m. Virtual class on the four essential elements of positive youth development. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Community Parade to honor recent Eagle Scouts, 10/10, 2:30 p.m. Eagle Scouts and their families will be stationed along the parade route in the Town Toyota Center parking lot in Wenatchee.

Community members are welcome to drive through the lot starting at the main entrance off of Walla Walla Avenue and share their congratulations with these young people.

Light the Loop, 10/10, 5:30 – 8 p.m. Serve Wenatchee Valley is planning on lighting the entire 9.6 mile of the loop trail. Stand in solidarity hand-in-hand or 6 feet apart to celebrate where we are as a sign of hope. Apple Loop Trail. Cost: $1. Info: Kelley Kennedy, kelleyk@ impactevents.com.

Pybus University: The magic of poetry, 10/13, 7 p.m. Virtual class on the magic of poetry with Perri the Poetry Fairy. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

Virtual Beer tasting, 10/14. Tickets: wenatcheevalleymuseum.org.

Proceeds to benefit the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society.

and history of this Mexican holiday.

Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket. org.

Birding Monitoring at Mountain Home Preserve, 10/22, 7 :30– 11 a.m. Would you like to spend a weekday morning hiking, viewing wildlife, wildflowers and snow-capped mountains, while being part of a small team collecting bird species data? Learn more about becoming a CDLT citizen scientist volunteer by contacting Susan Ballinger at susan@cdlantrust.org or 667-9708.

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Pybus University: Putting your dahlias to bed, 10/27, 7 p.m.

Virtual class on saving your tubers through our harsh winters by digging them up and storing them in a cool dry place. Cost: free. Info: pybuspublicmarket.org.

The Candy Cruz, 10/31, 1 - 3 p.m.

Have your trick or treaters in your vehicle and drive through downtown Wenatchee. Drive by Pybus Public Market, 2 - 4 p.m. and Town Toyota Center 2 - 5 p.m.

LLamas are an aging hiker’s best friend heart disease in women: more deadLy than breast cancer

plus REVISITING THE CONTAINER HOUSE NOW THAT IT’S FINISHED They Built This City: NEW DOWNTOWN IS FlOOR kING’S lASTING lEGACy

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Pybus University: History of the day of the dead, 10/20, 7 p.m. Virtual class on the traditions October 2020 | The Good Life

Imagine the fun you could have!

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27

>>

column those were the days

rod molzahn

The West called and Guy Waring answered From Boston he came, again and again and again, until the end

L

aura Thompson lived with her husband, Fred, and their son, Roy, in a 12-foot by 16-foot one-room cabin on Wolf Creek in the upper Methow Valley.

In one of her written recollections of her early pioneer days, she described the arrival of the Waring family in the Methow Valley on September 26, 1891.

“We passed a distinguished looking family camped by the river — a gentleman, a lady, a 15-year-old boy with a smile on his face and a very pretty little girl about 13 years old. A few days later friends visited and exclaimed, ‘Good news! Good news! We are going to have a store.’

“Mr. Waring and family planned to build a store at the forks of the Methow (and the Chewuch rivers), the true beginning of the town of Winthrop.

At that time there was nothing in Winthrop. All of us settlers spent every cent we could with Mr. Waring.”

Guy Waring was determined to settle in the West. The Boston resident and Harvard graduate had already tried once in Okanogan County in early 1885.

The 25-year old Waring had married Helen Greene, his stepmother’s sister, a widow 10 years his senior with three young children. Waring’s father was not pleased with the marriage or with his son’s lack of interest in the family engineering business.

To Guy it seemed like the right time to be on the other side of the country.

Leaving his new family behind, Waring rode the train to Oregon. Soon after reaching Portland he heard tales of the 15-mile strip across the top of Okanogan County opening for

Guy Waring on the right with Alex Barron on left — founder of the mining town of Barron where Waring built a store. Photo courtesy of Okanogan County Historical Society. Photo donor Jessie Schmidt

settlement.

Waring took the train back to Spokane Falls. There he found Cullen Bash, collector of customs at Lake Osoyoos, who readily agreed to guide him to the Sinlahekin Valley in the 15mile strip.

Bash took Waring to see Henry Wellington’s well-developed ranch just above the confluence of the Sinlahekin and Similkameen Rivers.

Waring liked what he saw, a working cattle ranch with a house ready for his family. He bought Wellington’s buildings and squatter’s rights.

In the spring of 1885 Waring loaded up his family and belongings for a train ride back to Portland and from there to Sprague, Washington, near Spokane.

