Creekside Village Stories

    "Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go." -Unknown    "How beautiful the leaves grow old.  How full of light and color are their last days." -John Burroughs     "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house" -Nathaniel Hawthorn, The American Notebooks     "Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers, we more than gain in fruits." -Samuel Butler     "Every leaf speaks bliss to me / Fluttering from the autumn tree." -Emily Brontë, "Fall, Leaves, Fall"     "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." -F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby    "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." -L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables Country Living The Oprah Magazine

...one plant at a time.  Clockwise from upper left:  Snowberry, Salal, Salal, Shore Pine. Beaked Hazelnut This spring, the sound of chainsaws filled the air around Creekside's northwest corner.  The removal of some hazardous trees left behind a large, unattractive clear-cut.  Without careful stewardship, this might have become an aggressive, impenetrable Himalayan Blackberry thicket. Instead, Craig Illman, Peggy Noethlich and Rick Noethlich who live near the damaged area, answered the call.  They took up the task of repairing the damage.  Of course, only plants and trees native to Fidalgo Island would be suitable to restore a natural area.  Included, but not pictured are Madrona, Pacific Rhododendron, Mock Orange, and Salmonberry.  Think of these little plants as pioneers, beginning the process of succession to a fully restored natural forest. Dave Wenning Photos by Craig Illman