Whidbey Island – keep on rocking

Here on South Whidbey we have an unusual concentration of interesting people. Some celebrities, some who have made a mark – though not a name for themselves, most though, are regular folks who choose to do interesting things, in interesting ways, for curious reasons. I keep intending to do a series of profiles of some water-focused Whidbey folks, but haven’t managed to get the project to the front burner yet.

This morning I received an email from our resident surfer dude, Drew Kampion, who for years has tirelessly run an amazing service that we all call Drew’s List. He helps people post notices, job offers, service offers, homes for sale or rent, cars for sale, event announcements and more. It grew organically from just a few of Drew’s friends and acquaintances to covering almost everyone in the community. Perhaps the Drew’s List phenomenon is an island culture thing, perhaps it’s one man’s quirk, but it’s definitely a treasure.

In this email was an offering from another interesting islander, Van Van Horn, computer guru, photographer and webmaster of a popular daily quotation service, Quotes of the Day.

None of this has anything directly to do with the water, or waterfront life. However, today’s quote of the day has everything to do with how we all approach the many controversies that crop up around our streams and shores – land-use issues, clean water, public access, treatment of wildlife and figuring out how to go on from here.

Your Quotes of the Day for 15 January 2011

Martin Luther King, Jr was born at Atlanta, Georgia on this
day in 1929. He was taught to read at home before going to
school and advanced rapidly, skipping two grades and entering
Morehouse College at age 15. The son of a Baptist minister,
he was ordained in 1947. Inspired by a parishioner named Rosa
Parks, he organized the boycott of Montgomery’s bus service.
Then he had a dream, following it made him one of the few who
have visibly changed the world. The world resists change and
Dr King was murdered, but the dream continued and his words live on.

Today’s Quotes

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.

On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity comes along and asks the question, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

All from Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 – 1968

Thanks Drew and Van, for passing this wisdom on today, and for doing the crazy, selfless things you do so well.