Fall on Orcas Island

Sailing in West Sound, Orcas Island.

The crowds of August are gone. We have the island to ourselves, except for the avid bicycle riders and a few intrepid travelers. It's stunningly beautiful dressed in golds and reds of fall and it's quiet. Don't let the quiet fool you, there is still lots to do. Finally, there is enough wind for a good sail, for example. We have Friday night sailing races in West Sound. There is a Sailing Foundation on Orcas where you can learn to sail and use the boats for a very modest fee.



The high school students have teams and sailing classes as well. When I first moved to Orcas, I taught for the Sailing Foundation, spending my days on the water with young teens and women wanting to master the winds. Pretty soon I found myself in charge of the sailing program! This is how things go on Orcas. First you volunteer, then you end up on charge. I feel like I got to know some of those kids in a way that was unique, bobbing around in the water on hot summer days. It was idyllic!

The trails in the Park our ours again, golden with fallen leaves from the big leaf maples and willows. In the off season there is rarely a sign of any litter. The park is quiet, with some weekend camping, but lots of great campsites available. My grandchildren spend almost every day in the summer in the park, swimming, playing on the playground, being with their friends and families.

Many Islanders are avid gardeners, and right now we are all harvesting our gardens and fruit trees, it was an abundant year. Right now, pear butter simmers on the stove, Ken brings in some madrona for a fire, and later, we'll bring out our books to read. We have a TV, but no hook up. We, like many islanders, have NETFLIX only. No mass television media entering our homes. It's a different way of living. I have heard a that the average family has four TVs on the mainland. We don't have stoplights, or golden arches, or subway or K-Mart. We have small locally owned stores like times past, but we do all LOVE the Internet! Yes, we have DSL! A nuber of folks I know are lucky enough to tele-commute.

Every year we harvest hundreds of apples from our 100 year old King apple trees. Orcas was the fruit basket for Seattle prior to the Columbia being dammed and water becoming available to Eastern Washington. There are trees dripping with succulent fruit literally everywhere. If you have dreams of having orchards, this is the place! My friend Bonnie marveled at the flowers everywhere. saying; " I struggled for years to get that to grow..and here it's 5 feet tall!" This is true, it is a gardener's paradise.

We had such fun with our grandson, Caleb picking apples in the horse pasture. He was old enough to climb the ladder and toss his grandma apples. This year we hope to have the whole crew here to harvest. Kings require a cold snap to bring out the sugars, but the horses don't care! They like them just fine anytime.

Ken and I are so fortunate to have three of our chilren here and four grandchildren as well. People often wonder how do young people make a living? Well, in our family: one is builder, one a schoolteacher/gardener, one works at the Olga Store, one at the Hardware store, one is a massage therapist and personal assistant, and one is a landscaper. Like most islanders, they all have adjunct occupations as well, like fixing cars, pet sitting, child care or organizing homes. When we first moved here, within the year, I had 4 part time occupations. Ken had a real job building homes. You've got to be creative if you need to make a living and want to be here. Some folks laugh and say: "Orcas makes you pay your dues". The amazing thing is, that it is rather self-selective, you have to WANT to be here. But because it's not so easy, the folks here tend to love their home, and that makes it special.

As Ken and I drive the road from Deer Harbor, through Crow Valley to Eastsound to go to OrcasDreams in Eastsound, we take the time to appreicate how lucky we are to be living the life we live. If you think you might like to make a change to Island Life-drop us a line!

The Farmer's Market on Orcas Island

September saw the end of the Farmer's Market in the Park for this year. We have this beautiful green in the center of Eastsound, where we have the Farmer's Market, the Library Fair, the Bite of Orcas the Fourth of July celebration. It is the heart of Eastsound. Sunday nights we have Music in the Park. Now that fall has come, you'll have to wander over the Oddfellows Hall on Saturday's for your fresh greens, squash and tomatoes. Oh and flowers! Don't forget your flowers. This was a great year for squash..I grew about 150 lbs of Blue Hubbard..and the tomatoes thrived in the unusually warm and very long summer. Here is Rhonda, she runs a farm called The Campesina Project. I heard her speak at the Orcas Island Garden Club and thought she could be running the country.

