is going to be disrupted for three weekends, starting today, and folks are understandably upset about it. Instead of a reasonable 15 minute voyage between the dock on Whidbey and the mainland dock at Mukilteo every 30 minutes, we now will en(joy?dure?) a 50 minute voyage between Whidbey and the next south-most ferry dock at Edmonds, several miles farther away. Those sailings will be every 90 minutes, rather than 30. It's a major inconvenience and I predict long lines and much gnashing of teeth.
The thing is, it has to happen and we've had lots of warning and advice about how to make it less painful. The Mukilteo dock is badly in need of repair and weekends, though not the perfect time because there is no perfect time, at least mostly affects visitors, rather than commuters. Of course, we are a recreational destination and fewer visitors cuts into our economic base. It's mud season, but when the skies are not dumping water on us, we have a fairly steady stream of customers coming to our shores.
Isn't it interesting how we fuss and moan about unavoidable, relatively minor obstacles in our path? We spend a lot of time worrying about that kind of thing and much less time thinking about the ways they can actually enhance our lives.
I think it will be kinda fun to travel south on the ferry to Edmonds; it's a shoreline I've never seen. It will increase my travel time a lot, on my way to Vashon tomorrow, but it will give me a chance to open my newest book---"Cutting for Stone"---which I hope I'll remember to put in the car. Waiting in line to board may be a hassle, but, again, I've got my book and no drastic time table.
I know others aren't so lucky, but we can make it worse than it really is, just by fretting.
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