Puget Sound Sand Castles With David, Theo & Ruby

Incoming email from sister Michele, with several photos and the following explanatory text...

"We had a beach day recently, which always means an attempt to thwart the tide. Sadly, the tide won, again."

I assume the beach day was at Harstine Island, located at the south end of Puget Sound, and not Birch Bay, located way to the north, almost to Canada.

David, Theo and Ruby have become adept at sand castling, having received professional training on a Pacific Ocean beach in San Diego.

Above we are seeing the result of the sand castling, awaiting the incoming tide.

 And now the tide has arrived, with David, Theo and Ruby waiting to see if their sand walls can keep out the tide.

And now we see photo documentation documenting the fact that the tide won, washing into oblivion the Tacoma Trio's construction.

I have not seen a saltwater beach since summer of 2017. I have seen seagulls since then, though...

Theo Kayaking With Harstine Island Orcas

Incoming 4th of July email from sister Michele and the Tacoma Trio, David, Theo and Ruby, at Harstine Island. The email included three instances of photo documentation. The explanatory text in the email...

On Saturday, we heard Orcas were headed toward Harstine. Theo convinced me to grab kayaks. We paddled out a ways and watched them across Pickering Passage. They were a bit south of us and all the way across toward the other shore. A few boats were close to them and then one came from the south way too fast and close and the whales, maybe 3 or 4, went under. We watched and waited for them to surface and then the biggest one did - right behind Theo and me!!! He saw it but I was too scared to move. It was so loud, and we got wet from the spray. I was shaking so bad thinking the others would also surface but none did. Later, another kayaker approached me on the beach and shared a photo he took off the video he had. He had his phone videoing the whole time, just waiting for them to come up. And a friend on shore shared the final pic, also from a video.

That would be Theo in the kayak in the top photo,

And the above would be the Orca surfacing a short distance from sister Michele and Theo.

The above is from the video shot from the Harstine Island shore.

I think it is rather rare for an Orca pod to be in the far south end of Puget Sound.

Though Orcas are also known as Killer Whales, there really are not any instances I have ever heard of where a killer whale manages to kill a human.

But, it is scary to find oneself in the midst of an Orca Pod. Such happened to me many years ago, whilst fishing with mom and dad near Cattle Point by San Juan Island. As we trolled for salmon suddenly Orcas appeared. At least a dozen, with a couple Orca calves.

The Orca pod surrounded us. Dad hit the brakes on the boat. The Orcas acted like they were checking us out. One got real close, maybe ten feet from the boat, looking like he was smiling at us. Mom reacted much like Michele, totally scared, with me and dad telling mom over and over again that they are harmless, they won't sink the boat.

I think of that Orca encounter every once in awhile. It happened decades before the norm became to always have a photo taking device on one's person. I do not remember ever taking an old-fashioned type camera along on one of the many fishing trips. I now wish I had.

If that Orca encounter with mom and dad happened now, I would be snapping multiple photos and video which likely would go viral once I put it on YouTube, with people finding mom amusing with her hysterical reaction to being surrounded by Orcas...

Theo & Ruby Turn Tarzan & Jane On HOT Harstine Island

That would be Theo you see swinging on a rope above.

Two photos arrived in my email this morning from Harstine Island in Puget Sound in swelteringly HOT Washington.

The text in the email explained what we are seeing...

As we drove back to our cabin from the pool, we saw it was a beautiful sunset, so we went to the beach and the twins took turns on the rope swing. It was high tide, so they could drop into the water!  I’m ready for some cooler temps, and I cannot believe that a day in the 80’s sounds nice! Usually that is waaaay too hot. I hope everyone and all the animals and trees survive this. It’s crazy!

And that would be Ruby above doing her best "Jane" imitation. 

That is a scenic sunset.

For those in Fort Worth who have never actually seen one, and who are easily duped as to what one is, Theo & Ruby are swinging on an island.

Harstine Island.

Harstine Island is surrounded by water, saltwater, to be precise. Located in the south end of Puget Sound, which is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean.

