A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
We’re in the final days of our sojourn here on Samish Island. The packing and crating went much smoother than I thought, so my anxiety levels have dropped considerably. I have actually had time to sit and read two books, and decided I had some time to catch up on writing.
I take a TON of photos. Sometimes these don’t fit into a cohesive blog narrative, but they still wind up in my Flickr stream. I decided that I’d just post a few of these all along with a caption. These aren’t necessarily in any order nor are they meant to convey anything. I’ll be doing these all along as I come across weird things out here.
It’s been a long time since I’ve lived in a place where I can look up and see the Milky Way. Our home in Greenville is in the heart of the city and light pollution is terribly. Up here on Samish Island I can step out the back door and have a clear view of our galaxy, weather permitting. With the recent clear skies I’ve been tempted each night to head out with a camera to do some night photography. The other night I gave into that urge.
I mentioned this in a previous post. Kayaking at Samish island can be tricky. Tide and weather have to be in agreement. Tuesday morning the tides were perfect, with high tide at 11:30 am. However, the weather wasn’t so great. A heavy fog had rolled in. I was seeing patches of blue overhead and knew that it would burn off eventually, so I loaded up the boat and headed over to Duff’s beach cabin for a foggy paddling trip.
Life on our island is still an odd dichotomy of frenzy and relaxation. It’s incredibly peaceful, but we still have so much to do. Similar to the stages of grief, there seem to be stages of settling in. We hit the tourist stage while Glynda was here, and seem to be in the midst of the “dealing with stuff” stage. I’m ready to get to the “normal life on the island” stage, whenever that might come.
It’s raining. That shouldn’t come as a surprise seeing as this is the Pacific Northwest. However, they have had an unusually dry summer and this is the first rain in weeks. Given the chaotic nature of the past week, it’s been a good opportunity to catch up on writing.
I’ve been offline for the last week or so. Laura’s mother passed away on June 13 and we have been in Washington State on Samish Island for the funeral. I only had my phone for Internet access, so I’ve not been able to upload photos or do much blogging. I’ll try to catch up with things in these next couple of posts.
The celebration actually started yesterday. There were the beach fireworks Duff and I saw while paddling, usually involving ordnance obtained from the reservation and NOT approved by Washington State law. Also, the neighbors a couple of doors down had hired a band. Duff and I had heard them while paddling, and back home they were really loud.
After dark Laura and I walked out front and watched (and listened to) fireworks both on the reservation across Padilla Bay and on the San Juan Islands. For some of them, if these weren’t official shows, then someone was REALLY in violation of the “safe and sane” fireworks laws.
Monday, July the Fourth was one of the best Independence Days we’ve ever had. It started quietly enough like every other morning on the island so far. I even skipped another paddling opportunity in order to sleep in a bit. Mid-morning we decided to head down to the Samish Island Parade on North Beach.
The view from Mrs. Wright’s living room is constantly changing. The lighting changes with the rising and setting of the sun, clouds and weather roll in, and there is the constant shifting of the tides. Throw in a couple of eagles, herons, and humming birds, along with some boat traffic, and you’ve got a constant … Read More “A Day on Samish Island” »
