Port Townsend

The areas of the brain that process emotional thought and response are larger, percentage-wise in the brains of orcas than any other animal. So said a sign at the visitor center in Port Townsend. Port Townsend is a place that I love. Historically, some people say it’s “the city that whiskey built.” I didn’t drink… Continue reading Port Townsend

transformation betwixt land and sea

Plankton are abundant here. “It smells very biological,” said one man I met in the sparsely filled parking lot. One area in particular did smell like the brew of a million creatures. The South Slough Reserve is so understated, I think it goes unnoticed by the crowds. It was America’s first estuarine research reserve, established… Continue reading transformation betwixt land and sea

England smells different and other facts

The US verses the UK. Similar but different. At first glance, birds, squirrels, knobs, switches, levers, handles, toilets, breakfast, trains, blackberries, hotel lights…. seem the same. Quickly, they turn out not to be the same. Right away, crows are different. Or, rather, they have Jackdows, which look like crows. They are among the crow family.… Continue reading England smells different and other facts

Orcas Island

  I felt on the brink of magic. I was, Orcas island was next. Still, Anacortes is beautiful; you can walk on the beach or a boardwalk path if you have time before your ferry pulls in.   Anacortes is the place to drive onto ferries that go to Canada and the San Juan islands.… Continue reading Orcas Island