At Sprague the “Governor,”

28

| The Good Life

as Waring’s family called him, loaded people and supplies into two wagons, one with the team attached and a trailing wagon set off on the 190-mile journey to the Sinlahekin Valley and their new home.

Stepdaughter, Anna Greene, recalled that it took 21 days to make the trip.

Five days were spent crossing the Columbia at “Wild Goose Bill’s” ferry. There, Indian dugout canoes made numerous trips carrying the freight from the wagons.

The wagons were disassembled and carried across in pieces on two canoes lashed together before being rebuilt and loaded again.

Horses, mules and six pure bred bulls were whipped into the Columbia to swim for their

www.ncwgoodlife.com

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October 2020

lives.

Helen Waring was so terrified that she insisted the children ride in the same canoe with her. If they perished, she wanted them to all go together.

The family settled into ranch life — mostly. Helen and the children spent winters in Spokane where the climate was milder and more to her liking.

They spent three-and one-half years on the ranch. After two years Waring opened a store, in what is now the town of Loomis, catering mostly to miners and local Indians.

Guy Waring found his Indian customers to be a better lot than the miners. He said, of the miners, “Their wholesale annihilation could not honestly be regretted.”

In 1888 Okanogan County was formed with Guy Waring as one of the first three commissioners.

By then, Helen Waring had had enough of frontier living and Guy Waring was weary of the miners and their drunken violence. They sold the Sinlahekin ranch and the store and returned to Boston.

Three years later they came west again to the Okanogan country. This time the destination was the sparsely settled Methow Valley.

And this time “Wild Goose Bill” Condon had a cable ferry replacing the dugout canoes from their first crossing of the Columbia.

Anna Greene described the family’s daily schedule on the trip from Sprague to Winthrop.

“The days were unbelievably long. We were up at 3 a.m. to get started on breakfast and chores, so we could be ready to be on

our way about 5 a.m.

“We covered 30 miles a day. By 4 p.m. we were all glad to make camp so we could look out for the horses, cook supper and get settled in for the night before darkness came.”

Waring’s wagon load of merchandise for the store did not sit idle for long.

With the help of neighbors, a house was built by November. Anna Greene remembered, “Neighbors came to help build our home, which was the custom in the West. Nobody wants pay. They just always help newcomers get established.”

The store came next; four walls, a roof, dirt for the floor and a blanket for the door. The store opened in the cold January of 1892 with $2,100 of inventory, bought on credit.

Soon after the store opened, Guy Waring was named postmaster of Winthrop and the post office was moved to his store.

Things were looking up. Business was on the rise. That all crashed in March of 1893 when fire destroyed the store and the Waring’s house.

Undeterred, Guy Waring moved his family into a 16-foot by 20-foot cabin and the remaining store inventory and post office into a 12-foot by 14-foot root cellar while he returned to Michigan to work and raise financing for a third start in the West.

Again he found success. After rebuilding his house and store he built a cable ferry across the Methow River to make his store easier to reach for more valley settlers.

In the spring of 1897, Waring returned, again, to Boston where he raised over $17,000 from wealthy friends to finance a new corporation, The Methow Trading Company.

On his return to the valley, he began a business expansion, first buying Jim Sewell’s store in Twisp then building a sawmill at Rock View on the upper Methow River.

Two years later, he built a store in the busy mining community of Barron, 5,000 feet up in the mountains west of Hart’s Pass.

He followed with a store and warehouse at the small outpost of Robinson Creek, 13 miles east of Barron. In 1903 he added a fifth store at Pateros on the Columbia at the mouth of the Methow River.

With his stores profiting, Waring thought it was a good time to begin work on a dream, an idea, he had been thinking on.

He believed apples could be grown successfully without irrigation. They would be watered by captured rainfall and snowmelt.

In 1904, he bought, for $1,000, 120 acres he called the L 5 Ranch. He planted 22 acres of winter apples. By 1909 there were 75 acres in apples and by 1911 trees covered 100 acres.

The first crop was shipped to Boston and found a good price, but not enough to pay the growing and shipping costs. The orchard was expensive and soon was devouring all the profits from the Methow Trading Company stores.

The company was, at last, done in by climate change.

When Waring planted his trees, the Methow Valley averaged 14 inches of rain and snowmelt annually.

For 16 years following 1915, the annual average dropped to 5 inches.

In 1917, the Methow Trading Company, unable to pay their obligations, went into receivership and was sold at auction for $1,300.

Guy Waring, the “Father” of Winthrop, left the Methow Valley and made his final trip back to Massachusetts.

