My Happy Place....

Some people go to Disneyland, others go to the Turks and Caicos or Hawaii, I go to Decatur Island. And I don't just mean physically go there. I mean when I go to the "happy place" in my head, I picture sitting on the lawn and staring out toward the bay. Just like in the picture above. It's not only the bay in MY picture, no no no. The toes that were just painted by a kid at their "spa", there are toys strewn all over the lawn, magazines every where and half of them more then a year old, there are kids running around doing whatever they want, the sun is out and I have a diet coke in my hand. That is my happy place. It makes me smile just writing about it. Our family was lucky enough to be in our happy place all last week!

Yes, it was another amazing week in the San Juans on Decatur Island. When we arrived there was another group that had been at the cabin all week. Rumor has it that there were 29 people in all. The only reason that this matters is that the water is really limited there. Limited to the point that we only shower every 3 days or so and only flush when someone goes #2. So we were a little nervous about water when we arrived. It was nice to meet some of the people that I had heard about over the years. At least they were nice people that had used the water...;-)

The first afternoon was spent filling the refrigerator with all our food, unloading toys from their bins and deciding what bed to sleep in for the week. Decisions, decisions.... Then a BIG CAMPFIRE, smores and bed for the kids. I got to stay up a bit since I am a grown up.

The boys, I mean the daddies, turn into little boys on the island. Their "jobs" include the following.....
1) Collecting wood on the south beach and hauling it in the old truck or Jeep. This year it was the Jeep.
2) Going out in the boat to drop the crab pots.
3) Going out in the boat to collect the crabs.
4) Take the kids to play golf.
5) Dishes
6) Smashing cans
They were great this year (as always). The best thing is they did the dishes with out being prompted. It was amazing. They, of course do more things over the course of the week but those tasks are their "must dos."

On our first full day on the island the boys decided that we needed a new, bigger, better flag pole and we needed it immediately. Shannon's dad had moved a piece of drift wood down the beach that would be the perfect pole. Yes, this 45' piece of drift wood would be the perfect pole but how in the hell could we get it to stand on end? Ah, we don't have a crane on the island. Actually I don't have one at home either. This did not seem to slow the boys down or dampen their spirits. They had a plan, it was keeping them busy and until they asked for help the women were not getting involved. A couple hours in they needed help. They were going to lift the pole and Shannon and I were going to put a one pole support under it. Now I had to use my brain. Nope, we aren't doing that, it is dangerous. "What is to keep the pole from falling left or right?" The boys hadn't considered that. Yes, the women were now involved. I won't bore you with details but an "A" frame support, a tripod support, 4 women, 2 men and an hour later the end was about 20' in the air. We were using our inner Ancient Egyptian engineer to the max. At this point a guy moseys up the beach and says, "Whacha doin'?" We explain. He says, "I've got some rope.....I'll be right back." He's got giant rope! Now Mike climbs out on the pole to secure the lifting rope and the guide ropes. Again, it doesn't look safe but it's the island. We attach the lifting rope to the Jeep that is about 75' up the hill. Now there is lots of yelling, I am driving, the boys are guiding and holy cow IT GOES UP! Yippie!!! We couldn't believe that it worked! We now have the largest flag pole on the island and are wondering why we didn't put an airplane blinker on the top when we had the chance. Taking the ropes off of the top is going to be a challenge but the flag pole is up. And that is day 2.

I can't tell you exactly what happened on the other days because they all blend together. It's always that way. There was playing on the pirate ship. The pirate ship is made out of drift wood and is on the South Beach. There's an old dude on the island that builds stuff out of drift wood. Very cool. The big girls (the 8 year olds) learned to kayak so that took a lot of their time. They also liked to catch fish in little nets. My little boys played really nicely together for the whole week. That made me really happy. They babysitters, Clara and Mackenzie, facilitated play for all the kids and played a bit themselves. The moms cooked, sat in the sun, chatted and watched all the action. And the daddies did their daily tasks, napped, played with the kids and relaxed (after the flag pole was up). It's all good.