Harstine Island was not created by digging a ditch and then diverting dirty river water into the ditch and then declaring the result to be an island.

Changing the subject back to Theo & Ruby swinging on a rope vine like Tarzan & Jane, we can not help but wonder where David is.

Is he still at the Irish Redhead Event?

David could have played the Cheetah role in this Tarzan & Jane rope vine swinging scenario...

Ruby Version 2021 On Harstine Island & Ruby Version 1917 On Another Island

That is my one and only Favorite Niece Ruby piggybacking on my Favorite Nephew Theo, you see above, on Harstine Island, located in the southern zone of Puget Sound.

Harstine Island is a real island connected to the mainland by a bridge built over actual water in less than four years. This is remarkable, because in my current location, Texas, there is a town, Fort Worth, which takes way longer than four years to build simple little bridges over dry land to connect to an imaginary island.

Below we see Favorite Nephew David has joined his little sister and brother, along with, I believe, Raven the Poodle.

On Facebook today I came upon a post which mentioned a Ruby from over a century ago. 

That is that Ruby you see below, leading a blind soldier. Scroll down past the photo to read about Ruby.

HEROES COME IN ALL SIZES!

The little girl in this photograph is Ruby Crane. From the age of 3 years old Ruby walked blinded soldiers around a rehabilitation centre called St Dunstans at Brighton in Sussex, England. Ruby's Father was the head gardener there....she knew they were blinded and just returned from the first World War. Wandering the grounds, she would take hold of their hand and ask them where they wanted to go.

She would guide them around the grounds. People were so affected by little Ruby walking the blind soldiers around they would send her dolls and toys as a thank you for all the support she was giving to the men and women affected by sight loss. Little Ruby was rewarded with a long life as she passed away in her late nineties, in 2011.

Ruby recalled..... " I always remember how my little hand seemed so small in their big hands....they were so pleased to have a child come and talk to them....it was something different away from the monotonous grind of not being able to see things." Ruby was so popular that she featured on the front page of the St Dunstans first Annual Report for 1915/1916 and later Flag Day emblems incorporated a similar design that featured Little Ruby.

Ruby & Theo Saltwater Swim While Hank Frank Bats

Yesterday I exchanged multiple text messages with my various siblings. In addition to talking to one of my siblings via the old-fashioned talking on the phone method. It was on that old-fashioned phone call I learned I needed to save a date in May on which I was expected to be in Mexico. Cabo San Lucas to be precise.

On that same phone call I told my Arizona sister that our little brother had been having trouble sending photos to my phone. Last week Spencer Jack and Hank Frank's grandpa, my little brother, Jake, braved the COVID dangers and flew Alaskan to his old home zone in Washington.

My Arizona sister rode with me to Lucy Park yesterday. That's when we talked on the phone. When I finally got to the bike ride part of the excursion, about a mile into riding, my phone made that incoming message noise. I braked the bike at a shady spot to check who was texting. It was my sister, somehow managing to send the photos my brother was unable to send.

That is one of those photos you see below.

That is Hank Frank getting baseball training from his grandpa. Apparently we are seeing the part of the training where Hank Frank learns how to hold a bat. I assume the orange cone is to serve a T-ball purpose, with the ball sitting atop the cone whilst Hank Frank learns to swing the bat at it.

I forgot to explain what that photo at the top is. That was from David, Theo and Ruby's mama Michele. The text said "Your crazy niece and her twin."

That would make that Theo and Ruby cooling off in the Puget Sound saltwater which surrounds Harstine Island, which is where the Tacoma Trio and their parental units are spending most of the summer.

Harstine Island has a community pool. But, due to that COVID menace it is closed. But the shallow waters of this part of Puget Sound warm up enough to make for a mighty fine playing in the water experience.

I do not know what David's position is on the issue of playing in the saltwater surrounding Harstine Island.

In August of 2017 it was discovered that David had some issues regarding the creatures which lurked in the water.

