By Bob Spiwak
Sunday afternoon. There are puffy white clouds above and a warm breeze blowing. Nothing like the furnace we had the past week. We peaked at 100 degrees in the shade one day, and heard of higher temperature readings from elsewhere. The fruit fly invasion seems to have modified, at least here in West Boesel. Up the road in Mazama, it is still active and worthy of conversation. The 70 percent rain chance over this weekend did not materialize with even a drop, and the nights are in the 40s. A lovely entree to summer, just as the days begin shortening a week from now.
Up at Harts Pass the daytime temps have been in the 40s as well. There is no snow on the ground, hence no snow/water report other than to say, according to the recordings up there, it has not been this dry at this date since 1985. That was when the last recession came about and politicians are now pontificating that the next one will soon be upon us unless we vote for them. Ultimately, they are mostly all wet.
A fellow named Pete Magren stepped out of the store door into SLIME country and announced that he was biking across America on behalf of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. His venture began here on the west side on June 10 and he plans to complete it (in New York, as I remember) on July 26. That is 4,250 miles in 43 days.
Donations for MS can be made online at msbikeacrossamerica.com.
We wish him well. His identification number is MS 4250. I believe it is a national endeavor and he is one of many.
Well-wishes were the centerpiece of a celebration on the patio of the Mazama Store on Saturday (June 13). It was Rick LeDuc’s 60th birthday (as well as my son’s, a few years younger), and to add to the occasion Rick and Missie’s son Marc was honored for his graduation from Central Washington University. As it was an outdoor event, all the family members were involved in serving people, bringing libations, food and dessert, and working hard ferrying stuff from inside the building to the patio. All the family members but the birthday boy, that is, who worked the crowd. Now in his seventh decade, Rick is qualified to offer words of wisdom to many.
Last week, Nick and Sara Pickelsimer welcomed their third child into the valley’s demographics, a boy they named Judah. This makes grandpa Randy and Granny Lisa’s eighth grandchild. But wait, there’s more. Their daughter Chelea is due to deliver in a few days, probably before this paper is delivered. These new children will expand Pastor Randy’s flock at the Mazama Community Church. Congratulations to you all from us.
