Sail On

Tonight we are sitting by the fire at the bar at the Rosario Resort on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands. The beauty of this place made my heart feel vulnerable as we sat next to the warm fire and listened to wonderful music. When Robbie Christmas began to sing Lionel Ritchie's 'Sail On' I knew I was in big trouble. There is always a moment on our sabbaticals that I am captured off guard by some seemingly small event and then the beauty of my world becomes crystal clear to me.  Tonight it was listening to beautiful music on beautiful Orcas Island.

We chose Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands for a very simple reason. Tom's grandmother Hazel was the Post-Mistress here for several years and so, for that reason only, we decided to go and check it out.

I cannot tell you how enchanting this area is. It is precipitous, unspoiled, and ruggedly beautiful. Surrounded by the ebbing waters of the Puget Sound, it is nestled in the Olympic Peninsula and was once an important trading post for the North Straits Salish Native Americans. The waters are a cross between emerald and turquoise and the Island itself is like a dream. It is named Orcas Island after Juan Vincente de Guemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo, second count of Revillagigedo, the Viceroy of Mexico who sent an exploration expedition out to the Pacific North West in 1791. It has nothing to do with whales at all...

We chose the Rosario Resort which was once the private home of shipping magnate Robert Moran. The area is stunning and our room is part of his beautiful seafront mansion. We are excited to be here and after our walk we quickly decide we would enjoy the luxuries that this place has to offer. We cannot get enough of the beauty in this area and are pleased to be here.

The young man playing his guitar and singing looked like 

our grandson Dallas. That in itself endeared him to me. He began to sing the songs I had always loved. He sang so beautifully and for just a moment I wasn't sure if I were listening to Lionel Ritchie, Eric Clapton, or Neil Diamond. They were all the songs that captured a season of my life and like all good music, written so much better than I ever could have ever articulated that season myself. Good music can move me...almost as much as the beautiful  ocean or forest that surround me  while I am here.

When he began to sing…Sail on heartache…Good times never felt so good…I was reminded that I am in a good season and these times are good. I do not want to encumber my life with the things that rob me of the beauty of that simple statement.

When we rode the ferry back towards home the wind was blowing through my hair and I felt myself humming the song 'Sail On'. Yes Lionel, you were right…the good times never felt so good…