Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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SECLUSION-As our time apart stretches on seemingly indefinitely, the importance of alternative forms of communication rises. Fortunately, there's a heap of technology at the ready. Unfortunately, deciding which method of digital communications can be a tangled web. Some decisions may be easily dictated by the device used to access it. For example, if you're using Android devices, Facetime will not be a video conferencing solution in your arsenal. The vast majority of popular options cater to...
SECLUSION-"You're handling this almost too well," a friend said to me. Sure, I've always been the upbeat type, it usually comes pretty naturally, but these days serenity isn't achieved without purposeful intention. Stressing out about what you can't control won't help anyone. In fact, stress tears away at the immune system, weakening one's defenses against infection. Instead, I'm managing what I can control: myself. It is paramount to maintaining good health. Yes, it is important to stay...
EARTH-The seeds are practically burning holes in their packets. They're all sorted and ready to be put to work. All the signs of spring popping up are exciting. The first flowers to bloom in my garden this year are Ice King daffodils, as daffodils are often the harbingers of spring. Of course, my neighbor's garden has been in full bloom for over a week now. [The daffodils are always yellower on the other side, such is life.] In keeping with our garden preparation schedule, now is a good time to...
WALLA WALLA—The speed of sound for Walla Walla music Organization (WWMO) is about three years, give or take a few months. Three years is about how long it took founder Rodney Outlaw to build a substantial course load of audio production education and to find the students passionate about learning to populate it. Outlaw teaches students how to produce, record and manage music and sound. Audio engineering is a broad term for managing signal flow through channels. There is a science to it. The g...
Recent flooding, and the ensuing damage, brings flood mitigation and disaster relief to the forefront of our collective experience. Friends, neighbors and city officials have pooled resources to assist those in need following the 2020 flood, whilst looking back at the flood of 1996. Moving forward, are there standards and practices that could be put in place to help mitigate future flooding? Deano Perlatti, salesperson for both Tarp Innovators LLC, and U.S. Flood Control, has some ideas. The...
WALLA WALLA-Sheltered from the recent downpour of rain, I'm staring out the window taking approximate measurements to draw up plans for the garden. This may very well be the best part of gardening: the kinetic energy around the hope for the future. As flood waters recede from Walla Walla and Columbia counties, we're ready to move into the next season. A lovely reader, Carl Teller of Starbuck, has kindly challenged me to grow the biggest pumpkin. A challenge gladly accepted, then promptly...
WALLA WALLA-Is self care high on your New Year's resolution list? No matter what level of self care you claim, Gillian Herbrandson, licensed esthetician and proprietor at Sivana Day Spa and Boutique, has the next level for you. Sivana opened officially in late October 2019, the second business to do so in the new Showroom on Colville building. Joining the Combine Art Collective, the Market by Andy's and others, the space is now becoming a one stop shop of sorts. Back in November, however, it...
WORLD WIDE WEB-It seems like everyone is on social media. These days there are several newer or emerging social media platforms, but Facebook, the classic, is still maintaining its foothold with 2.37 billion active users. In recent years, Facebook has worked to create transparency in its user base. They've chosen to focus on verified first and last names as opposed to Instagram handles, for instance. Funkyjazzguy88 is now John Smith. Doing away with creative usernames makes their...
WALLA WALLA-When artists join forces, good things happen for everybody. An example of this idea at work is Walla Walla's Combine Art Collective (CAC), a collaborative effort to exhibit and sell fine art in an approachable way. Not only do fifteen artists benefit from the proximity of other creatives, their work can be exhibited and shared with a wider audience, increasing the likelihood of finding collectors, but the community gains a cultural hub and a lovely evening out. Their most recent...
If you grew up with a Boba Fett-ish like my husband, the futuristic space western, the Mandalorian, is the show to end all shows. It is to be expected that fans of the original Star Wars trilogy would be on board for another saga. Where the Mandalorian truly succeeds is that it is just as entertaining for someone new to the galaxy. The art direction team combines stark landscapes, impressive costumes and special effects with a howling flute that alludes to the winds of change in a meaningful...
EARTH—As this unseasonably warm winter weather persists, it's easy to envision spring is on its way. So much of cultivation is cumulative. Last year's lessons prevail. I started sunflower and anaheim pepper seeds in March in hopes that they would be transitioned into garden beds by April. Those plans were dashed when it snowed March 20 and that cold persisted for several more weeks. Even once the snow melted, the ground would freeze sporadically. Several of the starts did not make it. One q...
No matter how soon retailers start pushing holiday deals, nothing says Christmastime quite like a poinsettia. Wrapped in its foil, the poinsettia’s deep green leaves are topped with a smattering of bright red foliage. Poinsettias (Species: Euphorbia pulcherrima) are as deceptive as they are festive. While they appear to be flowers with blooms, they are actually plants with bracts—colorful leaves, which makes sense because blooms are too delicate for winter conditions. Even the bracts are prone t...
WAITSBURG—According to my phone there are 6,056 photos and 872 videos lurking in its depths. And that’s nothing compared to the five terabyte hard drive that houses our family archives. In it there are birthdays, holidays, and precious memories—some of which family members may not even remember. Those are the photos that make the best gifts: the candids. In a perfect world, our photos would be categorized and labeled electronically. They would be searchable by faces, by location, by seaso...
