By Ashley Lodato
If you’re all fired up to learn more about the role wildfires play in our landscapes, consider taking the Methow Conservancy’s upcoming six-week conservation course, which will explore many angles of the short- and long-term effects of the Carlton Complex fires and ecological recovery through lectures by local and regional specialists.
Some people say they’re burned out on hearing about the fires, but for others the summer’s events ignited a passion for understanding the fearsome and fickle nature of wildfires, as well as the ecological impacts.
Speaking of fires, local forest ecologist Susan Prichard spent a day in the field with a film crew from Channel 9, a Seattle PBS station, filming a segment for a special on the Carlton Complex fires. She’s not sure when it will air (and I’m not sure how you would actually access the station from the Methow), but we’ll keep you posted.
Some of the many recipients of our community’s interest in promoting Nordic skiing are the Methow Valley Elementary School third-graders. A bunch of years ago, a group of parents decided that they wanted all kids to have a chance to experience Nordic skiing. So they raised funds to purchase enough boots, skis and poles for each third-grader to have use of a set for eight weeks during the winter. Rita at Winthrop Mountain Sports sponsored the initial purchase and has continued to upgrade the equipment periodically over the years. The result is that on every Friday afternoon in January and February, the entire third-grade class can be found out on the trails near the school.
The third-graders reported that the first ski session was really fun because it began with learning how to fall down (an apparently uproarious activity for 8-year-olds) and get back up (which was even more hilarious, particularly for those who already know how to do it and could thus enjoy watching their classmates flail about).
Every once in a while it’s nice to end my column with a funny story, and a trip to the elementary school almost never leaves me short of material. This morning I overheard two kids discussing AAU basketball. The boy was describing a maneuver he had carried out on a much larger student at the previous night’s practice. “I stuffed her!” he said with pride. The other kid, daughter of a local restaurateur, asked with genuine culinary curiosity, “With what?”
