Cherry Blossoms, Daffodils and Snow Geese

Cherry blossoms, daffodils and snow geese drew us out for a drive today and we were met with success in our quest for all three.

Our drive included a stop at Roozengaarde located halfway between Mount Vernon and La Conner, WA.  This daffodil and tulip grower specializes in producing flower bulbs for export to Holland.  The blooms are merely a glorious side product the rest of us get to enjoy.  Of course the bulbs are available to us as well should we choose to add a few to our gardens.  Definitely planning on making a selection this fall for our yard.

Enjoyment of the blooming fields has grown from what was at first merely a local following to a festival that attracts thousands of tourists from worldwide locations.  Today's journey is well ahead of the festival and we were rewarded with no traffic to battle.  For a mere $2.50 I acquired a half-dozen daffodil buds to enjoy at home in a vase-the first Snoopy will have ever seen!

The snow geese are here in full force with their young already grown to almost the size of the adults.  Their brown feathers are the only cue that gives them away.  These beautiful birds migrate to the valley to spend the winter in the tulip fields.  The farmers welcome them with grain; the geese leave a thank you with their very own form of fertilizer-everyone is happy!  

Perfectionism and Remodeling

My brother, Jim and I come by it genetically... the desire to do everything perfectly.  No matter the job, if it bears doing, it means doing it right.  One of the advantages of acquiring a vintage home is the opportunity to test these genetic skills over and over again.

We haven't moved in yet, but already Bill and Jim have begun the task of remodeling the storage building attached to our newly purchased home.  Initially it requires stripping down moldy wall board caused by a leaky roof and then pulling out the old insulation.  After drying out the studs and the now exposed exterior walls, the process of replacing what's been torn out will begin.  The roof is repaired. I'm banned from this room until the drying out process is complete to avoid a full blown asthma attack.

In the meantime, I am working on the kitchen cabinets.  While Bill spray paints the cabinet doors, I am painting the interior of the cabinets and the trim.  All are going from a dark brown faux wood color to bright white.  The result is miraculous.  My brother's work is impeccable.  Moving back here to within a short driving distance from him is priceless.  My heart sings with happiness.

Fog by Robert Frost

Fog by Robert Frost

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

We awoke today to a golden fog seeping between the charcoal gray limbs of naked trees harboring in earnest any potential for spring.  The challenge of the marine climate along the coast of Puget Sound in winter is invigorating and we are drawn out into this mystical world.  With crimson cheeks beneath woolen hats and fingers safely ensconced in mittens, we brave the chill in the air for a walk to the river.

Skagit River

The Mount Vernon RV Park, where we are staying, is close to the Skagit River.  You can easily walk from our RV to a public park on its western bank where there is a wonderful sculpture of a salmon (pictured above.)  Or brave the traffic and cross over a short bridge that leads to an inviting, brick paved river walk along its east bank for a stroll (see below.)  The river walk is adjacent to what I have nicknamed “Old Town” in Mount Vernon; this section of town is quickly becoming my favorite destination which includes the Skagit Valley Food Coop I mentioned earlier.

The Skagit River winds through town in a serpentine fashion.  Mount Vernon was built at the site of a huge logjam, which took loggers three years to breakup in the 1860s—while salvaging the logs in the process.  Ultimately their efforts opened the river for navigation and further European exploration to the northeast.  Originating in Canada, the river drains the Northern Cascade watershed along a 150 mile course, which was heavily influenced by both the coming and going of glaciers during the Ice Age, and by volcanic activity in this region over centuries.  At one time 50,000 salmon per year, including all five of the native salmon species, made their way up this river named after the Skagit Tribe.  Due to global warming of the ocean, the salmon’s food supply has dwindled, and in recent years only 5,000 fish have returned to the river to spawn.

Sadly, this will affect the bald eagles from Alaska and Canada that come to winter in the valley from December to February as well, because of the resulting decrease in salmon—their food supply.  Even worse, with the drought and melting snow pack, the river’s volume of water is decreasing.  This will not only impact wildlife, but also the water source supplying the valley’s residents, its farming and Seattle’s hydroelectric supply.  Though it was a wetter winter with above average rain and snowfall, above average temperatures this spring have already stripped away any excess reserve we enjoyed.  It is amazing to see the broad impacts global warming is having here. 

On a brighter note, this area still remains lush and green with cooler temperatures than we have experienced in months.  For that we are grateful!  Snoopy agrees wholeheartedly.

