It's a beautiful March day at Ebey's Landing NHR. I decided to go for a short walk this morning and take advantage of the early morning light to photograph the Ferry House and the beach at Ebey's Landing. The crisp March air quickly reminded me that I'd left my jacket in my car but the bright sun and cloudless sky hints that the day will be much warmer if I am patient. I opt to leave the jacket where it is.
There was a light frost last night, still visible where the ground is most shaded. The rest of the ground glimmers from the water droplets clinging to blades of grass along the path.
The Ferry House's white paint faded a long time ago leaving weathered gray siding that suggests the house is a natural part of the prairie, that it grew, nutured by land, just as the grove of trees that stand behind it. One hundred fifty years and several generations have passed since the house was first built to mark a new start for Col. Isaac Ebey's children. As I walk around the house, I wonder about the people that have walked through its doors or looked out its windows. I imagine Eason or Ellison Ebey driving the stage to Coupeville for travelers that had stopped at the Ferry House for the night. I picture the women and men gathering for conversation in their separate sitting rooms and guests looking out the window toward Admirality Inlet as they think about tomorrow's business in Port Townsend across the way. As the local highway, the Admirality Inlet must have been bustling with steamer traffic and other merchant vessels.
I spent about a half hour walking around the Ferry House, taking pictures and day dreaming about the past. The sound of the waves lapping the shore of Ebey's Landing, uninterrupted by traffic in the early morning make it easy to imagine I have stepped back in time. A beep from my cell phone brought me back to the present and a reminder that I have more work to do today so I started to walk back toward my car, turning back to look at the Ferry House one last time. The sun was a little higher, shining more light on the house and affirming for me that the Ferry House still has a bright future.
