Residency on San Juan Island’s Whiteley Center Day 3

(Sorry for the delay in posting – we were out of power, then out of internet until just now…sigh…joys of being on an island?)

Day 3

Today I woke with 101 temperature, decided to sleep in. Sipped herbal tea with honey until I had enough energy to go out into the sunshine to visit a local garden, currently filled with beautiful dahlias. We took home a huge bunch of pink dahlias for about $10. Went about Friday Harbor’s shops and grocery store to pick up supplies (cute pens! and groceries) and came home to rest some more. Then went back up to Lime Kiln Point, only to arrive just as a bunch of orcas had started to appear – along with a couple of tour buses – and they were even more active than last time, this time jumping and flipping and twirling, five of six times in a row. (We caught none of this on camera, I’m afraid, so I’m substituting this photo from a San Juan Tourism web site. Seriously, though, how fun!) We came home and rested again; I read, tried to check e-mail – internet spotty all today. Then off to American Camp Beach in the evening to see some rabbits and foxes in action. We had a very close encounter with this red fox, who was not at all afraid of us, even holding eye contact with his huge golden eyes for a few seconds. Fox encounters! And hundreds and hundreds of scampering bunnies. It turned dark on the beach as we left, just a sliver of moon in the sky. Now home to write, drink some hot soup and cranberry juice with fizzy water (my personal health-strengthening elixir) and maybe read a bit.

Day three and I finally feel like we’ve relaxed and hit our stride a bit. Maybe being sick I pushed myself a little less, and that always helps. That’s the thing about shorter trips – just as soon as you adjust to your new surroundings, you’re home again! Today felt unrushed, with time to read and write during the day, and the sunshine a pleasant bonus, since the weather report had been touting rain all day and there were threatening clouds in the distance. Weekend of all rain ahead, they’re saying!

At 10 PM the power went out in Friday Harbor, since I didn’t pack candles or a flashlight, and I had just put a load of our sheets and towels in the dryer, I was out of luck! How fun is it to be on a cane in the pitch blackness with no light source? Not fun at all! Not so great for reading and writing, either. Here’s hoping the power comes back on before morning – all part of the adventure, I suppose! (The facility caretaker came by with a flashlight after I called, so I at least had that!)