Not everyone knows this, but I had a jam company when I first came to Orcas. First of all I am a Capricorn..so that means I like to work, I hate waste and I need to earn money. Twenty some odd years ago, work was pretty scarce, and as my work as a kayak guide slowed down in the fall, I began picking blackberries. Did you know they grow everywhere here? They are thick, lush and prolific. So, I picked them- two handed- five gallon buckets at a time. OK..so it was a bit extreme..Then I made jam.

Soon we were overflowing with jam. Ken says: "Honey, what are we going to do with all that jam?' Lord knows I didn't need that much jam..so I sighed.."well, I guess we'll have to take it to the farmer's market!" That was the birth of The Orcas Island Jam Company. We spent Saturdays at the Farmer's Market. Ken and I would set up our table, send one of the girls over to Rose's to get fresh baguettes and offer free samples of bread and jam. It was a blast! All the little kids loved us. and every cat sitter on the west coast got some of our jam. I expanded to apple butter, pear butter, plum jam.. almost all the fruit was wild crafted or would have gone to waste. I used a receipt with low sugar and it tasted like pure fruit. So..I have connections with the Farmer's Market.

Our market is not just veggies..no, we have Flo's Tie Dye! We also have jewlery and pottery, in fact here is Bob. He used to be a kayak guide too, now he does pottery with his wife Ginny.

Mostly the Farmer's Market is fun. Everyone gathers on Saturdays, eats oysters or fresh pizza, sausage or sushi, and visits, listens to music, watch the kids play. It is festive and friendly. Sometimes while wandering through the market, or in town people confuse me with Brenda, who has Black Dog Farm. Here we are .. as you can see Brenda is thiner, but my braid is longer!


That's me with my OrcasDreams hat on!

Watching for Whales in the San Juan Islands

In mid September, my friend Bonnie and her daughter Tucker came for a visit. Bonnie, who is a writer, came to the Orcas Island Writer's Festival. She is working on a memoir and spent the week happily engaged with her peers. Tucker, who is a marine biologist and works on a tall ship similar to the Adventuress. jumped at the chance to visit Orcas Island. There are lots of great ways to get to Orcas, they choose Kenmore Air's float plane. It comes from Lake Union, takes an hour and arrives in Deer Harbor, West Sound or Rosario. Your choice! The sightseeing is worth the price of admission..But pack lightly..as it will cost you if you don't.

Bonnie and I worked together to start the Birth Center in Princeton, she was the Director of Nursing, I was the Director of Marketing. But the fun part was assisting at births together! Tucker was born at the center, as was my daughter, Heather.

Tucker's one wish was for her mom to see whales. Since she would only be with us for two days, early the next morning we headed off to San Juan Island's Lime Kilm Park. Ken chided me: "how do you know you'll see whales?" "Oh, I always do, so I'll just think positively." This is true, I have never gone looking for whales and not found them. One time my friend Tom Averna, who owns Deer Harbor Charters needed someone to crew..and asked me if I was free..so I went along as 'crew'. That day we saw the superpod! Over 90 whales greeting and breeching with gusto. What a sight!

So, off we went on the inter island ferry to see whales..On the ferry we met my friend, Deb, who works as a naturalist on another whale watch boat. We got to ask her all the important whale questions! We were already having a lucky day!

It was one of those foggy mornings at Lime Kilm, and we just about had the place to ourselves. While waiting for the whales to arrive, we looked at birds, and starfish, talked and admired the lighthouse..

Then about 40 minutes after we arrived..there they were! Orcas! In groups of 3 or 4, a total of 18 before the day was done! Spectacular!! There is something so very magical about living where there are whales! In the San Juans there are 3 resident pods, about 90 whales, who are primarily salmon eaters. You can often see them off of the west side of San Juan Island , as the channel is deep and there are lots of salmon there. I try to time it to when the tide is turning..so it's not all luck!

We left Lime Kilm due to hunger and headed for town, where we picked up a picnic of smoked salmon, fresh baked bread, humus and pears..then headed off to American Camp for lunch. The sun came out, and we lazed in the sun, no longer needing our sweatshirts. Back to home to Orcas on the ferry..with whale tales to tell...