Tag Archives: hiking

To The Right

Earlier this year, before the snowpack in the mountains, could build and the rains of the Northwest La Nina winter began, Padden Gorge Trail was dry and quiet. The creek was all but dried up. The cold air chased away many birds and I experienced the eerie sensation of standing in a silent forest.

Poem: A Nod to Frost

  A Nod to Frost by Shannon P. Laws   The woods are lovely dark and deep There are hidden treasure chests to keep A stranger blocks my trail so narrow the shadow falls once pierced by sparrow Feeding on gnats in the twilight spaces I see my face on the faces Along the ways of search and find great friends there areContinue reading “Poem: A Nod to Frost”

Story Weaver

Went for a long walk today.  This year April in the Northwest is warmer than normal.  The tulips lining the yards of my neighbors have already risen, bloomed and most are now just stalks of green.  Apple and cherry blossoms line the street to the trail head. Digging into the trail I heard the streamContinue reading “Story Weaver”

Poem: Voice on the Trail

    Voice on the Trail “and at last I saw : wherethe road lay through sunlight and many voices and the marvelorchards, not for me, not for me, not for me.”  -from the poem ‘Then I Saw What the Calling Was’ by Muriel Rukeyser (1913-1980)   All the voices of the Wood called “Shannon!”Continue reading “Poem: Voice on the Trail”

Whatcom Creek Fire

On June 10, 1999 around 3:25 P.M., a 16 inch fuel line owned by the Olympic Pipe Line Company ruptures spilling over 277,000 gallons of gasoline into Whatcom Creek.  The volatile fuel explodes killing three people.  The massive fireball sent smoke 30,000 feet into the air, visible from Anacortes to Vancouver! One and a half miles ofContinue reading “Whatcom Creek Fire”