Editorial by Richard Hazelton




The constant drizzle is only interrupted by sudden downpours. A once colorful landscape of greens and vivid blues has been replaced by shades of grey. The color has been turned off. It can only mean one thing — it’s time for vacation.
        Timing is everything. After a summer of windy days under a brilliant sun, just perfect for gliding a sailboat over northwest waters, the thought of water dripping onto the boxes of groceries, bedding, and piles of all those “absolute essentials” on the dock takes a little of the edge off my excitement as we get ready for our yearly pilgrimage to the San Juans. But as I look at the rest of the family I see no difference, other than being waterproofed head to toe, than if it was 90°.
        “Can we go to Eagle Bay?” says Sonja, my eight year old daughter. She’s referring to a small bay on Matia Island which doesn’t have an official name, but will forever be Eagle Bay to us. You can guess why.
        “Don’t throw my crabs back in the water this year,” entreats Erik, the 12-year-old. Last year he was very upset when, in an act of self defense, I shook a crab that had latched onto my finger off into the water. Never mind that the nasty critter was drawing blood. “I wanted to show Mom, it was a big one.”
        Vacation memories are cumulative and selective. By that I mean that the memories from dozens of yearly vacations become one in the family collective memory. The not so good memories are slowly sifted out until nothing remains but an abridged recollection of “vacation”, a mythical land where everything was exciting, exhilarating, awesome and rejuvenating. The memories of certain “less than perfect” vacations may take a little longer to shake out into the discard pile, but eventually they too will be distilled and join their predecessors in the land of “remember when”.
        So off we go — to Eagle Bay — to catch more monster crabs. Will the sun come out? Who knows? Who cares? All we know is that we’ll be on the boat, riding a 34-foot magic carpet to some adventure, large or small, that will take its place alongside our most cherished moments
        — and that’s what boats are for.