The Prom

My daughter, Jeni, shared these photos of my granddaughter, Brittany, and her boyfriend, Al, as they headed off to the Platte Canyon High School prom last Friday evening.

~~~~~

Here's Brittany all dressed up for the prom.

~~~~~

~~~~~

Brit and Al.

~~~~~

More photos from Jen.

~~~~~

Here's Brit doing her makeup for the gala event.

~~~~~
What a beautiful couple!

We are all so very proud of these students!

~~~~~

Dirty Dan Harris Days

This weekend we celebrated Dirty Dan Harris Days at the Village Green in Old Fairhaven. Catching up with dear friends, Kathy and Barry, here at the annual Chuckanut Chowder Cook-Off, it was fun being part of the crowd as we lined up at the different booths to get samples of chowders before placing our vote and getting our huge bowl of their best.

~~~~~

~~~~~

~~~~~
~~~~~

~~~~~

Then, it was on to the Piano Race! Stories tell of Dirty Dan Harris, the founder of Fairhaven, packing up to head by ship to California to retire. They say Dan sold off many of his possessions and when the person that bought his piano did not pay him by the day he was to leave, he pushed his piano down Harris Avenue, out onto the docks and on into the water in Bellingham Bay before boarding his California-bound boat.

~~~~~~~~~~

Now, annually during the Dirty Dan Harris Days celebration, team members race down that hill, join the rest of their team and together race back up Harris Avenue - pulling a piano! Four teams competed in this year's Piano Race with their colorfully painted and cleverly decorated pianos.

~~~~~

The "cute kid" spot of the day, this little guy may be thinking, "Come on, surprise me with the chowder this time, Dad!"

~~~~~

~~~~~

It's all fun when your belly is full of chowder, and rosemary-infused bread!

~~~~~

Cousins and Aunts

Painting and composing poetry by the age of 15, in 1927, my Aunt Wyonetta (Aunt Sis), now 95, presented this poem and artwork as a birthday gift to her sister (my Aunt Bertha) when she turned 19. Quite to my surprise, the original framed "Birthday Greetings" artwork and poetry was presented to me this afternoon along its journey back to its original author.

~~~~~

~~~~~

This blog entry might more accurately be titled "Cousins and Aunts and Trailers and Friends" because there seems to have been a series of random coincidences leading up to my receipt of and ability to follow the return.

~~~~~

You see, it just so happens that recently I learned that it was my friend Lee who bought my Aunt Sis's trailer. It also just so happens that my cousin, Dan, whom I have not seen in close to thirty years, stopped by our Aunt Sis's trailer only to discover that she no longer lived there. And it just so happens that my friend Lee, now residing in Aunt Sis's former trailer and realizing that I am the niece of the woman from whom he purchased that trailer, felt it okay to give Dan my phone number.

~~~~~

Dan and I had lunch and, started on its journey from his grandmother's (my aunt Bertha's) estate, with him he carried the fragile "Birthday Greetings" poetry and artwork, passing it to me along its way back to Aunt Sis.

~~~~~
Birthday Greetings

(written for Bertha Delpha Robertson)

May your thoughts send back a ray

Nineteen years ago to-day.

When lay in bed your father's wife,

When you, her daughter, came to life.

~~~~~

When you lay there by her side,

She, in happiness, had sighed.

When she hugged you,

When she loved you,

When she called you her own,

Knew you was her very own.

But she knew, in time to come,

There would be another one

Who would hug you,

Who would love you,

Who would call you his, his own.

~~~~~

May your thoughts send back a ray

Nineteen years ago to-day,

When lay in bed your father's wife,

When you, her daughter, came to life.

Wyonetta Iola Robertson, 1927

~~~~~

Quite miraculously, I was able to get my hands on a telephone number for Aunt Sis. I telephoned my cousin, Ruth, with whom aunt Sis (Ruth's grandmother) now resides and we shall all get together very soon. My cousins, Dan and Ruth, and I, all so very happy to return the "Birthday Greetings" to its original author after all these years.

~~~~~

Thanks Lee!

~~~~~

As Aunt Sis held her poetry close upon my passing that frame back into her hands. It felt so good as we watched her sweet smiles from memories of those days when her older sister, Aunt Bertha, had married and moved back to Vancouver, B.C. and a series of paintings and poetry were fondly sent across the border to keep in touch.

~~~~~

2008 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

With cooler weather reportedly causing the flowers to open a little later this Spring, we anxiously waited until today to make our visit to this year's Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

~~~~~

Starting our afternoon with the scenic drive along Chuckanut Drive as we headed South to reach the rural farm roads of the Skagit Valley, after a brief sight-seeing tour through the town of La Conner, we worked our way up and down, back and forth, along the marked "Tulip Route". Passing row after row of colorful blooms - fields filled with bright red tulips, giant yellow tulips, striped orange and yellow tulips, deep purple tulips, soft pink tulips and even fields of daffodils. We stopped from time to time in order to get out and walk through some of those fields so we could get a closer look at those beautiful flowers.

