Falling Around

by Liv Stecker

Sure it's cold, and maybe rainy. The days are shorter, the weather is unpredictable and so are the plans you made for the weekend. But there are lots of reasons that fall is one of the best seasons that more temperate climates never get to experience. Here are the top ten, according to local professionals on the subject:

10. Wearing multiple layers successfully (see #3)

9. Pumpkin Spice EVERYTHING

8. The smell of crunchy leaves blanketing the ground (before it rains, of course)

7. The colors, because we're over neon - like, totally over it. 

6. Kids are back in school

5. FOOTBALL! Or Hallmark holiday movies returning to Netflix, your choice. 

4. Reasonable temperatures.

3. COZY SWEATERS. 

2. Cuddling is no longer a love/hate issue. 

1. Holidays: Family: Tradition: Memories. 

In case you still aren't convinced, here are some ideas to remedy your perspective. Jump into the season like a giant pile of honey-sweet orange leaves, and find out why it has so many die hard fans!

The Colville Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch

73 Oakshott Road in Colville, WA. 

Get lost in the befuddling corn maze that keeps even the most austere adults giggling and mildly terrified. See if you can beat the hour long time limit to find your way back to the big red barn without panicking, relying on kindergartners to guide you out, or cheating. Pick out a pumpkin from the thousands growing on the 12 acre property, along with a variety of other colorful fall squashes. Open September 19th-October 31st. Tickets are $7 for 13 and over, $5 under 13. Pumpkin prices vary by weight. Call them at 509-684-6751, find their Facebook page or go to www.ColvilleCornMaze.com

Pend Orielle Valley Lions Club Train Ride

Ione, Washington

Granted, it's not Boston, but nothing beats the views of fall from the slow chug-chugging of an historic train along the rugged tracks that wind along the Pend Orielle river outside of Ione, Washington. The hour and a half ride cruises through stunning forests, across historic wooden trestles, alongside impressive dams that tell the story of northern Pend Orielle county. The ten mile ride runs north to Metaline Falls and back again, providing a glimpse into country that the road doesn't offer. Tickets are $10 for kids 2-12, 13 and older are $15. They can be purchased online at http://www.lionstrainrides.com/tickets or by calling 1-877-5ABOARD. 

Friday Night Lights 

Your Town, Washington

Nothing says fall like the screams of over-excited moms, a band of pom-pom endowed cheerleaders chanting the same cheers we all knew in high school, the marching band playing Louie Louie, and of course, the winning touchdown. Make it a priority this fall to check in with your local school for a schedule, grab a hot dog and a bleacher and scream your lungs out for the home team. It will take you right back to your band geek days and give you the autumn warm-fuzzies for sure. 

Marcus Ciderfest

Marcus, Washington 

October 3, 2015, is the ONLY day this year that you can buy a jug of fresh apple cider right off the press at Marcus. The day kicks off with a pancake and applesauce breakfast at 8:00 AM, followed by a parade at 10:30, car show, a beer garden open from 11 AM on, and a city park jam packed with food and fun and stuff to do. Cider is sold by the gallon, half gallon or cup - hot or cold! Watch the press work, try your luck with the carnival games for kids, and catch the live music all day long, including local favorites the Northern Aliens and Fire Creek. More information at www.marcusciderfest.com 

Apple Picking

Kettle Falls, Wa (and beyond)

Load up the kids, the buckets and boxes and the flannel shirts - it's apple season in the local orchards! Take your pick (pun TOTALLY intended) from a variety of eating, cooking, and storing apples in the orchards outside of Kettle Falls. Sherman Creek Orchard (find them on Facebook) is one of the local favorites, owned and operated by Rich and Lisa Robinson who double as volunteer emergency responders in the area. They offer many varieties of apples starting as low as 75 cents a pound! Call for availability and hours 509-738-6997.

No In Between

by Liv Stecker

Maybe it's the winding path through life that gave Kerry Schafer the material she needed to weave a storytelling spell, or maybe she just lives a little more in The Between than the rest of us. Either way, Schafer's trilogy, the Books of The Between, capture the imagination and draw the reader into a place that most of us have visited at least once or twice. 

