Winthrop

Two decades ago, on the eve of Dec. 31, 1999, the developed world prepared for the widespread chaos that was expected to ensue as soon as the clocks clicked over to the year 2000. People worried about Y2K for years, their concern intensifying in the final months leading up to the split second when computers […]

In my early days of writing this column, around this time of year I used to feature tales of local residents facing abject misery during their annual tree hunts. Frozen fingers and toes, wailing children, Christmas trees so bedraggled that even Charlie Brown might have turned up his nose at them. Everyone who had ever cut […]

I’m guessing I’m not the only person out there who harbors secret desires to save the day onstage. The narrative usually goes something like this: I’m sitting in a darkened theater, waiting for the performance of “West Side Story” or “Hamilton” to begin. Suddenly a voice comes over the loudspeakers, asking if there is anyone […]

We all do significant things for the people we love most, and this is one time of year that we tend to celebrate those acts with the respect they deserve. Gregg and Cathy Oliver, who lived in the Methow Valley for 22 years, recently relocated to North Carolina for five years as a gesture of […]

If there’s anything more seasonally appropriate at this time of year than a heart-warming story, it’s a story that warms both heart and home. The Winthrop FireFighters Association (WFFA) facilitated exactly such a story recently – two of them, in fact – when they delivered a cord of split wood to two local families. In […]

In preparation for Thanksgiving this year, I read Robert Emmons’ book “Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier.” I also made some whole grain emmer-farro pie crusts and put them in the freezer, so that if I am asked to bring pies I can reply breezily, “Oh sure, three pies? No problem. I’ll make […]

The fall sports season has come to a close for Liberty Bell students, and I know that not all of the final contests ended up the way the student athletes hoped they would. As a parent — and especially one who didn’t play sports until college — it’s hard to know to respond to your […]

I clearly remember the first time I wore a seat belt in a vehicle. It was December 1978 and my parents came to pick my siblings and me up after school, to begin the annual road trip to spend Christmas with our grandparents in Calaveras County, California. As we got ready to pull out of […]

If you spend enough time in the Methow Valley, you’re inevitably going to run into a situation where somebody becomes aware of you needing something very specific, and then provides you with that item. Postings on the Methownet bulletin board and social media can result in speedy solutions, but I also know I am not […]

In honor of the impending approach of dead bird week — aka Thanksgiving — I thought I’d share some stories I heard at a dinner party the other night. We’re not quite there yet, but we can start getting in a festive mood for Thanksgiving with a few poultry stories, all of which took place many years ago, but […]