This was at Birch Bay, a location with much shallower water than that surrounding Harstine Island. When the tide goes low the tidal flats at Birch Bay extend a long distance, and so on a warm day the exposed sand gets heated, so when the tide rolls back in that heats transfers to the water, with that water getting as warm as bathwater.

At Birch Bay David's worries about what was in the water reached a high pitch when we found ourselves being chased by a large Dungeness crab.

I may have not helped matters when I mentioned that octopi also live in the Puget Sound and surrounding saltwater zones. David asked about sharks, and I could not tell a lie, and so I told him that there are a lot of sharks, and more often than not when fishing for salmon or cod it is a shark you reel in. I also tried to calm David down by explaining that Birch Bay was probably too shallow for any big shark to be in the water.

If it weren't for the COVID nightmare, I would have been able to determine via eye witnessing if David does brave the water that surrounds Harstine Island...

Theo Sandcastled On Harstine Island Before Making Puget Sound Glow Blue

A couple days ago, if I am remembering accurately, I mentioned that during these current times rarely a day goes by where something or someone will not cause me a bout of homesickness pinging for a visit to my old home zone of the Pacific Northwest.

Currently, if I were on the west coast, I think I might likely be heading to the state I was born in, to go to the biggest town in that state, Portland, to join those trying to protect the lawful protesters from Trump's thuggish Storm Troopers.

Back to what made me homesick today, well, actually this arrived last night, via email. Photos from Washington's Harstine Island.

For those living in Fort Worth who know not of such things, Harstine Island is an actual island, a chunk of land totally surrounded by actual water. In this case the saltwater of Puget Sound. Harstine Island can be accessed by boat, float plane or the bridge which connects the actual island to the mainland. That bridge was built in less than a year, over actual water, the depth of which varies due to this thing called tidal action.

The photos from Harstine Island came in two separate emails.

The text in the first email said "Some Tacoma friends came to the island on their boat, Theo as sandcastle, and the mountain framed between trees."

Which would make that Theo being an integral part of a sandcastle, in the picture you see above. That is Theo's sister, Ruby, to the right of the castle. But, the kid on the left is not brother David, unless David is nowadays coloring his redhead hair a new color.

That would be the Tacoma friend's boat on the right side of the below photo. That white thing you see on the horizon, in the distance, is Mount Rainier, known in Washington simply as The Mountain.

Also, in the above photo, if you look on the left side of the picture you will see some swimmers swimming. Their identity was not part of the information in the email, so I don't know if it is David, Theo and Ruby in the water.

Yes, for those who have not had the pleasure, the saltwater of Puget Sound can get warm enough to pleasantly swim in. That and at most locations the water is crystal clear, with the not crystal clear locations being where rivers drain into Puget Sound, with that river water made silty due to much of the water being from melting glaciers and snowpacks.

Continuing on we come to the photo with the mountain framed between trees.

That appears to be Mama Kristin in the kayak, floating under Mount Rainier.

Now we come to the second email, with the explanatory text of "While waiting to see the comet, Theo tossed some rocks in the water and it lit up! I told them you tried to show them bioluminescence at birch bay but they didn’t remember."

Above you are see the blue bioluminescent glow that lit up when Theo threw a rock in the water. There were two other blue glow photos, with the above one being my favorite. It sort of looks like a blue alligator.

I did try to get the kids to experience bioluminescence when we were at Birch Bay, summer of 2017. It was a Sunday night, August 13, to be precise. The tide was all the way in. It was dark. The Uncle Mooch entourage had departed. I had earlier that day told the Tacoma Trio that if we went in the Bay after dark the water would glow.

So, we went to the water's edge, tested the water. It was cold, way too cold to get wet in. We should have tried soon after dark, before the tide was all the way in, and while the water was still warm from being heated from rolling in across the HOT sandy tidal flats.

If all had gone according to the plan, I would be in Washington right now. I think the Birch Bay part of being there would have happened more towards the end of July.

