The Price Sculpture Forest in Coupeville, open since October 23, is a magic carpet ride, an inviting view of remarkable art in a natural forest setting. Olympia artist Elizabeth Berrien is a world-renowned wire sculptor. Her piece, “Golden Pegasus,” is suspended high in the trees. The white dots in the photo are from raindrops on David Welton’s lens Greeting us on a drizzly, cold and gray November Saturday afternoon, Scott Price exudes joie de vivre. Strolling along the park’s well-maintained trails — which he and active park volunteer/wood artist Michael Hauser had swept to clear tree debris from a recent…
Author: Kate Poss | With Photos by David Welton
Kate Poss | With Photos by David Welton
Kate Poss This Is Whidbey was founded by Kate Poss for readers who are interested in cultivating our island’s quality of life, including its land, sea, and air; its people, plants, and animals; and the bodies, minds, and spirits of its inhabitants. You may know Kate from her work in island libraries through May of 2016. Her background includes a career in newspaper reporting in Los Angeles for various weeklies and dailies, including The Los Angeles Times. She was a frequent contributor to the online Whidbey Life Magazine and still writes for the biannual print magazine. David Welton Stories are highlighted by David Welton’s excellent photography. David is a retired physician who was a staff photographer for Whidbey Life Magazine since its early days. His work has also appeared in museums, art galleries, newspapers, regional and national magazines, books, nonprofit publicity, and on the back of the Whidbey Sea-Tac Shuttle!
What a week! What a year! Take a deep breath and a walk outside to enjoy the vibrant autumn colors this season. Over the years and during the past week This is Whidbey’s David Welton has caught the season’s colors. Autumn palette of color at South Whidbey Parks and Recreation Maples Our island maples give us light in the dark daysBig leaf maple yellow burst of colorMaple leaf floatingNurse log along trail at Japanese Gulch in MukilteoAutumn carpet at Japanese GulchMaple leaves seen through a window in the rain outside David Welton’s home Autumn Bounty Pumpkins, red barn and gray…
What can you do in two weeks’ time? Nathan Welton, the son of This is Whidbey’s photographer David Welton, spent the past two weeks on Whidbey with his dad and mom, Georgia Edwards. While here, Nathan and his dad transformed a bare-bones Sprinter van into a luxurious cedar-paneled camper equipped with smart technology. Nathan Welton relaxes after two weeks of turning a shell of a van into a custom camping vehicle. Nathan is a professional photographer and Airbnb property manager based in Estes Park Colorado. After care taking an off-grid cabin this summer, Nathan decided to build a small solar…
On the next clear night, walk outside and look up at the night sky. It’s a vanishing bit of awesome nature in the face of growing light pollution. Nathan Welton, David Welton’s son, took this evening photo of the Milky Way at Rocky Mountain National Park According to the Dark Sky website, “The inappropriate or excessive use of artificial light – known as light pollution – can have serious environmental consequences for humans, wildlife, and our climate.” Light pollution is devastating to bird migration. “Experts at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology led a study revealing that more than 1 in…
Signs of color abound all over the island this season and political colors, in addition to the browns, reds, golds and purples of autumn leaves, are also a sign of autumn and the upcoming election November 3. Evoking the spirit of Rosie the Riveter This is Whidbey’s photographer David Welton, intrigued by the island’s propensity to make public its political persuasions, suggested we do a photo essay on this annual ritual, which this year, evokes strong emotion on both sides, and hopefully results in voting in unprecedented numbers. Island County recognizes the right to free speech and has regulations regarding…
Sometimes we need a hand to lift us up. Soroptimist International of South Whidbey Island (SISWI) is seeking applicants for its $1,000 “Live Your Dream” scholarship. With a deadline of November 15, women who are the primary support for their families and enrolled in college or vocational training, are encouraged to apply. Dedicated to helping women and girls reach their potential through education, the South Island non-profit sponsors the “”Live Your Dream” scholarship for head-of-household women. SISWI has also sponsored “Dream It Be it Career Support” programs for girls, providing tools senior high school girls need to achieve their education…
Note–David Welton wrote and photographed this story. He has a lifelong interest in and majored in biology. Working in the Moore Laboratory of Zoology at Occidental College, he received National Science Foundation grants in 1968 and 1969 to study birds in the Sierras and Central America with professors Martin L Morton and John William Hardy. His senior year research project, “Postnuptial Molt and its Relation to Reproductive Cycle in Mountain White Crown Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha)” was published in “Condor,” the Journal of the American Ornithogical Association in 1973. He briefly considered a career as a field biologist or park…
Before coronavirus came and stayed longer than we wanted, we routinely gave our used things to Good Cheer, Senior Thrift, and WAIF. We shopped at their stores, recycling one another’s goods, and helping the non-profits earn a steady income. However when coronavirus restrictions became effective in March, our local thrift stores stopped taking donations for a while. When they did re-open this summer, Good Cheer and Senior Thrift accepted donations just one day a week. While WAIF accepts donations six days a week, it closes when its capacity is filled. Our South Island thrift stores maintain social distancing requirements and…
The show must go on is the mantra of dedicated families in the dance community and their commitment to producing the 28th annual Nutcracker Ballet this winter, a first-time virtual experience, though, due to the COVID pandemic. Last weekend a pair of positive, can-do women hosted a successful garage sale at the Bus Barn parking lot to benefit production of this year’s virtual Nutcracker Ballet. I was taken by the friendliness, enthusiasm, and aprons of Jennifer Thrasher and Kristin Hummel, board members of Whidbey Island Dance Theatre (WIDT), a non-profit, which produces the Nutcracker each year. Both women have daughters…
I met Urashan two summers ago through South Whidbey at Home. I volunteer with the non-profit, which advocates aging in place, and was founded by Lynn Willeford. When I met Urashan at her home, Maris Stella, meaning Star of the Sea, she was sitting in the afternoon sun, looking out on the sparkling water. She was familiar in a deep way, though we had never met before. Urashan is happiest when readers ‘get’ her book and let her know how it has touched them At 91 in 2018, her mind and spirit strong, her hearing and eyesight dimming, her body…