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This Week's View by Deanna Lee Birkholm
March 14th, 2005
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JC and I moved here from Montana in 1988 because of our business - a unique thin-film technology. In a land of cows and grain, Montana was not exactly an address other businesses felt comfortable with - Washington however, fit the bill. We just didn't know how well. |
Our first exploratory trips to Poulsbo, WA were
made in February. Snow up to the butt of a tall
Indian, and months of it back 'home' in Montana.
The weather in Poulsbo was a bit wet, although
not raining, and it sure was green. Not white,
green. We did a lot of investigating before we
rented a condo in town - we knew for sure we didn't
have any idea where we wanted to live. But since
we had found a place for the business, it made
sense to live reasonably close.
We loved living in Montana for many reasons - but
the cold and snow do get to one, especially as we
get older. I thought at one time the companies
who sell Spring bulbs and flowering trees probably
sold more to folks living in Montana, per capita,
than anywhere else in the country. Everyone is so
grateful for anything resembling 'spring' they plant
flowering bulbs anywhere they can find a spot.
When Spring does arrive, Montana is in full bloom.
Of course I had no idea there were places in
the Pacific Northwest where things bloom year
round. We happen to live in one of them. The
climate here is listed as "Moderate" - we do
get a day or two of snow, but usually not more
than that. A few 80 degree days in the summer,
and I believe they broke the existing record for
'hot' last summer over in Seattle, in the 90s.
But that isn't common.
We don't live right on the water, we have a nice
water view, but living this close does temper both
the hot and cold. My husband, JC, makes a town run
nearly every day, and we can depend on summer
temperatures here being about 10 degrees cooler
than in town. We also almost always have a breeze -
sometimes considerably more than a breeze - which
makes casting on our beaches interesting and demanding.
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Eventually, we started house hunting. We decided
we didn't want to live in town, but close enough
to make an easy commute to work. We would have
liked to have had a home on the water, but
waterfront property here is very expensive as it
is in most places. What we found was a fixer-upper,
in a very nice private community which owns its
own shared waterfront. Access to fishing, clamming,
crabbing, beach sitting and such. Beach fire pits
and fresh picked oysters on the grill. We've been
here 15 years and the price of real estate has
doubled. Amazing.
We've totally succumbed to the lure of "it sure is
green" and over the years I've planted several
hundreds of bulbs. A lot of Spring flowering
bulbs, and hundreds of lilies. Some of the Spring
flowers have naturalized, and the lilies run their
course and are replaced. There are some Spring
flowering bushes as well, and one lonely Witch hazel
which blooms well before Spring.|
So while we aren't out fishing, don't feel as though
we are too deprived, we have a lovely view and lots
of blooming things to put a smile on our faces until
we can fish again.
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Next week I have to start thinking about Easter eggs.
I always have to give it some thought, and try and
find the note I made last year. We don't have to
hide as many, as we can't remember where we hid them.
But it really is important that I find last years
note - I have gone to color-coding the eggs. JC
of course is just so logical, he insisted on the
color code deal.