~~~~~

Mike at a bright red tulip field.

Yellow tulips.

Majel at the bright red tulip field.

~~~~~

My 2008 Tulip Festival photos.

~~~~~

Today's "Bloom Map".

~~~~~

A close-up of the red tulips.

~~~~~

Craft Island, Skagit County

Today I accompanied members of Koma Kulshan, the local Bellingham Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society, on a fieldtrip to Craft Island. Located along the lower Skagit Delta, we walked through a field of wetlands before reaching the winding trail we followed to reach the top of a large, beautiful rocky bald. I felt myself a curious observer, submerged in the natural Spring beauty - my view so greatly enhanced as I watched in awe as the experts identified and shared their knowledge about the many native vascular plants found there.

My favorite species for the day - the Reindeer Lichen (Cladina Rangiferina). Although I do not think that reindeer or caribou are found in this area, Reindeer Lichen is said to be one of their chief foods. Mound after mound of this beautiful lichen covered areas of the rocky bald and lined our path.

Pausing on the lower portion of the edge of another, smaller rocky bald and listening to the song of the combined voices of assorted birds chirping and flitting about in what remained of a stand of last year's cattails, I was reminded of the poem by Robert Sund that our fieldtrip leader had recited as we first began our trek through the wetlands as he shared early history of Craft Island when artists had moved into the abandoned fish shacks left behind by the fishermen that had worked years before out of the nearby community called Fish Town.

Summer Solstice

(by Robert Sund)

It's been a busy day.

First,

One hummingbird,

Then

Another!

Later, remembering that the box for my Mucks promised the boots would keep my feet 100% dry, I splashed through some of the smaller tide pools that remained after the tide had gone far out.

My photos from today's fieldtrip.
~~~~~

~~~~~

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today, in celebration of my father's birthday, I visited Woodlawn Cemetery to pay tribute and photograph his gravestone.

~~~~~

Loving Father

James Malcolm Robertson

April 15, 1918 - December 9, 2002

(Born in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Siblings - Bertha Delpha Robertson Schwartz, born January 27, 1908 in Lyman, Washington; Chester George Robertson, born March 2, 1909 in Lyman, Washington; and Wyonetta Iola Robertson Glander, born October 4, 1912 in Mount Vernon, Washington. )

~~~~~

While at the cemetery, I also visited the graves and photographed the gravestones of other, close relatives buried there. I visited the grave of my dear stepmother of 35 years, Shirley. I visited the grave of my grandfather, John, who died many, many years before I was even born. I visited the grave of my grandmother, Josephine, who died when I was barely even a toddler. And, I visited the grave of my favorite cousin, Audrey, whose closeness and sharing of family stories throughout my life helped me feel somehow connected with our family members that had left this world long before I could have ever known or remembered them.

~~~~~

Cherished Stepmother

Shirley Conrad Borman Robertson

September 30, 1923 - December 5, 2001

(Born in Blackwell, Oklahoma.)

~~~~~

Dad's gravestone marker was placed upon Momma Shirley's grave in carrying out their wishes to be buried together for all of eternity - his urn of ashes, placed in her casket.

~~~~~

~~~~~

Grandfather

John Daniel Robertson

December 9, 1877 - September 5, 1938

(Born in Solon Township, Kent County, Michigan, to George Robertson (birthplace, New York), and Eliza Robertson (birthplace, Indiana) as recorded and filed June 10, 1878 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.)

~~~~~

Grandmother

Josephine Elizabeth Martin Robertson

April 12, 1886 - January 15, 1954

(Born in Lyman, Skagit County, Washington.)

~~~~~

My grandparents, John Robertson and Josephine Martin, were married at the Vedome Hotel in Sedro Woolley, Washington by Reverend H.W. Michener as witnessed by my great uncle, Jule Martin, and great aunt, Genevieve (aunt Jennie) Martin on December 30, 1906.

~~~~~

Favorite Cousin

Audrey Wyonetta Schwartz Boyd

September 14, 1928 - January 11, 1992

(Daughter of Bertha Delpha Robertson and Paul Schwartz, born in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.)

~~~~~

Woodlawn Cemetery

5977 Northwest Drive

Ferndale, WA 98248

360-384-3734

~~~~~

Cemetery Hours

~~~~~

Map to cemetery.

~~~~~

Happy birthday Dad!

Forever in our hearts.

With love,

Your favorite daughter,

Rose

~~~~~

~~~~~

Canadian Geese

Entertainment today seemed provided by a pair of Canadian Geese (Branta Canadensis) foraging a lunch of early spring aquatic vegetation from the pond as we passed while out walking the Railroad Trail.

Foraging.

Friendly.

Show offs.

Curious.

Beautiful.

Canadian Geese are most easily identified by their long black neck, black head, crown and bill with a contrasting white cheek and throat area. They have a short black tail and black legs with black webbed feet. Males and females have the same markings. Friendly, these geese share the pond with mallards.

Mallards (Anas Platyrhynchos) probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks. A dabbling duck, the breeding male has unmistakable markings - green head, black rear end and a yellow bill tipped with black. The female Mallard is light brown, more speckled in color, with a dark brown bill.

Torrie and Clifford pause during today's trail walk.