I have yet to remember to go out after dark to look north at the Big Dipper to see the comet. Maybe I will remember tonight.

And that is the final photo, the aforementioned comet, far above Harstine Island.

On Harstine Island Sand Castle Building With David, Theo & Ruby

Incoming via phone last night from the David, Theo and Ruby's mama Kristin, with the text message accompanying three photos saying...

"Wish you were here."

I wish I was there too.

I have not been on a beach since the last time I was on a beach with the Tacoma Trio and mama Kristin, back in August of 2017, with the beach being the one one finds at Birch Bay, in Whatcom County, a few miles south of the border with Canada.

At that point in time I had myself a mighty fine time building a sand castle with Theo, Ruby and mama Kristin. The David part of the Tacoma Trio was engrossed in a solo project, so was not part of building the massive Birch Bay sand castle.

Since that time at Birch Bay, David, Theo and Ruby have had professional sand castle building training whilst in San Diego.

Currently the Tacoma Trio and their parental units are riding out this period of social isolation at their cabin on Harstine Island, which would make these three photo Harstine Island beach photos.

That is Theo standing inside the sand castle fortification he and David and Ruby built to try and keep out the incoming tide. As you can clearly see, at the above tide level the sand wall fortification is successfully keeping the castle dry.

That white snow cone you see in the distance is a volcano which goes by the name Mount Rainier. The original locals called this volcano Tahoma, which is the source for the name of the town David, Theo and Ruby live in when they are not on lockdown. I do not know why the 'h' in the name was switched out with a 'c'.

Eventually the incoming tide became too much for the sand castle's fortifications to hold back. Above Theo and David are no longer able to keep dry behind their castle's wall.

For months now I have been looking forward to this summer and returning to Birch Bay with David, Theo and Ruby and their parental units, and all but one of my other siblings.

However, heading northwest in July is starting to seem like an increasingly bleak prospect...

Virtual Low Tide Washington Harstine Island Coronavirus Escape With Deer

A couple days ago I emailed sister Michele, maternal parental unit of David, Theo and Ruby, asking how the Tacoma Trio and their parental units were doing with the ongoing Coronavirus nightmare.

In addition to telling me how things were going in one email reply, a second email included five photos which made me homesick for being in a scenic wonderland.

The first two photos fit in with the recent Facebook fad of people posting landscape photos, with no humans, as a diversion from these trying times.

The text with the first two photos said "Evening low tide with cool sky colors."

I would say cool sky colors along with cool clouds.

It sounds like the home schooling has been lumbering along. The teacher's send some homework. Not graded or required. So, the Tacoma Trio spend time on something called iReady, which focuses the kids on math and reading. The kids are doing a lot of reading.

Above, for his science class, Theo is experimenting with the centrifugal force concept, turning his arm into a windmill, spinning a bucket of water fast enough to keep the water from spilling.

David has been helping mama Michele improve her tennis game. The text with this photo asked "Is there a more beautiful place to play tennis?"

There are a lot of deer living on Harstine Island. The deer frequently visit the Tacoma Trio's cabin due to knowing one of the trio, well, two of the trio, may come and give them a treat. Like an apple.

David does not participate in the deer feeding due to a morbid fear of deer.

Harstine Island is a privately owned chunk of Puget Sound.

Washington has closed all public parks, beaches and playgrounds, currently through May 4. But the beaches of Harstine Island, and the tennis courts, and other amenities, remain open, for now.

The Tacoma Trio's mama Michele has ordered a fleet of kayaks to give  them something new to do during the duration of the lockdown, which some think may not end in early May, but may continue til July.

I was looking forward to heading to Washington in a couple months. Currently that plan is on hold...

Tacoma Trio Deer Corona Isolation With Harstine Island Bridge Over Water Unlike Fort Worth

David, Theo & Ruby, also known as the Tacoma Trio, are now in, I think, week three of their school being closed due to the Coronavirus nightmare.

The Tacoma Trio's parental units have also been sent to homebound social isolation for the duration.