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

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the back page: that’s life

Language from the mouths of children I’

By Lief Carlsen

m no linguist. I speak English well enough, Spanish passably well, and German just a little. Nothing remarkable there.

But what I do have is a fascination for words, specifically with the way young children use them and acquire them.

Looking back, I can see many examples of how all my life my ears have perked up at the humorous and endearing way children use and abuse language.

My younger brother, Kurt, provided me with a host of these linguistic delicacies. My favorite was the “cigarette should” episode.

Back in the early 1960s, when we were kids, Winston cigarettes were advertised on television with a catchy jingle that included the lyrics “Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should.”

Understood, but not actually uttered in this jingle, was the verb “taste” at the end of that line.

Mimicry of famous people and television personalities being a favorite pastime in our family, and Kurt being an ardent participant in this pastime, he would sometimes strike a pose of faux sophistication like a TV celebrity by holding an imaginary cigarette dangling in his

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

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

fingers. He would inform his audience that he was smoking a “Cigarette Should.”

We all thought this was hilarious, but six-year-old Kurt, it dawned on me, believed that a “Cigarette Should” was an actual entity, the understood component of the predicate having escaped him.

Another younger brother, Hans, once presented a fine example of the limitations of child speak. (I should add that I am not proud of my role in this episode.) Hans was quite young when this occurred. My memory of it has him still sitting in a high chair.

The precipitating event on this occasion involved me standing in front of my captive little brother, contorting my face in various gruesome expressions which elicited howls of protest from Hans, all to my delight.

Mom was standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes, her back to us. When Hans desperately and tearfully appealed to Mom with the words “Mommy, Lief is looking at me!” Mom innocently replied something to the effect that there was nothing wrong with one person looking at another — to which I gleefully continued to pepper little Hans with more gruesome expressions and Hans continued to beg for mercy.

Word mangling is commonplace among young children.

Every family has their examples.

An abbreviated list of examples from my family includes: “tratcher” = tractor “rivo” = river “cerdor” = cereal “munkchip” = chipmunk “mosp” = wasp or moth Know of someone stepping off the beaten path in the search for fun and excitement? E-mail us at editor@ncwgoodlife.com

30

| The Good Life

When I eventually did begin to speak, they tell me, I didn’t venture forth with single words like “Momma” or “doggie.” I amazed everyone by all of a sudden speaking in complete sentences.

One of my nephews had trouble pronouncing the “r” sound when he was young. The closest he could come was the “w” sound. Predictably, this resulted in his sister, Irene, known in the family as Reenie, being tagged as “Weenie.”

Does “urine” sound like “your name”? Apparently our son Matthew thought so.

He was probably 12 years old and sitting at the dining room table dutifully doing his homework one evening when his younger sister, Rachel, aged about five, proudly walked up to him and asked “Do you know what urine is?”

She had just learned this new word. (I don’t remember the circumstances for that.) Matthew, somewhat perplexed by such an off-the-wall inquiry, replied “What?”

Rachel then gleefully informed him that it means “pee!”

To this, and with considerable indignation, Matthew replied “Well your name is poo!”

It took me a moment to decipher the line of thinking that was behind Matthew’s indignation.

The story of my own acquisi-

www.ncwgoodlife.com

|

October 2020

tion of language is not without twists and turns.

According to family legend, I was unusually late learning to speak. (So was Albert Einstein, I should add). I was non-verbal so late into my childhood that my parents feared I was mentally retarded.

When I eventually did begin to speak, they tell me, I didn’t venture forth with single words like “Momma” or “doggie.” I amazed everyone by all of a sudden speaking in complete sentences.

To my parents it seemed I had been secretly practicing all along, waiting for the perfect moment to spring my accomplishment on the world.

The process was to repeat itself when I learned to read. After getting off to a very slow start (two years in the lowest reading group), I suddenly rocketed to the head of the class in third grade.

Our youngest son, Nicholas, may have inherited some of my unusual approach to language.

Nicholas is now an accomplished man of the world but when he was first venturing into language, he had the peculiar habit of speaking a phrase aloud and then repeating the phrase to himself in a whisper.

Was he checking himself for error? Did he simply enjoy the sound of his own words? No one knows. He has no memory of it.

Nicholas has partial color blindness, something we began to suspect when he was asked about his “wannie.” Wannie was his word for a small comfort blanket that he carried everywhere as a toddler.

“What color is your wannie?”

I asked.

“Me wannie wed. Me wannie bwue. Me wike it,” was his response. His wannie was green and white.

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