~~~~~

Northern State Hospital

Curious about the old Northern State Hospital for just about ever, as soon as I learned that the photography group had scheduled a photo shoot for us there, I began looking forward to the opportunity. Today was our day!

~~~~~

Red and yellow through barn windows.

The buildings, an easy walk from the parking lot, were open and we could explore freely from one area to the next. We cautiously entered buildings that appeared safe enough to look around and photograph details of their interiors. Some buildings were quite deteriorated and obviously unsafe to enter. We could only walk around those, taking photos as we peered in through their broken windows and open doors. Other buildings, so overgrown with blackberry bushes, were impossible even to approach.

~~~~~

Fallen windows amid green shingles.

Rusty water.

Second story remains of a red brick building.

Tumbling barn doors.

Lichens and mosses on bricks.

~~~~~

More of my photos from the day.

~~~~~

~~~~~

Our photo shoot group shot.
(Photo by Ritchie. Thanks Ritchie!!! ) (photo linked from the BC Photographers Guild

http://digcam.meetup.com/194/ )

~~~~~

Special thanks go to Marble

for guiding Torrie

out of those strong currents in the creek!!!

~~~~~

History: The first patients were transferred to Northern State Hospital, also known as the "Bughouse", a mental institution for the harmless insane, in 1912. A self-sufficient facility complete with its own operating farm, bakery, medical facilities, and cemetery, it is said that many experimental mental health treatments and tests were performed there - brain surgeries, electrical shock therapies and experimental medicines.

~~~~~

In a series of articles in 1953, the Courier-Times newspaper described the hospital in detail. At that time there were 2,200 patients and 415 employees. Patients were housed in 33 wards and the facility was described as being filled to capacity. Patients were sent to Northern State Hospital from the eight northwestern counties - Skagit, Whatcom, Snohomish, King, Jefferson, San Juan, Clallam and Island.

~~~~~

With the development of more modern treatments for mental health issues, advancements in medications and changes in governmental policies and funding programs, Northern State Hospital closed its doors in 1976. The more seriously insane patients were sent to other facilities. The majority, however, out into their communities.

~~~~~

A small portion of the original facility is maintained and used today by the Cascade Job Corps. As a cooperative between the Sedro Woolley School District and the Cascade Job Corps, participating youth can take courses to help improve their academic skills, accrue credits towards their high school diplomas and engage in vocational training courses to help secure future employment.

~~~~~

In 1991, Skagit County purchased a 726-acre portion of the former Northern State Hospital from the State of Washington for the purpose of developing a major regional recreation facility. The site is now called the Northern State Recreation Area (http://www.skagitparksfoundation.org/nsra.htm). The historic structures are in a state of decay and disrepair with well groomed trails meandering throughout their old pastures, along the creek and around the deteriorating building complexes. A frisbee golf course was added by their parks department as additional recreation, turning the meadows into fairways, and winding throughout the grounds.

~~~~~

Directions: From Interstate 5, take Exit 230 (Burlington/Anacortes, State Route 20). Follow State Route 20 east to Sedro Woolley. Just east of the town of Sedro Woolley, turn left on Helmick Road. A parking lot is on the left, less than a mile down the road.

~~~~~

Map to the Northern State Hospital Recreation Area.

~~~~~

Detailed information and history on the Northern State Hospital is available on the Internet at, http://www.skagitriverjournal.com/NearbyS-W/NSH/NSH1-Intro.html.

~~~~~

Tired from an afternoon of warm sun beating down on us during our hours out touring and shooting photos around the grounds of that old mental institution, we moved on to enjoy a leisurely walking tour of downtown Sedro Woolley. As we strolled down the sidewalk, passing storefront after storefront - some vacant, others not - and visited with a few of the local shopkeepers along our way, we reached what appeared to us to be an authentic, local watering hole.

~~~~~

Relaxing in our booth out of the bright sun from the day, we refueled with food and drink within a hubbub of activity among the regulars at the bar as our backdrop. As we left, walking across their empty dance floor to the door, I noticed their old piano and huge speakers in the corner and felt this bar would transform into a very lively, happening, and perhaps roudy, place as it competed for business with the bar directly across the street that I noticed also boasted "live music at 9:00" on their billboard above their door.

~~~~

As evening light approached, we made our way around the back streets of Sedro Woolley until we reached the outskirts of town and Union Cemetery where John honored his grandparents and other relatives buried there and shared stories of his family history in the Sedro Woolley and upper Skagit areas.

~~~~~

Gravestone marking John's grandparents.

~~~~~

We strolled through the cemetery until sunset and darkness encroached our ability to read the stones, scanning dates and names as we searched for the grave of Pat Gugich, my high school sweetheart who died as a result of a traffic accident on October 12th, 1969, and is also buried there.

~~~~