Creekside Village Stories

  Photo:  Vermeer.com The Anacortes fiberoptic internet service is finally taking shape in Creekside.  For the last few weeks, we have had a ringside seat to watch how an underground cable is installed.  It's been remarkably less disruptive to our lives than I think many of us expected.   The star of the show has been the Vermeer D23x30 S3 Navigator® horizontal directional drill (above).  It has a cockpit from which the operator controls the drilling distance and direction.  He told me he can actually steer the the boring head around curves.  As he worked, I watched additional extensions being added to the drill shaft.  See images below.   One reference indicated these drills can extend 300 to 450 feet or more.  If you're interested, you can visit the Vermeer website for more information about this piece of equipment. The cable itself is not being installed at this time.  This phase is installing the junction boxes for each building and the orange flexible conduit that will c

  Photo:  June Jossy First, a little science.   The northern lights , or aurora borealis, are caused by solar storms in the corona or upper atmosphere of our sun.  Solar mass ejections hurl charged particles into space creating the solar wind .  The earth's magnetic field directs these particles towards the northern and southern poles.  The aurorae are created when the energized particles slam into the upper atmosphere.  In the southern hemisphere, the phenomenon is called aurora australis . Our neighbor June took this photo at Creekside Circle, Anacortes, Washington on May 10, 2024 at 11:45 PM.

 

  Our neighbor Terry shares an experience every nature lover hopes for.  Looking out on the front porch, there lay a newborn fawn curled up in the corner.   Once again we're in that time of year when baby animals are born, and such encounters are not unusual.  A mother deer leaving her newborn in a safe place to go off and feed is normal behavior.  Fawns are born with no scent to attract predators.  As long as they lie motionless, they should be safe.  Mom will usually return within 8 to 12 hours to nurse or move her offspring to another location.  To protect the fawn, Terry kindly blocked off the front porch until mom returned to retrieve her offspring. Unless you know for sure the mother will not return, it's best to leave newborn animals where you find them, even if it might be inconvenient for a short time.  This is a good reminder to review a previous post  with information from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife should you have a similar encounter.

 On 4-28-24, 8:05 PM, with light drizzle, has a rainbow found our new owl sculpture?   Slightly to the left, the T-Mobile cell tower catches the last glow of the setting sun.

  A group of Creekside owners proposed an idea for beautifying the 18-foot “tree stump” located in the grassy area behind the sign at the H Avenue entrance. The proposal was to commission a local chainsaw wood-carver artist to carve sections of the stump in a manner that complements our natural environment. The Chairs of the Landscape and Architecture Committees, two Board members, and a few interested owners met with artist George Kenny at the site to consider options. The result is the amazing sculpture shown above.  You can visit George Kenny's Chainsaw Carving School in Allyn, Washington near Hood Canal.  As an aside, Allyn is just a stone's throw from where I grew up. To the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast, "Owl is viewed with deep respect because it possesses the sacred knowledge of our ancestors. Owl represents wisdom and intuition, and is associated with the moon and nighttime. Owl is a bridge between the physical and spiritual world."  Other

  As you know, the City of Anacortes is finally bringing their fiberoptic internet service to Creekside.  This will require some trenching and underground work to accomplish.  While taking my occasional "Grand Tour" walks around the campus, I was curious what the utility marking colors meant.  Since I thought others might also be curious, here is a chart of what each color signifies.  As indicated, the white markings show where the new fiberoptic cable will be buried.  Marking all the locations of existing utilities is intended to prevent disturbing or damaging them by new excavations.   According to the letter from the city, they will use an underground boring machine to place conduits for much of the work.  I lived on a cul-de-sac in Sedro Woolley when the TV cable was installed in 1980.  I came home from work, and the only clue anyone had been there was the cable sticking out of the ground at the foundation of the house.  Not so much as a stone had been disturbed. The lett