"Closed for the season," the sign reads as I stand facing my favorite walk to the beach on Lopez Island, frowning. The sandy trail through beds of sea asparagus is completely underwater now. And it has been for months during the daytime. Tides here are almost always high during the day in the...

See that white, floofy flower above? It caught the corner of my eye bouncing gently on the breeze one afternoon last summer. Huge. And delicate. Backed by glistening waters, the dregs of last winter's smooth, bleached driftwood, and late summer grasses, waving tall, the delicate round form of the...

Do you see the vibrant colors of these sedums, growing in barely any soil and surrounded by solid rock? They're gorgeous aren't they? Stunning. Especially against the backdrop of solid, hard, impenetrable rock. I'm glad for the company of these amazing living beings as I sit here today and...