Join Thor and me as we celebrate the longest day — from a drizzly forest hike to a blazing sunset over the Salish Sea.
We’ve been experiencing our usual Pacific Northwest “Junuary” of cool, cloudy and drizzly days, punctuated by a couple of real downpours and even a serious bout of hail. We woke up to more clouds and drizzle on the solstice. We needed to do errands in Bellingham and decided that we’d add a hike above Lake Padden — now that we live a 45-minute drive from major stores and services, we have to pack multiple stops into outings. Thor decided that this was a good year for the Devil’s Club:
When I was a teenager, my family built a home half a mile from Lake Padden, which became my refuge. Back then, the lake was a retired water reservoir and fenced off, but I easily climbed the 10-foot chain-link fence for private skinny-dipping and hiking. Now a park, it’s still a special place for me and now for Thor and Bear dog, too.
I love the moss and ferns, towering maples, firs, and cedars. A little bit of rain forest close at hand.
A winter wren was singing its tiny heart out as we climbed beneath this craggy old snag.
“Forest bathing” — ahh, serenity.
Back home after our errands, we learned from the neighbor that the rain hadn’t reached our new home. We seem to be sharing the British Columbia “banana belt” weather. Wildflowers in our yard-to-be and the native-plant wild zone:
Thor is taking measurements of sunset angles from our deck in order to build ThorHenge. So far he has spring equinox and summer solstice, and will mark then with columnar andesite and other stones. The excavator during construction unearthed this three-foot chunk of Jackass Mountain Conglomerate, which I luckily saved from reburial, and it might end up marking winter solstice.
Shy Turtle cat even came out onto the deck to check out the topsoil piles that will be spread for a lawn so Bear dog can roll (he visits neighbors now for grass-rolling). Turtle cat might have heard the rumors that we have seen a couple of adorable little bunnies who chase each other around the wild zone.
Our new nightly ritual is sitting at the edge of the bluff to watch the sunset, and the solstice did not disappoint. After a lively swallows dance, an occasional great blue heron came gliding by at eye level, outspread wings and serpentine necks silhouetted against the sunset.
For an encore, the sliver of waxing moon and Venus paired:
The sky was still faintly glowing at 10:30 pm. As we were about to get into bed at 11:00, I looked out to see the moon and Venus right in line, glowing bright gold and mirrored in the sea. My camera phone did a poor job of capturing it, but it was pure magic. Blessed be for the turning of the great wheel!
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You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Café is Pause, a First Place winner of the Chanticleer Somerset Award and an International Pulpwood Queens Book Club selection. “A must-read novel about friendship, love, and killer hot flashes.” (Mindy Klasky). Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
