Two Billion Dollars

In mathematical terms, two billion dollars looks like this: $2,000,000,000.00. A friend of mine would say “If that was a pile of peanuts, it would be a helluva big pile of peanuts”. Another way to look at it is to make a pile of 2 billion one-dollar bills. It would reach about 160 miles high. If you were to lay those same bills end to end, they would reach over 7 ½ times around the equator or ¾ of the way to the moon. Obviously, $2 billion ain’t peanuts! But it is the amount of shortfall forecast in the next Washington state biennial budget.

The Problem

The September state revenue forecast indicated a $1.4 billion shortfall and the outlook for the next review is pessimistic. Governor Gregoire has called a special session of the legislature for late November, shortly after the next state revenue forecast is issued. Their charge will be to consider ways this budget shortfall can be accommodated. In the recent several years, similar or larger shortfalls have been met primarily by cutting state spending. Since 2008, the cumulative revenue shortfall has totaled over $7.5 billion. If all factors such as growth in demand for services and inflation are added in, the need for reductions has exceeded $10 billion over the last three years. The Governor has declared everything is on the table for consideration of cuts of up to 10% in the next budget. However, the “low hanging fruit”, so to speak, has already been picked. An “all cuts” budget this time around will be devastating.

Each expenditure proposed for the remainder of the 2011-2013 budget will be considered for cutting such as health, K-12 and higher education programs. Particularly hard hit would be the elements of the state’s safety net painstakingly woven together with both state and Federal funds over decades to provide support to our most vulnerable residents. These programs are basic and provide services to families, seniors, and the developmentally or functionally disabled. They knit together home and community services and supports with a focus of fostering independence and enabling individuals to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. Aside from any altruistic motives, these programs, in general, save money that helps avoid societal (taxpayer) costs that would otherwise be incurred. They attract Federal funds to the state as well by providing matching funds so that in many cases, a dollar cut results in a dollar less from the Feds. Exacerbating this situation is the fact that the currently approved 2011-2013 budget is being spent now in the face of the newly predicted shortfall. An amended budget may not be approved before the Legislature reconvenes in January and the details may not be resolved even then. This means that cuts that get approved will be taken at a higher rate than as if spread over the full 24 months of the biennium. The Washington State Health Care Authority Director has concluded in its budget package that “Whatever legislators decide, it is certain that real people, families, health institutions, and the overall care system in our state will be hurt by some or all of the cuts we are putting into play”. A summary chart in their presentation shows that over 830,000 clients will be affected if all their proposed options are implemented.  And this doesn’t include the people affected through reductions in the Department of Social and Health Services budget.

The Potential Impact

Aside from the budget dilemma confronting the state, the Federal budget is under a special bipartisan review presently and due to be completed before the year end. Results of that review, if any agreement is reached, will be subject to an up or down vote in Congress. No amendments will be permitted. If this special review panel is unable to reach agreement for the proposal to congress, an automatic series of pre-agreed cuts will be imposed which will likely affect Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and many other basic Federal programs. Until resolved, this leaves much uncertainty for the states. One such program that assists the states comes from the Older American’s Act which helps with home and community services such as meals on wheels.

Based on options proposed by the Health Care Authority and the Department of Social and Health Services to achieve an overall 10% spending reduction, an “all-cuts” state budget may cut or eliminate the following  programs:

Adult pharmacy benefits.

            Medical for Disability Lifeline.

            Termination of the state Basic Health Plan.

            Termination of Children’s Health Program.

            Termination of Maternity Support Services.

            Reduction of Certain hospital funding.

            All non-emergency adult dental services.

            School-based medical services.

            Interpreter services.

            Reduced number of Regional Support Networks (mental health) and reduced services.

            Elimination of Adult Day Health services.

            Elimination of Naturalization Services.

            Closure of selected state hospital wards.

            Elimination of the State Food Assistance Program.

Elimination of grants through the Aged, Blind or Disabled, and Pregnant Women Assistance program.

Reduction of state funding for vocational rehabilitation services.

Major eligibility and program changes for mental health, long term care and developmental disability services.

Elimination of all alcohol and substance abuse services for adults except for pregnant and parenting women.

More reductions to Behavioral Rehabilitation and Domestic Violence Services to children.

These are some highlights of what’s on the table. None are cast in stone yet and there are other programs that may have cuts or be considered for elimination. In addition, eligibility standards for some programs may be raised and fees may be increased for adult family homes or other services.

Are There Other Options ?

Unequivocally yes! An all-cuts budget will undo decades of progress in Washington State affecting much more than the quality of life and security. What is desperately needed is a balanced approach of spending reductions and increased revenue to allow vital services to be maintained at viable levels.

