September 3, 2014

Hoquiam, WA

"The sad duty of politics is to establish justice in a sinful world." - Reinhold Niebuhr

---

Animals: 

Grey gull sitting on a weathered stump on the margin of a tide flat in Grays Harbor. He looks over at me curiously, perhaps listening to the jazz from the radio. I tap a pen on the steering wheel playing with the bongos on two tracks in a row (bongo streak!). The gull poops, away from his feathers down along the stump. Is he a reincarnation of a bird I've known? Sarah came to mind for some reason, or LB, or Precious.

Bunny at dusk in a patch of old growth rainforest. I camped, though there was a "No camping" notice. It was late, nearly everyone was gone. My sleep system is pretty easy to set up. It was majestic, getting high in the Old Growth at twilight. Huge 15-foot diameter trees, grassy or mossy clearings among them. Strange, melodic, low-pitched bird calls, perhaps an owl?

At dawn I was roused by fishermen coming up the road. I got up, packed up my camp, and drove out. Already the roadside near the river I'd camped on was lined with vehicles.

I drove to the Upper Queets valley. Old growth lined the wide, rocky river bed. I cooked breakfast and got high using the sun and a magnifying glass. Then some more fishermen drove up.

I feel honored, and cherish the experience of being in, sleeping in, Old Growth forests. The virgin land contains a lot of knowledge.

---

A mouse got in the car. All the food is pretty secure in containers, so it must have got hungry after a couple or three days. Finally I brushed him out. I left some food outside for him.

A guy pulled up and talked to me at the Yahoo Lake parking area. He was a hunter, scouting out elk herds for a hunt the next week when the season opened. He told me to "be safe", and showed me his "little friend": a holster with a pistol in it. I told him I had a machete (to clear trails). He said "that'll work!"

I think Rene (the hunter's name) wanted to talk. He told me about the trip he had planned next week with a high school friend he'd known for 30 years, or whatever. I was thinking, why don't you just go hiking with the guy, or just shoot the animals with cameras, instead of killing. Isn't the social value of the experioence what he's really looking for? Is the violence, the murder of innocent creatures, necessary?

At Dosewallips I was driving out and saw a snake crossing the road. I swerved to avoid him; I wasn't sure if I had, so I pulled over and ran back to check. He seemed to be waiting for me, holding still until I got up close. Then he hissed and slithered back to the side he'd come out from. Nothing appeared to be crushed. I was relieved.

I also saw a banded frog, juncos, stellar jays, grey jays, squirrels, chipmunks, a thrush?, swallows, ravens, hawks, chickadees...