I’ve been reading a book about the decisive battle of the Revolutionary War, and all the brilliant strategic decisions, boneheaded mistakes, personal vanities and serendipitous advantages that culminated in George Washington’s siege victory over the British General Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. The book, by noted historian Nathaniel Philbrick, is “In the Hurricane’s Eye: […]
No Bad Days
Filling up the space
It feels like 2020 has been a husk of a year — hollowed out, dried up, drained of hope-sustaining nutrients, ready for the compost pile. And yet — human nature abhors a vacuum, which can work for us or against us. What we do to fill up the empty spaces reflects how we view our lives and value our […]
The done and the undone
“So this is Christmas,” John Lennon sang. “And what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun.” What have you done? Good question, considering 2020 is crawling to its conclusion like a drunk looking for a place to sleep it off. I think Lennon was suggesting a moment of introspection rather than […]
Unsuited
I never quite got the point of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies’ lawsuit challenging the U.S. Forest Service’s Mission Restoration Project. It’s not that the Montana-based environmental organization’s legal action was entirely frivolous. The Alliance is a serious organization with admirable goals, and the lawsuit seemed to be consistent with its mission. But — why was […]
What we’re missing
I’ve been using a postcard that promoted The Merc Playhouse production of “Rope” as a bookmark for about a year now, and like the previous 12 months, the card is a bit tattered. The postcard has special meaning to me because I directed “Rope,” a classic murder mystery play from the 1920s that was later […]
What’s your story?
Is it too soon to ask you to vote again? No, not that election. It’s over, and Biden won. Moving on then, to another voting opportunity, one we are offering once again: to help us select the Methow Valley’s top local news stories of the year. No candidates to assess, no issues to contemplate, no […]
Back to the books
A year ago, it would have been just another typical Saturday in the valley — a bright, crisp fall day, perfect for unhurried errands. Not this November. In the past nine months, “typical” has lost all its meaning or, for that matter, relevance. There’s nothing typical about our experience with the COVID-19 virus, nothing to compare it […]
Into the deep end
If you’ve never been to a Killer Whales swim meet at the Wagner Memorial Pool in Twisp, you’re missing out on a remarkable community event. The Killer Whales are an institution, and not incidentally have been nearly perennial champions in their summer league competition against teams from other Okanogan County towns. From tiny kids splashing […]
On the (virtual) trail
At the national or statewide level, political campaigns these days look pretty much like they have for decades, even with the social media overlay and despite the coronavirus-related course corrections. TV, radio and online ads inundate us. The mail is full of slick literature (if the post office delivers it). Artificially pumped-up rallies that few […]
Keeping it local
We launched our local election coverage this week with Q&A responses from two of the four candidates for county commissioner, and from the two candidates to represent the 12th Legislative District in Olympia. We’ll follow up with the other two county commissioner candidates next week, along with some additional election coverage. Our goal was to […]
