Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1 - 12 of 12
Last weekend, a quick 700-mile trip into Oregon's Union and Baker Counties began rolling decades ago when Waitsburg photographer Bill Rodgers studied botany and geology and then worked professionally throughout the western states. His familiarity with the timeless forces shaping the Earth's subsurface informed his love for the mystery and beauty of the landscapes above. This outing was to seek photographs for Volume VI of "The Blues," to be published later this year by the Blue Mountain Land...
Children and adults of Waitsburg can enjoy the magic of shadow play, a type of theatrical entertainment performed with flat handmade puppets, thanks to the Carnegie Picture Lab of Walla Walla. Shadow puppet kits have been provided to the Weller Library at no cost and residents can pick them up during regular library hours. There is a limited number of kits and families are encouraged to come by. Shadow play originated in central and southeast Asia thousands of years ago and has been a...
MALDEN-Residents, family, friends and supporters of the town of Malden in Whitman County held a day of Remembrance and Celebration on Monday honoring a year of recovery efforts to rebuild their community. Pictured here are local youth and adults retiring the flag that survived the devastating 2020 Babb Road Fire, including members of the volunteer Pathfinders from the Upper Columbia Academy who gave hundreds of hours of work helping residents. Numerous other volunteers, donors and agencies have...
Warm Springs Ranch is a family-owned u-pick 100-year-old fruit orchard in Whitman County right on the Snake River and now with delicious ripe peaches and the nicest people in the most beautiful place. Traveling from Columbia or Walla Walla counties, head north on SR 12, continue north on SR 127 to SR 26 at the town of Dusty. Then head east for a few miles on SR 26 and make a right turn onto well-marked Penawawa Road. Stay on that nicely maintained mixed paved/gravel road for 12 miles, losing...
WASHINGTON—Soon, we will enter autumn full of gratitude to the incredibly hard-working men and women who suppressed the numerous wildland fires of summer. The Umatilla Forest has been shut down due to fire, with some areas beginning to reopen as the conditions improve. The Blue Mountain Land Trust Blues Crew plans to go back into the forest before snowfall for trail restoration projects improving access for hikers and campers. The Blues Crew has worked throughout the area for years. It is offering a fun and rewarding opportunity for all i...
If you are feeling a bit uneasy about our intense sunshine and high temperatures, you are not alone. Plant communities are struggling as well. And while we can water lawns, gardens and orchards with hoses and sprinklers, dry land soft white wheat growers in our region rely on rain. With less than normal rainfall, the local soil is dry from low levels of precipitation last year and this past winter. The roots of wheat on the surrounding hills are getting stressed That stress goes straight up...
Dec. 16 fresh fallen snow snowshoeing along Umatilla Rim Trail Rode it back in summer Getting spectacularly happily lost. Walked it with Stuart Carrying a ladder To nail blue diamonds as high on trunks as we could. Seeing those diamonds today Was remembering forgotten favors of friends, A physical comfort In our fragile world, Old maps and their ideas almost unrecognizable. Looking across a pristine meadow of silent untouched snow, No steps of anyone having come this way before me, And seeing...
I find I am now pleasantly surprised by a kind gesture from anybody, including family, friends or people outside of my immediate small circle. It feels rare. And I include any kind gestures coming from business people, either owners or their employees, who directly encounter customers. Yes, the changing status of kind gestures is a condition of modern life due in part to the pandemic’s current circumstances. Regardless, a gracious gesture or word transforms the moment. My life as a senior c...
There are so many ways to appreciate the beauty of the wheat harvest. Each is a function of who you are-maybe a member of a farming family, perhaps a local person who respects what goes into the hard work of growing wheat, maybe an artist attempting to capture the beautiful landscape. Or maybe just a visitor stunned by the incredible views of fields and hills of our region at different times of the day. Maybe a bit of all those things. Although it may never quite get the kind of admiration the...
Consider one hundred years ago. We talk about the speed of technology nowadays and yes, it is racing, but imagining the staggering impact of the disruption caused by the introduction of motorized equipment to farming is almost impossible for most of us. Those of us passing by field operations stare with wonder at the tractors and combines, but mostly we drive on unaware of the accomplishments of farming. The charm of this informative and all-too-slim book—it is loaded with amazing photographs—isn’t just about the leap in technology, but also...
What's better than working hard amongst friends to improve outdoor access for the public? Getting to enjoy the Blue Mountains themselves. We live beside the most incredible natural area that welcomes us, via trails, to precious restorative beauty. But those trails need attention and sweat. Not blood or tears, but some good healthy sweating. Last week I had the privilege of working beside some of the hardworking members of the Blues Crew, a team of volunteers established by the Blue Mountain...
Young adult fiction often gets little respect from adults in the same way that young adults often get little respect from adults. Then something really interesting happens in a story: the characters suddenly find agency and become authentic individuals. This is due to good writing and character development, of course, but it also is because that’s what happens in real life. And does it matter how old a reader should be to learn something from enjoying a good story? When a youth transitions to a...
