My Not-Exactly-New Look

I figured it was about time that I change my photo since I've lost some weight and quite a length of hair since the last photo was taken. I've received some puzzled looks from people in town who seem to be trying to figure out if I'm the one who writes the New Local column.

Over the summer someone actually stopped by while I was gardening to ask if it was me. He said, "I thought it might be you, but I wasn't sure. What happened to all of your hair?"

Here's the story: I had this "pixie" style years ago and loved it, but after a couple of years I decided to grow my hair out, thinking I'd enjoy playing with different long-hair styles. Unfortunately, when it is long, my hair is very straight and bodiless and since I really don't like spending that much time on my hair, it was almost always pulled back into an unfancy ponytail.

Side story: When I got married my active lifestyle slowed significantly. I got used to hanging out, relaxing and eating with Adam, which resulted in a thirty pound weight gain! I still loved the idea of having short hair, but I just didn't have the confidence anymore to pull it off.

I decided that if I was ever going to enjoy short hair again I was going to need to lose weight. That, among many other reasons, inspired me to hop on the WeightWatchers bandwagon. Twenty pounds later I rewarded myself with a haircut!

Adam and I have drastically changed our day-to-day habits. We eat healthier foods (and less food), we work out four to five days a week and we feel better than ever!

The short hair isn't just great fun for me. It also represents reclaimed confidence!

"Pioneer Woman"

I think I've written before about how living in Waterville has inspired me, somehow, to get "back to my roots." For two years I've had a mildly successful vegetable garden, I've learned how to make my own soap and I bake all of our bread fresh. A few friends have even begun calling me the "Pioneer Woman" which I think is really funny.

My latest obsession, something I never thought I'd try, let alone fall in love with, is knitting. Several of my friends have been knitters for years and I've always loved seeing the beautiful scarves, gloves and sweaters they create. They were always inspiring to me and I really did want to know how, but knitting seemed like it would be impossibly hard to do and, to be perfectly honest, I had resolved that it must be a skill reserved for super-feminine, mommy-types.

All it took was a picture of a sweater that I absolutely HAD to have to knock me out of my comfort-zone. I jokingly posted the picture on Facebook with the command, "Someone knit this for me!!" and very quickly received the response, "Looks like you're going to need to learn to knit!" Accepting this as a challenge, I bought the pattern.

Now, two months later, with lots of help from the "Knit Witch" on YouTube, I have one completed, then frogged (too big) sweater, two new sweaters in the works and a beautiful, completed pair of fingerless mitts which I wear every day!

I absolutely love knitting! I am so glad I took a chance and gave it a try. Does this mean I'm becoming the super-feminine, mommy-type?

How's the wheat?

I just knew as soon as I put my weather woes in print everything would change.

Finally, real winter weather!

I've been wondering, though. How has the winter wheat fared though these unusually dry winter months? I remember a conversation I had with a friend, some years ago, regarding an early spring snow melt on the Plateau and how it exposed the little wheat shoots to potentially damaging frost.

Has this odd winter weather had an injurious affect on the wheat? If so, what happens in the spring? When wheat crops are wiped out by frost, do farmers replant with a different species of wheat or plant a different crop altogether?

I guess it's time again for me to do a little curiosity satiating research.

I do hope the little wheat-lings are hanging in there. Adam's family are orchardists. I understand how crop damage can make for a very tough year.

Disappointing Winter

I am so disappointed in the weather this year! It seems like every year the winters get more and more mild. Where's my snow?!

Every day I check my weather app, hoping to see a winter weather advisory but day after day after day the forecast is... sun. Don't get me wrong, I love the sun, but my philosophy is that if it's going to be cold, it should be snowing.

I really hope this winter doesn't pass us by without at least one good, heavy snow (...that doesn't melt the next day.) I have a pair of skis to try out this year. Come on Old Man Winter! Don't let me down!

Catching Up!

It had been since August 30th since I posted my column submissions on this blog! My apologies to those who actually follow me here. I just posted all of the missing articles up to last week!

A Huge Loss

Mitchell's hardware, to me, has represented the epitome of small-town life. I was saddened to learn that it has become the latest victim of a struggling economy. How many towns these days can tout a hardware store, gift shop, ice cream parlour, pharmacy and liquor store all in one?

There was something special and nostalgic about being able to grab an ice cream cone from Mitchell's and take a seat on the bank steps to watch cars drive by on a summer afternoon.

How many times have we run to Mitchell's to grab tools for odd jobs or pick up emergency supplies for things like broken pipes? I'll admit, they didn't always have everything we needed but somehow we always seemed to leave with something we weren't actually shopping for.

Mitchell's, a huge piece of Waterville's history, will be sorely missed.

Not a Ghost Town

I love the cowboy painting next to the barbershop downtown! It's encouraging to me when people do things like that to make this town seem a little bit more alive.