I do not know if the Tacoma Trio and their parental units are spending all their isolation time isolated on Harstine Island, where they have a cabin retreat, or if they have been going back and forth between Tacoma and the island.

What I do know is in that first photo we are seeing Theo leading his favorite herd of island deer on a bike ride around the island.

In the next photo we can plainly see that Washington geographic feature Washingtonians refer to simply as The Mountain. Non locals refer to this volcano as Mount Rainier.

As you can see the early Spring weather in Western Washington can be quite pleasant, when Mother Nature deems it so. Above we are seeing Ruby filling in a hole in which Theo is being buried.

Next summer, if life on the planet returns to some semblance of normal, I hope to be on a Washington beach with David, Theo and Ruby, where the Tacoma Trio will show me the sand castle building skills they learned whilst attending sand castle building school in San Diego last July.

Above we are witnessing David extinguishing the fire he built for the weenie and marshmallow roast he enjoyed with his brother and sister and the parental units.

No, that is not one of Theo's deer on the left. That is the newest member of the family, Raven, the full-sized poodle. The Tacoma Trio and Raven are sitting on a bench with the Harstine Island lagoon behind them.

And now on to something one finds on Harstine Island which is difficult to find in landlocked Fort Worth, Texas.

An actual bridge built over actual water connecting an actual mainland to an actual island. What a concept!

Even though the Harstine Island bridge is a cool looking bridge, mostly due to the scenic setting, over actual saltwater, no clueless local is dumb enough to refer to this as a "signature" bridge. Or claim it to be a complex feat of engineering.

The Harstine Island bridge was built over actual tidal water which moves with the whims of the moon.

And when the Harstine Island bridge was built there was no TNT exploding celebration to mark the start of construction. Nor did the bridge have a ridiculously long four year project timeline. Nor was any local politician's unqualified son and daughter-in-law put on the public dole to the tune of hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars, year after year after year.

That landlocked Fort Worth, Texas town, mentioned above, has been trying to build three simple little bridges over dry land ever since a big TNT exploding ceremony way back in 2014.

The simple little bridges are now projected to possibly be ready for water sometime in this decade.

For well over a decade Fort Worth's favorite grifter, Kay Granger, has had her son, J.D., un-gainfully employed by what has become one of America's dumbest, biggest boondoggles, with J.D. currently paid over $200K a year, plus perks, along with also employing J.D.'s most recent wife.

In the past year J.D. sort of got fired from his imaginary Executive Director position and then put in charge of imaginary flood control in an area which has not flooded for well over a half a century. With no pay cut.

J.D.'s mother has failed on delivering the federal pork that the hiring of her son was intended to motivate. And yet the scandalous nepotism continues.

And now another look at the Harstine Island bridge.

That looks like Mama Kristin behind Theo and Ruby, under the Harstine Island bridge.

Methinks it clearly obvious that if Fort Worth is ever able to finish building those three simple little bridges over dry land that the final result will not be any where near as scenic as that which we see above.

A real island, natural water, not a cement lined ditch with polluted river water diverted into the ditch.

And no matter which direction one looks, one will never see a mountain from any location in Fort Worth.

Ruby Finds The Mountain Wearing A Pink Hat While I Commiserate

Incoming text message with a photo, last night.

Text in message..."The Mountain is wearing a pink hat tonight."

Since this text message was coming from Washington I knew the Mountain being referred to was Mount Rainier, since such is what Mount Rainier is referred in Washington, as simply the Mountain.

Even though there are four other volcano mountains in Washington, Rainier is the only one which can pretty much be seen from any location in the state, hence Mount Rainier representing Washington on the state license plate.

When I looked at the photo on my phone I could not make out the Mountain, or the pink hat it was alleged to be wearing.

But, I could see my one and only niece, Ruby, on Harstine Island, standing on the shore of Puget Sound, but I could see no Mountain

I have had this problem with previous photos sent from Harstine Island.

Previously, even after taking the photo off the phone, in order to view it via the big screen monitor, I still could not see the Mountain.

