Behind the Sign

Three years after the ending of The Great War in 1918, a book was published to commemorate the fallen heroes of the global conflict from Whatcom, Skagit, and San Juan counties: "With The Colors." Here is an excerpt from its pages that lists the 59 men from Skagit County who perished as a result of that conflict. As you will discover, however, roughly a quarter of those deaths were due to an invisible, but nonetheless deadly, adversary. Tales of the Magic Skagit is proud to do honor to their memories.

“Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (EBLA) consists of 17,400 acres of prairies, forest, and seashore on Whidbey Island. The Reserve sits at a geographical nexus […]

This is a Mothers’ Day story. More specifically, it’s the story of two Skagit Valley mothers, both of whom are no longer with us, but each of whom left amazing legacies in the wake of their very different lives. Both were born and raised in the Magic Skagit, and each were trailblazers in their respective spheres of influence. This is the story of Susan Schuh and Imogene Bowen, and of all the many thousands of moms in the Skagit Valley that one might choose to commemorate on Mothers’ Day, their stories struck me as particularly emblematic of our community — and in my efforts to pay tribute to them, I celebrate the loving and creative power of womanhood that is at the core of what I think all of us most love, respect, and remember about our mothers.

Every time I gaze upon a tulip, not to mention entire fields of them stretching to a horizon framed by the purple mountains majesty of the Cascades, it kind of takes my breath away. Having confessed this, you can appreciate why I look forward to the prospect of continuing to view tulips even as we approach Mother’s Day, 2023 — hopefully, with less tulip traffic, but at least with warmer temperatures than when the annual Tulip Festival began in what turned out to be the fourth month of winter in the Magic Skagit. To celebrate the floral event that makes the Skagit Valley an international destination venue each spring, I thought I’d go back to some tulip themed “Tales of the Magic Skagit” episodes from the past — a literary tip-toe through the tulips, if you will.