Bubbles in the Puddles - Rain on Orcas Island

Yesterday we had showers, today it poured.  Ken and I sat on the window seat overlooking my dressage arena and it was raining so hard it made bubbles in the puddles.  I had never seen such a thing. We checked the rain gauge. Yup, it had rained buckets overnight. Our rain gauge said over an inch of rain!  How could we complain, after such a beautiful Indian Summer? It was 59 degrees out, so it wasn't even cold!  We needed the rain to make our Island green again.

Now, many people believe it rains here all the time. The truth of the matter is that is rains about half as much as it does in Seattle, or Manhattan, or North Carolina.  We get about 24 inches of rain a year in Deer Harbor. At the east end of the island they get about 28 inches of rain. On the Olympic Penninsulia, it can rain up to 200 inches each year, and for every mile that you go east from Anacortes, it generally rains one more inch. There are many pilots who have moved to Orcas Island, and what they all say is that there is a blue hole over Orcas.  We get just enough rain to have a green island and never any flies or mosquitos. After growing up on the east coast, I think I have found heaven!

Our rain is usually more like mist. For years I never owned a raincoat, I just wore wool or polar fleece. Even while leading kayaking trips, I never owned a raincoat.  But, today you needed one!

I don't want you to think I only go into the office when it rains, but that was where I was today.

While in the office, our daughter, Jeni and granddaughter, Trinity stopped in to give us Trinity's school picture and treated to some ballet moves!  We got an offer on a parcel of land, we had listed. Yahoo!  All cash - that was the good news. Ken had a date with our grandson, Caleb, to work on his Pinewood Derby car for Cub Scouts.

After work, I went to the market and as usual had several in-depth conversations while shopping. I must have been in there over an hour to get one bag of groceries! That is something I find so special about Orcas Island, all the little interactions, the rich conversations over the produce, at the post office, or library. In fact, it is not uncommon to stop your car in the middle of the road to exchange a few words with someone you needed to talk with, who was walking by. It's the web of interconnection that is so richly satisfying here.

As I drove home that evening, the sun came out briefly lighting up the trees. This often happens at the end of the day, an hour or two of sunshine, even on the darkest of days. About a mile from home, I saw Ken and Caleb walking down the road saving newts. Living next to a marsh there are thousands of newts that cross the road spring and fall. Walking with Ken then is very slow, as he has to carefully pick up and move all the newts to safety.  Caleb seems to share this passion.

Rescuing Newts

Our walks, this time of year

are interrupted - by Rough Skinned Newts

fearlessly treading ancient trails
back to water

now crossing the county road
littered with the slow
and the unlucky

I want to save each one
regardless of merit
so,
our walks go slow.

 

K.A.Wood