But, due to learning my lesson from those previous instances I knew I was only looking at the i-Phone photo at 27% size. Increasing the photo to 100%, suddenly the Mountain appears.

I then cropped out the part of the photo which clearly shows the Mountain wearing a pink hat, for your viewing pleasure below...

I have seen Mount Rainier wearing weirder things than this pink hat.

Mount Rainier has a long history of hosting weird things, like crystal gazing gurus, and UFOs, among other things, like strange cloud formations.

Just yesterday I was in ALDI, in Wichita Falls, which is in Texas, where there are no volcanoes, or any real mountain ranges, and the subject of Mount Rainier came up when I was checking out and the ALDI checkout lady, with whom I had previously conversed multiple times, asked me when I'm going to Arizona again, since mention had been made over the years of my frequent Arizona visits.

I replied that my next scheduled escape from Texas was going to Washington next summer.

Which Washington she asked.

The one with natural volcanoes I replied.

She then surprised me saying first that she had not traveled all that much, had hardly ever been out of flat Texas, but a couple months prior had flown northwest, to Washington, to visit friends in Seattle, who had a cabin at Packwood.

Packwood, by Mount Rainier I asked?

Yes, was the reply. She told me she had seen pictures of such places but being there in person was mesmerizing, that it was so peaceful, the scenery so beautiful.

I replied something along the line of that is true, it is scenic, but that you don't really fully appreciate it when you grow up living there, but I do now, when I return.

The ALDI lady then said something along the line of she would not mind moving to Washington.

To which I replied I like visiting, but I really can't picture moving back.

And then that same day I called to my Arizona sister, who when I called was at Sea-Tac waiting to board to return to Arizona after a multi-week visit to Washington for the first time in several years.

I don't remember how the subject got brought up, but I asked about either the mountains or the Mountain, to which my sister replied she saw no mountains during the visit, other than driving the pass over the Cascades, on the way to visit the Tacoma Trio, and others, after first spending a week in Eastern Washington visiting her in-laws.

Apparently Western Washington was in pretty much 100% cloud cover mode during my sister's entire visit.

I asked how well she adjusted to the temperature difference after so long not experiencing it, let alone experiencing it in Winter. To which my sister replied that she really could not see moving back and adjusting to the cloudy rainy days after getting used to the reliable sunshine of Arizona.

Ironically, the day after my sister returned to Arizona I read in the Seattle Times that Western Washington, the previous day, had had it first mostly clear day since way back in November.

I really am sort of conflicted about the idea of moving back to my old home zone.

There are so many things I would so greatly appreciate now. Like the scenery. How close one is to so many different things. Few miles to the west, saltwater, few miles to the east, mountains. Seafood. Digging clams, catching dungeness crab. Blackberries, free for the picking. All sorts of easily acquired produce.

Drive over the mountains to a more desert, Texas-like climate, both weather-wise, and political-wise. Where apples, peaches, apricots, grapes, nectarines and all sorts of other stuff I am forgetting, grow, cheap and easy to acquire. And of high quality.

Or drive a few miles north and cross the border to another country, a progressive liberal country successfully demonstrating, for poorly educated ignorant sorts, way south of the border, how democratic socialism actually works.

I miss going regularly to Canada. I think my last time north of the border was shortly before moving to Texas, nephew Jason took me there to ride the Skytrain from Burnaby, I think it was Burnaby, to Vancouver, and then the Seabus across the bay to West Vancouver.

Next summer I will be a couple miles from the border with Canada. I suspect I will not be crossing over....

David, Theo & Ruby On Harstine Island With Deer & Aunt Jackie

Last night multiple photos of Aunt Jackie's visit to Harstine Island arrived via email.

Aunt Jackie's birthday was two days before Valentine's Day.

If I am remembering correctly, last summer I was told that my one and only niece, Ruby, had opted to take a summer school culinary class.

