Our yards can connect us to nature’s wonders
Subtract spring and subtract flowers from the world and, except for some algae, mosses and ferns, the whole world would seem dead.

Of course, literally, spring colors are to enhance the possibility of a plant’s own successful reproduction, but to humans, spring clothed in pink, purple, white and yellow blossoms is something we look forward to every year as if it were the renewal of life itself.

After a long period of time in the past when developers scraped and cleared all living things off construction sites, people are now beginning to see things differently.

Rather than viewing the natural world as a collection of separate elements from which humans are apart or that should be all scraped away, more people recognize that each of us is an integral part of this miraculous and fragile web of life.

Many people, including builders, are now rediscovering that “living in harmony with nature” adds health, beauty and happiness to their lives as well as monetary value to their real estate.
As population increases, we need to get with our neighbors and link our yards together with plants to help re-establish a system of wildlife habitat corridors, without which many species cannot survive. We need to plant more trees and shrubs and have nature always evident around us.

In this way, our human health, happiness, and general well-being, including pain management, will be enhanced.

Trees provide air conditioning. They also mitigate floods and global warming problems. We need to plant more trees to eliminate the wind tunnels produced by former scrape-and-build development techniques. If we do, nature will provide a beautiful and healthy place for children and adults to explore, learn, exercise and play, and some wildlife habitat will be restored.

The Fidalgo Backyard Wildlife Habitat Project has a goal of certifying 500 yards by this coming August. We want all who live here to identify with “living in harmony with nature” and to maintain our island’s natural beauty as much as possible. We invite you to increase nature’s beauty around you, perhaps by shrinking your lawn, by adding trees, bushes and flowers that can be used by birds and insects, by putting out a shallow dish of clean water or birdbath, and then to certify your yard.

There are certification blanks at the public library, or you can get them online either at http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat or http://www.wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/backyard.
Phyllis Dolph
Anacortes

Day of silence about safetyof all students
On behalf of Pilgrim Congregational UCC of Anacortes, let me say that we care deeply about the safety of all students in our public and private schools. Toward this end, we commend school leaders for their efforts to assure an environment, a school culture, in which students can grow and learn free from fear and all forms of harassment.

The National Day of Silence observed on April 25 was an effort by students to symbolize what they perceive as a veil of silence surrounding harassment and bullying of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals on their campuses. It was an effort to support responsible school personnel in enforcing equitably school policies prohibiting bullying and harassment in all aspects of school life.

The students who chose to participate by their silence were advocating for the right of every student to study and develop in a climate free from intimidation by school staff and other students.
That all students have such a right must surely be a matter on which we can all agree.
Densley H. Palmer
Anacortes

Responsible people keep their cats indoors
Ah spring! Time to don mask and gloves and clean out the neighborhood litter box, (the perennial bed by my front door), fork out $12 for a can of kitty repellent that probably won’t work, and must be replaced every time it rains, and fire off my annual (and never yet published) diatribe about irresponsible cat owners.

Cat feces spreads disease that can cause human birth defects, and cats damage gardens and wildlife, but “everybody,” with the possible exception of the humane society and those poor deluded individuals who raise pedigreed Abyssinians, Persians and Siamese, knows that it’s impossible to confine a cat.

So, since domestic cats are too close to their ancestors to be confined, but too refined to hunt anything more aggressive than baby birds or rabbits, I also pay an exterminator to control the rats (rats fight back) with which these outdoor “pets” share their food.

(I’m assured by the exterminator that the rat bait poses no secondary danger. I have my doubts, but traps require daily attention, and pose more risk to wildlife as well as domestic pets.) I’m already finding mauled baby birds. Soon it will be partially consumed (and sometimes still living) baby rabbits. This will continue until the coyotes start weaning their pups, and then I’ll start seeing notices for “lost” cats.

But “everybody,” with possibly the above-noted exceptions, knows that you can’t confine a cat, so we must pity the poor kitty, if not its irresponsible owner. At least the coyotes kill cleanly and only to eat or feed their young.

Go coyotes.
Donna Davidson
Anacortes

Funds for ferry building should be spent elsewhere
According to Guemes ferry manager Ron Panzero, the new Guemes ferry terminal would be paid for by public road funds.

The increase of car and heavy duty truck traffic on the island makes it dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists, equestrians, and others using alternative forms of transportation.
Wouldn’t it be more prudent to use public road funds to develop a pedestrian-friendly travel lane for these alternative means of travel?

After all, given how expensive it is to drive, others are seeking healthier and less expensive forms of transportation.
Jackie Wittman
Anacortes

Students appreciate help with Kisakata trip
We want to thank the many businesses that supported our tulip painting fundraiser during March and April. The money raised will help pay for some of the travel expenses for the 12 middle school and high school students who will be traveling to Kisakata, Japan, as young ambassadors with the Anacortes Sister Cities Association.

The following businesses had tulips painted on their windows for the month-long tulip festival in support of our fundraising efforts: Adrift, AM1340 The Whale, Anacortes American, Anacortes Automotive, Anacortes Chamber of Commerce, Anacortes Beads, Anacortes Hearing, Anacortes Inn, Anacortes Meats, Anacortes Physical Therapy, Anacortes Pizza Factory, Ann Martin McCool, Banana Belt Boats, Bayshore Office Products, Bayside Sweets and Treats, Boxes and Bears, Burton Jewelers,

Cheesecake Café, CompuMatter, Countrywide, Creative Cabinets, Dr. Damon, Frontier Building Supply, Gere-A-Deli, Horizon Hair Tech, Dr. Huntsinger, Island Rentals and Supply, Johnny Picasso’s, Dr. Kuzma, La Vie En Rose, Les Schwab Tires, Dr. Phillip Madden, The Mercantile, Olympic Communications, Optical Place, Pacific Screen Design, The Quilt Shoppe, Red Snapper, Scott Milo Gallery, Scott Richards Insurance, Select Styling, State Farm Insurance, Upstage Boutique, Washington Federal Savings, Wells Fargo Bank, Whidbey Island Bank.

We truly appreciate your support and kindness. Thank you.
2007-2008 Anacortes/Kisakata Exchange Students