Keeping ahead of Father Time by immersion in nature:

Working to enjoy and preserve our marvelous environment.

Sep 28, 2024

Mt. Baker (AKA Komo Kulshan, Lummi Indian Name for the mountain). Photo from North Cascades Wilderness Area. This towering beacon dominates our region as it looms above the northwest part of WA State and is seen from Seattle, from the Salish Sea Islands and from lower British Columbia, CA.

I’ve been trying to keep ahead of Father Time now for some years, especially since I retired and have been able to give it good thought. This blog is about what I have been doing to keep myself and our environment healthy and viable into the future.

In my previous life in academia one’s worth was gaged by what one wrote and contributed to the profession along with teaching and I wrote quite a few journal articles and some books. I also taught a lot of classes. Since retiring I have taken that same ethos (I learned) about writing and applied that to sharing my thoughts and activities about what I have been doing in and about our local environment of the Pacific Northwest. In brief, I have cruised and camped in the San Juan (*US) and Gulf islands (Canada) both of which are situated in the Salish Sea just off shore from where I live in Bellingham WA. While on the waters I spent much time catching saltwater fish, (salmon, halibut, ling cod), Dungeness Crab, and Spot Prawns. I admit to being a bit of a hunter and gatherer. I will write about these activities.

A Tug boat viewed from Deer Harbor towing a log boom to a saw mill through the San Juan Islands

When not on the water, I am drawn to the Cascade mountains, literally in our back yard with the majestic Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan just 50 miles to the east of town. There we skied in the winter and hiked in the summer. Still I walk the forested trails for pleasure and exercise while looking to identify plants and fungi while foraging for those that are safe and delicious to eat. And I will share these experiences as well.

A Mountain Goat grazing on a hillside just above our hiking trail at the foot of Mt. Baker

Another dimension of my lust/eagerness for emersion in our local environment is my realization that it is rapidly being used up, abused, polluted, and tarnished. Fortunately there are several organizations, mostly non-profit, dedicated to preserving and restoring our waters and forests. It was a natural move for me to join up with these groups as a volunteer in this restorative process. Readers will be introduced to these groups and activities such as the Whatcom Land Trust for which I am a Volunteer Land steward. I will show the 16.67 acre plot of forested land that I monitor for invasive species, acts of nature (fallen trees) and of human pollution that might degrade the property, and what we do to preserve these precious resources.

A water slide on the Land Trust property that I steward

Thus, in this blog I will recount, with illustrative photos some of the activities in which I have engaged and am currently doing for restoration and preservation of our magnificent salt waters, fresh water streams and the forests. We realize that we live, as do the many native Americans reciprocally sustaining our environment such that it can continue to sustain us.

So, I am here on Substack to share what I have been doing in recent years and what I hope to continue doing into the future as long as I am able. And then one might ask: Why Substack? Well, my two daughters (both of whom have accounts here) urged me to do so and to ply my words and photos for the Substack audience which I believe has many like-minded contributors and readers. If you enjoy and value this sort of outdoor activity and would like to see more of what I am doing in our region, I hope you will follow me. Also, as a heads up from a former educator, I also tend to do a bit of commentary about what I am covering. Thus there will be some interesting photo material along with comments about what it is about and what it might mean.

In my next post I will recount my recent activity on one of my current forest-related pastimes: foraging for mushrooms. Fall is peak mushrooming time and as I write this, it is moving into full swing. I hope to hear from you whether you enjoy mushrooms or not. There will be much more to come.