| November 27, 2016 |
I really find it funny how quickly life slips away, and how the days pass almost instantaneously. I remember reading once that the earth is more on a tilt, and therefore our earth is spinning faster, and therefore this hallucination that time is moving quickly is accurate.
I think I may have read this subconsciously to justify my inability to grasp the current moment, with only enough time to cherish it briefly before it’s gone and a memory. Perhaps time passes this quickly because it’s testing our ability to let go. Our ability to not cling onto moments.
Whatever it is, I can’t believe it was three months ago that my family was in Washington. So much has happened since these days, yet I feel like it was just yesterday. And now, I’ll be returning to NY in less than a month for Christmas (2017 to be determined). Well, I guess I should get to reminiscing about the rest of our San Juan Island retreat…
We took a morning ferry from San Juan Island to Orcas Island. I carried all my belongings, as I was planning to continue on toward Anacortes that evening. We were greeted with heavy winds upon disembarking the ferry, and drove through the town with plans to find a delicious lunch. We stopped at Island Market and picked up fresh sandwiches, pineapple Fanta, and Tillamook cheese to enjoy on a waterside location. We meandered our way onto a windy coast to prevent our sandwiches from being blown away, marvel at driftwood, and not feel cold.
Did I say driftwood? There wasn’t nearly enough.
We then headed toward the highest point on Orcas Island: Mount Constitution in Moran State Park. We did NOT intend to hike our way to the top due to dad’s head injury. On our driving route to the top, about 7.5 miles onto Mount Constitution Road, we saw signs for Cascade Falls. We decided to take the quick walk to see Rustic Falls, Cascade Creek, and Hidden Falls–all in a short walking distance from each other. My brothers and I were overly cautious with Dad’s head. He’s rather daring, and we held him back a wee bit to prevent reinjury.
Do you like this spider hammock set up as much as I do?
Good, now I don’t feel like such a weirdo. Hammock life for the win.
A little further along Mount Constitution Road, we pulled off to the right to use the restrooms, and Kenneth and I saw a sign for a 2.5 mile hike to the summit of Mount Constitution that we decided to take. We didn’t give dad the option to join in fear of irritating his healing Irish head. We made a brisk approach to the summit, where we could not see the peaks of nearby mountains, but we did get a breathtaking, expansive view.
Disclaimer: I no longer had my camera battery at this point, and therefore completely slacked on getting decent photos at the summit. It’s funny how, in the moment, I often times disregard the capturing to enjoy. However, afterwards, I almost always regret not taking a few more photos to remember the journey…
How I wish I could just capture those fleeting moments, always.
