Michelle Schmidtke

At the end of a broadcast, Don Ashford of KTRT radio often says, “And remember, folks, we’re all in this together.” His, is a very reasonable and wise request, but what exactly is he talking about? Don’s talking about getting along and working together. He’s talking about the fact that all humans share 99.9% of […]

The decline of small towns is well-documented, with businesses closing, storefronts being boarded up, and young people leaving for the city. However, some people chose to stay or return to small-town living, and I interviewed two of them — Rae King and her son, Clay King. Rae, at 93, has lived in the Methow Valley […]

The Methow has an abundance of third places, a fortuitous thing for a remote rural valley with an aging population. Third spaces, coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg 25 years ago, are places beyond home and work where we interact freely and casually in our community. They are vital to combating what U.S. Surgeon General Vivek […]

The Methow has an abundance of third places, a fortuitous thing for a remote rural valley with an aging population. Third spaces, coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg 25 years ago, are places beyond home and work where we interact freely and casually in our community. They are vital to combating what U.S. Surgeon General Vivek […]

Two years after Tim Van Beek, project manager for the Pasayten Project, received funding through the Legacy Trails Grant Program to open up feeder trails leading to the old Boundary Trail, now part of the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT), the grant money is exhausted. And the 2025 U.S. Forest Service budget has been slashed. It’s […]

Many of us in the Methow Valley belong to a book group and attend potlucks. Sometimes, the two events are combined. Potlucks can be purely social or associated with an official gathering, such as the Potlucks with a Purpose at the Twisp Valley Grange (a great event to attend). In any case, it’s a chance […]

Herbal medicine involves using plant products to treat illness and promote general well-being. It has been practiced for thousands of years across many cultures long before modern allopathic medicine, and is still widely practiced today. In the U.S., modern-day herbalists provide a valuable adjunct to conventional medicine. Herbal therapy incorporates science by knowing the chemical […]

Richard Louv is credited with coining the term “nature deficit disorder” (NDD). In his 2005 book “Last Child in the Woods,” he shows the human cost of alienation from nature and how the increased pace of social and technological changes in the past three decades has accelerated our disconnection from the natural world. John Muir […]

Ofrendas (altars) decorated with photos, food, and mementos of departed loved ones encircled the TwispWorks pavilion. Storytellers and musicians performed on the stage. Crock pots of chili and soup were available to all at the OSB, and Ken Bevis sang “Lay Me Down in the Woods,” the theme song for Cascade Natural Burial and an […]

Jessica Kelley likes to challenge herself. In March, my fellow columnist, Shelly Smith Jones, wrote about Jessica’s proposed 1,400-mile bike/rafting adventure in the Yukon Territory. At the end of July, she returned to the Methow Valley after completing a much-revised itinerary. “Getting outdoors, seeing new places, pushing myself outside of my comfort zone — these […]