View of Seattle from Rockaway Beach

There is a tiny beach on our island that I’ve been in love with for years. I managed to grow up here without discovering Rockaway Beach until my high school marine biology teacher took us there on a field trip during a low spring tide. I couldn’t believe such a place existed on “my” island, so very different from all the other beaches I knew well.

It’s a pocket of wave-worn rocks and intertidal creatures with a geographic structure unique among our island beaches, all accessible by foot when the tide is low enough.  The park is half an acre in total, from the tiny parking area to the water, and it packs more enchantment into that space than any other small park I can think of.

Top View of the Arch at Rockaway Beach

The Bainbridge-Seattle ferries run past offshore and you can see the big city across the curve of the sound. When you stand at Rockaway, you really do feel like you’re truly on an island. Strangely, this feeling can be hard to come by on this island, partly because of geography (our shores are quite close the Kitsap Peninsula at many points, making for short views from here to there) and partly because we have relatively little public beachfront. Washington State allowed for the sale of public tidelands to individuals from 1889 – 1971, so that today approximately 60% of our state’s beaches and tidelands are privately owned (more about that here).  This makes spots like Rockaway all that much more important. For families like mine that can’t afford waterfront homes, the small road end beaches and the few larger public waterfront parks connect us to our island’s shores and the sound that surrounds us, they remind us that we’re islanders, too.

This past weekend, I realized that my kids had never experienced the magic that unfolds at Rockaway at a low tide. It’s lovely at high tide, yes – There’s a small grassy spot with a bench and, at least this week, an old leather swivel chair, where you can enjoy the view of Puget Sound, Seattle, and the Cascades behind the city (if you’re lucky enough, weather-wise).

Aggregating Anemone Colony

But at low tide, Puget Sounds tips just far enough away to expose tall rocks covered, literally, with life. It’s hard to find safe places to put your feet, so that you can walk without leaving a path of death behind you, but that’s OK. No one wants to move fast – There’s so much to examine with each step: Sea stars and sea cucumbers hide under rock edges; colonies of aggregating anemones wage their slow-speed clone wars; barnacles, mussels, and snails cover the surfaces not taken up by anemones and rockweed; the world’s largest octopus species lives just offshore. There are holes, kid-sized caves, cracks, and an arch to explore, there’s the swivel chair to spin in, and even a pocket of meadow to rest in, all in a half-acre of public space.

Arch at Rockaway Beach

My girls fell under the spell of Rockaway Beach this weekend. After their first trip there with their dad on Saturday, they organized an all-family visit again during Sunday evening’s low tide. We ended up eating dinner late, and that meant a slightly late bedtime for a Sunday, and it was completely worth it. Rockaway is proof that people don’t need huge spaces to discover the magic of the natural world.

A Quiet Spot at Rockaway Beach

It’s also proof that sometimes, when you’re really lucky, the spots that enchanted you as a child will survive for your own children to discover, and if you’re even luckier, these spots will still seem just as amazing to your own adult eyes as they did when you first saw them, way back when. Rockaway Beach is my own bit of luck. What’s yours?

Wake from a Passing Tug Arrives at Rockaway Beach

There’s a series of old military forts around here, remnants of a “triangle of fire” meant to protect the entrance of Puget Sound from enemy ships. Construction started on these forts in 1896, but by the time my sister and I started visiting them in the early 1970′s, they were deserted, the perfect setting for epic games of flashlight tag and Capture the Flag in them in the 70′s with our hippy summer day care program.

Now we take a trip to Fort Worden each year for my daughters’ father’s annual family reunion. Fortunately for me, once you marry into my ex’s family, you’re in it for life, whatever the state of your marriage. I’m lucky in many ways, and this is one big one. The girls, their father, and I hike up through the forest that’s grown back around the concrete and steel forts and explore all the tunnels and stairs without safety railings. It feels wonderful to be exploring where the American love of litigation has yet to ruin all of the fun that comes with being able to judge for yourself what’s safe and what isn’t.

During this year’s reunion, just last weekend, it was the doors and windows that got me. Sunlight is never a given here, especially in May, so there are many places I’ve visited many times without ever seeing them on a sunny spring day. I’ve been running through these same doors and gazing through these same windows since I was my daughter’s age, but they looked brand-new to me last weekend.

Reblogged from Trash Backwards:

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By Rebecca Rockefeller

Celebrate your favorite mom(s) and your favorite Mother Earth in plastic-free style this coming Mother's Day.

