Hutchbec's Musings: Furlough Friday

I had a furlough day on Friday ("Furlough Friday") and have started a small tradition of doing something relaxing on FF. It sort of balances out the anxiety of the economic collapse that led to FF and all that stuff.

So, I took a little road trip up to Whidbey Island. First off, while waiting for the ferry in Mukilteo, I wandered over to the Mukilteo lighthouse. It's been around a long time and has a bunch of historical markers. But what always amazes me is how green their lawn is, and how the grass is edged along the sidewalk (no one edges in the northwest - I mean, no one. Just grows willy nilly everywhere) and how super white they've kept the lighthouse all these years.

Jump forward a bit - I took the ferry, got off, and drove about 8 miles to the "Earth Sanctuary" - filled with replicas of stonehenge, an Osprey nest (indeed, it was mating season), a labyrinth, a Native American Medicine Wheel, Tibetan prayer wheels, among others. It was like an amusement park of spiritual stuff. Just without the cotton candy.

There were also some really pretty hiking trails. And I forgot that this is the time of year that the dive bombing bees or horse flies come out. So I spent most of the time on the hike waving my arms frantically over my head to keep the frickin' things from hitting me. Kinda takes away from the whole serene hike at the Earth Sanctuary feel. Although I suppose dive bombing bees are also in need of spiritual rest and contemplation.

After my time at the Earth Sanctuary I headed over to the Whidbey Institute. I forgot to take pictures there. Actually, I didn't forget, I got lost, so actually didn't find what I would've taken photos of. I imagine there's some metaphor in there somewhere.

So, at this point I decided I'd had enough gloomy, rainy Whidbey, and got back on the ferry.