The Difference Between Here and There
Got a savings account or a raincoat? How about insurance on your car? Do you give presents at birthdays, go to the dentist for a check up once in a while, have a retirement plan, or take medication regularly? Are you watching what you eat some of the time, paying on a mortgage, or trying to raise your children or grandchildren to be competent adults? For most of us, the answer is probably "yes" to many of these questions.
Why are we doing these things? In every instance we are actively protecting our own interests. Such interests include health, love and esteem, financial security, a solid family, and minimizing big bills from unplanned events. There is one interest we tend to overlook, however. Yet it is the primary reason most of us live in the San Juan Islands. We are immigrants by choice. We are here for a reason that transcends health, financial security, proximity to family members, or other mainland conveniences. We came for the island lifestyle.
I recently put a question to a cross-section of residents: "In addition to the natural wonders of this place, what single, everyday thing do you like most about living here?" Following is a sampling of the answers.
"I can talk to the druggist one-on-one about my pill questions. He knows me; I know him."
"There are no billboards screaming at me to buy things."
"We have an unpretentious golf club."
"People wave from their cars as they pass you on the roadif there is even a remote chance they know you."
"I like stores with local ownership. No chain operations."
"At the post office and the grocery I always bump into people I know and like, including people who work there."
"It's quiet."
"I can often drive for minutes on end without seeing another car on the road."
"Unobtrusive police." (Sheriffs).
"I can be independent without being anonymous."
Of course these ten samples don't tell the whole story, but chances are good that some of the answers resonate with you, as they do with me. Like the presence of eagles and whales, salt water and hills, fish and ferries, these ten responses stake out some of the dimensions of our island lifestyle in the San Juans. Are these dimensions-and others like them-worth safeguarding, just like our health, family relations, and tangible assets like homes and cars? You bet. But when it comes to doing something to actually hold on to our lifestyle, we tend to back off; we silently hope someone else will take care of it. Lifestyle is subjective in nature; it is awkward to define and talk about. It is even harder to defend in public. But undefended, it will quietly disappear like fog from a valley as the morning sun erases it. The dissipation of our special lifestyle is guaranteed if merely sit on our duffs and hope.
We know what to do to protect our health. The same is true for our tangible assets. What about our island lifestyle? There are at least four relatively simple actions each of us can take:
1. Vote aggressively. Once or twice a year we each receive a box of votes we can use as we see. With them we put people in office, tax ourselves, and in some small ways nudge the course of history in the San Juan Islands. Various candidates running for local offices have different views on lifestyle. Most ignore it. Some want to change it to make Here more like There (where she or he came from). Press candidates on this issue. Find out where each one stands on the question of lifestyle. Note, too, that if we don't take the trouble to use our box of votes, they count anyway-against our interests. Your or my unused vote doubles the impact of a vote used by someone else in opposition to our values.
2. Support local merchants. To be a viable community we must have an economic backbone. Otherwise our archipelago is just a rural suburb surrounded by water. Years ago the backbone was provided by fishing and agriculture. Today we are in transition, and retailing, along with construction, is the economic centerpiece. The more business each of us can do with our local merchants, the less need they have to seek and depend on imports, i.e., tourists. Un-muzzled tourism is not compatible with the continuation of our island lifestyle as outlined in the survey above.
3. Pay attention to and participate in major land use decisions. The way land, including shoreline, is used is the single biggest factor in the long-run survival of a special place like this. The total number of homes, B&Bs, apartments, commercial sites, guest houses, marinas, etc. directly influences the eventual size of the population. More is not merrier when it comes to island-lifestyle considerations.
4. Help minimize any expansion of access to the Islands- more ferrys, planes, etc. It is relatively difficult to get to and from the San Juans-the price we pay for living Here and not There. Most of us pay the price with a smile on our faces. People who don't want to pay the price shouldn't. There are plenty of other places to visit and/or reside. In effect, hard access is the price of admission. Let's not lower the price.
The San Juan Archipelago is a theater. We live in the theater and are part of an unfolding drama as we interact with the abundant natural surroundings and one another. We are generally self-contained here. We have to be. Because we are, we can speak with the druggist, one on one. We can have unobtrusive sheriffs, bump into people we know and like all the time, and drive around our islands without trepidation. These are some of the dimensions of our adopted lifestyle. It is not made of titanium, however; it can and will erode. All it takes for this to happen is for enough good islanders to do nothing to protect our quality of life.
Copyright © 1999 Steven C. Brandt
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