Mary E. Trimble

One of Washington’s most spectacular attractions is the wintering population of Bald Eagles along the Skagit River. Bald Eagles, migrating from British Columbia, Alaska and the interior Northwest, come to the Skagit to feed on spawned chum salmon. Their harsh, creaking cackle splits the air as they go about the business of hunting for their food of prey.

Opportunities abound to view or photograph our majestic national symbol as they congregate along the banks of the Skagit River, typically between December through February. Eastern Skagit County offers one of the largest wintering Bald Eagle populations in the lower 48 states. Peak counts have been estimated at more than 500 birds.

The North American colonists originally gave the Bald Eagle its name when “bald” or “balled” meant white. Bald Eagles feed mostly on fish or seabirds, though they may scavenge larger animals such as deer and even whale carrion.

For its size, the eagle is surprisingly light, yet it is very strong, strong enough to swoop down on prey with incredible speed and carry it away. Eagles’ powerful wings allow them to carry prey that weighs more than they do.

Bald Eagle nests, which can weigh hundreds of pounds, are typically six feet wide and two to four feet tall. Nests are often located very high in a tall tree with a broken or deformed top, within view of the water.

The nesting period in Washington begins around the last week of March to the first or second week of April. Although some eagles stay in the Upper Skagit River area, most find nesting sites around the shores of Puget Sound, San Juan Islands or other coastal areas in Canada or Alaska.

The average adult Bald Eagle weighs nine pounds, with a height of three feet and a wing span of five-and-a-half to seven-and-a-half feet. It is presumed that eagles mate for life. They are generally ready to mate at the age of five. Females lay two to four eggs and the 35-day incubation duties are shared by both female and male.

Eaglets are fed by their parents for the first six to seven weeks and then sporadically while they learn to feed themselves. By the time young eagles emerge from the nest they are almost as large as their parents. The familiar coloring of white head and tail, however, does not occur until the birds are four or five years of age. Juvenile birds are mostly brown and gray with mottling on the underside of their wings and a black tail with some gray.

The average life span of an eagle is up to 20 years in the wild and 40 years in captivity. The Bald Eagle was almost driven to extinction as the result of eggshell thinning caused by the pesticide DDT. DDT was banned in the 1970s and the eagles, as well as other birds of prey, have made an amazing comeback.

Someone who can see great distances is said to have “eagle eyes.” Few animals can match the eagles’ ability to see distant objects; in fact, the eagle can see tiny detail three to four times farther than humans.

Eagles can normally be observed feeding on the gravel bars of the Skagit River during the morning hours between 7 and 11 a.m. Or, later in the afternoon, you can watch the birds catch updrafts and soar overhead. At other times the birds are seen sitting on mossy tree branches along the river. This “quiet time” is an important period when the birds conserve energy. Our favorite viewing site is on State Route 20, which runs along the Skagit River, near Rockport.

The American Bald Eagle is protected by Federal law. Follow these tips for your eagle viewing pleasure and for the protection of these magnificent birds.

Maintain a 1,000 foot distance from eagles
Your car makes a great viewing blind
Keep pets in your vehicle
Move slowly, talk softly
Never throw objects to make the eagles fly
Use telescope, spotting scope, binoculars or a telephoto lens to see eagles “up close.”

Book Review: Montana 1948

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Mary

Montana 1948 by Larry Watson starts out with a bang. And it doesn’t let up. It’s a gripping story of family loyalty being shattered by lust, abused power, and betrayal.

Twelve year old David Hayden sees his family ripped apart by a scandal. David, his straight-laced mother Gail, and father Wesley, live in town. His father is serving his second term as sheriff of Mercer County, in the small northeast Montana town of Bentrock.

Wesley’s overbearing father, David’s grandfather, is a wealthy cattle rancher. It was he who insisted Wesley run for sheriff, despite the fact that Wesley had worked hard for his law degree. It had been Wesley’s dream to practice law, but gave in to his father’s demand that he become sheriff.

David’s uncle Frank, Wesley’s brother, is a respected doctor, a war hero, whom their father obviously favors. The two brothers are opposite in nature: Wesley is quiet, reserved; Frank is gregarious, always ready with a joke.

Since David’s mother works, they have a housekeeper, Marie Little Soldier, a Sioux from the Fort Warren Indian Reservation. David and Marie are very close so the boy is upset when he discovers Marie is quite ill.

