Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Insanity doesn’t even begin to describe our recent business decision. There was a movie made in 2011 called “We Bought a Zoo.” Based on a true story, it stars Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson. It chronicles the trials and tribulations of a widowed journalist who buys and moves with his two children to an animal preserve/zoo in dire need of restoration. There are setbacks, victories (and lots of money) that eventually make it all work out by the end of the movie. Now if life were only like the m...
DAYTON-Chef Daniel Rossi thought that moving to a small, rural town like Waitsburg meant he could live out retirement peacefully, picking away at his banjo and sharing his musical knowledge. In 2020, he hit the road just moments before the global shutdown was announced, escaping the bustling cityscape of Los Angeles and driving north. He spent the pandemic with his partner, Vicki Sternfield Rossi, doing exactly what he set out to do in the first place, for roughly a year. The kitchen kept...
DAYTON—Vicki Zoller from the Friends of the Dayton Community Center was a special guest at the Dayton City Council meeting last week. Zoller said fundraising efforts for the feasibility study for the pool/community center have slowed due to the COVID-19 situation. She has written two grants which were both rejected. “There is a lot of need out there right now, and there are not a lot of dollars,” she said. The group is still willing to be the fundraising arm for the $50-60,000.00 feasibility stu...
Like beauty, organization is in the eye of the beholder (or doer). Daniel and I recently had a heated discussion about who is more organized. I think the issue is that we have different expectations about what the definition of organization is and what it means to each of us. We are both organized. We just approach it differently. When I was in elementary school, my mother expressed concern to my teacher that I was not organized. Of course, this distressed her because she came from a family that...
As I’ve come to learn, I cannot be confident that spring has truly arrived, no matter what the calendar says or how many daffodils, tulips, and crocus I see. Someone recently advised me not to plant anything until after April 15th, but I’m not convinced this is relevant to the weather; perhaps it’s the IRS, or; possibly, they are members of Daniel’s garden fan club and just want to delay my planting to support his victory in our garden competition. OK, I could be a bit paranoid, but this is...
Spring seems to have sprung, and I’m cautiously optimistic but not totally convinced winter is over. I see the rhubarb peeking out from the dirt, daffodils look like asparagus about to open, and even my chives are about five inches tall. Yet, I’m not convinced, and with good reason, I have a photo I took last year of a vase of daffodils on a snow-covered patio table on our deck. This is my third spring here, so I am no longer a total newbie. Therefore, I believe I have enough authority to ren...
Visit Fiesta en Jalisco at 400 West Main Street for the best Mexican food in town. Manager Oscar Guitron and his crew have spent time during the downturn to refresh the inside of the restaurant with new paint, brickwork, and tile. Guitron will display replicas of historic livestock brands in the restaurant bar in the next couple of weeks. Fiesta en Jalisco is open from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. every day, with daily lunch, dinner, and drink specials. Call for carryout orders at (509) 382-0606. Do...
I am mortified, as the daughter of a plumber, that it didn’t occur to me that watching the toilet in our newly remodeled bathroom slowly sinking to one side, was an obvious sign that it was out of plumb. The first clue that we had a problem should have been when I put a box of tissues on top of the tank and it ceremoniously slid off. The second clue was noticing the floor felt spongy as I reached to retrieve the tissues. Tilting toilet and a spongy floor, any observant person would have r...
My father always reminded us that “man proposes, life disposes,” or, as John Lennon so articulately reminded us: “Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans.” When Daniel decided to move here last March, we each had plans. His was buying tools for home repairs; mine was “date weekends,” opera and museums in Seattle, Walla Walla Symphony, the Chamber Music Festival, Willamette Valley wine tasting, Los Angeles trips to scope out trendy new restaurants, and tennis with my friends. But,...
When I was in my teens, I was adamant that I would not become my mother. Of course, as I matured, I realized that I would be lucky to be more like her. However, I think life played a joke on me and skipped a generation; instead of my mother, unfortunately, I may have become my grandfather. I weighed myself this morning and noticed I gained three pounds. I decided to move the scale an inch to one side, and I lost one pound, so then another side, a little in front, and boom! Three pounds down. I s...
Recently I have been watching a number of sports-related movies. I’m not sure if it’s because I miss going to games (baseball and basketball especially), or I’m trying to get excited about the Superbowl. But even the anticipation and hype for the clever commercials and extravagant half time show hasn’t sparked my enthusiasm this year for the big game. However, one movie, in particular, has been on my mind recently. Oddly, I admit, with some trepidation, that as much as I like baseball, this is...
The death of Hank Aaron this week, although sad, stirred up some fun family memories for me. Baseball was a big deal in our family. My father was born and raised in the Bronx, so there was no doubt he was a rabid Yankees fan. With their Murderer's row, Pee Wee Reese, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris, who wouldn't be. My mother for one! Her family lived in Brooklyn, so naturally, they loved "dem bums," the Brooklyn Dodgers' well-earned nickname. My Uncle and Aunt were such devoted Dodger fans that...
My “office” is a built-in desk located in an alcove upstairs in what is now our master bedroom. Next to our library, gym, and my staging area for Zoom business meetings, it’s a cozy little space. Zoom cocktail parties work on the couch or at the dining room table; but, when I have a Zoom business meeting, I strategically place the computer on a table in the library with our over-flowing bookshelves as a backdrop. Just like TV news reporters and politicians, it provides a perception of intel...
