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?
A small island is not just a place on the map; it’s a psychological destination; a model of simplifying your life and making do with what is immediately to hand.
Preparing for catastrophe The wind took down another tree yesterday, a wild cherry from the little grove at the edge of the road. We came home to find it all cut up in firewood size lengths. Presumably by someone who needed to drive up the road. Hope nobody’s car got squished this time. As my…
No, it’s not a new reality show for body builders, it’s an ongoing study of shellfish health. In fact Mussel Watch is part of the National Status and Trends Program of NOAA and, “the longest running contaminant monitoring program in US coastal waters and has been tracking contaminants in bivalves since 1986. However, due to…
Forester and slope stability expert Elliott Menashe sent me this lovely photo of his view. He sees the North Cascades and Steven’s Pass from a tower above his Whidbey Island home. It’s a very different vista from mine. I have no mountains for one thing. For another, he had to climb a tower to get…
Winter sailing on the Atlantic Ocean. Atlantic City to Cape May, New Jersey. We skedaddled from AC as soon as there was enough light. The morning was cold and I skated around the frozen dock as I cast us off. For our third mid-winter day offshore we again enjoyed freezing temperatures, sunshine and big, soft…
WOW! Speaking of living on the waterfront. I called my daughter this morning and found she’s on vacation in Hawaii. Cell phones are almost worth the montlhy payment to keep them going. I knew she was departing soon, but didn’t know the day, so my call found her just back from a dawn walk on…
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.