The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Last Friday, I think at least half of Waitsburg probably heard my deep, tortured sigh as I parked my car and put the top up for what will likely be its permanent status until next spring. No more racing down the highways at 65-70 mph with the sun in my face, hair blowing in my eyes. Mugsy, tethered in securely, will certainly miss the smell of goats, sheep, roosters, and growing wheat. I won’t miss his whining while he tries to break free of his restraints to sit in my lap while I’m driving.

I will miss all of our meals, scrabble games, and entertaining (socially distanced) on our deck. I will miss drinking wine under our temperamental solar lit umbrella on the deck. Daniel has repaired it at least ten times. I will miss watching the birds fly from feeder to feeder and guessing which seeds they are dropping and what I will find growing where they’ve dropped them. In fact, between our prolific vegetable (mostly zucchini) and herb garden, friends dropping off fresh fish, and the gifts of meals during our kitchen remodel, I think we have spent more on bird feed than our meals this summer.

Although autumn seems to be approaching at a snail’s pace right now, I know that will change in the next few days. Eating on the deck, running out to the garden to pick some herbs, possibly a tomato (few and far between this year), lettuce and cucumbers, or chatting with neighbors as we walk through town, or they’re out working on their gardens will all slow down and then come to an end. How sad! Even the Halloween candy I bought (and have been eating) isn’t cheering me up.

Then, the other day while we were driving to Walla Walla and I was moaning (whining) about the colder weather, we heard a great interview on the radio. A restauranteur in Denmark was asked how the restaurants would survive the upcoming winter and bad weather, his response was priceless: “there is no bad weather, just bad clothing.” So, with renewed energy, I started stashing the summer clothes, pulling out all of my sweaters, sweatshirts, long-sleeve T-shirts, and thermal underwear. I have pulled out my waterproof boots, heavy socks, and even found my gloves because winter will follow autumn, as it does every year, and I want to be warm while I am sitting out on the deck, no bad clothing for me.

Of course, now that I am armed (with warm clothing) and ready for cold weather, I quit dwelling on what I will miss. Instead, I have started to look forward to what’s ahead; more Halloween candy, Thanksgiving (my favorite food holiday), Thanksgiving leftovers, chili, hearty soups, and stews, with big red wines to go with them. My tennis will continue indoors in Tri-cities, and even some outdoor tennis is viable this winter with the Whitman men’s tennis team players. They are undaunted by the colder weather and seem happy to run me around and make sure I stay humble and in shape.

A conundrum or two for me to contemplate over the winter: how many knitting projects can I complete before starting on a new one and mostly, should I plant zucchini next spring, or will I still be eating this summer’s crop?