I don't know how many people have told me about their first drive through Waterville on their way to Spokane and how it made them think of a ghost town. First impressions really do mean a lot and It's little things like well-maintained sidewalk gardens, restored downtown business fronts and that awesome mural that help passers-by realize that there actually is a vibrant community here.

The Daily Chase

"Oh! You live in Waterville? I used to go up there a lot! It's a cute little town. I never really liked the drive, though. It seemed like every time I travelled down the canyon I had some huge truck on my (bumper)!"

Adam told me about this conversation last week and we shared a good laugh! "It's so true!"

Has anyone else experienced this? It really does seem as if no matter how fast we happen to be traveling, and regardless of the time of day, more often than not, we find ourselves being followed and eventually passed by a large, hustling pickup truck. It has become somewhat of a joke to us.

Until we heard it from someone else, we thought it was an isolated phenomenon. Clearly it is more widespread than we had assumed!

Happy Veterans Day!

Every year I have the honor of planning/organizing my school's annual Veterans Day celebration and I always try to come up with new ways to teach my students about the significance of Veterans Day while offering a meaningful and heart-felt thank you to the veterans visiting our school.

This year has been particularly exciting because I'm preparing a special slideshow tribute which includes photographs of veterans who are family members of our students and school employees. I have loved seeing the pride in the faces of the kids (and the adults, for that matter) as they deliver photographs of brothers, sisters, fathers and grandfathers, accompanied by countless stories and memories.

Don't forget to take the time to thank a Veteran this week. Take some time to dig out the old family photos and share some stories with your kids, and don't forget about the Veterans Day parade in Wenatchee!

Thank you veterans for your service to our country.

Ready for Winter

Winter is on its way! The new wheat is greening the fields, the leaves are finally beginning to turn and we experienced the first traces of frost on our windshield this week.

It's always nice to roll up the hoses and stow the sprinklers for the season. It releases me from the guilt I feel every time we water the lawn. Now we can trade our bloated water bill for a huge electrical bill. I don't anticipate that it will be as bad as last year, though, as we we've been much more proactive; installing our storm windows BEFORE the freezing weather hit.

Last year we never actually got the storm windows up! It wasn't until the first snow flew that we decided we should probably drag them out of the garage, and then we discovered that most of the plastic had split. We figured we could probably get by without them but quickly learned our lesson after being slapped by a shocking electrical bill.

I'm happy to say that our home is all buttoned up and cozy! Bring on the snow!

Still Here!

Last year, when I reduced my column submissions to bi-weekly, some people asked why I wasn't writing for the paper any more. I suppose they must have been purchasing the paper on the weeks I wasn't writing. I was surprised and, I'll admit, a little honored at their concern. I honestly didn't think, when I gave into the idea of writing a column, that anyone would read it, let alone find it interesting.

It was the spring of 2010 when I received a message from a friend, "Do you want to write for the paper?" My initial thought was that she had mistakenly sent it to the wrong person. It was completely out of the blue. Why on earth would she think I'd want to write for the paper? I hadn't written anything aside from mandatory writing assignments in Language Arts classes and a few letters to my representatives, but it was through Facebook, if you can believe it, that she decided she "liked my style."

It took a little coaxing, but I finally agreed to give it a try and I've discovered that writing a column, though challenging and sometimes a little intimidating, is actually a lot of fun! It turns out that there are other people out there who like my style. I've even acquired a few fans! How crazy is that?

My apologies for forgetting to write last week. The beginning of a new school year always leaves me a little frazzled. I'm still here, though; just on the opposite "bi-week" now.

On a completely different note, how many of you were happy to see the new curvy road warning sign at the top of Pine Canyon? The old sign was a little... weird.

Douglas Creek Hike

Last year, I learned from a friend that there was an interesting place to hike just outside of Waterville. He described a long, remote drive down a wheat field road to the south and a trail in the floor of a canyon. Looking out over the wheat fields, I couldn't imagine where they had been. There are no canyons in sight, but I put it on my "need to explore someday" list and then forgot about it.

Recently, though, I got the bug to go on a hike and since Adam and I have hiked most of the trails in Wenatchee and Leavenworth, I began searching the Washington Trails Association website for something different, maybe something a little closer to home. To my surprise, there were several reports for a trail in an area called Douglas Creek. Reviewers described a drive down road H, through the wheat fields into a canyon (sounds familiar) and a trail which followed an old railroad bed through pretty wildflowers, abundant wildlife and cool waterfalls. This time my curiosity was definitely piqued.

Adam and I decided to try the Douglas Creek hike in August, against our better judgement, which was a huge mistake! Not only was it scorching hot with minimal opportunities for shade, but the creek was almost completely dried up and there was no sign of life except for the masses of grasshoppers that flung themselves wildly all around us.

We endured the heat for about three miles before we decided to turn back, and while the columnar basalt and rocky basalt bubbles in the walls of the canyon were fascinating, there really wasn't much else to see.

I do look forward to exploring Douglas Creek next Spring. I think we'll shoot for May next time. I'm sure it will be beautiful then.