Creekside Village Stories

 Meet Our New Neighbors on Creekside Lane When Beth and David moved to Creekside in June, their arrival was announced quietly … no moving van or U-Haul accompanied them.  They had no furniture, not even in storage. It’s not that they don’t like furniture.  They had disposed of it all in mid-2019, along with their home, so they could take off and see the world. Travel is their true passion. Every chance they got they would travel.  They had previously visited most of Europe on vacation, sometimes staying for as long as 2 and even 3 months.  They enjoyed immersing themselves in the culture and daily lives of those in various European countries.  France had been a favorite, dispelling the snobbish French attitude held by many.  Each country had its special quirks and joys that delighted them and as David says, “I think it’s hard to be a good citizen unless you travel.  It used to be so easy to think our country was the ‘correct’ way to live and act....

 On Tuesday, October 6th, members of the Landscape Committee, joined by some of their friends, went to work on those naked berms along Creekside Lane.  Recall that English Ivy had taken over and was starting to encroach into adjacent yards, trees and shrubbery.  While beautiful growing on stately manor halls in rural Britain, it tends to be an invasive pest in the Pacific Northwest.   The ivy was removed a couple of years ago.  The banks were treated and barked to prevent regrowth of the persistent plant.  After lying fallow for a while, the berms were now ready for replanting.  With blue sky and sunshine, it was a perfect day for gardening.  And just in time to catch the autumn rains. The new plantings include Golden Thread Cypress, Azaleas, Winter Heath, David Viburnum, and native Sword Ferns.  This selection was chosen for low maintenance, drought tolerance and cost-effectiveness.  These have also been growing successfully aroun...

There some some new things on the Creekside Village website to mention.  First , you have probably already heard about the new domain name for the site:  CreeksideNow.org.  You can see it in the address line of your browser right now.  Not only is it easier to type and remember, this simpler name will boost our rankings in search engines.  If you have bookmarks or links to the old name, they will automatically redirect to the new one.  Like many of us, browsers are sometimes resistant to change.  If you are having trouble loading the site, clear your history and cookies, open a fresh browser, and use the full URL:  https://www.creeksidenow.org .  From then on, you should be able to open the site with the simple version, CreeksideNow.org.  Second if you're a regular visitor to the Creekside weather site , a new link has been added just below the Current Conditions data.  This opens a new page with more detailed informatio...

" Starting Friday, June 26 , all people in Washington state are required to wear a face covering when you are in any indoor or outdoor public area. This can be a cloth face mask, several layers of fabric tied behind the head, bandana, or scarf. It needs to cover your mouth and nose. Children under 2 years old should not wear a face covering. People who are unable to wear a face covering because of medical conditions are not required to. You can take off your mask to eat, drink, or communicate with someone who is deaf or hard of hearing. We hope most people will wear a face covering to protect the health of their friends and loved ones. Not following the order may result in a misdemeanor charge. This could be a fine of up to $100 and/or up to 90 days in county jail." Keep in mind, businesses may disallow entry to persons not complying with the order.  You should ask if they provide alternate accommodations in such cases. Note that you need not wear a mask or face cove...

Hello All, I initially posted this on Nextdoor Digest but I know that only a few   Creekside residents are signed on to Nextdoor, so I asked that it be   posted here on Creekside's own website and asked Peggy to mention it in   the Newsletter. I know that many people have expressed an interest in the broadband   network that Anacortes is building. It also seems that many people are   just sitting by and waiting for it to happen in their neighborhood   before signing on. Anacortes would really like you to show your interest  to signing on when available. First, let me sing the praises of optical fiber transmission... We moved here from a small town in Vermont. That town was of low population even by Vermont standards (600,000 people in the whole state). Our town, of about 36 square miles had a population of 900 people. Some of them even lived beyond the power lines. They did not, however, live beyond the telephone lines. The local phone...

...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

This morning the Skagit Valley Herald  announced "Skagit County was approved Friday morning to move into Phase 2 of the state's Safe Start Plan.  Phase 2 begins immediately." This table summarizes the state's phased approached .  Click or right-click the image to open it full size.  Activities and services allowed in Phase 2 include limited, non-essential travel within proximity of your home, barbers and hair salons, limited, inside restaurant services, and housecleaning.  The state specifies hygiene practices and distancing for businesses allowed to open.  All people are urged to wear a mask in public and maintain at least six feet of distance from others. Dave Wenning

The Board of Directors and a few committee members celebrated the achievement of a major goal this month as they “ZOOMED” into the twenty-first century.   Yesterday, the Creekside Board's May workshop was conducted over the internet.  What started as a nod to public health safety and social distancing might become a permanent trend.  For the time being, at least, the plan is to continue Board meetings in this manner. Zoom is a web-based video conferencing app that allows group members to meet online from their own homes or offices.  Skype and Webex are similar tools.  Each member can see the others on their screens.  If you have been watching the news lately, you have seen hosts interviewing guests remotely.  Zoom is one of the tools being used for this.  Yesterday's Senate hearing was conducted, in part, using similar services. Pictured in their Creekside “Zoom” meeting rooms left to right,  top  to bottom ar...

If you have checked the Creekside Weather page in the last 24 hours, you have noticed that it is offline and not currently updating.  I am in the process of migrating all of my work from Windows to an Apple Mac environment. I have been a DOS and Windows user for almost 40 years.  In 1982, I bought one of the first IBM PC's available in western Washington.  I made the leap to Windows in 2004. But also, for the last 10 years or so, I have worked my way up through Apple iPod touch, iPads, iPhone and most recently, the Apple Watch.  I have enjoyed the way all this stuff works together. I also appreciate Apple's philosophy regarding privacy.  Microsoft, on the other hand, has become aggressive about coercing the use of things I don't want, like Cortana and Edge.  This aggressiveness concerns me as a privacy issue. I started thinking about changing when after retiring, I realized I no longer needed the power of Microsoft's Office apps.  After c...

You may have heard about the joint venture between Apple and Google to track exposure to the Covid-19 virus using smartphones.  Stated simply, it will be a system to determine if you may have been exposed to the virus, and what you should do in response.  When it's released, Android and iPhone users will need to decide whether to opt in to the tracking system. The following link is a brief description of the system: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/04/apple-and-google-partner-on-covid-19-contact-tracing-technology/ Everything you need to know to opt in, understand and use the system is described in the following link: https://www.macrumors.com/guide/exposure-notification/ While this information comes from the Apple side, I assume it will work the same way for Android users.  If I find specific Android articles, I will add them to this post.  Let me know if anyone finds such articles. Dave Wenning