There are only a few things that create big excitement each day. One is watching the Island Express and the Paraclete come in. These are the 2 services that boat people to and from the island. First we see a boat coming into the bay from a great distance. We all note, "Hey, here comes a boat." Then the next part...."I think it's the Island Express." We all confer, wait a minute and then we decide what boat it is. Then when the boat arrives we all try to determine who it is and what they're here for. I know this doesn't sound very exciting but really, when you are moving at the island's pace this is entertainment. It's awesome. And it's REALLY exciting when someone you know is arriving. Then we're watching for the boat at a specific time. Ohhhh, ahhhhh....

Another exciting thing.....the store. The "store" is really giving a lot of credit to the place. They have some ice cream bars, some soda and a few other things. It's like a 7-11 that has run out of almost everything. None the less, a trip to the store always incites excitement. The kids love the place. It's about a mile from the beach but knowing there is ice cream and candy at the end of the walk makes it all worth the trek. We usually ride in the Rattle Bang, it's an old truck, but this year it was broken. The kids did "drive" (on daddy's lap) the Jeep up there a couple times. The store is only open Wed - Sun. Coulter was wondering, "Why is the ice cream store only open when it's cold out?" This year that was true.

And the school. There is a one room school house on the island. It is an actual public school with 3 students last year, and maybe 5 next year. This trip the building was open. We got to go in and talk to the teacher and check out the space. This was big excitement. Sophia Shannon was with Shannon and I on the way to the store one day. When she reported that she had seen the inside of the school, my Sophia was really jealous. We had to walk home from the store (she rode in the Jeep there) so she could also see the inside of the school. There are swings, a slide and monkey bars at the school too. Yes, this is another exciting thing on the island.

AND on Saturday there is a farmers market. Oh man, we can hardly wait everyone will be there! Saturday comes and we check out the action at the market. I got some vinegar and plum/ginger jelly. There were home made pot holders, old books, hand made cards etc. It was great fun to be there. So cute, quaint.

One night we had movie night. Spy Kids. It is really fun. We all get our sleeping bags and most of us have a small person on us. The big benefit to having your own small person is they keep you warm. We all cozy up and enjoy.

Then there is the food. We have crab almost every night. There is nothing finer than fresh crab around the outdoor table (big spool). I plan my meals for months. Nothing really elaborate but it's always good. We all put in good effort on the food.

This year we had visitors too. On Thursday Mike's cousin and her husband came over to the island from Lopez where they live in a yurt. They arrived via kayak. Seriously, it doesn't get much more "island" then that. Mike's cousin brought a bounty from their garden....beautiful and fresh. And Clara's parents, Greg and Rebecca, came over on the Island Express. You can imagine how exciting it was waiting for the boat that day! Greg and Rebecca have been hearing about our adventures on the island for 5 years and just had to come see what it was all about. They had been on Orcas all week so this was the perfect opportunity. We had a big party. Actually it was the same as every night just bigger. We all had crab and lots of other food. It was fun to show them around and what had been planned to be a one night stay turned into 2 nights. They loved it. Greg walked around the whole island playing his fiddle. Some woman down the beach asked Shannon and I, "Did you see the guy walking around playing the violin?" She had the, he's a little nutty, tone in her voice. We just said, "yeah." We thought it was fun to have our own entertainer.

In between all our excitement we read, nap, paint our toes, paint other people's toes, snack, nap, walk to South Beach, swing and plan for the next day. It is a wonderful experience every year. I love that it's pretty much the same every year even the being short of water part. It makes you respectful of the water and you make a bath or shower really count, you really appreciate it when it's your turn.

I like thinking back over the past 10 years and reflecting on what we've done there. I love that some art work I did 4 years ago on the one rainy day I have ever experienced there is still on the front door. I so appreciate that the Shannons and Sparks have shared their slice of heaven with us. I look forward to planning another adventure there next year or when ever we go next. The planning and dreaming about the island is half the fun.

So that is MY happy place. I look forward to physically going there again in the future and I plan on visiting the island a hundred times in my head over the the next year.