— Tina Dinzl-Pederson, Class of 2016
In this time of Covid-19 “Stay Home, Stay Healthy,” we decided to exercise our creative sides. For this challenge, we asked our members to use any art medium they had at home, and to get creative! The theme prompt was
“Spring in all its glory”
Discovering Signs of Spring
I get funny looks when I announce that for me, spring starts in January. By that time, I am so tired of the darkness that I follow sunrise and sunset times in my tide table, hungry for sunrises that are two minutes, then three minutes earlier than the day before.
I tell friends there is a lot going on outside that can easily be missed if you don’t look carefully. When I venture out to discover signs of the coming spring, I am never disappointed. Between gales in the first week of January, I was delighted to see the number of winter-blooming flowers in my garden: bacopa, candytuft, Chinese witch hazel, hellebores, ixia, winter jasmine, and winter pansies.
Three weeks later I noticed a shift; Indian plum and red-flowering currant were beginning to bud out and Livingston daisies popped up in the lawn. The tips of bigleaf maple trees turned red. It was another month before I heard a songbird but during those days, I discovered more signs that brought cheer: a lone bumblebee foraging in rhododendron blossoms, and an increasing number of Anna’s hummingbirds visiting my feeder. This week, solstice week, a western fence lizard basked on a sunny garden wall and I spied the first dandelion!
“Flowering Tree” photograph by Bruce McKeown, SWS Class of 2019
Four to One
The 4:1 concoction simmers gently on the back of the stove.
Fighting in mid-air, dipping and diving, to sitting quietly on the wire surveying
Darting from the wire, to perch on the edge of the red feeder, where the yellow, metal daisies tantalize and tempt.
Buzzing back and forth between two feeders they fly, which one tastes better?
The vibrations of their small powered wings in motion as they drink up the last of the sweet nectar. The concoction has cooled, the flyers wait as the feeders are filled and the frenzy begins again.
— Jennifer Rollins, Class of 2020
Jennifer Rollins, Class of 2020
Spring, A Time of Growth and Renewal
Song birds are returning to welcome us to a new day.
A shovel hits the naked ground, exposing volunteers, Douglas fir, western red cedar, red flowering currant, seedlings. Dreams hopefully to become reality.
The crack of a bat hitting a ball: Baseball Spring Training begins.
Returning and new players bond together to make their dreams come true.
The blow and splash of a gray whale family returning to the Salish Sea.
We greet them with smiles and great respect, wanting their family to survive and grow.
We take a trail not taken before; trees 100 feet tall.
Our eyes and ears fixed on the magic that surrounds us.
Sunlight lasts longer, we extend our time with nature.
An explosion of color, plants reaching for sunlight, sounds of birds, insects, and animals, around us.
Spring is a Time of Growth and Renewal and Hope in the Future.
Colored Pencil Drawing by Jenny Roman, Class of 2020
Smooth Slow Day
Smooth slow day
I like it
One step here
One step there
Up the ladder
Down the ladder
A little of this
A little of that
Resting on a boulder
I like it
White puffy clouds
On the horizon
Distant outlines
Of the Olympics
Rainy puddles and snow geese
In the fields below
The train whistles thru
I like it
In my yard again
Pick away 10 weeds
Grow 30 more
Tide’s in
Tide’s out
Not too hot
Not too cool
I like it
Almost a full moon
The rabbit appears
Molehills everywhere
I yell “down girl”
To the collie next door
Hummingbird wings
As I water thirsty maples
I like it
Smooth slow day
Paper Quilled Clover by Qing Zhang, Class of 2020
Mariners Scarecrow
I grow garlic and shallots; crops that keep me busy all year long.
Below is my schedule:
Plant garlic and shallots in late October or November, when major league baseball plays the World Series.
Side-dress with blood meal when pitchers and catchers report for spring training
Add fertilizer on opening day of the regular season; for the Mariners, April.
Harvest during the All Star Game, in July when it’s not raining and been dry for a while.
Since at this time with everything happening, we may not get to see major league baseball. I decided to use our Mariner game clothing in a way that protects my crops. It should be quite effective to keep the crows out since it has kept us out of the playoffs since 2001.
— Tony Vivolo, Class of 2020
Photograph by Kelly Zupich, Admin Coordinator and Class of 2012
Spring
We will continue to monitor our waters, to monitor via citizen science our beaches, to educate our community on caring for our environment and the small and large creatures living here. We will continue to learn and practice better ways to landscape and garden, practicing environmentally friendly methods.
The world gets crazy and sometimes we need to step back – pause and take a deep breath – we are so fortunate to live in this beautiful area that is awakening once again to spring.
Gaylen Heacock, Class of 2019
“Art opens the closets, airs out the cellars and attics. It brings healing.”
~Julia Cameron