Driving through Stanwood, WA

Driving to Stanwood, WA, on an errand and being somewhat free after many months of working on my real estate must-do list, I arrive back again at English Boom. I say back again because I once painted here a couple of times when I had more time to paint. This destination has a lot of history, and in its day, was a logging outfit where men, mostly immigrants, and the sons of immigrants corralled logs as needed before the rafts arrived at their final sawmill destination cities: Marysville, Everett, and Edmonds. Eventually, logging moved inland, and this park and its short 0.9 trail is in memory of Edward G. English, one of Mount Vernon’s founders and one of the leading timber magnates in the Northwest in the late nineteenth century. I think of this as I scope out my landing spot and marvel at the skies just opening up after a heavy rainstorm that passed on through. The Cascade Mountains can be seen across Skagit Bay, most notably Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Three Fingers, and Mount Pilchuck. I swirl around and frame the views through the small hole my closed fist makes. Magnificent! With Three Fingers looming over the valley, the clouds fat and happy, and the soft, wispy grass blowing beneath my easel, I am ready to begin working with my colors and brushes. I will be back to paint and hope to view one of the great blue herons that nest and feed here.