September 27 Introduction

Grant County Journal
September 27, 2010

JUST SAYIN’…
Janet Warren
I admit when we moved to Ephrata a year ago I changed my cell phone ringtone identifying my husband from “Super Trooper” to the whistling theme of the Andy Griffith Show. When Mike was hired as the police chief for Ephrata, I told people we were moving to Mayberry. It’s true that in my 2009 Christmas newsletter to friends and family I described Ephrata as being “two hours from anywhere, except Wenatchee, which is three hours from anywhere.” And don’t get me started on how many times I have said “I was Ephrata that…”. The kidding about Ephrata stopped for me on December 29th when Mike called from the crime scene to tell me the young man I had hired to replace our countertops had been murdered. I couldn’t make jokes about Ephrata any more. That was the day Mike began to wear his bullet-proof vest.
Fast forward a year. I have lived in Ephrata long enough to realize Sage’s murder was an anomaly. It does not define what Ephrata is all about, and because most of you have a history with Ephrata, you came to that realization before I did. Mike still wears his vest, not because he sees criminals lurking around every corner, but as a precaution and to model his expectations for his officers on the street. December 29th was a watershed moment for me, as it was for many of you. I had to make a conscious effort to not let my husband’s job define my experience in our new town. Slowly, I began to look at ways I could appreciate my new community. Mike is a good example to me because he seeks out experiences that counterbalance the dark things he has to deal with. You might see him playing the part of crossing guard on the first couple days of school or leading a parade for Sage and Sun. One day we were eating lunch at Subway and two little boys were so enthralled by his uniform he invited their mother to bring them by the police station to take a look at his “cool” police truck. She took him up on his offer and he had a chance to make their day by turning on the siren and letting them sit in his “prisoner cage.” To make sure their excitement led to the right side of the law, he deputized them with junior police badges.
In my quest to appreciate Ephrata, I have found it is full of talented, exceptional people. I could stop any one of you on the street and write an interesting story about your life; what brought you to Ephrata and why you stayed. I hear from so many people that they initially moved to Ephrata for a short time and ended up becoming lifers. “It’s the people,” they tell me. “You will not find better people anywhere.” I met an Ephrata man in his 70’s who still rides his beloved Harley. A couple I met has one of the oldest trees in Ephrata growing in their backyard. If it fell it would take out their bedroom, but they can’t bear to cut it down because it is part of Ephrata’s history. I know there are master gardeners out there who can give me tips on how to realize my dream of growing a cantaloupe in my garden. I spent 26 years in Colorado Springs, and I was never able to grow a cantaloupe. Actually, I never tried because real gardeners would have snickered at me behind my back. I now have a baseball-sized one growing and, as fall looms, I grasp the fact it won’t get any bigger. I’ve come to terms with it, but I love that baby cantaloupe. Little things bring focus to my life. I was amazed this spring that so many different kinds of flowers bloomed in my yard as I thought this Basin was supposed to be a desert. I suppose I expected Saguaro cacti instead of the beautiful sycamore tree in my front yard or the walnut trees over by DKs. Once I began to look at a black-and-white Ephrata with a different frame of mind, things began to pop with color.
Dorothy Bair has lived in Ephrata since 1952. She is someone who sees color in quotes and one-liners. She loves words and appreciates how a phrase can be turned. She has been collecting quotes most of her life, writing them down in spiral notebooks. A few years ago she had them all printed up in her first booklet of “Grandma Bair’s Collection of Wit and Wisdom.” So many people loved it, she kept collecting quotes and has now published her second and third installments. She is 89 years young and has lived a life filled with fun and humor. What a great legacy to leave for her 6 children, 34 grandchildren and 78 (and still counting) great-grandchildren. Her hobby makes her smile, and it makes me smile when I read her books. One of Dorothy’s collected quotes describes her: “Many times we don’t stop having fun because we are old—we grow old because we stopped having fun.”
Let me know what brings out the color in your life. I want to write about the good things and the good people of Ephrata. I might write about some of the bad, but the ugly, not so much. You can always get your ugly somewhere else.
As Grandma Bair would say: “Life is a journey, not a destination.”
Tell me about your journey. I’d love to chat with you.
justsayinephrata@yahoo.com