And then a couple months ago I was told that Ruby had told Aunt Jackie that if Aunt Jackie visited Washington during Aunt Jackie's birthday's time frame that Ruby would bake Aunt Jackie a birthday cake.

So, I am assuming that that is Ruby's birthday cake on which Aunt Jackie is trying to blow out the candles. Does each candle represent a decade? I do not know.  I do know for certain the candle blowing took place in David, Theo and Ruby's Harstine Island cabin.

Aunt Jackie with the Tacoma trio on the Harstine cabin's deck. That is not some sort of photoshopped backdrop in the background. That is what much of Western Washington looks like. One of the reasons the state's nickname is the Evergreen State.

No text explained what we are seeing above. I am guessing that Theo is controlling, remotely, a boat.

Or an electronic shark.

Harstine Island is a real island, surrounded by real water of the saltwater sort. Which would indicate the dock Theo is standing on is in Puget Sound.

Above we see Theo, outside the cabin, leading the intrepid trio to a confrontation with a deer herd. I suspect deer living on an island are used to friendly encounters with island dwellers.

I am looking forward to my first visit to Harstine Island, this coming summer.

So far Ruby has not said she will bake me a birthday cake...

Sisterly Happy Valentine's Day From Puget Sound's Harstine Island

Incoming this Valentine's Day afternoon from my favorite sister-in-law, Kristin.  That incoming being the photo you see above of my two baby sisters, Michele on the left, Jackie on the right.

Earlier today I requested island photo documentation when I learned from Jackie that she was in Tacoma and was soon departing with David, Theo and Ruby, along with Michele and Kristin, to go to the Tacoma Trio's cabin on Harstine Island.

I thought that photo documentation would likely be of the Tacoma Trio doing some fun thing, not expecting to get to see something like my young little sisters beaming happy in the semi-warm Washington sun.

Those reading this in Fort Worth, those are real islands you see in the background, I think. Or that may be the Washington mainland. But, as you can clearly see, a real island is surrounded by a large body of water.

Naturally occurring water.

Not a chunk of industrial wasteland with a cement lined ditch cut through it, pretending to be an island.

One gets to Harstine Island via a bridge connecting the mainland to the island. That bridge was built over actual water. Saltwater of the tidal changing sort.

Fort Worth has been stuck for years trying to build three simple little bridges, over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, that being that aforementioned industrial wasteland.

A short Wikipedia/Google blurb one sees when one Googles "Harstine Island"....

Harstine Island is an island in Mason County, Washington, United States. The US Census recognizes it as an unincorporated community. The island is located west of Case Inlet in southern Puget Sound, 9.94194 miles north of Olympia. It has a land area of 30.0153354 square miles, and had a population of 1,002 as of the 2000 census.

Can you imagine a day way in the distant future when someone might Google "Panther Island" and read...

Panther Island is an imaginary island in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. The US Census recognizes it as a poorly developed industrial wasteland. The imaginary island is located north of downtown Fort Worth, about 30 miles west of Dallas. It has a land area of a few square miles, and had a population of 1,002 as of the 2040 census, along with a large herd of feral cats.

Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day. I had the best lunch in recent memory today to celebrate this sacred holiday...

Fighting Harstine Island Tide With Ruby & Theo

Yesterday Ruby and Theo used their remote selfie stick to take a couple pictures, then email the pictures to their favorite uncle in Texas, with the explanatory text saying...

Fighting the Tide, Harstine Island Style.

It appears that the Harstine Island beach sand is a bit more coarse than the sand Ruby and Theo fought the tide with way back in August of 2017, when we built a massive sand castle fort at Birch Bay.

Since that last time I built sand castles with Ruby and Theo, with some help from big brother, David, the Tacoma Trio has had some professional sand castle construction training at an institution dedicated to that type training at a location on the Pacific Ocean near San Diego.

A closer look at Ruby and Theo's miniature sand castle fort, holding some sort of barrier in a likely futile attempt to thwart the incoming tide.

