Late November Pictures

Ian and I flew up to Orcas yesterday morning, 8:00am on Kenmore Air. In the summer, Kenmore Air flies a much more regular schedule than in the winter. They post a regular schedule year round, but they fly during daylight hours only, and only in winds up to around 20 knots, and never in fog, so, weather dependent. 

We had really been hoping for good weather, because we had planned two important bookend events this weekend: I had a piano lesson scheduled for 12:30pm on Orcas yesterday; and tomorrow evening we have tickets to see John Oliver perform at the Paramount in Seattle. 

Our anxiety at the cold, raw, November weather that began Wednesday last week was well-founded, although our fears were not borne out on our trip up yesterday. We were glad to be making a weekend of it, because in the afternoon yesterday the weather became un-flyable as predicted, and a man on our flight, bound for Friday Harbor--for a two-hour boat repair job for a client--was told he should either postpone his trip, or plan to stay the night. He chose to fly and stay the night, and this morning's flight back to the city must've been gorgeous. Things look okay for tomorrow afternoon's return, so we're hopeful that we'll be laughing until we cry by 8:00pm tomorrow night. 

We rented a car--the only chance we expect to have to do so here--and at least three friends offered us loaner cars when they saw our ride (not that it was bad, just that we were paying for it). But it was a diverting experience akin to Kenmore Air (where you show up 20 minutes before take-off, and carry your water and pocket knives onto the plane), because the car was left at the West Sound Marina, with the key on the driver's seat and my name on a Post-It on the window of the unlocked driver's door. Our contract was inside, with a request to sign it, and to fill the car in Eastsound (the only option on the island--the car took just over 1 gallon today, and we won't use all of that before tomorrow afternoon) before leaving it back at the marina. There were also two bottles of water, and two granola bars.  

We're staying at the Blue Heron, although as family this time, not as guests, and so we've been taking care of the fire in the fireplace insert, and we took the dog for a walk, and this morning we shared breakfast with a 95-year-old West Sound Resident who was avid to visit our house (there were two houses here with towers when she first moved to the community 61 years ago, and she kept saying "This is just great!" over and over during her tour of our home), then we gave someone else a tour, then we had a delicious lunch at Roses and a conversation with the owner (another West Sound resident), and then we checked our PO box, and then we visited the shop where I bought Ian's birthday ax and shared stories with the proprietor, and then we spent several minutes with an apple enthusiast who was selling his wares on a street in Eastsound ("And this one I found growing wild on the side of the road by the place with the gypsy caravan and I took a cutting and grafted it on"--a similar story was told of at least six of the dozen types he had in boxes, and "Oh, you don't need more than five apple trees, and you just graft 20 different varieties on!"), and then several more minutes buying yarn and chatting with a woman who lives on the road to the ferry, and who is on the way to being a friend as well. In all, we made our community rounds, delighted, and awed, that this is where we get to be. 

New pictures are posted!