Trimmin' with Trautz

Bill Trautz was hard at this morning, May 16, trimming back the wisteria along his sideyard at 506 E. Seventh St. in The Dalles.

But that’s just the tip of it.

Trautz took us on a tour that dated back to 1981 when he and wife Linda Trautz bought the 1915 Crafsman.

Trautz at 78 said he liked to keep moving and the yard is providing the motivation.

For those that have never had the joy - rocks crop up in wheat fields all the time, and they can damage equipment, so periodically - like every year - you get to drive a tractor through a field and pick every rock you can find. It’s like an Easter egg hunt but there’s no chocolate - just a nice donut hole of dirt around your mouth when your done on a windy day.

And when he is not trimming the hedges or training the ivy, he likes to get out to his son’s wheat farm near Dufur to pull rye and pick some rock.

Deep green - Bill said he removed two elm trees to open up this space and he had the joy of removing the old buried oil tank from the furnace. But all’s well that ends well as he now has several planting beds, including one for tomatoes in the hotter section of the yard.

Here, they are planting grass and will install an awning that will provide shade while the garage provides protection from the wind. Oh, and that Datsun pickup - it’s a ‘78. It preceded the move to the house by 3 years. Bill bought it new.

The couple have also made use of all the basalt pulled from the grass bed and created beds within the basalt at the back of the lot. Pretty inviting!

Nice Job !

Hard work seems to be a common theme in the Trautz family. Linda has been getting it done for years in The Dalles.

A seasoned health care professional, Linda worked nearly 40 years as a floor nurse and discharge planner at Mid Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles. She retired in 2015. For 11 years she volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). She is currently on the Columbia Basin Care Board.