Schafer's heroine,  Doctor Vivian Maylor, is an emergency room physician firmly grounded in reality until her father's untimely death, which catapults her into a world of blurred lines between real life and the dreamworld that she now possesses the power to control. Unexpected adventures await the doctor as she reels from every new revelation, including a more than casual relationship with the race of dragons, a pet penguin and a dashing hero who doubles as an artist in real life. Against her will, Vivian is thrust headlong into a race to save humanity as it is threatened by The Nothing - promising to swallow people alive as they drift off to sleep.

The Books of the Between begin with Vivian's startling discovery of a threat to her small town and the revelation of her own hand-me-down gift as a dreamshifter in the first novel, Between. As Vivian comes to terms with her destiny in both this world and beyond, her adventures are chronicled in Wakeworld, the second in the trilogy. The final novel, The Nothing, stretches the heroine beyond even her own wildest dreams into a final fight to save humanity. 

The Nothing was somewhat of a stretch for the author too, who turned to crowdfunding to publish book number three. When an editor suggested financing the publishing with the help of an online crowdfunding site, Schafer told him that she was scared to do it. In that statement, she had determined her fate. Operating on a certain rule in her life, Schafer says: "If I am scared to do something, I have to do it." And do it she did. 

Unlike most crowdfunding sites which solicit donations for various causes without payback or incentive, Kickstarter uses a process that rewards contributors in various ways. Utilizing Kickstarter, Kerry offered several levels of contribution with kickbacks that corresponded. For example, a $50 contribution to the campaign earned the donor signed copies of all three novels, a set of bookmarks, a mention in the acknowledgements of the final novel and a personal note from Kerry. For many readers, an investment of $50 for three books isn't unthinkable even without the other perks. Defying Schafer's expectation, the support came in quickly and The Nothing was out in print within months of the first pitch. A grassroots network of friends and family, co workers in the medical field, along with the many other stops along the path of Kerry's professional development, all played a key part in the success of her trilogy. 

Schafer herself is no stranger to a variety of lifestyles - after a nursing degree and a BA in English from Canadian Universities, Kerry moved to the United States and pursued an M.Ed. in counseling psychology, another facet to her unusual insight into the world of dreams. Currently, Kerry lives in Colville, where she works as a nurse. Her background in the fields of medicine and and psychology lend her a voice of authority in her novels, as she draws from her first hand knowledge of the subject matter. Her education in counseling piqued her interest in mental health and what reality looks like to different people. "I was fascinated by reality, our experiences in reality, and the dreamworld as a means to explore alternate realities." she says. 

Some of the stranger twists in her book draw from real life, including a penguin who was inspired by an actual bird who was caught in an oil spill, rescued, and tracked through a conservation website. Schafer adopted the small male penguin, who was oddly named Vivian, as an inspiration. She followed his progress through the website after his rescue and release. Vivian broke away from the rest of his flock and, after swimming in circles, sped up north while his comrades all swam south. "he is a mascot for those of us who go our own way, and do our own thing." she laughs. After she had written a penguin into her stories, she did some research and discovered that the small bird is considered a totem for dreamers and explorers - a moment of "synchronicity" that Shafer experiences when her imagination and reality cross paths. 

Looking at Kerry's own life of travel and accomplishment, it's safe to say that there is no in-between for her. Like her heroine, she hits life head on and makes it happen all around her in spite of obstacles or fears. Schafer has two more novels hitting the shelves in the spring of 2016, one titled Dead Before Dying, which is the first book in a paranormal mystery series, and will be released in February by Diversion Publishing. The second is a women's fiction novel called Closer Home under her pen name, Kerry Anne King, which is set to release from Lake Union Publishing in June. Visit kerrryshafer.com for more information or find her on her Facebook page: Kerry Schafer Books. 

Back To School, and Reality

by Liv Stecker

One of my Facebook friends made a comment the other day about how she didn't manage to have all of her ducks in a row at the beginning of the school year. It caught me off guard, because it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps some people actually DO have it all together then. Certainly not me. Maybe it's because I work a lot in the summer and the first day of school usually hits me squarely in the face like a tsunami of guilt for all of the school shopping I didn't do, used stubs of pencils and questionable back to school outfits that my children have imagined, when left to their own devices. 