The state is long overdue in considering comprehensive tax reform. This debate needs to be put forth in the legislature and seriously considered. A good starting point would be the Gates Commission report titled Tax Alternatives for Washington State submitted to the Legislature in late 2002. http://dor.wa.gov/content/aboutus/statisticsandreports/wataxstudy/volume1.pdf It concluded that restructuring the Washington tax system would result in a tax system that would be:

-Substantially fairer to lower- and middle-income people

-More equitable in its treatment of business

-More effective in supporting the state’s economy

-Considerably more compatible with the Federal tax system and consistent with the taxing systems of most other states

The report is well worth reading.

Obviously however, undertaking a complete restructure of this sort will take time and the revenue shortfall is immediate. Fortunately, there are near-term actions that can be taken to alleviate (not eliminate) the shortfall the state faces if the political will is there. As one such move, there are a number (literally hundreds) of tax exemptions and loopholes that may have served a useful purpose at one time but which should be eliminated now. What it will take is the intestinal fortitude of state management and the Legislature to face up to the need for additional revenue to lessen the severity of program, particularly safety net, cuts.

What Can You and I Do?

The Washington State Council on Aging has put forth the following priorities:

            -We support health care reform initiatives that are cost efficient and are driven by a collaboratively developed statewide philosophy and shared core values.

            -Protect the most vulnerable senior citizens. Prioritize funding for those receiving services.

            - Prioritize funding that helps senior citizens remain in their homes or a community based setting for as long as possible.

                        -- No more cuts to the State Senior Citizens Services Act.

                        -- Support Family Caregiver programs.

            - Protect Washington’s investment in home and community services and maintain the current long term care infrastructure.

Supporting and promoting these priorities is vital to our seniors and disabled residents.

Primary revenue sources for the state are sales and property taxes. The key to increasing either in the long run is to develop jobs. Supporting Federal and local initiatives to stimulate job growth will lead, albeit slowly, to improved sales and home values. These, in turn, will help improve the state revenue picture. Near term, plugging the exemptions/loopholes in our current tax structure and /or other revenue enhancement offers partial immediate improvement. Long term, the state needs to carefully examine its complete tax structure and proceed with an overhaul.

You and I can help bring these changes about by speaking up. Our legislators, both Federal and State, need to hear our opinions. They are charged to represent their constituents and, hopefully, will listen and act to support major public opinion. There’s strength in numbers. Finally, be sure to register and vote. It’s our strongest voice.

Social Security

Although the seeds of war were being planted in Europe at the time, overall 1935 was a good year. With President Roosevelt leading the country, It was the year that RADAR, the helicopter, fluorescent lights and Nylon were invented, the first Sugar and Orange bowl games were played, Ozzie married Harriet, Babe Ruth played his last game, Alcoholics Anonymous and the CIO were formed, and Persia was renamed Iran. It was the year that Elvis, Julie Andrews, the Dali Lama, Sonny Bono, Luciano Pavarotti, Woody Allen, the Deception Pass bridge and I were born. In fact Monica Lewinski and I share the same birthday, 38 years apart. But, 1935 also gave rise to one of the most important pieces of U.S. legislation from the 20^th century, the Social Security Act.

                                                            The Problem

For seventy six years Social Security has helped keep hundreds of thousands of seniors out of poverty.  This was accomplished by a tax on worker’s salaries to fund the system. Over this time, while the amount of salary being taxed has increased, the numbers of people drawing Social Security benefits have increased faster than either the numbers of workers making current contributions or the level of tax being assessed. For example, the advent of the boomer generation into the ranks of the retired, along with other factors such as increasing longevity and the improving productivity from technology, is helping to create a long-term Social Security financing shortfall. As a result, there is general agreement that the trust fund’s present income and reserves will cover full payments until the end of 2037. After that time, payments will fall to about three quarters of the scheduled benefits. This then is the broad scenario that anyone seeking to retire and who was born around 1970 or later will face unless changes to the system are made

It should be noted here that referring to Social Security as an “entitlement” program is a complete misnomer. This term has acquired a negative context in recent years and fundamentally misrepresents what Social Security really is. Not unlike a savings account, the benefits paid out have been EARNED by individual contributions over a workers employment time. While workers are entitled to receive the earned benefits, it is on the basis of what they have already paid into the system and their forecasted longevity. There will be “winners” and “losers” depending on how long an individual lives, but this is accounted for in the management of the trust fund and the established contribution rates that do change with time. It is also a fully paid and independent system that does not include use of general taxpayer funds. Thus, to term the program as an “entitlement” in the context of welfare is simply wrong. Also, while I’m using the term “benefits” here, I would suggest that “returns” is a better choice to avoid reinforcing the wrongful “entitlement” characterization.