EARTH-Now that we're in the thick of November, we are confronted by the turning of the wheel. Daylight savings time has knocked us back an hour. The golden summer days, and the crisp fall air is just about to give way the all-out cold of winter. Before the holiday season takes hold, gardeners have a few days to put their gardens to bed and prepare for next year. Saying goodbye to this year's garden makes space for dreaming of the future. Next spring, I'm looking forward to doubling the garden's...
Gone are the days of the tinker tinker buzz from the egg timer. More often than not, at a friend’s house for dinner I’ll hear, “Alexa, set a timer for ten minutes,” but it is in more ways that one that technology is making itself at home in the kitchen. In general, big ticket appliances like refrigerators are updated only as need arises. It’s at some crucial juncture when one must decide if a refrigerator needs something as full service as a camera, Wifi, bluetooth and digital display....
WAITSBURG-Adorning Art X Agent's walls for November and December, is Sparkling & Broken. This two-person exhibition, featuring artists Rachel Smith and Juventino Aranda, was celebrated in an opening Saturday, Nov 3. There, the artists were on hand to share insights on their experience and process in creating the visual imagery on display. Sparkling & Broken is the continuation of a conversation the artist duo has initiated in previous shows. In their 2018 Studio Articolore show, Comfort Zones,...
DAYTON-There's a tangible spark of electricity in the room when an artist is united with their palette. Possibilities stretch out endlessly before stylist Bridget House and sparks are flying. She, along with a few other hairstylists, was invited overseas to experiment with a new line of hair color. "I was chosen, along with 30 other stylists from across the globe, by Sim Finland to represent their brand here in the United States." The stylists were selected based on their social media presence,...
Hulu Little Monsters (2019) R A washed-up musician teams up with a teacher and a kids show personality to protect young children from a sudden outbreak of zombies. See full review on page 12. Stan Against Evil (2016)TV-14 172 demons have been unleashed on the residents of Willard's Mill as payback for a massive witch-burning hundreds of years ago. Evie, the new sheriff in town, needs to work with the former sheriff, Stan Miller, who was forced to retire. Netflix Coraline (2009) PG An...
Welcome to Spooktober. Are you ready for the ghosts, goblins, and ghouls to run amok all over town? The right lineup of movies can make or break Halloween. There are no shortage of haunted films and freaky flicks to choose from. The Hulu Original film, Little Monsters is a highly recommended instant classic to add to the repertoire. The horror comedy, directed by Australian writer, actor and director Abe Forsythe is the heartwarming tale of a young Darth Vader defeating zombies. Though the movie...
DAYTON-Inside the home, history is a verb. Artifacts that we keep are imbued with both sentimental, but also historical value. Part of the human experience is the stuff we collect. Equally important are the environments that hold them, our homes. The construction of shelters and lodgings demonstrate the technology of a given time in action, magnifying the lens on events that happened there. The National Register of Historic Places, administered by the The National Park Service, is the official...
There are several factors that contribute to the way an image looks in print. Digital images have the added bonus of illumination behind the image, defining edges and sharpening image quality by default. JPEG files compress their data to achieve a smaller, more portable file size. Likewise emailing images imposes upon them compressions that affect the quality. This compression is accomplished by discarding some of the data that comprises the image. Each time a JPEG is opened and re-saved in the...
One of the most unifying qualities of art is that every viewer has an opinion. Our opinions are determined by all manner of factors and preferences, but once established those artworks speak to us. Once the conversation is open, it never quits. Typically this connection is made in quiet, reverent museum halls, but at ArtSquared, the connections are made much more quickly. And the quest to bring home a prized piece is boisterous, with collectors circling their quarry. In 6" x 6" ArtWalla artists...
WALLA WALLA-Tights and capes were out en masse at the Walla Walla Superhero run held Saturday Sept. 14. "I think the people helping with traffic safety are all superheroes," said event organizer Nancy Walters. The event, hosted by the Walla Walla County Traffic Safety Coalition, supports WWCTSC programs that was well attended. "At least 78 people pre-registered, about 100 by opening," said Walters. And even as the races were getting underway, more heroes emerged from phone booths and sport...
WALLA WALLA-A pair of great blue heron walked by on spindly legs as we pushed off from the boat ramp at Bennington Lake on this, our fifth adventure aboard the African Queen. Gifted to us by Grandma Jo Shay, our inflatable raft seats three and came outfitted with reel holders and oar holders as well as a dry-bag. Grandma, in her infinite wisdom, also included life jackets and a patch kit in case we ran into anything too sharp. So far we haven't had to use the patch kit, thankfully, but as life...
Now that summer has dropped off into a very abrupt fall, it's time for warm cozy comfort foods, and more importantly, pie. I had a few delicious bites at the Pioneer Fall Festival and now I want more. And even though national pie day is March 14, it's never too late to celebrate. Usually when I make pie filling, it's done by feeling, or by random amount of fruit I happen to have on hand. I end up with too much filling for one pie, but not enough for two and thus how the sweet potato pie and...
