Super Bowl Sunday

The skies are a flat monotone grey. There is little activity on the street… probably everyone is sitting in front of their television sets, with chips and beer and friends. I’ve tried to find coverage of the Super Bowl on my computer. After all, Bob is from Pittsburgh and his sister Tracy is flying east at this very moment, heading to her Pittsburgh home. It was fun having Tracy with us, and her absence today is already felt. But yesterday… now that was beautiful. Blue sky and sunshine. We drove on Chuckanut Drive to the Larrabee State Park at Samish Bay.

The last day of January finally brought warmer temperatures, and the trailheads were filled with parked cars, their passengers somewhere trudging up Chuckanut Mountain to reach the scenic views. We chose to take the short trail, under the railroad trestle and down a path to a small rocky beach. There were folks sitting on outcroppings, children clambering over rocks, and two kayakers in brightly colored kayaks paddled past us to the boat ramp. The tide was out and we looked for sea life in the crevices and scooped-out basins of rock. Sadly, we found none. But the wind and wave sculpted sandstone was beautiful, as were the weathered stumps of old trees and strands of sea grass caught in the limb of an uprooted tree, like satin ribbons they blew in the breeze. I thought to myself… this is art… nature’s art, abstractions of shape and form and light.

Going back up the hill to the parking lot took a little time. I’m not great on hills at the best of times - now with a cane and holding onto Bob’s arm, it was slow going. But worth every minute of being outdoors in the fresh air, sunshine, and communing with nature... and sharing a beautiful Pacific Northwest day with Tracy and Bob. Now let’s see if we can find that Super Bowl.

P. L. Morningstar... Text and photos