Hiking Beside, Not Kayaking In
Deception Pass, Whidbey Island
narrow channel. fierce
tides force whirling eddies, white
froth a bright blessing
—dotty seiter
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~3.5 x 4.5″; watercolor in travel art journal
#28 in a series of color swatches
2025
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Notes about poem and art:
• “Deception” is a haiku that places me right back on the high bridge that spans Deception Pass where we watched two kayakers contending with the force of the outgoing tide. Better they than I!
• What the Moles is a happy reminder of Scott and Alisa’s wonderful raised-bed gardens with their late season bounty, including this beautiful radish which offered itself up to be part of my lunch salad. The title of this color swatch indicates a property dispute between S&A and some moles.
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10 responses to “Hiking Beside, Not Kayaking In”
Oh gosh, moles a-plenty after the rain, eh?! Gardening certainly brings one face to face with chances to be one with what is!
The tiny radish depicted above was a lovely little element of my travels, offering me a reference for color-mixing and matching, for photographing, and for lunch!
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I would much rather be hiking beside…rather than kayaking in difficult waters. And who doesn’t love a beautiful radish saved from the moles.
We grew a lot of radishes in the farm garden. My dad would put a little pile of salt on the table beside his plate to dip his whole radishes in while he ate his dinner. It’s a vivid picture in my head to this day. I didn’t like radishes at the time…but I love them now. Maybe that’s why it made such an impressions. How could he eat so many raw radishes like that!
MaryAnn, the currents and kayakers we were watching: both fierce! I was riveted—and the tension was increased because we were observing from a high bridge!!
Thank you for sharing your dad-and-radishes story! So tender and evocative and captivating. Such a testament to earthly pleasures and gifts of the senses. Makes me want to grab a radish (though none are at hand) and pour myself a little pile of salt (though I keep to a salt restricted diet).
A property dispute! ha ha! Giggling over here. And so in love with your swatches and poems pairings. Like wine and chocolate! YUM!
As for kayakers and currents, we sometimes head to Spirit Falls to watch the brave kayakers go over (by choice! can you imagine?) and it is a thrill! Never me, for sure, but fun to watch. xo
Those property disputes! Definitely a spiritual practice to see through the eyes of both parties! One of Dave’s students back in the day, a young man from rural Maine explained that his family solved such disputes as follows: We plant one garden for ourselves and one garden for the varmints.
Fun to think of my poems and swatches pairings as wine and chocolate. Thanks for that notion!
Holy moly! Over Spirit Falls in a kayak? By choice?? THAT’d get my spectator blood pressure right up there, for sure!
Hahaha! What the moles left… ;o)
I love this swatch and the imprinted textures! Delicious! And the spattering of deep earth is the perfect punctuation for these cheerful hues!
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always so lovely to see the now-familiar-9 squares with color and something beautiful!
Simone, thank you! The ‘now-familiar-9’ squares have been such a gift to me over many many weeks. All the elements that come together in each 9-square delights, challenges, soothes, nourishes, and satisfies each and every time!
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