I realize now that reading can stop a writer from writing.  Ever since returning from New York, I've been devouring books left and right, covering a lot of territory that I've missed over the years of not having time for reading.  But I realize now that I get so engrossed in the other worlds created by these books that I forget to pay attention to what's hapenning in this world.  Since being able to pay attention to what's happening in the here and now is one of the main reasons for taking a trip like this one, I realize I must come out of my self-induced reader coma and re-engage. 

What better place to do that than in this beautiful place - Belinda's home on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound, called Spacious Self LIberation by Belinda's teacher -- or something like that.  And it lives up to its name.  It's set on the top of a hill overlooking the East Harbor and the Olympic Mountains in the distance on one side, and Mt. Baker and Northern Cascades in the other direction.   The house itself is a straw-bale, single story square box, with a two story tower rising through the center to gather light through its many winows and skylights, and is powered by a few solar panels arrayed on the side of the property.  It has the quality of being both womb-like and spacious at the same time.  And the island on which it sits is idyllic, at least in the sense of real life ideals.   There are sandy drift-wood strewn beaches backed up by old-growth forests where huge redwoods and other conifers tower over stands of remarkable rhododendrons and holly -- all draped with hanging mosses of varying varieties while the ground beneath is coated with ferns embedded in a deep layer of pine needs and soft and sturdy green groundcovers.  Essentially, it's a fairyland where we can keep track on our hikes of how many different kinds of mushrooms, mosses, slugs and other signs of fairy life we see each time.

And the people too are right up our alley -- just crunchy enough to be real, but not too out there.  The community has really learned to support its own - by microfinancing local businesses and encouraging all sorts of sustainable development.  Alas, it's one downfall is rain, lots of rain and mist and fog.  Although we had one day of nearly beach weather (sunny and 70), it's mostly in the high 30s in the morning with mist covering every blade of grass and then by afternoon, that clears to either gray skies and soft rain or partly cloudy with the sun warming things up to about 50 or so.  Not skiing weather unfortunately.   

 When I was talking to Belinda about our moving prospects, I realized that living on the West coast is something I'm not sure would work for me at least.  I think there is just something about coastal living that somehow doesn't seem like it would be much of a move from the issues that we found troubling on the east coast -- cost of living being the big one of course.  Although costs on this particular island seem fairly reasonable, there's just an edge to living on the coast from which I'm trying to escape.  But then again, as soon as I use that word "escape" I remember that there is no escaping.  Only change.  

If I had my druthers, I'd move my whole community, family, friends, to this elusive place that we're seeking out so that there wouldn't be much change in some sense.  Being home was very comforting.  And staying at Linda's house had many of the qualities of staying here.  Being free from schedules, demands, preconceived ideas of what it might be "useful" or "helpful" or "necessary" to do.  And it was beautiful.  And without all of that, we were really able to enjoy ourselves with my family, and with our friends -- doing everything from laundry to apple picking.  My sisters were so helpful -- picking us up, lending us cars, putting us up -- and it was good to reconnect with them in that way that you can only connect with family.   I just have to believe that we're going to find a way to incorporate all of that into our lives wherever that may be. 

Amazingly and really much to our surprise, we were also able to complete Miles' adoption of Kell while we were home.  We got the news the day we arrived in New York that the adoption was ready to be finalized and thay my dear colleague, now Family Court judge, Martha Luft, would have the case transferred to her so she could preside over the signing of the final order.  It was a very special day for all of us -- and while the ceremony itself was, as these things always are, anticlimactic, it gave both Miles and I much peace of mind and happiness and Kell I think felt the extraordinary energy in the air as we went through the process.

Despite having left the closeness of family and friends in New York, we've had some really precious moments here on Whidbey. First, we celebrated my 39th birthday.  I was worried at first what the day would hold when we woke up to pouring rain.  But Miles and Kell had done some reconnaisance the day before and so whisked me into town at 10:30 for a massage that they had booked for me at a local spa.  AHHHHH!  It was great and the perfect thing to be doing on a rainy cold day.  Of course, I was mush for the rest of day but that was ok.  I spent the day reading while Kell and Miles worked on dinner and my homemade birthday cake. 

Over the weekend, we took Kell and Chester to a local "Mutt Strut" costume parade for dogs and their owners -- with Kell and Chester dressed alike as Darth Vader.  It was taking place during their weekly farmer's market on South Whidbey, with vendors selling organic veggies, beef, dairy, home-roasted coffee and a variety of other interesting things, including ethnic foods.   While we waited for the parade to start, Kell played lawn chess with some local kids and we listened to some locals play bluegrass music.  We stayed and watched while each dog got a chance to show off its costume and any tricks it might have.  Taking the lead for cute costumes was Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandma-dressed dog.  The costumes I liked the best were little bo-peep and her sheep and the bull dog dressed like a pimp.  It was hilarious and also impossibly cute -- the whole farmer's market and the parade and the so very nice, cool people. 

After passing by many opportunities while on this trip to go whale-watching, we finally got out and did it while here.  We took a rather large boat up through the San Juan Islands and almost crossed over into Canada searching for elusive humpbacks, which we never saw.  But in the process, we did see a beautiful Minke whale, many amazingly quick Dall's porpoise that spent a half hour "playing" with the boat by riding along it's bow as we sped along at 12 knots or so.  There were also bald eagles, Steller sea lions, harbor porpoise and lots of other birdlife.  And just the scenery of the San Juan Islands backed by the majesty of the Olympic Peninsula the whole way up.  Happily, there was a five year old girl on board with whom Kell immediately bonded.  Of course, halfway through the trip our camera battery died for the first time and we were forced to really just soak up the scenery instead of capturing it.  A good thing in retrospect for us.

The best hike of the trip would have to be at Deception Pass - where we went started at a rocky beach formed by the notorious currents of the Pass and looking up towards the majestic civilian corps-built bridge over the pass and hiked up past the bridge and into the old forest to the top of Goose Rock - and promonitory giving a wide ranging view of the island stretching to the south.  Kell and Chester were great troopers -- even after we got lost on the "discovery" trail that led down into the spooky, misty forest below, stretching our hike from the aniticipated three mile hike with one small climb to a five mile hike with two additional climbs.  Kell's legs must be getting stronger as he hung back and complained very little. Of course, having Chester along helps a lot because he wants to keep up with him like any child might with a brother. 

 Now that I've committed all of this finally, we'll be packing up to go back down to Seattle for a few more days before we head up to Vancouver.  I leave with a vow to find the balance between escaping into my books, recording our journey in words or in photos, and just enjoying being a part of it.  The middle way!

 P.S. We learned that Kell can take pictures pretty well despite the heft of the new camera so we have to credit him with some of the photos this time around (the ones with me in them).