Driving home a few nights ago about an hour before dusk, the
wheat fields were starting their transformation
of colors going from green to gold. I was on my way home after spending a few glorious days in the San Juan Islands. And while it was a wonderful escape from the
heat, I can’t imagine life anywhere but here.
As I traveled the back-roads, the slower pace allowed for a bit of gazing
at the crops and catching whiffs of the pre-harvest scent, which I love but find
hard to describe. I guess it is sort of a
mix of fresh hay with a sort of a dusty scent.
If only I could bottle that smell. Pure bliss for this farm gal’s senses.
During my ocean escape,
I was able to visit some spectacular ports
that ranged from small basic towns to picturesque
touristy towns.
At one particular port,
it was a haven for the mega rich who could afford yachts, and let me tell you
there were a lot of them. A few were for
sale and had open houses, so we toured a few just to satisfy our curiosity of
how the other side lived. The interiors were
splendid with large open-air areas that featured crowd seating, bar/dining and
just seemed to beckon a gathering of family and friends. The mega boats were
stately, magnificent and imposing, almost like they were their own private
island.
Along side these mansion sized
boats were normal sized boats that were capable of accommodating areas for
sleeping, cooking and entertaining on a more modest scale. And what I found the most interesting was
that the docks were sort of like small towns, where people from the smaller
sized boats were friendly and impromptu conversations started amongst strangers. Often times chairs were set up on the docks
and bursts of chatter and laughter were signs of fun times. I loved seeing others gather on their own small
boats where more intimate conversations, sans cell phone and computers, were
taking place. The fascinating contrast was life was being lived and enjoyed
from the smaller boat owners, which was a stark contrast to the huge boats
which had been intentionally designed for entertaining - but that they all sat quiet, usually were
dark inside, or if there was life on board, I didn’t hear gaiety spilling out. I
thought to myself, yup the saying that money doesn’t buy happiness was pretty apropos
here. It just seemed like life on the
docks for us common folks was enjoying the beauty of the ocean, the beauty of being
together and the beauty of enjoying life.
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| A small port town |
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| Off the boat and ready to check out a port town |
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| Hiking to Turn Point Lighthouse. And my hat says it all..."Blessed" |
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| Boat life is fun |
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| An ocean sun set |
And that impression and feeling kept staying with me all
through the trip. I guess to sum it up,
regardless of your financial situation – you can make your life be your own
island – remote – untouchable- if you choose. Which for me, I find that a sad
way to live. If you look just beyond
your personal horizon, you can see the beauty of meeting new people, going to
new places and finding the value of good life. Personally, I see the gorgeousness of the
Palouse and it’s fertile ground that produces amazing crops, and I see the
beauty in the people who live here. I am
grateful that I seem to always be surrounded with kind and wonderful people. Frankly, I don’t care if it sounds corny or
not, it’s a heartfelt view from this girl’s skyline.
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| Sunset on the rolling hills of the Palouse. Equally beautiful |
As always, thank you so much for stopping
by. Feel free to reach out and email me
at swheatfarmlife@gmail.com or
leave a comment on the blog. I love to
hear from you. All my best, Gayle
