I find it intriguing that Walla Walla Valley and the surrounding Blue Mountains are such a draw to so many of us who called it home as children. The pull of the place is very powerful: the wide-open fields, the clear skies of summer, the grassy smells of farm lands, the familiarity of riding bikes in the cuts, noon-time swims followed by picnics at Family Hour at Memorial Pool, the caring, thoughtful teachers at Berney School, Pioneer Junior High and Wa-Hi—the combination clearly affected this place as my touchstone, no matter all the other houses in which I’ve lived throughout Washington, California and New York.[Dean Perrault Photo]