The 1st day of this trip to NYC (am now home), I went to the Museum of Natural History. I’d seen the exhibit of the First Nations peoples of British Columbia years before and now wanted to see it again after spending years up in BC working on Builders of the Pacific Coast and marvelling at this rich and still-alive native art.

There is an entire large room full of totems, shields, baskets, clothing, jewelry, and a myriad of items made from cedar trees. It’s a stunning exhibit (and once again I apologize for being “stunned and amazed,” as my friend Jack Fulton says, but I just am, often).The star of the show is this enormous canoe. I couldn’t find any measurements, but I’d guess it to be 60′ long and at least 12′ wide — all made from a hollowed-out single tree. It’s thought to have been a Heiltsuk raiding canoe (see the Edward Curtis film, “Land of the War Canoes,” I posted earlier). Here are some other photos of this powerful art. (See Builders of the Pacific Coast, pp. 110-12, for the building, art and construction techniques of the First Nations peoples.)

https://sunraykelley.com/

Above: tidy, tight, trim  building in Coupeville, Washington. I love the colors.

Get into Seattle around 11AM yesterday, go to pick up my Budget economy rental car and get upgraded to a blue Mustang since they are out of economy cars. Vawoom! I head to Mukliteo to catch the ferry to Whidbey Island, since I want to go to Anacortes to check out fishing boats. (I’m looking for an aluminum boat in the 15-17′ range that can handle getting out through waves.)

   Pretty soon I’m driving down the road on Whidbey with all 9 of the radio stations preset to R&R and jazz. Brand new road — nothing like it. Exploring the unexplored, hunting with cameras. The Stones , Thelonius Monk, a — get this  — reggae song in Spanish, within fiddles, on the French (Canadian) station, Da me ague, da me pan, da me fuero, da me amor,  terrific song, but can’t find it anywhere…

   I ask a guy on the ferry about a place to get lunch and he recommends Toby’s Tavern in Coupeville, a gem of a tiny town on the water. A 70-year-old good-vibes, good-beer, good-food bar looking out on the bay. I have a few (ahem) glasses of inky Black Butte porter (on tap) and local mussels with garlic bread. Visit the local bookstore, get a maple nut (homemade-style) waffle ice cream cone, crank the Mustang back up, crank the radio back up, and make my way to Anacortes. The elephant (of concrete) was just in a field all alone. Kinda perfect. Now it’s Thursday morning, and I’ve sussed out the La Crema Cakes bakery in Anacortes, with an excellent apple turnover and a latte and wi-fi. Right now, Johnny Otis’ band on radio doing Willy and the Hand Jive…

I know a cat named Way Out Willie

He’s got a cool little chick named Rockin’ Millie

He can walk and stroll and Susie Q

And do that crazy hand jive too…