Off-season Waymarking

It just seems like there's no time to find any cool waymarks these days. My waymarks have been limited to either crossposts, or ones that are somewhere around town and in categories that don't interest me. You know, the fast food category waymark that I pull off the arterial to get on the way to the dry cleaners. That kind of thing. Bo-ring.

It sucks because now that the school year has started and the wet, cool weather along with it, there really isn't time to get out for a fun day trip. The weekends are full of winterizing and yardwork, and driving Hikenutty, Jr. around to rehearsals. There's no time for a nice day trip up to the islands or east, into the mountains, or better, a weekend out at the coast. Nope, the closest we get to saltwater is peering out the bathroom window at the tiny sliver of the Puget Sound that amounts to our "water view". Don't you just hate it when responsibilities get in the way of your fun!

So, maybe this week I'll stop to waymark the wagon wheel on the housing development sign near the grocery store, or the demonstration garden next to the dog park, or the Methodist Church on the way to the mall. I could really use a waymarking day trip though. I think we'll need to plan one soon - a hike or country drive. We're in Washington, so we just need to pack up the summer clothes, and get the rain suits back out. If you don't let yourself get wet here, it could make for a long waymarking drought.

The photo above was taken in one of Washington's wettest places, the Olympic Coast. The sea star was enjoying a reliably, cool, moist day in Olympic National Park's Ruby Beach area.

Rain, rain and more rain: Waymarking in Washington State

So, the rain is upon us in ernest here in Washington state. We're not talking a downpour: a storm with a beginning and end. No, we're talking gray skies and a steady drizzle that will continue through April. Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit, but not much. We will have some dry days, but the gray is here to stay. Blue skies won't be back until spring. It will slow my waymarking, but it won't stop me.

So Saturday while my son was rehearsing with his orchestral group in Tacoma we wandered over to the New Tacoma Cemetery to do some waymarking. The grass was deep and spongey with moss, each step squishy with water, as we wandered the rows looking for the grave of a Medal of Honor awardee. The water slowly seeped into my shoes, soaking my socks and numbing my toes. After five minutes the grave was found and a transformation had taken place in me. I had let go of my longing for more sunshine and resigned myself to the long damp fall/winter ahead of me. I started to appreciate the beauty of the drizzle and what it means for the landscape: mosses of every shade of green, from deep evergreen to a startling chartreuse; evergreen trees everywhere that in the winter try to make up for the lack of color elsewhere; the sound of the water dripping from leaf to leaf like some massive yet gentle percussion instrument.

It is what you focus on that gets you through the gray season here. You can either mope around inside about the summer you're missing, or embrace the simple beauty of the rain and get out and experience it. Whatever the case, get your raincoat and umbrella out. You'll need them.

The picture above is of a moss-covered gravestone I came across while waymarking the waymark "Pfc. Richard Beatty Anderson, Marine Corps" in the "Medal of Honor Graves" category. After waymarking at the cemetery we warmed up and an incredible bakery, Corina Bakery, in downtown Tacoma with french-pressed coffee and cake.