Monthly Archives: November 2018

Winter magic

When the weather clears, we can have beautiful winter days in Washington state. Days like this one, that seem like pearls, or birthday cakes. When that happens, we learn to take advantage while it lasts — a sunny memory to carry us forward when the rains and cold return tomorrow.

The beach was full of people enjoying the mild weather, playing and hiking along the narrow Dungeness spit. We didn’t make it out to the end today — maybe a mile at most — before the daylight began to fade. Heading back up the path toward the car, I stopped to take this gorgeous panorama of pinks and blues.

Barely visible in front of a glowing Mount Baker, you can see the tiny, historic lighthouse that clings to the tip of the spit. It’s a full five miles out along a rocky ribbon of land that nearly disappears at high tide. Behind it, Mount Baker — an active stratovolcano in the Cascade volcanic arc — rises some 75 miles distant. The Strait of Juan de Fuca, calm and placid today, reflects them like a mirror.