The end of 2024 and beginning of 2025

Hello folks! Bill and I are now home two weeks following three months’ adventure on the road with Beatrix our Toyota Highlander, and Marion our 1979 Trillium trailer. Marion is now wrapped in her weather protection cover, and parked behind our home. At the moment, I can hear the crackle of flames and smell the aromatic scent of wood smoke as Bill tends our downstairs hearth on this overcast, cold, wintery afternoon.

I joined the mermaids on New Year’s Day to swim at the Langley marina. Oh, it was cold, especially when the 44° seawater slipped down the neck of my wetsuit on entering the water. We were joined by a–what AI notes is “a flock, a badling, a brace, a paddling, a plump, or a raft” of Common Goldeneye diving ducks.

We wished our good neighbors well at a tipple and nibbles gathering on New Year’s afternoon. We are grateful to live on Morning Glory Lane with folks whose company we enjoy. We gathered round our table later that evening with Rob and Larry, a couple of bachelors who could do standup comedy. I’ve known Rob for years as the Langley Library page, and we’ve been friends for years. Larry, his room mate, is a dear friend we’ve come to know, and appreciate his upbeat perspective on life. Nearly every business in Langley knows and loves Larry.

New Year’s Eve we walked the trails at Pacific Rim Institute before attending a memorable sing-along and story-telling celebration of John Denver’s 81st birthday hosted by singer-songwriter Judy Lunn. We met her at an Audubon event last spring and took a liking to her. She’s coming by Jan. 6 for lunch, and I look forward to learning the story of her joie de vivre, which I’ll write about next week.

The New Year’s Eve event had folks telling stories of how John Denver influenced them, how ‘Annie’s Song’ was played at a wedding, how John and Judy–another Judy–married 63 years–still love his music and adapted the music from ‘Country Roads’ to riding the ferries to and from the island to the main land: “Almost heaven, Whidbey Island/Olympic Mountains bounded by the Sea/Life is old there, older than the trees/Younger than the mountains/Blowing like the breeze. Ferry Boat/take me home/To the place I belong/Whidbey Island, Seaside Mama/Take me home, Ferry Boat.” A family with three boys recalled singing John Denver songs to their boys and sang an a cappella version of ‘It’s in every one one of us.’      

Bill and I said later how we enjoyed being in the company with two dozen or so of people who found inspiration in John Denver’s music–which was a soundtrack to our lives back when we first met in 1973. That evening we watched, as Judy Lunn said we must, “The John Denver Wildlife Concert.”

John’s songs are interspersed with interviews noting John’s dedication to preserving the natural world. Proceeds from the album and concert benefited the Wildlife Conservation Society.

We enjoyed the 21-year-old energy and perspective of my niece Kali and her boyfriend Dallas, visiting from Hawaii for four days between Christmas and New Year’s. We showed them some of our favorite places, and had lunch with Chuck and Claudia Pettis. Good vibrations with we six around the table. Claudia, an artist, spoke encouragingly about Kali’s notebook art, especially her drawings of Hawaiian fish. I did not take any photos of them, but include Kali’s drawings of their cats:

We visited the Whidbey Institute on a dark afternoon, followed by good food at Island Nosh in Clinton:

We ate lunch at Callen’s Restaurant across from the Coupeville Ferry and were lucky to catch a walk on Ebey’s Bluff as golden afternoon sun made a guest performance. We explained it was the first time we’d seen the sun since arriving home, which is a big deal to those of us who live through Pacific Northwest’s gray winters. Kali said seeing snow on Haleakala is a big deal to folks living on Maui–a savored rare moment.

Since then, we visited touchstones around the island, in our neighborhood, and even caught this rare cloud formation:

And, we were grateful to see this view on Dec. 30:

I’ll leave you with wise words our friend Michelle texted on Dec. 20–good advice for heartache we sometimes experience on behalf of a family member:

“She loves you guys. She knows you guys love her. It’s just that her head tells her so many negative things that it all becomes so confusing. You just tend to push away everyone. Believe me, seeing you guys gave her peace and joy and love that she needed, even if she didn’t express it. She’s grateful for you guys. It’s her brain, and she wishes she could fix it, but she can’t. So don’t give up on her. Just keep loving her, and know that she loves you back.”

For the year ahead, please do not give up. Know you are loved! And if you can, read, listen to, or have someone read to you Matt Haig’s ‘The Life Impossible.” Life is waiting for you!