Stop the coup in the United States! Vote! Resist! Persist!

I keep my sanity in this crazy world by trying to walk in the woods on Bainbridge Island every non-rainy day. I love the immersion in the deep greens on my walk no matter the time of year.

My walks start by passing the small flocks of sheep and chickens at our nearby neighborhood ranch.

I check to see that the flocks are the same size as the day before. Cougars and big dogs have thinned the flocks in the past. This spring there is a young noisy youngster sheep who has a strong pair of lungs.

As I meander along the Bluff Trail, I encounter this small grove of trees. I particularly like walking through at golden hour or stopping to look up at the sky. It seems like somebody tends this grove regularly, but the neighbors claim that this grove emerged naturally.

As I descend a short hill, I look for the first of two gnome homes. Some crafty soul has placed tens of these around Bainbridge for the enjoyment of hikers like me. I appreciate today’s adornments by fellow hikers looking to add a little greenery or color to these gnome homes.

“Every picture tells a story” speaks to me as I walk through “my woods.”

“The origin of the proverb ‘every picture tells a story’ can be traced back to the growing recognition of the power of visual imagery in the 20th century, particularly with the rise of photography and visual media. This saying highlights how a single image can provide insight, capture a moment, or communicate complex ideas in a way that words may not be able to. It also emphasizes the idea that visuals, whether through art, photographs, or other media, can be just as powerful, if not more so, than verbal communication in conveying meaning.”

Each time I pass this long abandoned car, I ask myself again what is its story. How did his car get here? The nearby road has only been in place for a few years, long after this car was abandoned. Was it just dumped here or did some folks get liquored up and wrapped the car around this unsuspecting unmovable tree? Why has the car stayed here for decades? So many questions.

As I get to the end of the Bluff Trail, I search the containment ponds for ducks. I wonder if the ducks will have a family before the pond evaporates or a predator finds them. Another photo that generates so many questions.

More recently, Paul and Debbie Brainerd funded the creation of a labyrinth and small oasis on a bluff overlooking Blakely Harbor. Sometimes I stop if the light is just right to capture the sun’s rays as it traverses the spirals of the labyrinth. Sometimes the grands are with me to follow each twist and turn in the labyrinth to arrive at the magic pumpkin in the middle.

As I continue down the hill to Blakely Harbor and Log Pond, I scan the pond to see what the tides have brought in today. This interesting stump showed up one day and then stayed for months until a king high tide took it out to sea.

While observing the stump one day, I thought I saw another stump move in the pond. To my surprise, the moving stump was a river otter. It swam right toward me wondering why I was invading its privacy.

Our local artists regularly decorate what remains of the sawmills at Blakely Harbor’s Log Pond with colorful graffiti. I slow down to see what has changed since my last walk.

During really low tides, I have to wander out to the temporary spit of land so that I can show up in Google Maps as walking on water.

Thanks to a gift from a local land owner and the Bainbridge Island Parks and Recreation Department long process through many layers of bureaucracy, we now have a bridge across Log Pond. Yet, I never know who or what I will encounter when I walk across the bridge.

As I climb back up the bluff, I walk respectfully through Port Blakely Cemetery. I am surprised that many of the graves date back to the 1800s. I finally stop one day to read the inscription on the tallest gravestone.

The inscription reads “Sacred to the memory of brother knights drowned by the sinking of the streamer “Dix”, Nov. 18th 1906.” I think I am about to learn some local history as I return home to learn about the Steamer Dix.

“On Sunday, November 18, 1906, the inland passenger steamer SS Dix collides with the steam schooner SS Jeanie two miles north of Alki Point and one mile west of Duwamish Head. The Dix, traveling from downtown Seattle to Port Blakely on Bainbridge Island with 77 passengers and crew on board, sinks within five minutes with a loss of at least 39 lives. It is the greatest maritime disaster ever recorded on Puget Sound.”

Some days I walk in the woods for exercise. On my better days, I pay attention to the gifts of nature and small slices of history hiding quietly in the woods.

As I return home late in the evening from another walk in the woods, I watch the setting sun reflect its rays off of the Seattle skyline.

Peace.