This blog post has no photos. That in and of itself should highlight the unusualness of the past few weeks. Our holiday trip back to South Carolina was..strange, and our return to Samish Island only heightened the limbo-like quality of the past few weeks. I’m sure that will change as we get back into a routine. Until then, here’s a photo-less recap recent happenings.
Christmas was a very pleasant time for us and we had a great time with friends and family back in our own home. However, there were lots of unusual aspects. There was no big Taylor family gathering. Of my six siblings, the only ones I saw were Glynda and Houston, and Glynda was only there for a day. All seem to be occupied with their own families and grandchildren. I shared some phone calls, but it just wasn’t the same.
There was also the lack of cats. Ours were back on the island, being tended by neighbors Duff and Linda. Amy brought her dog Luna, but, again, it wasn’t quite the same.
In addition to Amy, Houston and Lynda spent several days with us. We had Christmas dinner together, and they also were with us to celebrate our 29th anniversary at The Lazy Goat. It was appropriate, as Amy was Laura’s matron of honor and Houston was my best man. Houston and I had a blast playing various instruments together.
I spent a lot of time just enjoying our home in Greenville. I hung out in my spot in the basement watching movies and sitting looking out over our back yard and lake, which was frozen most of the time. I didn’t get out to do much exploring because of my foot in a cast and having caught a head cold over the holidays.
New Year’s Eve and Day was a quiet affair with just Laura and me at home. We watched movies and rang in the New Year with champagne. The remainder of the champagne was used for mimosas the next morning. We watched the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl with our traditional New Year’s nachos.
The trip back to Washington wasn’t the most comfortable, with both of us coughing most of the time, but we made it. It’s windy and rainy back in the Pacific Northwest, but is also much, much warmer. Temps in South Carolina were dipping into the teens and lower, but were hanging around the lower 50s here.
And so we returned to the land of permanent evening. What sun rays did peak through left long shadows regardless of the time of day. It was good to see our cats again. They have been hanging with us very closely the last couple of days. Rory has even started sitting in Laura’s lap.
On Saturday Laura and I headed up the Skagit River Valley for the Skagit Eagle Festival. Along the flats before we even got to town we counted 35 bald eagles. I have a memory of my first trip to the area long ago with Laura’s parents, when we saw a huge number of eagles gathered on the pebble beaches of the Skagit. I was hoping for a similar view. However, along the river valley itself, the festival was a bust. We stopped at the community center in Concrete for a bit of information and also stopped at the Howard Miller Steelhead Park. We didn’t see many eagles at all.
We took a long route back home. When we reached the flats, once again our eagle count increased. Eventually we saw 63 eagles. There was one tree where lots of them tended to hang out, looking much like vultures do in our area.
But why no photos?
Honestly, I don’t know. I only took my small Panasonic Lumix back to South Carolina, and as far as I know I never turned it on. I took a few photos with my cell phone. Most of those found their way to Facebook, but I didn’t move them over to Flickr. Even with our recent eagle trek it was overcast and rainy and I just didn’t feel like pulling out the camera. I just wasn’t inspired.
And so we get settled back into island life. The upcoming weeks will bring several musical opportunities. I have a Scottish music session Sunday and a practice session Monday. There will be the usual BYO Guitar and/or Instrument on Wednesdays, and later this month is the Bellingham Folk Festival. That should keep me busy. I may even find time to take a photo or two.