Glimpses of community…
We are just home from our road trip around the Olympic Peninsula and the wild coast of Washington, a month of easy-going travel. We left on a rainy morning, with just hints of the Fall color to come.
This time I decided to focus my picture taking on the details, the overlooked and quiet things in places of big vistas. All pictures were taken with my iPhone camera, or my iPad camera—I used both—dealing with dodgy internet, sparing use of electricity/batteries in the more basic National Park campgrounds, and often buffeting wind.
We revisited the Elwah River Restoration project, where two old dams were removed to restore environmental and river health, salmon runs, and renew the cultural importance of a free running river to tribal cultures. This has been a huge project, and one very close to my heart. The Elwah runs free now, and salmon are returning, the estuary is rebuilding. This confirms for me that Nature wants to heal and thrive—especially when we get out of the way.
The community has built a wonderful information center, displaying the history and progress of the project, surrounded by art tiles created by the local children. Wonderful! This is just a taste…
Western Washington is slug country. Our native Banana Slug is big—they can reach 6-8” in length. They generally eat the detritus of the forest, rather than one’s potted plants.
A favorite cafe of ours displays other options….
Local informational signs began to catch my eye. This one made me laugh every time we passed it! “Little Dribblers”, beginning basketball…it also rains a lot in this home town.
And “Kitchen Music” just sounded so welcoming.
And near the town of Forks (setting for the Twilight Series—books and movies) we found this one….I was really glad to know the threat level was low….
With the artistic belief in using what you have, what you find, someone created this…
And someone else left these behind on a shingled beach…
And, finally, one of my favorites, along a neighborhood road quite a ways from town…
There are good things out there, good folks. What a pleasure!
Loved this post!!! A month long, slow, lazy vacation seems to me would be great for your mental health and one that you do not feel that you need another “vacation” just to recoup and REGAIN the mental health you lost on the supposedly time off! Plus finding the beauty in the ordinary is such a great affirmation of so very many things we either take for granted or just never really noticed before. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, Rebie! That is it exactly!💛