The pictures herewith mark the 1000th in this series, and they cover the full range of the time it has been appearing.
The big mountain shot was taken in 1973 from Bill Lockwood's plane which was over the North Cross highway and Early Winters Creek. The basin in the foreground contains Cutthroat lake and creek. On the horizon, the big blocky peak to the left is Bonanza above Lucerne and Railroad creek, at 9511 feet the highest non-volcanic mountain in the Cascade range. The pyramid is Glacier peak, one of Washington's five volcanoes, 10,436 feet, and the one with the ripply top is Dome, 8788 feet.
The shot of the Chief Joseph spillway was made in May, 1965, and Glen's shot of the young apple tree (I think in the Herschel Cunningham orchard) dates back to the spring or summer of 1957. The frosted Oregon grape leaves, from my back yard, go back to December of 1969, and the evening shot of Omak to August of that same year.
The young man looking for a receiver is Seth, son of Jim and Lynn Wilcox of Omak, and the picture was made in September of this year.
The column was Bruce Wilson's idea after he bought The Chronicle in 1957; and when I was dubious, he said let's try a dozen or so and see how it goes.
For the first 4½ years, until his death in 1961, Glen and I did this column together, he making the picture and I writing its accompaniment. He was its first and most exacting critic.
It hardly seems possible that it has been over 20 years, but the first one appeared in the May 9, 1957, issue, so it must be. Bruce's original suggestion was mountains and waterfalls, and there has been a certain amount of these. But I think certain threads running through the columns have been a wonder at the marvels around us and an attempt to be aware and appreciative of them.
I know there are some of you who know far more about given areas than I do. But I hope you have not minded my finding out some of these things and sharing my delight in the area. I love it here, and it has seemed only natural to say so.
The gas crunch has curtailed my getting around rather sharply, and lately there has been more emphasis on life in the Okanogan than its land forms. I still hope to get around a bit and explore and appreciate.
For I have the comfortable feeling that with the richness and diversity we have here, there is no danger of running out of subject matter - and hopefully not of appreciation.
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