My work is loving the world. Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird-- equal seekers of sweetness. Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums. Here the clam deep in the speckled sand. Are my boots old? Is my coat torn? Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let me keep my mind on what matters… which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished. The robin, the rosehips. The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture. Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here, which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart and these body-clothes, a mouth with which to give shouts of joy to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam, telling them all, over and over, how it is that we live forever. --Mary Oliver Beach View Farm Trail -- it’s plain, straightforward, and mostly wide open. It’s a mile and a half walk one way in a straight line, and a mile and a half back. The west end is a natural meadow with a small copse of trees close to a lakeshore, but otherwise the trail is across open pastures and farmland. We began at the west end, near West Beach. We followed the shoreline of Swantown Lake, beneath willows and alders, then through meadow grasses and rosebush hedges. There was no breeze rustling the leaves of the trees, but as we stood beneath them, one leaf fell, then another, and another. As is my autumn habit, I got beneath a falling leaf to catch it, missed, waited for another, missed again, then finally caught one in my hand. I honored it and set it down on the ground to rest after its short lifetime of giving us oxygen and shade. The farm trail heads east from here, along the edge of Beach View Farm. At the farm, several dozen chickens and one rooster flocked around a portable chicken coop, mostly contained by a perimeter fence that had a small gap at one end. Some of them had discovered the opening and escaped through to join us along the trail. Unfortunately, it looked like an escapee from the day before had ended up as dinner for a coyote or other predator. These chickens didn’t seem to care as they stepped among their dearly-departed’s feathers and bones. As we walked further along the open trail, we compared the experience to forested walks in the ACFL, to beach walks such as Ebey’s Bluff or Lighthouse Point, to climbs to the top of Mt. Erie or Guemes Mountain, or nearly any other trail on Whidbey and Fidalgo. The Beach View Farm trail is … different. We were just voicing how plain the trail appears to be when a northern harrier floated on by, just a few feet off the ground, hovered around a potential meal we couldn’t see, then drifted upwards and onwards, soon followed by another flying in a different direction. We passed sheep grazing inside a fenced corral. A large, very large black bull wandered in the corral next door. Distant cows mooed for dinner. Cowpies lay alongside the trail. Plain, straightforward, and mostly wide open -- the way our hearts can be as we are thankful. I came to appreciate the wide-open landscape, the elemental beauty of a place that simply grows our food out of the earth. Walking across farmland seemed appropriate this week. We too are flesh and bones, made of earth. Thanksgiving reminds us to give thanks to our earth and the many lives that sustain us. And we are thankful for each one of you who joins us on our weekly hiking journeys. May your time with family and friends bless you with the joy of being together, hearts wide open, celebrating the cycles of life all around us. jack Directions: From Highway 20 at the south end of Oak Harbor, take Swantown Road 1.4 miles to Wieldraayer Road. Park at the northwest end of the church parking lot (the spots are marked with signs, next to the bulletin board). Or park at West Beach County Park on West Beach Road; walk south 200 feet, then east 300 feet on a gravel road to Island County's Swantown Lake Park.
By bus: Take the new Route 9 bus to the corner of Swantown and Monticello and walk 450 feet to Wieldraayer Road, turn left and walk 1/3 mile to the trailhead. Or take Route 6 stops at West Beach Road and Fort Nugent Road, about a mile from the West Beach trailhead. By bike: the roads in this area are narrow, and somewhat high speed, but with low traffic volume. Mobility: most of the trail is graveled and gently sloped. The Swantown Lake County Park portion is narrow, and only partially graveled.
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Maribeth Crandell has been a hiking guide in the Pacific NW for over 20 years. She's lived on Whidbey and Fidalgo Island for decades. As a frequent bus rider she easily makes connections between trails and transit. Archives by date
April 2024
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