Washington Voices

Mother Nature has given us everything we wanted this spring and summer: lots of water and heat. Problem is that the water and cold weather lasted too long and there was a wee bit more heat than some of the tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and melons could handle when they were flowering. As a result, pollination and the formation of fruit lagged. This year, nothing really started growing until early July when it warmed up. As a result, heat-loving vegetables didn’t really start blooming until almost the end of the July. By then, we were into a string of 90-plus-degree days that affected the plant’s ability to release pollen and pollinate the flowers. The heat also slowed down the pollinating insects such as honey bees.

Sometimes you run across something so intriguing – in this case, part natural and part man-made – that you just have to find out about it. The something here is a 15-foot basalt outcropping that’s been whittled and augmented into a patio, garden and general object of interest. The mound all but blocks the house located behind it at 621 E. Seventh Ave., a house whose exterior was constructed from rock chipped from the mound. The project was started by then-owner Warren Brandt in the 1930s and took about 17 years to complete.

Karen Swanson is the kind of artist who questions authority. She’s not a lawbreaker by any means, but when it comes to the so-called rules of art, that’s another story. Her first act of defiance occurred at the age of 5 when a student teacher announced to a classroom full of impressionable, budding artists that the sun “should go in the corner.” Swanson looked around and, sure enough, on every piece of paper, the sun was in the upper right hand corner.

It was supposed to be the opening day of girls soccer practice Monday at East Valley. But it looked more like a family reunion. “I’ve been looking forward to this season,” coach Gabe Escobar said. “But I was surprised by how happy the girls were to be back together. We did a lot of conditioning and I thought that giddiness would kind of wear off, but it didn’t. They were tired, but they were still laughing and catching up.”

The string of 90-plus-degree days we’ve had this summer has turned the green landscape to a tan color that, in the heat, makes you even hotter. That’s what made visiting Linda Knapp’s Mead garden all the more special. All the native grasses and many of the lawns in her neighborhood looked a little worse for wear but not Linda’s luscious, green backyard. I cooled off 10 degrees when I walked into it. It impressed the Inland Empire Gardeners’ Garden of the Month judges in the same way. As a result, they awarded her the July Garden of the Month.

Patches is about 2 years old. This male Australian cattle dog mix is very playful and sweet. He’s been at the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services since Aug. 9 and since that time, he’s shown shelter workers that while he’s shy at first, he bonds quickly with people who are patient and gentle.

Home Run Construction won the Spokane Valley Girls Softball Association summer league 18U championship. Team members are, back row, from left: Coach Doug Jacobs, Rachel Loe, Vogen Hepner, Danielle Greger, Sierra Findley, Sammie Jacobs, Rachel Wilson and assistant coach Mike Garrahan. Front row: Morgen Shay, Ashley Beal, Bailey Riggin, Hannah Herndon and Haley Garrahan. Not pictured: Claire McMichael.

Paul Watson, of Spokane Valley: “Getting married; it changed my life around.”

Their generation has been heralded for saving the world. Yet for many who fought during World War II, they had to live with racism and oppression at home while they fought to save others. The Tuskegee Airmen, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Navajo Code Talkers all stepped up with heroism when their country asked them.