Sunday, January 24, 2021

Hank Frank & Linda Lou Take Me On A Skagit Valley Sunday Drive


That is FGNHF (Favorite Great Nephew Hank Frank) you are see above, smiling at you and looking cute. Hank Frank texted that selfie to me, with the text saying "Howdy FUD".

I do not like being technical regarding these type matters, but shouldn't that be "Howdy FGUD"?

I texted Hank Frank back, asking if he was taking good care of his mom and dad, and making sure they are behaving themselves. I also asked if he'd had any snow yet in the valley.

Hank Frank replied back "No snow so far this year. They took me for a drive this morning and there was fresh snow in Clear Lake hill. I really like drives. I point out at every stoplight from the backseat at an outside voice level what color I observe. Red, green or the occasional yellow."

Sometimes I think I may be a bit of an old fuddy duddy. Like finding it makes me feel outta sync with the times regarding the fact that all my nephews, and one niece, have smart phones. The older nephews, that does not seem too hard to understand, but the younger ones, ranging from 13 to 2, well, I will just say that when I was their age I did not even have my own dumb phone. I shared a phone attached to a cord attached to a wall. And I couldn't send photos thousands of miles. Or videos.

And then, whilst I was exchanging text messages with Hank Frank, another text message came in from the Skagit Valley, from Hank Frank's cousin, Spencer Jack's neighbor, Linda Lou. 

The text message from Linda Lou also included a photo along with text.


The Linda Lou text said "Descending from Conway Hill, view of the Valley, and the San Juan Islands in the distance."

It has been a few years since I have driven down steep Conway Hill. At the bottom of the hill one soon comes to Interstate 5. We are looking west in this view. I think I can make out Mount Erie on Fidalgo Island, sticking up on the horizon to the left of the middle. That may be Orcas Island sticking up above the horizon on the far right.

There are a lot of islands in the Skagit Valley neighborhood. Real islands, surrounded by real water. Not imaginary islands surrounded by a cement lined ditch, which Fort Worth has been trying to build for most of this century, currently stuck trying to build three simple little bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland with that aforementioned imaginary island.

If Linda Lou croseed I-5, drove through the little village of Conway, then continued over the bridge over the South Fork of the Skagit River, to Fir Island, to another bridge leaving Fir Island, crossing over the North Fork of the Skagit River, back to the mainland, Linda Lou would be aiming directly towards where Hank Frank lives and operates his apple orchard. 

Next summer maybe I will get to go on a drive with Hank Frank and Linda Lou...

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