Friday Harbor and the San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands, just north of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, are covered with forested hills that reach down to peaceful bays and narrow silvery channels – a perfect melding of land and water. This archipelago was a principal landfall for early explorers and was an important strategic location that faces two major waterways – Strait of Georgia and Strait of Juan de Fuca. Our final morning was spent in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, one of the busiest of the islands and home port for the local fishing fleet. Known as the nautical “Times Square,” we found a wonderful mix of new and old establishments and a harbor that was filled with a myriad of boat types. Some of us ventured into town and visited the Whale Museum, a facility dedicated to education and research that was filled with excellent exhibits designed to increase our understanding of the Killer whales, whales we have grown to love.
Our final Zodiac cruise allowed us to view the spectacular harbor and to explore some of the quiet bays and along the rocky shorelines that offered exceptional viewing of this delicately drifting and undulating lion’s mane jellyfish. At first glance this gelatinous creature appeared to be very fragile, but we quickly realized that we were staring into a mass of thousands of stinging cells embedded in its bushy tentacles, capable defenses always ready to ensnare its prey. Gazing at this stunning jelly is a reminder of some lines from a poem by D.M. Baird:
Walk softly, lest in your haste
You miss a thousand things of beauty
That could please your eye
In tiny places and tiny times,
Patterns hidden or even in plain view
That, in your rushing by, you leave to
Fade into a grey environmental blur,
Without seeing, or understanding,
Or feeling.
Nourished by our new perceptions of nature...our trip is over...but the magnificent memories will live on and sustain us.
The San Juan Islands, just north of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, are covered with forested hills that reach down to peaceful bays and narrow silvery channels – a perfect melding of land and water. This archipelago was a principal landfall for early explorers and was an important strategic location that faces two major waterways – Strait of Georgia and Strait of Juan de Fuca. Our final morning was spent in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, one of the busiest of the islands and home port for the local fishing fleet. Known as the nautical “Times Square,” we found a wonderful mix of new and old establishments and a harbor that was filled with a myriad of boat types. Some of us ventured into town and visited the Whale Museum, a facility dedicated to education and research that was filled with excellent exhibits designed to increase our understanding of the Killer whales, whales we have grown to love.
Our final Zodiac cruise allowed us to view the spectacular harbor and to explore some of the quiet bays and along the rocky shorelines that offered exceptional viewing of this delicately drifting and undulating lion’s mane jellyfish. At first glance this gelatinous creature appeared to be very fragile, but we quickly realized that we were staring into a mass of thousands of stinging cells embedded in its bushy tentacles, capable defenses always ready to ensnare its prey. Gazing at this stunning jelly is a reminder of some lines from a poem by D.M. Baird:
Walk softly, lest in your haste
You miss a thousand things of beauty
That could please your eye
In tiny places and tiny times,
Patterns hidden or even in plain view
That, in your rushing by, you leave to
Fade into a grey environmental blur,
Without seeing, or understanding,
Or feeling.
Nourished by our new perceptions of nature...our trip is over...but the magnificent memories will live on and sustain us.
