May 30, 2005

Tuesday we weeded the beach. The sand between the high tide line and us grows weeds. Not a lota weeds, but the weeds do grow.  The area directly in front of the bulkhead has been set up as a volleyball court, and we certainly don't want weeds in a beach volleyball court. The rest of the weeds are unsightly and just don't belong.

Last Monday started out pretty non-descript.  Nancy and I did nine holes of golf ? any improvement is very slow.  This golf course punishes people who can?t stay between the lines ? you lose your ball.  On the way home we stopped at a local fish market and were completely befuddled because we could see people working in the store but the doors were locked. We went next door to get a cup of ?Raspberry Mocha? and when we complained about the door being locked the girl told us that the sign on the door said they were closed on Monday - Oh!

I can't remember the weather on Monday and Tuesday, but on Wednesday we woke to a clear blue sky and all of the Cascade mountains within our view had thrown off their veil of clouds and were exposed all their glory.  From our deck we can see at least seven snowcaps.  We haven?t learned all their names yet, but we know Mount Baker, Mount Pilchuck, and Glacier Peak.

The clear weather, brought on by a steady North wind, sent the temperatures soaring.  The last couple of days have seen temperatures in the mid and high eighties with almost no wind.  The locals are ecstatic - SUMMER!! - and it's only May.  The traditional "Opening of the Summer Cabin" weekend is Memorial Day Weekend.  Good weather AND Memorial Day!!  By Friday noon every road out of Seattle was jammed.  The population of our beach has increased significantly.

Cindy and Terry got here at about 2:30 on Wednesday.  After a pleasant afternoon and a nice dinner, Terry and I went to a meeting at the local civic center on how to garden your beach.  A local company, Taylor Shellfish, produces and sells seeds for oysters, clams, mussels and geoducks.  The guy from Taylor showed us a thousand clam ?seeds? in a paper cup. The sales price on a thousand clams is $7.  Oysters run from $38 - $42 and the most expensive are geoducks that run fifty cents apiece.

The biggest problem with growing shellfish is protecting them from predators.  Shellfish predators include things like ducks, snails, starfish and the biggest is Dungeness Crabs.  You can see the problem; the most popular sport in this area is ?Crabbing?. There were several ways to protect shellfish.  The easiest and cheapest is to cover the seedbeds with netting.  Several types of plastic bags were available.  Geoducks are grown in six-inch diameter tubes about 18? long.  After the geoducks have grown about two years the plastic tube is removed and the geoducks are on their own.  The whole thing makes one want to start a shellfish farm.

Wednesday the four of us did a day trip to Coupeville on Whidbey Island.  Coupeville is a charming little town that is sort of an artist colony.  We were a little surprised at the amount of time it took to get there ? can?t be any further than 10-15 miles as the crow flies.  But getting there requires a round-about path.  We had a delightful lunch out on the pier, did a little shopping, and looked at a few kayaks.  I didn?t feel that we spent all that much time in Coupeville, but by the time we had finished with the kayaks, it was time to head home without seeing any of the other attractions available on Whidbey.

On the way home we shopped at a shop along the road that sold fresh shrimp.  That night we supped on peal-and-eat shrimp, garlic bread and wine.  I haven't had fresh shrimp since I was a kid.  I had forgotten how good they were.

Friday we unloaded Cindy and Terry's boats: two kayaks and an inflatable boat with an outboard motor.  Before we wetted any of the boats, we were scheduled to go golfing.  It was such a beautiful day and the boats were waiting - So, we decided to only play only nine holes.  Golf is getting better - I finished with the same ball that I start with.

Nancy and I started with Cindy and Terry?s kayaks in the Lagoon.  The Lagoon is larger than I expected and what I didn't expect was that the houses that between the road and Lagoon treat the Lagoon as lakefront homes.  Many have docks and other accommodations to the waterfront.  What surprised me was how saline the water was.  At one end we found a live Dungeness crab and at the other end we found mussels growing on a dock.  Then we moved all of the boats to the beach and assembled the inflatable boat.

After a break to enjoy the beautiful weather we tried the kayak in open water.  They worked just fine.

Saturday morning Sheila, Jay, Katelyn, and Alyson; Cindy and Terry's daughter and her family; showed up with their kayaks and dog, Kisu.  We all ran around like crazy people.  Everybody in Sheila's family slathered on suntan lotion, but it only partly worked.  By the end of the day they all had sun burned places where they hadn't covered.

With four kayaks in the water everybody but Cindy and I took off in fleet maneuver to explore the world.  I got my turn later.  Later the little girls swam in the lagoon and discovered the joys of a sandbox bigger than a house.

Sunday we woke to clouds.  The weather was warm but overcast.  No one was disappointed - one day of sunburn was enough.  After a great breakfast, Terry, Sheila, and Jay toured the island by bicycle.  They reported that the roads are good but the island is covered with hills, some of them long and steep.

While they were gone Katie and Ally discovered the little girls visiting their grandparents next door and became thoroughly involve in whatever little girls become involved in.  While Nancy and I participated in our new-found sport of log rolling.

Keeping the beach free of flotsam is almost a full-time hobby. And since everyone does it, there is lots of new material every day.  The neighbor saw us rolling logs with sticks off the beach and took pity on us and loaned us a couple of "peeves"(a tool used by loggers to roll logs).  With the right tool, we did one heck of a job.  Later Jay and I tackled some really big logs and had "man fun?"doing it.  The high tide took all of our offerings and rewarded us with a huge (50 foot) tree with roots the next morning. Getting rid of this monster took a good share of Monday morning.  To be honest, it was the woman next door (who had been raised on this beach) who showed us how to do it with a lightweight aluminum pole about 10 feet long.  Personally, I think she just got lucky.  But, we did get rid of the tree.

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