After David’s mother sees no improvement in Marie’s condition with home remedies, they call Frank. Marie is upset, hysterical, that he is called, preferring to be treated by a Reservation doctor. She finally confides to David’s mother that Frank has been sexually assaulting his female Indian patients for years. What follows—the scandal and resulting violence—alters David’s tranquil family life.

Montana 1948 is written in first person from David’s point of view. He learns that sometimes one has to choose between loyalty and justice. I highly recommend this gripping novel. It is a story of family dynamics at its best.

Book Review: It’s Not About You

Posted on January 9, 2023 by Mary

It’s Not About You: A Brief Guide to a Meaningful Life by Tom Rath, is a gem of a little book with a powerful message. The author, best known for his studies on strength-based leadership, shares meaningful ways in which life becomes richer when we contribute to others’ well-being.

Scattered throughout the book are little nuggets of inspiration and wisdom:

Life is about what you put back into the world, not what you take out of it.

Once we develop a mind set to make purposeful contributions to others, ways to do this will present themselves, ways that will utilize your personal talents for the benefit of others. In return, you’ll find that even small acts of generosity trigger changes in your brain that make you happier.

For a period of time, I read several “self-help books,” books that promote how to fulfil dreams, develop a positive attitude and attain a peaceful mind. I strongly believe there is great value in these goals and aspirations. It’s Not About You is a perfect segue, sharing with others ways to believe in themselves.

I loved this little book and highly recommend it to anyone looking for ways to enrich their life. “When you move past self, life is simpler and less stressful.” Wise words, and only a tiny sample of the messages imparted in It’s Not About You: A Brief Guide to a Meaningful Life.

In the end, you are what you contributed to the world.

Book Review: March

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Mary

March, a novel by Geraldine Brooks, published in 2006, has as its main character the absent husband and father from the beloved classic novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott that was first published 138 years earlier, in 1868.

Written in first person in the voice of Robert March, the story begins by recalling when he was a single young man from the North peddling assorted goods to people in the South. He stops at a plantation and is given lodging as a guest. He meets Grace, an extraordinary young black woman who is educated, unusual at a time when it is illegal to teach a slave to read.

Years later March, now forty years old, a scholar and minister, returns to the South as an Army chaplain to aid the Union cause in the Civil War, leaving his wife and four daughters behind. He stays at a plantation that has been ravaged by Union soldiers, the once lovely home trashed, crops burned, livestock and tools confiscated, leaving owners and the now freed slaves without adequate resources to make their livelihood.

Although it is now legal to teach Negroes to read, March finds resistance among many in the South. Nevertheless, he endeavors to educate those on the plantation where he stays, carving out letters in the dirt, sharing with the former slaves his meager supplies and food. During this time he writes letters to his beloved family, which is consistent with the previous novel, Little Women. March again comes into contact with Grace under very different circumstances.

March is a remarkable novel, steeped in the details of another time. War is always ugly, but even though the concept of emancipation was honorable, the means of obtaining it often caused hardship to those it was meant to save. The novel is beautifully written with descriptive passages: “The heat of late afternoon closed in around us like an animate thing; you could feel it on your skin, warm and moist, like a great beast panting.” I loved this story and am impressed with the concept of a story continuing from another, a classic, written so long ago.

Book Review: I Am Malala

Posted on December 26, 2022 by Mary

“To all the girls who have faced injustice and been silenced. Together we will be heard.”
—-Malala Yousafzai

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb is an extraordinary memoir of a young Muslim girl who was shot at close range, by a Pakistani Taliban as she sat on a school bus surrounded by her classmates.

Malala, her father, mother and two brothers lived in Swat, a mountainous village in Pakistan. Her father was a strong advocate for education and worked hard to open his own co-educational school, believing the government schools were inadequate. Further, he felt the lack of education was the root of Pakistan’s problems.

Malala was born in 1997 within a society that highly valued the birth of boys. When a son was born it was cause for celebration, but the birth of a girl was met with quiet disappointment. It was believed her role in life would be simply to prepare food, give birth to children, and be obedient to her husband. Malala’s father, however, did not share the beliefs of his countrymen concerning women. Although they were strict Muslim, the family did not believe in the growing influence of the Taliban, who forbid education for girls, threatened those who attended school, and even burned school buildings. Malala’s father did not insist that she cover her face, praised her efforts in excelling in her school work, and encouraged her to speak out about her God-given rights and talents.

The memoir goes into detail about Malala’s life as a young child, their customs and beliefs. She loved her country and its rugged mountains. Her greatest joy was attending school with her friends and competing with them in examinations.

