This past week we ventured to new places, none of them involving consumerism, all of them embracing the outdoors, and I shared with my husband about my frustrations that nature is seen as a place you need to drive 2 hours to immerse yourself in, when it's actually found in places big and small, near or far. And along with that, places that look the most peaceful? They're rarely as perfect as they might seem in photos, as humans have stained the planet with actions that are far more apathetic than most would like to admit.
So with that, I thought I'd share three excursions we had in our neck of the woods this past week, what I learned, and what I came away with...
Close
Lake Whatcom is, as you can see, truly gorgeous. It's about 40 minutes' drive north of our place, not far from Bellingham. This perspective looks idyllic, but if I were to back out further, you'd learn there were beer cans in and around the water, an outhouse in the parking lot that made me want to gag it was so awful, and no way to access it without a car. But even worse, Lake Whatcom, which in most parts is surrounded by houses (not trees as this photo I took may infer) is actually on the list of most polluted lakes in the state due to "increased levels of phosphorous and fecal coliform bacteria" due to human influence in the form of stormwater runoff (chemicals that rain washes off roofs, roads, driveways and lawns and ultimately reach the lake) which now "threatens the survival of fish and aquatic plants."
Closer
The Port of Bellingham's marina is a classic place to sit and watch the boats. I took my sweetheart here, about a half hour's drive away, to visit the Marine Life Center where "Sherlock", a Giant Pacific Octopus, was temporarily living after being caught up in fishing nets, until he will be released back into the wild later this summer. It was truly amazing to see an octopus and other marine life up close, yet also truly devastating to see how little respect visitors had for this beautiful creature. While the tank clearly said "do not point at him or tap on the glass", explaining how it's a sign of aggression, not a single parent or their kid respected the rules. In fact, I found myself reading the sign out loud repeatedly, stopping visitors myself because no one at the Marine Life Center could be bothered to monitor and prevent this behavior. The marina itself was an interesting visit, as it had a great example of erosion control native and ornamental plants growing up the slope, yet the long terrible history of the Port of Bellingham is literally the reason why we decided to keep to our smaller town in the Skagit Valley.
As Save The Waterfront's team of community eco-heroes summarize, "In 2022 the Port of Bellingham signed a 25 year lease to store toxic metal in the center of Bellingham’s developing Waterfront. During its tenure at the Port, ABC polluted our air, polluted the Bellingham Bay with heavy metals, and kept hundreds of neighbors awake while working until 3am loading ships with crashing metal. The use was only allowed due to the subversion of the Bellingham Municipal Code...With incredible community pushback...the Port was forced to terminate the lease after only 18 months...The Port of Bellingham is increasingly taking action, and spending money on projects that seem to be moving the community backwards to a time when ‘bad stuff’ was accepted or not fully understood of its dangers."
Not to be a total Debbie Downer, but this was quite an eye opener. The irony of a town known for it's environmentalism, yet a Port that could showcase the city as a model of sustainability and create an inviting and beautiful waterfront, has instead chosen to sidle up to corporate polluters, from ABC to the unmentioned Puget Sound Energy 'natural' gas plant that appears to be untouchable.
Closest
And yet, with all of the potential of places just north of us that have come out disappointing, I find that one of the most amazing pockets of peaceful areas to quietly meander lies hidden behind the Kiwanis Spray Park just a 10 minute walk from our house. While the gorgeous welded butterfly greets everyone arriving at the park, peruse further and you'll find a three-armed boardwalk hiding behind the trees going through a small piece of wetland.. I am SUCH a big fan of boardwalks in wetlands, allowing people to immerse themselves in these essential natural habitats while not disturbing the native flora and fauna.
There are so many places you may never know about in your very ow neck of the woods if your only goal is to get out as far away from home as you can on your week-ends. This obviously isn't to discourage the amazing benefits of travel, but rather to reconsider where you live, urban - suburban - rural, and open yourself up to asking the question, do I need to DRIVE to find a little piece of nature to breathe in...or is it closer than I may have ever realized?
“We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.” ~ Barbara Ward
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