Every Town has its Ghosts

_DSC2186Ghosts are good for business, and Port Townsend, Washington has its fair share of stories. Manresa Castle is haunted by a heartbroken woman, whose love never returned from the Great War, and a Jesuit priest. A Lady in White wanders the grounds of Point Wilson Lighthouse and is, allegedly, a bit of a snoop; she is forever rummaging through drawers of the keeper’s quarters. Fort Worden has its orbs and Man in Blue. I imagine if you started inquiring, every building downtown would have some sort of strange occurrence or shadowy figure. Sensitive people claim to “feel” their energy.

Whether the stories are true or not, they add an element of mystery and adventure to a trip, and this is one of the reasons I love visiting Port Townsend. I only ever feel “haunted” when I’m in the town’s antique stores, though. There’s something about being surrounded by the wares of a thousand departed souls that really gets to me. Maybe one of these days when I’m wandering around with my camera, I’ll catch something other than a landscape.

Here are a few shots from my last weekend trip. Anything look out of the ordinary to you?

Point Wilson Lighthouse and Grounds

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Fort Worden

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Port Townsend

I spent most of my time at Point Wilson and Fort Worden, so I didn’t have many shots of town. What did fascinate me was the Tarot card reader who is parked along the main street. Her boots are just visible beyond the door.

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Back on Whidbey Island and safe from ghosts!

Living in the Pacific Northwest

As I walked away from breakfast yesterday morning, hot coffee cup warming my hands, camera bag on my back, and raindrops collecting on my eyelashes, I smiled.   To live happily in the Pacific Northwest, one must learn to accept the ever-present clouds and look for something beautiful to photograph on all of those gray days. 

The quick trip I made to Port Townsend this weekend for my friend Erica’s birthday not only afforded a few snapshots, but a few chance meetings and new discoveries.  It was a great weekend.  And because I need to save my energy for the two American Lit papers I still need to write today, I’ll stop here and just show you the pictures….

Eagle sighting distracted me, and I missed my ferry by five minutes. I was actually okay with that!

  

A little red on the gray-blue horizon
A glimpse of a lighthouse behind a colorful hillside
A little bit of color along the road
At Fort Worden State Park

 

Rust, peeling paint, and a shallow DOF...this is what I love!

It’s the End of the World

Ok, another gross exaggeration on my part.  But, it is the end of the summer, and I’m taking it out REM style.

That’s great, it starts with a wedding cake
Pauli, Karl tie the knot
Listen to my heart drop
Cheating boyfriend
Hit the road
Moving forward with this heavy load

Can’t seem to find the eye of the hurricane
bittersweet 4.0
Tapping out equations on a Casio
Flying home, feel alone
Return to battle false hope blown

Trying to distract myself to save myself
Leavenworth, sunburn
Feeling my stomach churn
San Diego, whiskey drinks
Uh-oh CEOs and patios
Riding an Irish horse
Never really good, of course

Parking ticket
Italian night, Snookified
Whiskey texting
Unforgiving

Bloodletting, endless mire
Talking through a forest fire
Dreams that wake me up at night
30 bucks will be required

Vancouver
Fireworks, Croatians on the patio
Salmon swimming up the street
Pride, rainbows, vibrating rings and other things
Timbits in a box
Photo projects for the lost

Port Townsend
Ferries, lushes, sacred places
Lighthouse, wishing rocks
White wine, warm sand, open spaces

Bassett dates, never late
Andy Pants, birthday plans
Flight to Dublin booked on Droid
New friends and Jameson

Photo walks, photo days
Blogging, jogging
Canons, Nikons, Droids, iPhones
Birthdays, weddings, bachelorette
Forgiving, forgetting, moving on

Chris, Jess, Ella Rayne
It’s really hard to maintain
The smile, the laughs, when thinking that I’ll miss you before you’re gone

The other night I dreamt of old  friends, now in a deep divide
Hugging, smiling once again
Reconciling, moving forward
Shaking off the mire

Yes, it’s the end of the summer (as I knew it). 
And I feel fine.

Camera:  Canon 40d
Location:  Fort Worden, Washington

Embracing My Inner Viking

Yesterday was good in a way that I can’t express very well with words.   Home has been this transient term for me the past 10 years as I have  traveled and moved, formed and dissolved relationships.  Family best describes people who are always 1,800 miles away.  As much as I love Bellingham, Washington I often feel like a tree that was uprooted and never properly replanted.   I still blame my wandering spirit on my Viking heritage.  Hopefully one day I’ll be able to settle down.

When my brother Chris, his wife Jess, and my 5 year-old niece Ella came to visit this week, it rekindled that desire I secretly have for family.   It’s fascinating to see Chris’s outgoing, adventurous spirit in his own daughter, who warmed up to me quickly and beautifully articulated all of her own thoughts about the world.    She tugs on my heartstrings, and I feel almost a little guilty about chosing to move so far away.   Of course, being in my early 20’s when I moved, I didn’t have the necessary foresight to anticipate future attachments to children who didn’t yet exist.  Perhaps I’ll need to start budgeting for more trips home each year.  

Here are some photos from our adventure to Port Townsend yesterday.   

 Jess and Ella admire the scenery at Deception Pass.

We missed the first ferry from Coupeville to Port Townsend by minutes due to poor time management at Deception Pass.   However, this gave us the opportunity to sit and chat in the little cafe across the street for an hour and enjoy lunch.

We did eventually arrive in Port Townsend and walked the beach with the intent of visiting the lighthouse.  Ella asked me to carry her new friends in my pocket, which she found on the walk.  Unfortunately, these little creatures didn’t make it back home. 

Ella and I took a slight detour to play in the sand next to this old boat.

I turn the camera on myself in a lighthouse window.

Terrifying ghost at Fort Worden!

The wind picked up by the time we got to the lighthouse, and our feet were hurting.   Since we had walked all the way there, we had no choice but to walk back in the cold with our aching limbs.  But…Jess managed to score us a ride!  It’s a good thing because if we’d missed the 6:45 ferry, we wouldn’t have made it home last night. 

The captain almost cancelled our trip back to Coupeville due to hazardous conditions, and the late ferry was probably a no go.   I’ve never been tossed around in the ferry like we were on that trip!  The high winds made for some big waves.  I decided to embrace my Viking heritage and stand out front with my brother and brave little niece watching the waves break over the side and drenching the lower deck.  

What a day!  I miss my family already!