When Malala was fifteen years old, as she sat on a school bus with her friends, a Pakistani Taliban shot her in the face. The bullet grazed her left eye, skull and brain, lacerated a facial nerve, shattered her eardrum and broke her jaw joints. She was rushed to Birmingham, England and against all odds and with the aid of British doctors, Malala survived her wounds.

When Malala was 17, she was awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, the world’s youngest Nobel Prize laureate. At the time of the book’s writing, she and her family live in England. She likes her new country because “people follow rules, they respect policemen and everything happens on time.” There is no fear about harm on the way to school, women have jobs unimaginable in Pakistan. Nevertheless, Malala misses her homeland and longs to return.

Malala does not want to be remembered as the “girl who was shot by the Taliban” but rather the “girl who fought for education.”

Book Review: Refuge

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Mary

Refuge, a novel by Dot Jackson (1932 – 2016) is a gripping story of discovery and love that takes place in the late 1920s and early 30s. Mary Seneca Steele’s privileged Charleston background is of little value when she faces her abusive, unemployed though money-grabbing husband. Although she would have liked to divorce him, North Carolina is a “no divorce” state. When Mary Seneca (called Sen) finally has enough of his emotional and physical abuse, she packs up her young daughter and son, and in her husband’s expensive Auburn Phaeton automobile steals away in search of her late father’s roots in North Carolina’s Appalachian Blue Ridge Mountains.

Nearing her destination, Sen follows what she remembers of her father’s description of his homeland, but takes a wrong turn on a rutted winding road and sinks the car into a shallow part of a river. She and the children are able to climb out, soaking wet, and salvage most of their clothes. They discover an abandoned house and take refuge there. Although off to a rough start, it doesn’t take long for Sen to become acquainted with relatives and neighbors, people with whom she finds happiness and fulfillment.

Years pass, the children thrive, and Sen becomes an integral member of the community. She becomes especially close to her cousin, Ben Aaron Steele and it is from Ben that she learns about her family’s roots and the true meaning of life, love and loyalty.

Author Dot Jackson spun a story rich in details, and told in an authentic, captivating Southern voice. I especially recommend this novel to those who love Appalachia-based stories. The author beautifully describes the hilly landscape, the floral and fauna particular to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the attitudes of the people who live there.

Book Review: Rescue Ranch Rising

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Mary

“Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.”
——A Cherokee proverb

Rescue Ranch Rising, an uplifting novel by Heidi M. Thomas, is book three of her “Rescue Series.” The contemporary western takes place on a Montana cattle ranch.

Samantha (Sam) Moser’s dreams went up in flames when her barn burned to the ground. Although her horses escaped the fire, her plans to both rescue horses and people are also threatened to turn to ashes. As Rescue Ranch Rising begins, Sam observes the burned remains of her barn and is overwhelmed with the now dimming possibility of restoring her dream of having her own arena to help guide traumatized people, especially veterans, heal by equestrian therapy.

Sam lives on the Montana ranch her grandparents once owned. She’s made headway toward realizing some aspects of her dream. She’s made a positive influence on a teen who was once a Gothic girl; she’s made real headway toward helping veterans suffering from PTSD, and she’s rescued neglected horses and abandoned dogs. Sam strongly believes that horses have the power to heal. In a program at an agriculture college, vets have responded favorably to Sam’s sessions to help them gain emotional strength and self-esteem through their involvement with horses.

Possibilities seem to brighten when builders give her a quote to build a new barn, but then betray her when they leave the area and abscond with her down-payment. In the meantime, Brad, the man she loves, seems to be pre-occupied, leaving her doubting their relationship.

Sam’s life and dreams are in turmoil. Will her faith and her solidly loyal friends be enough to turn her bad luck around?

Heidi M. Thomas writes with heart. Growing up on a working Montana cattle ranch, she writes from first-hand knowledge both the satisfaction and the concerns of a modern-day rancher. Although Rescue Ranch Rising would stand alone, I would recommend reading this intriguing series from the beginning starting with Rescuing Samantha, Rescuing Hope and this third story, Rescue Ranch Rising.

Book Review: One Perfect Day

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Mary

A novel of depth, One Perfect Day by Lauraine Snelling, addresses the often wrenching decision to donate an organ of a loved one to a person who otherwise might die.

Nora Peterson prepares for what she hopes will be the best Christmas ever. Her twins, Charlie and Christi are high school seniors. Once they leave home, nothing will ever be the same for Nora and her husband, Gordon. The family has a happy, affluent life. The twins have had every advantage and it won’t be long now before they’ll be off to college to start their own lives.

