unlocked doors, lavender farms, stinging nettles and time with friends

Hello from cool and picturesque San Juan Island! Marc & I are here with our friends Sharif and Amber at Amber’s parents’ new self-designed and built home on a self-imposed writing retreat. The house is a true work of love, as Amber’s parents being the ones that actually constructing the house from beginning the end (some parts certainly required additional help), but the majority was DIY. It does not hurt that it is on a hillside and overlooks the water with a fantastic view of the other islands across the sound, and a snow covered Baker Mountain in the distance. Marc & I plan to get up really early one morning to catch the sunrise (which is around 3:30-4am here!) from the patio.

Island life seems great – everyone keeps their doors unlocked (and even car keys in the car), and folks wave as they pass you on the road while you are out on runs. The weather this time of the year is remarkable, and perfect for being outside and running… the terrain is a little undulating and the roads are curvy, which always makes it fun as you never know what awaits you – like stinging nettles. I learned today that I’m quite allergic to them when I ran through some and still can feeling a slight tingle near my ankles. Apparently folks here like to eat them – cooked of course, although we have heard about people eating it raw too (ouch!!!)

We actually haven’t spent a ton of time outdoors because as I mentioned earlier, this is meant to be a working vacation. We’ve probably been putting in about 8-9hrs of work each day (Marc is logging closer to 10-11hrs, I think), but also have fun together cooking, eating and catching up. We made pasta and sauce from scratch tonight, and will probably cook up a pot of fresh dungaree crabs tomorrow. We did check out a lavender farm yesterday late afternoon and went to Lime Kiln Point to try to see if we would be able to see Orcas (aka Killer Whales), but alas no luck… we will try again later this week. We did learn that the J pod is the resident Orca pod that lives around here, and that there is usually also a transitory pod that comes through every year as well.

This place is definitely making it on my list of potential places to retire! Meanwhile, Marc & I might have to make this writing retreat out here an annual event (if Amber & her parents allow!)

~ Shuwen