I learned a few things this past weekend about the fruit industry. My husband has been involved in national and international export of fruit for over twenty years, and right now, he is *up to his neck in this season's fruit: the cherry. Washington state is one of the major cherry producers, and July and August are the two months for harvesting and shipping. We happened to be in a town called Brewster which is about an hour and a half north of Wenatchee. As you head north, the landscape becomes dryer, and fascinatingly *moon-like. You travel right along the Columbia river all the way up North. At either side of the river are high, dry hills, that continue off into the distance for miles. There are countless *gullies and tucked-away areas where wildlife live, such as coyotes, deer, and even big horn sheep. Down at the river's edge is a different story. Because of the available water, communities have sprung up, including many lush parks, and, of course, the orchards. Ironically, the dryness of the area and the heat suit many of the kinds of fruit that are grown. The water that they need is simply supplied through irrigation. So, you have a contrast between the dry, earthy, barren hills, and lush green areas all the way up the river. Brewster is a small town right on the Columbia that is in the heart of orchard country. My husband works with people who have hundreds of thousands of acres of orchards. And when it comes to cherries, there is a short window of opportunity to get them picked, packed, and shipped off. It is a very perishable fruit, and a lot of care and attention are required in bringing fruit to the customers that is in excellent condition. My visit to Brewster was actually not to visit orchards. The cherries had already been picked. There is a huge packing plant there, and that was our destination. As we approached the packing house, I could see that it was a busy season for them. The parking lot was full, and workers were coming and going, starting new shifts, and getting off of  completed shifts. Hundreds of people are employed, in many different capacities. My children and I were all wide-eyed as we were shown around. We went into the cold storage room, where thousands of boxes that were already ready, were waiting to be shipped to supermarkets around the world. There were fork-lift trucks zooming forwards and backwards, busily stacking boxes up high. And then, we went to a sorting and packing line, where people sorted through a conveyor belt of cherries. They had to take out unwanted cherries, and let the others fill up various containers of different sizes. It was a fast job. There were also lines of clean water flowing past much of the machinery; a lot of washing takes place. As we left the plant, I noticed a man-made lake infront of the building. I was told that they are planning on recycling their water, and also using it for both the heating and cooling of water inside the plant. It's incredible to think that about four million boxes get packed in the region, this particular plant doing at least one million. To say that it is a remote area, there is a lot *more going on than meets the eye.

Grammar notes.

Related expressions: to be up to your neck, moon-like, more to.... than meets the eye.

1. The office is really busy at this time of year; we are all up to our necks in paperwork.

2. Our land is moon-like. However, once we put in irrigation, we'll be able to plant anything.

3. There's more to him than meets the eye; he's not much to look at, but he has a heart of gold.

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For those of you who are following the Tour de France, you will recognize the name Tyler Farrar. He is from the town where I live, Wenatchee. The fact that he is not only in the Tour, but also doing well, has really created a buzz of excitement here. The local newspaper, The Wenatchee World, has a daily spot about the race so we can all keep up to date with how Tyler is doing. What we are holding our breath for, is the sprint into Paris. He will be against Mark Cavendish, the English missile, and other sprinters such as Thor Hushov and Alessandro Petacchi. My husband and I are amazingly addicted to the tour; we have it taped, and so, in the evenings, that's what we watch. Sorry kids, no cartoons. Tyler's father lives and works in Wenatchee; he is a surgeon, and is often seen biking in the local parks. Tyler must have been an unusual child for this area of the States. Most boys become deeply involved in baseball, basketball, or football. Now, soccer and hockey are also popular. However, Tyler started competitive biking when he was only thirteen years old. His father said that from then on, he knew that cycling was what he wanted to do. He is still young, only twenty-seven, so he has many years of cycling ahead of him. As far as his training is concerned, he lives in Ghent, in Belgium. His upbringing here in Wenatchee served him well for building strength and stamina for cycling. There are many, ideal roads for cycling in the hills here, as well as trails for mountain biking. I suppose the four very distinct seasons that we have here can also prepare a cyclist for hot and cold extremes while biking. Now that he lives in Ghent, however, he has all-year-long cycling because the climate is much milder, with less extremes. Being a sprinter means that he has explosive power towards the end of the race. He, like the other sprinters, tends to stay anywhere in the peloton until the end, when he makes his way to the front, and suddenly speeds towards the finish line. He has already won a stage in the Tour de France, and also in the Vuelta a Espana, and the Giro d'Italia, and others in less known races, so he has plenty of experience. So, when we spot him in the peloton, on the television screen, we get excited and hope to see a successful performance. Even though Mark Cavendish is one of my favorite cyclists, if Tyler beats him and wins the grand, final stage of the race, Wenatchee should commemorate his achievement with a statue in his honor.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary and expressions: a spot (on tv, radio, written), to serve ...well, to tend to, to commemorate.

