Sit in the canopy of an old-growth fir.

It’s exhilarating.

It’s a natural high.

From the earliest records and maps, we know that Kiket Island was always an island, connected at low tide to the rest of Fidalgo Island, but with water setting it free every high tide.

Sitting is the new smoking, they say. Many of us spend hours a day sitting at a desk, then another hour driving a car or riding a bus, then another hour or two or more couch-surfing.

Some of the wonders of Deception Pass are obvious, such as the power of the waters churning through the Pass itself, the historical treasures of the CCC structures, the cathedral forests of old growth at Hoypus and North Beach, and the beauty of the diverse beaches ready for exploration and discovery.

"What was wrong with having a rock wall at the beach?" a member of a local service club asked me during a presentation I was making. I had a picture of the new beach up on the screen. For a second I thought he was joking.