Our discoveries continue as Thor and I (and Bear dog, of course) explore the attractions around our building plot.
NOTE: People have been asking to follow our progress as Thor and I pursue our quest for our dream home with sunsets over the Salish Sea. So starting with my post of 5/21/22, we set out, starting with buying a high-bluff waterfront building lot, selling our existing home, and onward….
While jumping through endless hoops of county and state requirements for shoreline building, before they’ll let our builder submit our building permit, we have spent a lot of time at the property, doing a bit of weed-whacking and mostly picnicking. And exploring close options for outings in the “neighborhood.” A few minutes to the north of us, the high banks slope down to skinny Semiahmoo Spit, site of indigenous fishing activities. In high school, I took part in a senior-project archaeology dig there. We found mostly a lot of fish vertebrae in old middens, but it was a lot of fun camping and helping out with the dig. Later development of Semiahmoo Resort with marina/condos/golf course changed the terrain significantly. A necessary new wastewater treatment plant for the nearby city of Blaine and the resort was started on the spit, which triggered a scandal when the archaeologist assigned to monitor the construction found indigenous human bones and hid them so construction would not be delayed. The story:
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19991219&slug=A19991221083354
Restitutions were made to the Lummi Tribe after a long and painful process of grieving by the tribal people, a part of the Coast Salish group, and the construction was finished. Now there’s a pleasant walk along the east, bay side of the spit with views of Mt. Baker to the east (top photo with Canada geese) and Canadian mountains to the north (photo below). The border between U.S. and Canada is just minutes away by car or boat. Below, a great blue heron fishes along the shore.
On the other, west side of the very narrow spit, the pebble/sand shoreline is open to the Salish Sea and Strait of Georgia. Below, a low tide walk with Bear dog’s “Aunt Brenda” (she fostered him with the rescue group Happy Tails) and her new rescue dog JJ. The two dogs had a great time wrestling and playing in the water.
Some very expensive and rather precarious big homes way too close to the edge of the bank (below). Erosion could be a problem here. (Our home will be set well back from the edge, and geotesting determines it will be on stable ground.) The waterfront “neighborhood” (this photo taken about 2 miles north of our property) is a mixed bag of very high-end homes, including some very large estates south of us, and more modest houses like ours will be. Thor looked up recent sale prices on a real-estate site, and the middle brown house in the photo below sold for over 2 million dollars about four years ago. That’s a big investment that might slide into the sea with the next earthquake!
Below, looking north toward the city of White Rock, British Columbia, just over the border. We enjoy visiting B.C., including Vancouver, so it will be easier now.
Another nice feature of the neighborhood is a very large tract of undeveloped land with access right across the road from our property. It’s kind of strange to take walks across the fields and catch sight of the dense buildings and skyscrapers of White Rock across the bay.
Thor and I have named the fields The Rambles, since the rolling hills remind us of our trip to England years ago, when we enjoyed “rambles” over the rolling fields. (That was when my Rambling Writer blog posts were born.) In England, we particularly enjoyed a ramble between Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter, so we now have Upper Rambles and Lower Rambles (for the two different access trails). Below, a winter picnic on the shorn hay fields, looking south for a glimpse of Birch Bay:
Behind our picnic spot is the Secret Pond:
Spring brought growing grasses and wildflowers:
Looking southwest to Mt. Baker:
My rambling guys:
Bear dog loves to roll in the grasses and sample them.
Just south of our property, the waterfront banks drop again into shallow Birch Bay. Even as the tide was coming in, we could walk Way out into the shallow sea for a look back at shore and Mt. Baker.
I have fond memories of Birch Bay. Growing up 4th-generation here in our “far corner” of the States, I loved our summer visits to the beach for tide-pool wading, sand castle-building, and swimming in to shore along with the slow, warm tide on hot days. It’s gotten a bit more upscale now, but it used to be ringed by funky little cabins like these below:
Stay tuned for more Birch Bay highlights!
*****
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 a Pulpwood Queens International 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
