By Sally Gracie
I’m sad to report that my phoebes have vanished! Their nest is gone, too.
Patrick Hannigan removed last year’s nest when he hung my swallows’ house. I’ve mentioned here that the phoebes went about borrowing from that old nest to build the new one in the eaves of the tool shed.
Until a few days ago, the mama and papa birds were busy flying to and from the nest, often perching on the old satellite dish on the carport or on a fencepost near the porch.
Now they’re gone. Vanished. I searched the ground for evidence of the nest but didn’t find any. The cat did not deliver a dead bird to the door.
The nest was situated securely, so I doubt our recent winds could have blown it away. What predator could reach 6 or 7 feet above the ground to grab the nest away?
I’ve decided not to become attached to a migratory pair of birds. Just for this summer, I’ll make an exception for the swallows that continue to fascinate.
Karen Williams, left, with her daughter Kimberly on Kimberly’s wedding day.
Kimberly Williams (Liberty Bell High School, 2004) and Verne Donnet IV (LBHS, 2005) were married at the Washington Pass overlook off the North Cascades Highway on May 30.
A Methow Valley school bus carried many of the 86 guests to the wedding site. A buffet was the feature of the reception at the Rolling Huts on Highway 20. Guests danced in the barn, and many camped overnight.
The bride and groom are both graduates of the University of Washington. Kimberly is currently employed with the Austin Museum of Art as coordinator of the Art School. Verne is employed by National Instruments in Austin.
As the “PUD lady” in her office at the Methow Valley Community Center, mother-of-the-bride Karen Williams collected my payments (until I could pay through the bank), and she usually had time to chat. Usually about our children. We’ve become friends over the years.
One thing I especially admire about Karen is her love for her three kids and her pride in their successes. All have attended the University of Washington. Kimberly received a degree in art/art history; Holly Williams (LBHS, 2006) earned hers in sociology, and David (LBHS, 2008) studied physics there.
I’ve learned that Karen stayed out of the work force when her children were little. She thinks their academic successes were encouraged by their early childhood attendance at the co-op pre-school that used to be in the Community Center. She told me yesterday about the school and about the many visits to the library and Terry Dixon’s programs there.
Now that her children have grown, Karen continues her job of nine years as PUD representative and manager of the Twisp office. “I love it, “ she says. “I like having the autonomy running my own office.” She says the job is “stimulating,” and “challenging” as it always demands new skills, new learning.
Karen gets to know her customers, even falling “in love with my seniors,” she told me. “The customers are really great.” They probably get to know Karen as I have and recognize her as a person who cares about them and the community.
“It was a beautiful, sunny Methow Valley spring day,” Karen wrote in her email about Kimberly and Verne’s wedding. The photograph shows the mother of-the-bride and her daughter were as “beautiful” and “sunny” as the day.
Congratulations to the newlyweds and their parents: Karen, father of-the-bride Marty Williams, Verne Donnet III and Teresa (Allen) Isaacson.
Karen plans to send a formal announcement to the newspaper when the professional photos come in.
