Destination Zuanich Point: Spring Run

From a storm of grey days, one brief, shining moment emerged this Saturday. I don't know how, or why, and am guessing since the local weather folks get blamed for the inclement weather, they should gleam some sort of credit for this, but we had an incredible April 12th.

And so, around 7:00, I pulled the quick laces on my shoes for a run that started on Railroad, went down West Holly Street, past the stores whose sidewalks don't roll out until the sun does, and into Maritime Heritage Park. Mostly downhill. I'm feeling absolutely invincible. And I look over at the park and decide I'm hitting those stairs, partly because I'm the only person alive at this point with the volume of my music, but more because it's Saturday, and it's finally nice out. What better two reasons to push yourself; you get 52 of these a year, and each one should count. Motivation. So 70 stairs later I'm on the top, looking out over the harbor, where the GP site is, knowing that we've got t-minus 10 years or so, and I'll be looking at 137 acres of incredible waterfront, possibly home to some internationally acclaimed organizations to be named later, great parks, and more importantly, more folks in Bellingham.

I'm an East Coaster, about 3300 miles away from where I opened my first lunch box, and the seascape that we have in Bellingham here is one of the reasons I stuck. We've rolling hills that look over a harbor into the islands. We're minutes from Canada, and and hour and half from Seattle, depending on who's driving. And the Bellingham Bells' symbol is the same as the Boston Red Sox so there's not much more one could ask for.

And as I run down the side of the street over the train tracks that helped build Bellingham, I veer left into the Bellwether, home to a couple of fantastic restaurants (Anthony's Ahi cooked to just north of rare) and where I saw a best friend get married in from of a pirate ship (not the wedding theme, just a happy coincidence). And suddenly the songs fade out, and I realize that there are a handful of people with access to this run, to this place on the Earth right now, and I'm one of them. I get a lot of those moments here.

The boats around the marina remind you why there's a waiting list to get a slip. And the view over the park that extends through the rock-built jetty into Fairhaven gives you reason to reason your way through the winters here.

It chalks up the thermometer at about 60 degrees when I finish my run, and that's more than enough for a reminder as to why I do what I do here. Being a steward to Bellingham makes me feel like a bit of a beggar at the palace, and that's fine with me.

You get 52 Saturdays a year, not barring leap years like this one. And I wouldn't give away Saturday for all the doom-and-gloom market reports in the world, as I know they're out there. But making the best of our surroundings and the best of what we have separates us, helps us top the food chain. Enjoying the sunshine in Bellingham feels good to type. Hope it felt better to read....