No matter where you go or what you study, it’s best to have a home base or a benchmark. So the second year of Tidal Life begins with an introduction to how to Whidbey Island, the place it all started.
Whether living on Whidbey or visiting, water is the number one consideration. Water surrounds the island, it defines the beaches everyone comes here to enjoy, and it falls from the sky. A lot.
Whidbey Island Garb and Gear
Spring
In spring, Whidbey’s longest season, wear a light, water resistant jacket everywhere. Usually with a hearty sweater underneath. Be sure to wear a t-shirt underneath that. Jeans or khakis. Bring rubber boots, hiking shoes, running shoes, dress shoes and flip flops. It’s best to have at least two options in the car at all times. Some like the Birkenstocks with socks thing. Personally I find them useless, except for cafe sitting. Which can be done quite well in hiking boots.
Summer
In summer – which starts July 5 – I advocate a tank top and a jacket, but keep that hearty sweater near to hand for after sundown. Jeans and shorts. The flip flops are my staple and the hiking boots vie with casual sandals for second most worn. Forget the Birkenstocks, they’re slow.
Fall
In fall – which doesn’t attack in earnest until late October, though it lobs grenades from mid-August on – instead of the tank top, opt for a long sleeve t-shirt and augment the sweater with a fleece pullover. The rain coat is a must, no Bireknstocks, your socks will only get soggy if you’re going anywhere but the coffeehouse. Hiking shoes, running shoes and loafer or deck shoes are the keys to marching through this season.
Winter
Winter begins a few days after New Year’s, lasts until the last weeks of February when there is a mini-spring, then returns until roughly tax time. Start with the raincoat. Zip in that insulated lining. Bring the fleece and the sweater, the long sleeve t shirt should probably be a thermal mock turtle, a silk version for dress occasions. Jeans. Hiking boots or Sorels, leather tennies, dressy loafers with thick soles. Forget the Birkenstocks with socks except for sitting around the fireplace.
No matter what season, or what you’re planning to do, always pack a spare pair of socks.
Remember the unofficial Whidbey Island motto: What’s an Umbrella?
The Plan Was to Live Aboard – Quite a Bit Farther South Last fall, as we were getting Sunshine ready to launch, our friends and acquaintances at Hingham Shipyard were pulling and winterizing their boats. All of them repeatedly warned about the horrible Boston winter ahead. They asked us what Whidbey Island winters were like,…
Spied this thicket of Queen Anne’s Lace while driving. The white umbrel heads looked so beautiful bobbing in the breeze, while behind them the white waves broke on the shore, that I had to pull over and try to capture them for my water photo of the week. If I were a fabric designer, I’d…
Oh if only they would develop that app! Back when I wrote about cleaning my own roof (wow – a year ago, it needs attention again) I didn’t have solar panels to worry about. And to tell the truth it never occurred to me to include instructions for cleaning solar panels that a reader might…
Attending to Hurricanes Throughout the summer various tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes were spinning out in the Atlantic. Knowing we would eventually be heading south along the Atlantic Coast and potentially into the path of these tropical storms, I looked at hurricane news every few days. But in early October I gradually stopped watching. Hurricane…
Elliott Menashe is feeling justifiably frustrated. After two decades of teaching the buyers of shoreline properties how to keep their bluffs intact, he thought by now he’d be watching a trend toward better treatment of these important sites. Instead, this past year he’s witnessed an unprecedented number of slides due to poor management of the…
Hunting Island Adventure, at the best South Carolina beach for fitness, history and nature adventures.
One Comment
Yeaaaa! She is afloast but moored to the post in the mainstream of her beloved Whidbey Island! Spend the seasons collecting cameos of the pulse and flavor of life.
Yeaaaa! She is afloast but moored to the post in the mainstream of her beloved Whidbey Island! Spend the seasons collecting cameos of the pulse and flavor of life.