1. She has a spot on prime-time television, talking about the latest movies.

2. These rubber boots have served me well. I've used them for twenty years, and they still have no holes.

3. I tend to get phone calls whenever I am trying to take a nap.

4. The bronze statue was erected in the center of town, to commemorate independence day.

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*It's no secret that boys of a certain age like guns, even if they are *make-believe. I remember that before my boys ever had any plastic weapons, they would use other toys, or even sticks, and pretend that they were guns. Perhaps they were influenced by something that they had seen on television, or maybe in a book. Who knows? Even at snack time, they would hold up their carrots at eachother and pretend to shoot. Well, now that my boys are older, we have found a happy medium between play and reality. Air soft. These guns are fashioned to look exactly like the real thing, but often smaller in size. And what they shoot is harmless: bb's. These are small, plastic balls that come in various colors. We have white, orange, and fluorescent yellow ones. The boys *take their weapons quite seriously. They have already had a proper air soft battle with friends up in the forest where they camped out for the night. It was supervised, of course, by parents. Eye protection is a must, and nobody is allowed to play unless their eyes are covered. The extent to which you cover yourself in clothing is up to you. Some people don't want to risk getting hit with a bb because it stings a little. As long as you wear long sleeves, long pants, and cover your face and neck, you are completely sting-free. Airsoft is the sort of hobby that grows on you. Some adults are devoted to it. You-tube is full of video clips about the air soft weapons, and battles among friends in lots of different countries. When my two sons had their air soft camp-out, they came back with stories of all the cool stuff that people had. There are heavy duty combat suits that you can use that not only completely cover you, but also are camouflaged. Some of the air soft guns are CO2 powered (carbon dioxide), so the bb'ss fly hard and fast at their target. What's really fun, is having a make-believe battle in our back garden as the sun is going down. We use the glow-in-the-dark bb's, so we can see when someone is shooting at us, and duck. Our kids absolutely love it; it's intense and exciting. The only trouble is, there are bb's everywhere. If you pick any room in my house, even after it's been cleaned, you will find bb's somewhere. Even the driveway has bright yellow bb's glowing against the black asphalt, and from underneath bushes and plants. Those little plastic balls started out in a factory in China, made their way by boat to the U.S., were transported by train to Washington, and then by truck to our local store. And now, those tiny things will be turning up for months in my house and entryway. 

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary and expressions: it's no secret, make-believe, to take something seriously, glow-in-the-dark.

 1. It's no secret that their money influences local politicians.

2. My daughter's unicorn lives in our backyard; it's make-believe, of course.

3. She takes her cake baking very seriously; don't disturb her when she is making them.

4. My Halloween costume was a glow-in-the-dark skeleton.

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Oh, I haven't been getting much sleep recently. It seems as though* the whole world is noisy. It's summer, and every living thing is feeling fully alive, and therefore, making lots of noise. I often have to put our two dogs in the garage in the early hours of the morning because they have a barking fit* at who knows what*. There are racoon families in our neighborhood. At night they scurry* around, looking for food in the garbage cans. They need to feed their babies, so they are busy. And, of course, when the dogs pick up their scent in the air, it's barking time. Also, the birds are busy feeding their chicks. We have a bird house next to  our deck, in our back yard, with three chicks in it. Very early in the morning you'll hear the chirp, chirp, peep, peep. It's adorable, even if it is at five in the morning. My children have asked me if we can feed them, but of course I told them "no", because who knows what they would give them to eat when I'm not looking..... I would probably find remnants of Oreo cookies in the nest, and some very sick birds. A couple of other birds have nested in our garden recently which I call my angels. They are wood pigeons; over here they call them doves. They make a very soothing ooo-ooo-ooo sound. When I was growing up in the English countryside, that's a sound that I heard all the time. It takes me back to my childhood, and makes me feel very comfortable. I decided to take a photo of the nearest nest the other day. It's higher up than my head, so I can't see into it without standing on something. So, I took the chance of just lifting the camera over my head, clicking, and hoping to get a good shot. It worked. I had obviously made enough noise to disturb the chicks, and, not being able to see whether I was their parent or not, they leaned towards the opening of the birdhouse, and opened their mouths. It's amazing to think that in a few short weeks, these totally vulnerable babies will be flying around, catching insects. There will be a lot less chirping, and a lot more flying.

Grammar notes.

Expressions: it seems as though, who knows what, to scurry.

1. It seems as though everyone is wearing skinny jeans these days. What ever happened to baggy trousers?

2. The attic was full of junk: broken furniture, moth-eaten clothes, broken cups and plates, and who knows what else.

3. Mice are rodents. They run with fast bursts of energy which we call scurrying.

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 One of the things I like most about Summer is barbecuing. As a person who cooks all the time, it's so nice to have a break from the kitchen, and to do some rapid, easy clean-up cooking on the barby. Over here, it's often the men who are in charge of barbecuing the meat; it's like a tradition. However, because of its convenience, I take over often, and get everything prepared before anyone else turns up. The other day, when I went grocery shopping, I stocked up* on sauces that I can use for marinading different meats and fish to keep my barbecues interesting. I bought an Asian ginger sauce, a Teriaki, a smoky barbecue sauce, and an Indian marinade. That should keep meals interesting for a while. I also bought a packet of wooden skewers onto which I can put all sorts of vegetables. So, now I'm prepared, with a fridge full of meat and vegetables, and also the freezer. “What's for dinner?” no longer has to be an annoying question. Part of getting prepared is making sure that there is enough propane in the gas canister. If that is empty, then dinner is not going to happen. So, I took a trip to the local DIY store (which is short for do-it-yourself). In its gardening department, it has an area that is reserved for propane. And, what makes it interesting is that you serve yourself. First, there is a machine which accepts your credit card for payment. You swipe* your card, as you do in shops nowadays. Then, an automated* voice talks to you, giving you instructions on how to retrieve your propane. From a large set of cages, one of them opens automatically, and the voice says, “Place your empty canister in cage number 23.” So, you follow directions. Then, once you shut the cage door, the voice says, “Retrieve your new canister from cage number 42,” and so you do. And there you have it, an easy, human-free transaction. I felt a little strange photographing the cages afterwards, as if the automated machine would suddenly say to me, “Hey, what do you think you're doing, lady?” So I took the picture, took my propane, and left quickly.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary and phrases: to stock up, to swipe, automated, d-i-y

1. We stocked up on Australian wine when it was on sale.

2. Swipe your credit card to complete the purchase.

3. The car wash is automated; there are no workers to be seen anywhere.

4. I need to go to the d-i-y store to buy a closet building kit.

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