While the old-fashioned advice that "a hand-made present is the best" still stands, of course, you may have reached a point where you'd like to gift your mother with something other than a ceramic creation from art class, or a necklace of fresh nutmeg (just two of the many hand-made gifts I've given to my own mom over the years).

Read more… 701 more words

Minimalist May Day Door

My youngest daughter has always had her own aesthetic. She’s no fan of pink, ruffles, or frou-frou mainstream “princess” decor. Her favorite color was red up until this year, when she switched to blue and black. When she asked to start dance lessons, she specified “No ballet. No pink. Only the kind of dance where you wear all black and have bare feet.” I signed her up for Modern Dance, and she’s in heaven. This year, she took it upon herself to add some belated May Day surprises on our door and around the garden. I love her pared down approach, and think we’ll put her in charge of our neighborhood May Day gifts next year.

May Day Decoration for Our Baby Sour Pie Cherry Tree

She used the long leaves from some of our Japanese iris for most of her decorations, but I found one cache of flowers in the crotch of her birthday tree, a Rainier cherry.

May Day Flowers for a Beloved Tree

There were so many of these decorations around our garden, I assumed she was also responsible for the grass draped around our dog’s muzzle. But it turns out Trixie did that to herself; I guess dogs love May Day just as much as first graders.

May Day Dog Decor

It’s such a lovely tradition, I’m happy that my daughter has made it her own. Do people still celebrate May Day with flowers on the doorsteps of neighbors where you live? Around here, I’m afraid the annual May Day riot by faux-Anarchists is becoming more of a sure thing on the 1st of May, but I hope the flowers and greens win out.

DIY Electrolyte Replacement Drink

Perfect Whenever You’d Otherwise Drink Gatorade or Pedialyte

My oldest daughter came home with a stomach bug the other day. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to deal with the sorrow and laundry that come along with a puking virus, and luckily this one was short-lived. After one miserable night, her stomach was settled enough to handle liquids, and she was in need of re-hydration.

Years ago, when my girls were smaller and more prone to gastrointestinal bugs, my friend Apron Thrift Girl gave me a recipe for homemade oral re-hydration liquid, aka “homemade Pedialyte.” This was a life-saver for us, since my girls won’t drink real Pedialyte and since I don’t want to fuel them up with plastic-bottled high fructose corn syrup-laden ginger ale (and I can’t always afford the quantity of fancy glass-bottled ginger beer that would likely also work well). Variations of this recipe abound online, but I believe the original came from Aviva Jill Romm’s Naturally Healthy Babies and Children.

This is a simple recipe with ingredients I always have on hand. That’s a good thing, since I don’t usually get advance notice that someone is about to start throwing up. If I happen to have fresh lemons in the kitchen, I’ll use those, but I always have a bottle of organic lemon juice (not from concentrate – my local grocery store carries this brand at a great price), honey, sea salt, and water available. No plastic bottles, no artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners required.

I’ve argued with my ER physician sister about this recipe; she worries that it’s too difficult to get the proportions just right for optimal and safe re-hydration. I don’t doubt that she has a very valid perspective. But when it comes down to it, after garden-variety GI illnesses, I’m more comfortable with these ingredients served in a glass than with the more official version in the plastic bottle from a store. I’m not a doctor, nor do I claim that YOU should use this instead of whatever your own real doctor prescribes for dehydration. I can tell you this has always worked for us without triggering bouts of further intestinal distress, but please consult your own licensed health care provider for medical advice.

DIY Re-Hydration Drink: Good For Hot Days Outside, Too

DIY Re-Hydration Drink 

Note: Honey is not safe for infants under 1 year of age! If you have a sick baby in need of re-hydration, please call your care provider! And if you’re mixing this up for anyone under 1 year of age, use an alternate sweetener such as maple syrup, blackstrap molasses, or coconut sugar.

• 1 quart water
• 2 Tablespoons raw honey
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (use 1/4 teaspoon if your sea salt is finely ground)

Put all ingredients in a large Mason jar or other glass bottle and shake well, until honey and salt are both completely dissolved. I cover the lid of my Mason jar with a piece of waxed paper before I screw the metal lid on, so there’s a barrier between the liquid and the BPA coating on the lid. My kids prefer to drink this at room temperature when they’re feeling sick, but it’s also lovely chilled if you’re dehydrated after time in the sun.