By Ashley Lodato
Methow Valley kids were scattered far and wide this past weekend, pursuing sports and other extracurricular activities. The baseball teams were in Spokane, the equestrians were in Wenatchee, and the dancers traveled to Omak. We attended (as spectators) our first dressage event at Appleatchee in Wenatchee, and enjoyed seeing Methow Valley Riding Unlimited team members in action, albeit the very precise, measured action of those who must put on long pants and leather boots and coax their horses into performing while shimmering waves of late afternoon heat radiated from the looming pillars of nearby Saddlerock.
During the events, I proved a disgrace to my daughter, as I kept whispering to her about each rider in the arena, “When is she going to jump?” Finally my daughter hissed back at me, “Mommy, there is no jumping in dressage.”
On our way home from the equestrian show, we got to witness a mishap of the type that until now I had only seen in videos forwarded to me by people with too much time on their hands — the origination of an urban sinkhole. Heading home from Appleatchee via Mission Street, traffic was suddenly halted, backed up, and then eventually diverted, as crews worked to tow free a car whose wheel had suddenly dropped into a sinkhole that was possibly the result of a century-old broken irrigation pipe.
We’re approaching one of my favorite occasions of the year — Fishing Day at the Winthrop hatchery — which runs 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday (June 13). Now that our family has worked out a meltdown-free system for cutting a Christmas tree, I have only Fishing Day to give me any event-related angst. About a week or so in advance of Fishing Day I like to start fretting, bringing on this reoccurring nightmare: I am with my kids at Fishing Day, they catch a giant fish, and there is no-one nearby with a fish bonker, forcing me to kill the fish gradually and feebly with my bare hands.
Three paragliders had quite satisfying flights on Sunday afternoon. After launching off Bowen Mountain, all three were able to catch air currents that delivered them to their own houses, which are located in different areas of the valley. Each paraglider landed in his own field, which for Seth Miles provided an opportunity to delight his family with a surprise landing on the eve of his birthday. Happy birthday, Seth!