I am confident that Daniel and I, like most people (and dogs), have daily routines. Ours usually start with Daniel making his tea while I let Mugsy out the back door to bark at the squirrels he perceives to be in our neighbor’s tree. Then I feed Mugsy and make my coffee. With those rituals out of the way, Daniel usually starts our morning conversation with, “what are we eating tonight?” My response is typically an eye-roll, followed by “can I have my coffee first?” He then heads off to his mu...
My grandmother taught me the basic knit and purl stitches when I was eight years old. However, she didn’t teach me how to start or end anything. I just made odd rectangles with no rhyme or reason. Eventually, I got bored and gave up knitting; we moved on to gin rummy instead. Growing up in New York, girls were required to take Home Economics. I loved the cooking, hated the sewing. I am a terrible seamstress, as opposed to my sister, who is an amazing one. With her need for precision coupled with...
It’s hard to believe; this is the third Christmas I have celebrated in Waitsburg. The first was exactly seven days after I moved here. Christmas week, I was a guest at a birthday party and invited to a New Year’s Day brunch/open house. I knew I had arrived, and Waitsburg was perfect. And that winter, I proudly survived what new neighbors proclaimed to be the snowiest and coldest winter in 15 years. Last year, my second December here was also memorable, although not for the snow. Daniel vis...
Verla Ernestine Rouse, age 102, passed away peacefully at home in Dayton, Washington on December 10, 2020. She was born on October 17, 1918 on Angel Ridge out of Peck, Idaho, the youngest of five children born to George Oren Stevens and Julia Matilda Johnson. She graduated from high school in Kooskia, Idaho in 1939 and attended beauty school in Waterloo, Iowa. Verla married Joseph Edward Rouse on December 17, 1941 in Milton-Freewater, Oregon. They had two children, Audrey Lynn Rouse (1944) and W...
I assume I’m not the only one ready to bid good riddance to 2020, am I? Ever the optimist, I am cautiously hopeful that 2021 will be a good or at least better year. And since it was an unusual year, I am going to do something unusual for me. I am going to be reflective for a change. Although maybe it’s just a way to reinforce 2020 is over! Daniel and I reconciled, then he moved here in March. This adjustment to my 10-year single life coincided with the pandemic and lock-down. Togetherness sud...
We are back in Los Angeles for more doctor visits, tests, and procedures, and we are the healthy ones! Los Angeles is supposedly in COVID-19 lockdown. However, we have been in bumper to bumper traffic more than once, which is frustrating since restaurants aren’t open, except for take-out or delivery. We are relegated to eating grocery store food in our room. It’s Friday, and we’ve been here since Monday, so needless to say, eating in the room has gotten old. We have tons of trash every day....
4 is finally coming to an end, and we have endured. I know I hope for a great new year to enjoy with abandon. Maybe that’s why I’m a bit more forward-looking than usual. Not that I am planning to make a list of New Year’s resolutions. I know myself, the first time I break one, I will break them all. Maybe it’s just semantics; but, no resolutions; instead, it’s break bad habits and add good ones. First, I will pay my taxes on time this year and avoid the penalty I just paid for last year. Some...
I don’t usually believe in karma, probably because I just don’t want to experience the wrath of someone imposing a karma curse on me. Lately, though, I am beginning to feel my sister may be getting me back with some sleep karma. I’ve recently experienced insomnia, which is not something I’ve ever had. Until recently, I was the best sleeper ever. My mother used to say that I could sleep anytime, anywhere, and on anything; a bed, floor, bed of nails, in a car, plane, tent, it didn’t matter. I...
This year our family Thanksgiving will be a virtual party, sadly, but then it does save me driving two hours each way to my sister’s house, just to sit in a corner and read or knit with a big glass of wine while she overcooks the turkey and focuses on her grandchildren. The guys sit glued to the TV, watching football, not moving or helping, because they can’t take a chance they might miss a throw, sack, or touchdown. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday; there are no mandatory gif...
We returned from our brief trip to Los Angeles, and although I am glad to be home, I did discover that there are still some things I miss. Los Angeles is one of those places where people can go to reinvent themselves, hideout, wait to be discovered for a starring role in a blockbuster feature film, or like me; rediscover some of the things I miss. First on my list, of course, my friends, then sushi and outdoor tennis year-round, but I rediscovered other aspects of the city that I miss as well....
The combination of a Sunday morning, the 5:30 a.m. flight, and a prediction of snow hardly made for the perfect travel day, but we made it to the airport on time, before the snow without hitting a deer, checked our bag, and zipped through security. A smooth start to our trip to Los Angeles for our doctor and dentist appointments. I love to fly. I still get an adrenaline rush when the plane takes off, and admittedly I breathe a quiet sigh of relief when the plane safely lands. I also love the...
Once again, I say “thank you” to the parents of Waitsburg. Your children made Halloween a much-needed fun evening during these challenging times. The kids were cute and always said, “thank you” for their treats. Even some of the younger ones didn’t require additional prompting from their parents. I apologize in advance for filling their bags with more candy than usual, and your upcoming struggles with the inevitable day-after sugar rush, and your future dental bills. I thought since they didn’t...