Miles away, in another state, Jenna Montgomery, exhausted from her ER shift, returns home to care for her daughter, Heather. For years, Heather, 20, has suffered with a failing heart. Being a nurse, Jenna is well aware of how serious her daughter’s condition is. If she doesn’t get a heart transplant soon, she will die. It’s that dire. Jenna is a war widow and she faces this burden alone.

When tragedy strikes, one’s family’s devastating loss becomes another family’s blessing.

One Perfect Day is a story of tragedy and hope. Organ transplants give life; unfortunately it often means another life has been lost. It’s never a simple solution, but it can be a life-saving answer to prayer.

I have read several books written by award-winning author, Lauraine Snelling, and have especially enjoyed the “Red River of the North” series. Snelling is a master story teller. Her descriptions, whether it be emotions or landscape, come alive under her pen. One Perfect Day is a departure from her usual genres, at least in my experience, but she does justice to a crucial, life-saving topic—the importance of being an organ donor. I highly recommend this book.

Book Review: The Oregon Trail

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Mary

“When I strike the open plains, something happens. I’m home. I breathe differently. That love of great spaces, of rolling open country like the sea, it’s the grand passion of my life.”
– Willa Cather

The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by journalist and author Rinker Buck is an absorbing modern-day journey of two brothers experiencing the 2,100 miles of Oregon Trail as closely as they could to the pioneer experience.

Middle-aged brothers Rinker and Nicholas Buck and their dog Olive Oyl set out from Kansas in a covered wagon pulled by three mules. Rinker was considered “Boss” and Nick “Trail Hand.” Though the brothers are opposites in lifestyle, attitude, and experience, it takes both their individual talents to manage this alternately harrowing and exhilarating journey. While Rinker did the in-depth planning of the trip, Nick’s skill with mechanics and innovative repairs made completing the trip possible.

Rinker Buck does a remarkable job of sharing their first-hand experiences, then toggling to emigrant stories of the 1840s and 50s, bringing the Oregon Trail journey to life. The Oregon Trail, we learn, isn’t a long, single rutted road, but rather a wide network of tracks and named branches along the 2,100-mile route, much of which is now paved. Various needs and conditions necessitated different routes as the pioneers sought forage for their stock, water, or perhaps a shorter, more comfortable route. The Buck brothers experienced many of the same trials and tribulations as the emigrants.

I loved this book. The author’s honesty about the struggles and inconveniences they faced, as well as the beauty and observations they witnessed, make The Oregon Trail a rich, rewarding, and well-researched read.

Book Review: The Hope Raisers

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Mary

The Hope Raisers: How a Group of Young Kenyans Fought to Transform Their Slum and Inspire a Community by Nihar Suthar, is an eye-opening account of determination to effect change in one of the largest slum neighborhoods of Nairobi, Kenya.

Korogocho, home to about 200,000 pressed into 1.5 square kilometers, is known for its extreme poverty, food and water shortages, and rampant pollution. Children and adults daily pick through trash at the huge Dandora dumpsite hoping to find food for their families, or recyclables they can resell. It is a village where gang violence prevails, where poverty and scant education make it almost impossible for young people to find a way toward a better future.

Out of this poverty, three teens decided to make changes in their community, changes that would bring hope and inspire young people to make more of their lives. Daniel Onyango created a band, a musical group called the Hope Raisers, to inspire the kids of Korogocho. He was quickly joined by his friend, Mutura Kuria. They began teaching children how to express themselves through art and music.

After finding a pair of discarded rollerblades in the dump, the teens learned that the strange-looking roller skates were used in competition. They scrapped together more pairs of rollerblades, cobbling together parts to make useable pairs. Sometimes they stuffed rags into the toes of the rollerblade shoes so that the smaller children could skate.

In the meantime, streets around Korogocho were paved, a ridiculous expense since no one had a car, or even a motorcycle. The boys organized play times practicing on the unused paved streets. They formed regular practice hours and took the sport seriously. In order to participate, children had to attend school, thus assuring that children were bettering themselves in more than a sport. The leaders sought donations and applied for grants enabling them to purchase equipment and compete in organized contests.

Lucy Achieng, a young girl who refused to fall victim to an early marriage, tried this new sport and found her talent. She helped others achieve success at competitions. They gradually worked their way toward participating in Roller Games World Championship in China.

The Hope Raisers is an inspiring account of how a few people can effect change in an impoverished community. These three young Kenyans were determined to make a difference, to raise their village from the slums, and to pave the way toward achieving a better future.