Escaping Ski To Sea Weekend

Testosterone racers converged on Bellingham.

I left town. Missed it all. Went 50 slow miles. Stopped to take in the views.

Visited a friend in Arlington, WA.

Like being in a bubble of tranquility as the rat race went around me.

Bicycling slow and mellow, down back roads.

Most traffic heads out Friday and back Monday. I headed out Saturday and back Sunday.

Wasn't on the freeway anyway, where I heard, there was a horrendous accident on Monday. Down by Marysville, just south of Arlington, someone cutoff another driver causing truck, with camper to careen out of control, crossing the median. Head-on with death and destruction. Freeway traffic disrupted for hours, but that was Monday. I was already home, didn't even use freeway.

Friend did bring me back part way, by car. So we could have more time for visit. Explored a "back way" to Mount Vernon. I biked home from Mount Vernon Sunday.

Back into Bellingham just in time to hear the clanging poles of booths being taken apart. Ski To Sea Weekend had just ended. The annual Ski To Sea Race.

They were taking it apart. Everything was over. Glad I missed the race weekend.

Then read news of dead body found near Bellingham. Person was last seen in a state of being too drunk to enter a bar. Was turned away, death still a mystery.

Radio talks about all the drowning incidents in Washington State over weekend. Alcohol involved in many of the cases.

The beer garden.

My leisurely trip included a relaxing putter around Arlington Airport.

This wasn't the crowded weekend of the "Arlington Fly-In," however. Airport was mellow, surprisingly so.

Long philosophical talk, with a friend, sitting at picnic table.

Not much security worry. This is a mellow airport with out commercial travel. Ride around, watch hobbyists work on planes, see a few gliders come in.

Oh, I should be remembering our troops and the sacrifices of war, not my own leisurely weekend?

Work to make that beer garden happen. Business, paychecks.

President Bush was also at Arlington, I think.

Another Arlington. Famous for the cemetery outside Washington, DC.

I was in the state of Washington, clear across USA from Washington, DC.

Speaking of deaths, I was glad that my letter to the editor published just before the weekend. It linked the deaths of war to deaths on the highway.

Highway deaths kill an amazing number of Americans, yet more folks are concerned about the deaths of war. Both can be related to the oil economy. Terrorism and dictatorships fed by the need to fuel "fast paced" lifestyles around the world.

That was the "gist" of my letter.

Fast paced living. Competition, drinking, testosterone, accidents ... airport security. Sometimes "mainstream" life seems alien.

I had a "low key" weekend. Maybe that is part of mainstream life as well.

A different part. A mellower bubble.

I didn't win or loose any races.