Thanksgiving Potluck in Deer Harbor

 Pond in Deer Harbor

Friday night was my favorite potluck in Deer Harbor. Our November potluck is a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner with all the fixings and I don't have to cook!  No stress about getting the house clean, who's coming or not coming,  or if everything will be just right. No, just show up and bring a dish to share.
There must have been 80 people there, mostly locals from Deer Harbor. The turkeys were beautifully cooked and all cut up, lots of rich dark gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, but for some unknown reason no mashed potatoes. No matter, we all had a grand time.
Ken and I  sat at a table with our Accountant/Artist friends; Jerry and Mary. Mary is this incredible artist and has just started a blog: anordinaryartist.com. She's way too modest! Also at the table was Nancy Southern, she specializes in energy work, EFT which is Emotional Freedom Technique. This is a form of acupressure that is easy to learn and highly effective, and works well for both physical and emotional issues. Heidi was at our table also, she lives 4 doors down from us, and makes granola and sells it under her friend Rob's label: Local Goods. She told me in the summers she sells 100 lbs a week. Wow that's a lot of granola! Local Goods can be found on Orcas, Lopez and San Juan Island. She told us about her six week trip to an ashram to southern India. A the end of the table were Megan and Bob Harris. They have actually moved from Deer Harbor where they lived for years to OPAL in Eastsound. OPAL provides affordable housing on Orcas and is where over 30% of the school children on Orcas live. They have several communities with common grounds and very sweet homes. You would never guess this is considered affordable housing. Bob was an architect and he and Megan moved here years ago from Santa Fe. Megan was an avid gardener and for the 20 years they lived in Deer Harbor, I believe they lived out of their garden. They are also published authors.
So, who lives in Deer Harbor? Authors, Artists, Architects, Accountants, Cooks, Gardeners, Travelers, Energy Workers, Realtors, Builders and Horse Trainers!

Down at the Deer Harbor Dock

Sunday morning brought the sun back. Everything was washed clean by Saturday's rains. We had grandson Caleb for the night, and he wanted to go to the dock looking for seals. Ken was busy scraping the corrals with the tractor and once I was done putting the 6 loads of soaking manure into the compost bins, Caleb and I went off to the beach and the dock.

It is hard for me to tell who loves the beach more, Caleb or Cassie! Caleb rolled in the sand, jumped from the dock to the beach, danced and pranced!  Cassie hunted things under water and watched Caleb and his antics.

Deer Harbor is the most maritime of the

hamlets and towns on Orcas Island. It has two marinas, both of which offer live-aboard slips. The easiest access from Orcas Island to San Juan Island and the Gulf Islands is from Deer Harbor. It is a south facing harbor and is very protected. In addition, Deer Harbor gets the most sunshine and the least rain of any location on Orcas. It's a great place to live but there are fewer homes for sale in Deer Harbor than in some other areas of the Island.

Here is the map, on it you can see how convenient it is to sail to so many places. It's a short run to the charming Canadian city of Victoria, which is more British than London!  You can tie up at the city marina and have high tea at the Empress Hotel!

If you are kayaking, take a day trip around Reef Island out to Yellow Island, owned by the Nature Conservancy and carpeted with flowers each spring.
Spend the night on Jones Island and look for cactus. I promise they are there!  I will tell you all about these Islands in a future post. I was a kayak guide for many years, and Deer Harbor was my favorite place to paddle.




 


On the dock, is a small grocery store.
It has all the necessities: eggs, milk, bread,
chips, chocolate and coffee. You can get a
bowl of chower or chili, a burger and fries.
Caleb and I got peanut M&M's.

There are all sorts of boat; this sailboat happened to be my favorite of the day! Our friend, Dave Lutz, has a charter business called Emerald Isle Charters. He takes small groups on his lovely sailboat around the San Juans and up the wild side of Vancouver Island. Dave worked in Bristol Bay, Alaska flying a small plane spotting for the herring fishery. He is a great story teller and knows the waters all the way from here to Alaska.

If you are thinking of living aboard, you may want to consider this tug. It's for sale! There are showers and laundry facilities, gas,  food, and even DSL at the Marina.

Can you tell what this is a picture of? My little grandson, has great eyes and he spotted these shrimp. Can you see them?

Reflections - living on an Island gives you time for reflections; time to see the changing leaves, time to admire the colors, time to write poetry and reflect on life.


Orcas is a Magic Island; people often come here to heal... the surrounding water making so many people feel safe and protected. Time passes more slowly here and your attention can at last be turned inward. The native Lummi Indians considered Orcas a Sacred Place.

There are wonderful homes in Deer Harbor, beautiful places to live. Here is an old Craftsman that in the 1970's was a boarding house, run by a friend of ours, Dave Page. It has been restored and is now a very fine B&B.

Our mission was complete when we found our seal! We were so lucky to have him get so close and to catch it on my camera!

You'd be happy here too!...