February means hearts and flowers and chocolates to many,
but to me it always means mystery weekend!
The little town of Langley on Whidbey Island hosts an amazing weekend
every year the last weekend in February (same as the Oscars). On this weekend the town tells a living story
of a fictional mystery murder with all kinds of suspects. We all get to try to solve the mystery.
This State Park Centennial year my mystery weekend fun
included a lovely visit to the South Whidbey State Park. We were surprised to discover that the forest
is filled with mysterious spirits!
Our weekend started on the water, with a choppy ferry ride,
even white caps on the water from the wind.
Clouds were very low to the water line.
Obviously winter had decided to hold on.
It’s a quick drive on the island to the park at Smugglers Cove Rd. and
Admiralty Inlet. Don’t those names just
bring images to mind!
There are so many wonderful, well maintained, trails to
choose from. We explored the Wilbert,
the Hobbit, The Woody, and the Beach trails.
Gaze upon beautiful, old growth forest, and the moss completely covering
thick tree trunks. That is the real
treasure at Smugglers Cove, that amazing old growth forest. The secrets of the ages are spirited on the
wind. As we walked along the wide, open,
padded trail, the graceful arcs of what seemed like billions of firs surrounded
us. Adding to the green was the canopy
of lower, leafed trees and their limbs that reached across, over our heads.
As we continued along the trail, a wandering creek joined alongside. In the depths of all the green we heard frogs
singing with abandon. Later on the trail
we heard a warbling bird flying overhead.
Eventually we heard a woodpecker tapping on one of these majestic old
growth cedar trees, hunting for a buggy lunch.
It’s amazing how such a tiny tapping sound can carry so distinctly in
the great outdoors. It’s like the
distinct sound of a tiny triangle played in an orchestra; it’s spectacular how
such a tiny sound can make a “mark” within such a larger context.
As we turned down a trail between camellia bush hedgerows, we
came across a bench. It was dedicated to
the memory of H.G. (Jerry) Sanders “Through his efforts these trees still stand”. A western red cedar over 500 years old and
almost 30 large strides around, stood with a sign commemorating the efforts of “Harry
and Meryl Wilbert and other dedicated citizens of South Whidbey . . .” who
stood their ground in the 1970’s to protest the Department of Natural Resources
putting the tract up for logging bids.
The sign went on to commemorate those individuals who walked into the forest as a united group of
100, and stood before the loggers and their chainsaws back in 1977. They stopped the loggers then, and these
people were instrumental in a long-term effort to stop the clear cutting of the
old growth timber at what is now part of South Whidbey State Park. One of the protestors, Al Ryan had
summarized his efforts as: “”We must leave future generations
a glimpse of how God created this world; not just what it looked like when we
got through with it.”
These
are the mysterious, dedicated spirits that touched our souls and our hearts as
we walked through the beautiful forest they had saved for us and future
generations. Thank You!
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