Minestrone Soup and Other Misc Musings

On a cold day in February, what could be better than a warm bowl of soup?  I made some today for dinner and it delivered—warmth, comfort and sustenance as promised in a new cookbook I purchased to accompany my electric pressure cooker:  “Cooking Under Pressure” by Lorna Sass.  After poking around in La Conner, Washington on a rainy, winter day, we came home to the reward of this hearty soup I pulled together in just minutes.

La Conner is a one-horse town, more or less, with a variety of delightful shopping venues on either side of its main street.  The location fronts a canal between two bays on Puget Sound, and depending on the tide, its saltwater can run in either direction to or from the sea.  It is a good place for kayaking on warmer days past tethered boats, restaurant windows, and under Rainbow Bridge. 

Native American influence is strong in the Northwestern art displayed at the southern end of town where a totem pole guards a view of both the bridge and a shot straight down La Conner’s main street.  There is a kitchen shop, clothing and shoe stores and various sculptures displayed in another storefront that could keep the average person occupied for hours, but we elected to stop for coffee instead in a little café called Calico Cupboard.  Paired with a cookie from their bakery, the coffee warmed our bodies as we paused to enjoy people watching through its windows while others braved the weather to shop.

Winter in Washington

We have arrived in Mount Vernon, Washington.  This is the first winter we've experienced in the north in years.  Cold, periodically rainy and views of snow in the mountains around Mount Vernon greet us.  The air is exhilarating.  Dawns come in striking color.  Warm clothes are mandatory.  After a hot winter in Florida, the cold temperatures are welcomed and a relief.

We are in an RV park just across the Skagit River from the original main street of Mount Vernon.  Older, brick buildings and small businesses occupy either side of the street.  On a corner, the Skagit Valley Food Coop occupies an entire block with an assortment of organic produce and packaged foods that make selecting an organic diet an easy task.  The process of browsing the store's aisles is a shopping nirvana for me as I convert our eating habits in earnest to whole foods of as much organic sources as possible.  I am also becoming a believer in "shop for locally produced and sustainable" foods.  The quality is often visibly discernible.

Dreams of a Community

No idea is new it seems.  I thought I had conceived of a solution to the economics of growing old during our recent travels.  Now I see many options are already invented for living with fewer material possessions in less space.

The reality is that economics is a definite problem for the aging in many cases.  They must rely on what's left of savings after the "Great Recession" and a meager Social Security check.  What to do about a place to live?  Property values and mortgages that are only supported by a two-income, still working couple are now out of the picture as one quits that vicious cycle.  Rents are the same or worse considerations for these elderly.  Senior "living" in income assisted apartments offers the tiniest of living space down long, lonely and possibly socially restrictive hallways.  What to do?

A "tiny home" isn't a new invention.  There are RV/mobile home parks throughout Florida, Arizona and beyond that call their version of tiny homes a "Park Model" and in some cases these parks include activity centers for their "active adults" to play/socialize within.

The population of elderly literally living in RVs and calling it a "life style" are also abundantly evident along our travel stops.  All of this is wonderful to some degree.  And yet it is worrisome if this is all that our elderly can afford in the current society we elder Americans find ourselves occupying.  Even our young people at the other end of the age spectrum are finding housing to be an issue.  I've lived in versions of this concept in both Arizona, in Florida and now on the road.

Tiny Home Magazine recently had an article on front porches and the new found joy of those rediscovering the beauty of getting outdoors and talking with your neighbors.  We know the joy of these conversations traveling in an RV where often you converse with your neighbors.  Recently we met and shared coffee with two interesting gentlemen traveling over 6,000 miles round trip in only a roadster who slept on the ground in sleeping bags and they were our age!

A real Tiny Home community we saw recently is growing up in Lemon Cove Village RV Park in California.  The park is even incorporating a community garden along with a communal kitchen for their residents.  So there are advantages to Park Models and RVing that others are also seeing and combining into real life styles.

So here is my dream:  I would love to see a retired, elder community of Tiny Homes/Park Models built in circles around a common lawn with parking behind and the same gardening, activity centers, communal eating room and kitchen put in around the property's perimeter.  This concept has been used in Israel successfully with a younger generation to foster their young and provide stable homesteads.  Why not try it here with the elderly who are willing to embrace this type of lifestyle.

Maybe we could mingle in some young people too and build an intra-generational relationship as we had in generations past that my parents experienced.  Let the pendulum of life swing back a bit from the separatism we've fostered in my lifetime.  There was a recent show on television where college students were given living arrangements in a Scandinavian elder community with the stipulation that they had to interact with and help their elders for a portion of their day.  Both age groups benefitted and a bridge was created between the generations that was healthy for everyone involved.

If I win the lottery, I'll build one of these communities.  I'd love to.  Then I could say I'd left something behind for humanity-"making my mark" so to speak.