My weekend came early, so I’ve been playing tourist. The owner of this house spends Tuesday through Thursday in Seattle & Bainbridge Island, so the place is all mine. From where I sit and type this I have an expansive view of Admiralty Bay, the Keystone Ferry Terminal, and the beginnings of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. From here I watch huge cruise ships carry people out to sea and Navy warships sneak around. I watch the Port Townsend Ferry come and go, and the orange wind sock at the marina keeps its steady westerly position. A virtual variety show of unidentified birds fills the prairie in front of the house, but continually pay visit to our deck and birdfeeders. Deer lay around the backyard under the shade of an apple tree and watch the rabbits poke around the grass. I can’t make this stuff up! Even the house is like a shrine to nature. I am surrounded by what we call Natural Wonders. Driftwood, shells, rounded glass, buoys, old bottles, feathers, rusted scrap metal, skulls, rocks and dried leaves are intertwined into this living space of furniture, artwork, plants and appliances, with the artistic eye of a museum curator, the naturalist eye of a park ranger, and the beachcomber eye of somebody who has spent decades strolling the shores of Whidbey Island.

And what did I see underneath the Hawthorne Bridge in downtown Portland that one might think I would see here on the Island? If you guessed Sea Lion, you’d be right. Apparently they make 3-4 day hunting trips (some from as far away as San Francisco) for the spring runs of several fresh water fish. We were fortunate to see one surface as we rode our bikes over this city bridge last week.

I swear I am studying medicine, not wildlife biology. While it’s been fun being a beachcomber, hiker, birdwatcher, and coffee shop dweller for the last few days, I am ready to get back to the hospital and be a PA student again.