Is It Stealing If I Bring It Back? I Need More Island Culture

Something about this picture makes me want to get lost for a day.  These canoes are near Agate Beach on Lopez Island in northern Washington State.  This is found on my website (www.douggraybealphotography.com) in my gallery of inspiring places.  I took this a few years ago when I was just starting to get interested in photography and it has been one of my favorites, since.

Lopez Island is one of 743 islands in the Northwestern corner of Washington.  Of all the islands, only 4, including Lopez, are accessible by ferryboat. The rest are available by private boat or private plane and some are completely off limits to humans.  Each island has it’s own character and reputation.  Lopez is fairly flat so it is good for bike riding.  There really isn’t a town on the island but it does have a small village with a general store and, well, that’s about it.  Most people have vacation homes but there is a small group that calls the island home year round.  Lopez is the kind of place where a celebrity can have a hide away home next door to a hippie who rents from an artist who makes a living selling her artwork to the tourists.

To me, Lopez Island is the kind of place where once I walk off the boat, the hustle and stress of daily life is instantly replaced with easygoing island culture and contentment.  Which brings me back to these canoes.  No matter what calls you to the island, one thing is for certain:  it is time to chill out.  Whether you are hiking a trail on the coastline, scouting for bald eagles or whales, seals or sea lions or taking a nap on a hammock in the fresh air, riding a bike across the island, fishing, crabbing or boating or canoeing, it’s all about chilling out.

The canoes in this picture are actually for the guests staying in a bed and breakfast across the street.   I was strolling the beach, looking for rocks to hit in to the water using a piece of driftwood as a bat (one of my favorite things to do at the beach) and stumbled upon these canoes.  It was all I could do to not help myself to one of them for an hour.  I settled for a photograph, instead, but every time I see this pic, I feel like I’m right back there on the beach, wondering if anybody would mind if I just…..