Chattermarks

All over Washington, the earth is reawakening. Can you see it?

In a period of only a few weeks, spring has come – a monumental paintbrush caressing the landscape, stirring it back to consciousness. Dabs of bright white, pink and yellow compliment deeper streaks of lavender, red and orange, all placed upon a backdrop of fresh green. Buds change to blooms on wildflowers and the hardier of the tree species sport new-growth fuzz.

I always feel so fortunate to stand witness to this spectacle, this miracle of life. From the western Washington’s Salish Sea shores to the contouring curves of eastern Washington’s Palouse Hills, I have made an attempt to capture the most current evidence of spring in our state’s many ecosystems.

Below is a detailed photographic guide to the spring blossoms of three distinct Washington ecosystems – western Washington’s Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve on Whidbey Island, eastern Washington’s Kamiak Butte in the Palouse Hills and the North Cascade Institute‘s Environmental Learning Center in North Cascades National Park. If you do not have enough time to read it all through, just glance through the photos and see if you can’t spot these beautiful spring colors in your own home ecosystems!

» Continue reading Painting a Washington spring portrait

With the season of fresh beginnings overtaking the physical landscape of the Skagit Valley and North Cascades, the mindsets of those apart of this year’s North Cascades Wild program from North Cascades Institute, North Cascades National Park and the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest are brimming with excitement for a season of new life, new experiences.

North Cascades Wild‘s first of three spring day trips, held on several Saturdays throughout April and May for Skagit and Whatcom county-selected participants, commenced on April 17th at the North Cascades National Park Ranger Station off Highway 20 in Marblemount. Eleven students, representing towns within Whatcom and Skagit counties, joined North Cascades National Park’s Volunteer and Youth Programs Coordinator, Mike Brondi, native Nursery Manager, Cheryl Cunningham, and Institute instructors Amy Brown, Kelsi Franzen, Martine Mariott and Rebecca Ryan, for a day of connecting to their place and each other through learning and service.

(Title) The North Cascades Wild crew goes “wild” for wetland grasses at the nursery (Above) Karla, a NC Wild participant, examines plants in the greenhouse

» Continue reading NC Wild plants the seeds of spring

Harbinger—a presage, a foreshadow, to announce. Something that precedes and indicates the approach of something.

We all experience the wildness of the North Cascades differently. Each of us, in our own way, notices subtle details of the seasons changing in this ecosystem that others may miss completely. In order to tell a more beautiful story, paint a more vivid portrait, we must combine our individual details to articulate the true forms that nature takes in the beginning of spring.

Perhaps it is the calls and presence of varied thrushes in the neighboring forests. Maybe it is the emerging blossoms on cherry trees amidst farmland. Or perhaps it is a detailing so slight, understated, almost unnoticeable, that its mystery is its draw.

The staff and graduate students of North Cascades Institute’s harbingers below announce the presence of spring in the North Cascades and Skagit Valley in a way that draws upon the communal knowledge of having lived in this place for decades to only several months. Each perspective is important to paint that vivid portrait, articulate that poetic story of spring.

(Title) A rainbow across Ross Dam signals the coming of spring in the mountains (Above) Red alder leaves reach out from beneath bud casings at the Learning Center

» Continue reading An Institute ode to spring

A flit of gold. A flicker of green. Soft song notes from within a tangle of blackberry vines. A surprising whoosh of hovering wing-sweeps, mere inches above ground.

Birds. They are some of the Skagit Valley’s most compelling and charismatic creatures. In winter, the Skagit farmlands teem with all kinds – song birds, raptors, shorebirds, local and migratory waterfowl. You need not have fancy equipment nor years of experience to be a birder here. What it takes is the curiosity to know more and the patience to practice deep observation.

(Title) Graduate students of Cohort 9 extend their birding eye on the Skagit flats (Above) The Hayton Reserve is one Skagit Valley location to go bird watching

» Continue reading Becoming bird observers

When the crops of the Skagit farmlands are put to rest for winter, they come.

With the sky’s gray backdrop so common to a winter in western Washington, they glisten like diamonds. Birds. By the hundreds, thousands even, they flock from near and far to the fertile, tilled soils at the mouth of the Skagit River, one destination of many on their migratory journey.

Snow geese. Trumpeter swans. Bald eagles. These are but a few of the many species you will find on an adventure of bird watching across the flats. Other local residents, such as a variety of hawks and ducks, the barred owl, and the infamous great blue heron, paint an elaborate portrait in winter, making the Skagit Valley one of the most prized destinations for bird watching in the Pacific Northwest.

» Continue reading Watching winged friends

‘Tis the season of tradition, of woodstove warmth and food made fresh from the comforts of the kitchen. It is the season of giving thanks, of gathering together—to recall memories, to celebrate, to laugh, to eat.

As Thanksgiving fast approaches, I smile with the thought of tradition. Traditions are what help to define us as individuals. Whether or not we chose to continue those of our upbringing or create ones anew, tradition is the essence of this holiday season.

And for the essence of my family, that tradition is food. Good food.

» Continue reading The festive nature of food

Though we haven’t coerced him in to a Sourdough Speaker Series presentation — we’re working on it! — Skagit Valley scribe Tom Robbins is definitely a part of the cultural history of our region. His first novel Another Roadside Attraction, published way back in 1971 and today a certifiable cult classic, was set in the Skagit Valley, and the La Conner-dwelling author recently penned the Foreword for Skagit Land Trust’s book Natural Skagit.

Robbins will be reading from his latest book “B is for Beer” in Bellingham at, appropriately enough, Boundary Bay Brewery on May 7. It is a testament to his popularity in this region that the event was sold-out months in advance. In lieu of getting to experience Tom Robbins in person, I’d like to suggest you purchase a copy of my recently-published ‘zine featuring the story “Tom Robbins Incognito: Tracking the Pacific Northwest’s Elusive Literary Outlaw” from the website MagCloud. It features a semi-serious, semi-farcical quest around western Washington in search of Robbins, from La Conner to Seattle’s Blue Moon Tavern, and it concludes with an exclusive enlightening interview with the reclusive novelist.

» Continue reading “Tom Robbins Incognito”

It takes a hale and hearty individual to get up in the dark and head out into the teeth of an arctic blast, but Sunday, December 13, two vanloads of us joined Libby Mills as we headed up river in search of eagles. After a round of introductions, we drove to the banks of the mighty Skagit. Early on we were rewarded with views of juvenile and adult eagles perching, feeding and calling.

» Continue reading Eagles and salmon… and dippers