In about six months I should be up north, where the islands are real, and no one goes floating on inner tubes in polluted river water whilst drinking beer and listening to loud music at an imaginary pavilion on an imaginary island.

We are currently booked to stay at the same location at Birch Bay we stayed at the last time. The tides during that upcoming stay's time frame are going to be low, meaning there will be a lot of sand to work with.

And, if there are no clouds above, that sand should be heated up enough to warm the incoming tide to the temperature of lukewarm bath water.

I am looking forward to having a mighty fine time up in the Pacific Northwest version of modern America...

David, Theo & Ruby Chilly Crossing Harstine Island Bridge With Out Mountain UPDATED With Mountain

Incoming photos in this morning's email, sent via iPhone from Harstine Island  in Puget Sound in the west coast state of Washington.

First line of text in the email...

It was really chilly, but the mountain was out.

Ruby and David don't look too chilly, but Theo sort of looks to be shivering with his teeth chattering.

When someone in Western Washington says the Mountain is out, it means the sky is clear and one can see Mount Rainier looming above.

However, none of the photos show the Mountain. In the chilly photo I believe we are looking west, so the Mountain would be in the direction Ruby, David and Theo are looking, oriented slightly to their right, or south.

The text in the email also made mention of that structure behind Ruby, David and Theo...

Also, the bridge to Harstine Island. Built in 1968, I think. Replaced an 8 car ferry!

Another photo gives us a closer look at the bridge which replaced an 8 car ferry.

No details regarding how long it took to build this bridge over actual water. I suspect it took way less than four years. I doubt also that those piers holding up the bridge were ever referred to by any local idiot as being signature piers. I also doubt the building of this bridge to replace an 8 car ferry was turned off and on for years whilst waiting for federal welfare money to arrive from more prosperous parts of America.

Meanwhile, in Texas, this morning we blogged about Fort Worth's multi-year mess of trying to build three simple little bridges over dry land to connect to an imaginary island, in a post titled Bud Kennedy Awards Fort Worth A Gizzard For Panther Island Mess.

One can not imagine how long it would take Fort Worth to build an actual bridge over actual water, particularly deep water subjected to tidal water movement.

Continuing on with the photos from Harstine Island.

I could not tell who was standing by the swings on the Harstine Island beach. But, the camera which took the photos of David, Theo and Ruby is an iPhone which takes incredibly good high resolution photos, so I cropped out the lone swing stander to see if I could see who it was.

Okay, that looks to be Theo. No guess as to why Theo is standing solo by the swings, whilst wearing boots. Had he been clam digging? And what is that tool in Theo's right hand? And am I right? Is this Theo?

I am looking forward to being on a Birch Bay beach with Theo and his siblings next summer. Since we last built sand castles together Theo, David and Ruby have undergone some professional sand castle building training, in San Diego. I suspect Theo will be the lead sand castle building project engineer, with me following his directions.

I hope the Mountain is out every day when I am up north next summer.

But, at Birch Bay, a few miles south of Canada, we are too far north to see Mount Rainier when it is out. At Birch Bay, (and the Skagit Valley) if you said the Mountain is out, it would be the Mount Baker volcano you would be seeing, not Mount Rainier.

But, Mount Baker is never referred to as the Mountain.

The Mountain is reserved to be used only for Mount Rainier.

Now that you are causing me to think about it I remembered that one can see Mount Rainier from the Skagit Valley, when one is out on the Flats, and the air is clear.

The reason Mount Rainier is on the Washington state license plates is because it is the only mountain in the state which can be seen from all over the state, well, most of the state...

UPDATE: I was informed my spelling of the island was wrong. I used the spelling from the original email I got telling me about the new cabin, as in it was on Hartstene Island. But, the island, apparently is actually Harstine Island. It is the private development on the island which goes by the island name with two e's.

UPDATE 2: A second email from David, Theo & Ruby Headquarters told me to zoom in on the last two photos and I would see that the Mountain is out in the picture. I did so, saw the Mountain, and cropped out the version you see below, clearly showing that the Mountain was out.