I see all of the first day of school pictures adorning Facebook: scrubbed-shiny children with brand new notebooks and matching socks. And I fantasize about next year, because our first day of school photos, on the years I am lucky enough to get them, look a little something like a trophy show from a recent yard sale binge. "Your older sister's spiral notebook from last year is just fine. There are at least 17 clean pages in it. Stop complaining. You love red, and freshman graffiti. Trust me."  My poor kids. I would use the working single mother excuse except that I know working single mothers who somehow get it all together. Maybe they could offer a class? Or better yet, adopt my children. 

But no. My 11 year old leaves for that fateful first day looking like a character from the Walking Dead who just looted a department store in Arkansas. At least she's happy. Smiling in her too-big shoes and too-small dress. Sunshiny and excited to scope out the new teacher and the new kids and the new lunches - which are curiously like the old lunches, but it's been three months, so we can pretend. The first day of school is so hopeful and bright. Anticipating new BFFs and unmet crushes, plasticky smelling sports uniforms that nobody has worn yet. Textbooks begging to be lost and left behind everywhere. Lockers to be personalized and cluttered with class-passed notes and candy wrappers. 

I have never had it together on the first day of school. Maybe by the last day if I am super lucky, work really hard and actually have the energy to care, my kids will have been on time to some of their sports meetings, combed their hair for a school picture and packed at least one cold lunch - because that is what being "put together" looks like. I am so grateful that my children are gracious with me. That they don't hate me for my parental shortcomings. Obviously they don't know any better, other than the occasional glimpse into the perfect life of a friend who has outfits ironed the night before, lunches lined up on a refrigerator shelf, and sibling photos pre-arranged for picture day. Not us. We don't even own an iron. My grandmother would be so ashamed. 

The teachers are a whole different story. They DO know better and are blessed with some of the perfect parents who make every single conference on time with questions jotted down to ask, concerns pre-planned for discussion and a gift at the end of the year. I found out about teacher's gifts two years ago, right after my oldest daughter had graduated high school. Apparently it's a thing. Parent's give gifts to teachers after they have survived the school year. I haven't figured out it if it's a "thank you for not strangling my child - I understand the self restraint that that requires" gift, or an "I'm sorry that my child gave you ringworm, head lice, the flu and a dead chipmunk that you never found after show and tell" gift, or a "you are my hero for taking my child for 6 hours a day, making them brilliant and you're still standing" gift. Any of the three seem appropriate, but I am concerned that if I start giving teacher's gifts, teacher's from my children's past will feel slighted, not to mention the regifted Starbucks card with $8.72 on it might seem offensive. I keep maintaining that my ignorance about this tradition is rooted in my homeschooling career, and the only gift my mom/teacher ever got was the chance to go out to coffee with her friends and not being called back home for a medical emergency. Which I think happened once or twice. (I probably owe her a lot of Starbucks cards.)

It's a karmic cycle of justice really, since shortly after I found out about teacher's gifts, I became a substitute teacher, and understand how desperately these saint-like people deserve every stroke of affirmation they get. It's like another opportunity for school-related guilt all over again.Just when the first day of school trauma is wearing off and I have finally bought my kid shoes that fit, the Pinterest-perfect teacher gifts start rolling in and I have to pretend that I don't notice, or else do a lot of back-payment. It's a hard thing to juggle when you've also forgotten to make cupcakes for your kids' birthday before you left for work, and you don't even know how many allergies her classmates have or whether her teacher is cupcake friendly... Or the halloween treat dilemma, and the Valentine quandary... So many opportunities to fail. Or shine, if the stars align and I do it right for once. 

I guess it doesn't matter who you are, married mother, single mother, working mother, stay at home mother, homeschooling mother - we all face the same battles to one extent or another and define our successes and failures by the perfect Joneses next door who bought all of the best school supplies in late july and left us scrounging through the random left overs of crappy pencil sharpeners and useless erasers. I thought I would be clever and buy school supplies on Amazon this year while I was working. It worked out ok, including impressing my kids with these ADORABLE thumb drives and cute pencil pouches, but the shoes were still too big and the sense of good-mom accomplishment was lacking. But as long as our kids are happy and healthy and GETTING EDUCATED, It's ok. We'll go back to school again next year and maybe then I will nail it, but probably not.