A Good Sign

Day 70: In observation of the Solstice and a rare day of decent weather, I went for a little hike yesterday. Six weeks ago, my plans for a walk on this old road were foiled by a sign reading, "Trail closed for road repair." I said to myself, "Bet that clay bank slipped." As it turned out, I was half right. It hadn't slipped, but it had subsided to such a point that they laid a new gravel road bed over a a stretch roughly 500' long. I was in for another surprise when I reached the bottom: much of the river bank was taped off and marked with signs indicating that revegetation work was in progress. I was pleased to see it, even though it cut me off from my goal by a hundred yards, particularly since the signs had obviously been put up by Washington State Parks. The area is one of very few along the river which is not protected by the Nisqually Land Trust or the tribe, both of which have been engaged in restoring the shoreline for years. Seeing that State Parks has finally joined the effort to protect the river was the perfect topping on the Solstice "cake."