Everything Grows

In 1964, our family moved to the Wenatchee Valley. My dad, Tony DeRooy, had just been hired as the first Landcape Supervisor at Rocky Reach Dam. Prior to that, he had worked for the Great Northern Railroad as the third of only three (ever) Superintendents of Parks. He had followed in the footsteps of my grandfather, Arie DeRooy, who had the position from 1934 until his death at Many Glacier Lodge on August 8, 1951. Growing plants, flowers and children was their life work. Anyone who knew these men, as well as the women who have stood faithfully by (thanks, Mom!) recognized their passion. This blog will be concerned mainly with dahlia and garden thoughts, but will also discuss things that are happening in the beautiful valleys, plains and mountains that we know as North Central Washington.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

A LONG, LONG PAUSE

It's been way too long since I posted.....The last post was prior to our September 17-18 show, and since that time, it seems that I've either been too busy or too uninspired. First of all, I need to say that our show was just beautiful! We had great attendance, our best judging teams ever, and some of the most amazing dahlias that we have ever had. We had great participation by team members, with most people volunteering hours of their time, as well as food and hospitality for our Federation judging teams.

I think one of the reasons it has taken me so long to catch my breath is that, for some reason, this year's show seemed like about 10 times as much work as last year's show. I suspect that reason might be our desire to raise the bar, making our show more professional and more polished looking. I think, also, that as we become more seasoned growers, we are more competitive when deciding what to exhibit, and less satisfied with mediocrity. Raising the bar has consequences, and several of us experienced a higher level of stress than in the past. There are so many little things that go into putting on a show, and having experienced the process this year, I think we learned a lot of things that will make it easier next year. My home is also the repository for a lot of show paraphernalia, such as ribbons, trophies, shelving, office supplies, books, forms, files, tables and various and sundry items essential for the physical space of a show. I am only now (a few days before Thanksgiving) getting my dining room cleared out, by moving these things into storage.

Digging, dividing and storing tubers has taken my energy recently......I will post more about that later....

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