A number of ideas for introducing fixes and/or changes to the Social Security system have been and continue to be advanced. Policy questions are on the table that will affect millions of people. Should benefits be cut or the retirement age increased to eliminate the shortfall? Should the tax be increased and/or the salary cap be raised? Should neither or both be done? Should means testing be introduced? Should system reserves be placed in private investments? Should the Social Security system even be continued? Will currently vested enrollees be protected? Are there other approaches that would make the system permanently viable? These are daunting questions for a severely bipartisan Congress to deliberate. While negative actions on these questions constitute the potential bad news, the good news is that there is time right now to fix the system if the political will is sufficient. Assuming the system is continued, the fundamental decision will be to decide between increasing the revenue to the system, cutting benefits, or some combination of both. Exactly   how to accomplish either approach is the sticking point. The closer we get to the time decisions concerning Social Security will be made, the more vocal critics of any proposed fix will become and the more “scare” stories will be put forward, some with no or misrepresented facts. To find the truth and to check out the facts of any such item go to www.snopes.com or www.factcheck.org

                                                So, What Should Be Done?

In 2010 a U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging issued a report outlining the policies Congress could institute to eliminate Social Security’s projected deficit. The May 18, 2010 issue of U.S. News published a summary of potential fixes as follows:

Reduce Benefits

If Social Security payouts were reduced by 3% for new beneficiaries beginning in 2010, it would reduce the funding shortfall by about 18 percent. A 5% reduction would reduce the deficit by 30 percent.

Raise the Retirement Age

The current eligibility age is 65 to67 for unreduced benefits depending on the worker’s year of birth. Proposals include increasing the full retirement age to as high as age 70 and indexing the age to keep pace with increasing longevity. Either of these changes would eliminate less than one third of the deficit.

Increase Worker and Employer Contributions

The current contribution rate is 12.4% of wages up to $106,800. If employed, half,  or 6.2%, is paid by the employer. If the rate were increased by 1.1% to 7.3 % of earnings, Social Security’s deficit would be eliminated. Using this proposed increase, a worker earning $43,451 (in 2010) would face a tax increase of $478 a year or $9.19 a week, and the employer would face an identical increase.

Boost Future Contributions

If current benefits are maintained and the contribution rate is increased to 7.2% in 2022 and 8.2% in 2052, the shortfall would also be eliminated. This scenario would be possible due to present trust fund reserves. If the tax rate is gradually increased by 1/20% annually for 20 years, the Social Security shortfall would be decreased by about 69%.

Tax as Needed

Contribution rates could be designed to increase as funds are needed and to reduce when there is a surplus. Increasing efforts to collect unpaid taxes could be increased as well.

Modify the Social Security Tax Cap

The present cap on eligible earnings is $106,800. If all income above that level were subject to the tax but not used for benefits, the projected shortfall would be eliminated. If used also for benefits, about 95% of the shortfall would be covered. The cap could also be increased to 90% of all worker earnings.

Average in More Working Years

Current benefits are based on an average of the top 35 years of earnings. If the averaging period is increased to 38 or 40 years, the shortfall would be reduced by 14% and 23% respectively.

Decrease the Cost-of-Living Adjustment

Until recently, Social Security benefits have been adjusted each year to keep up with inflation using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. If this COLA is reduced by 1% each year it would eliminate 78% of the shortfall.

Lower Spousal Benefits

One proposal is to gradually lower the spousal benefits from 50% at present to 33% by 2026. This change would only reduce the shortfall by about 6%.

Include More Workers

About 94% of workers currently pay into Social Security. Exemptions are made for some Americans, for Federal workers hired before 1984, for State and local government workers participating in alternative retirement systems, for college students working at academic institutions, and ministers who choose not to be covered. If Social Security coverage was extended to workers not currently participating, It would only reduce the shortfall by about 9%.

A Legacy Tax

The first retirees who received Social Security payments did not pay the tax over all of their life. For example, a 60 year old in 1935 only had to pay in for 5 years before starting to collect benefits. Several proposals are under consideration for counteracting this “legacy” cost to recoup the amounts not paid in by the early retirees. If implemented by, for example, a 3% surtax on higher incomes over the present cap, it would eliminate about one-third of the shortfall. Another proposal to direct estate tax revenues into the Social Security trust fund would eliminate 20% of the fund’s deficit.

Diversify Investments

This approach would invest a portion of the trust fund in equities to try to earn returns that would help offset the shortfall. Unrealistically high investment amounts and rates of return (eg., 9-10%) would be required to make a significant impact on the shortfall. At the same time this exposes the trust fund to losses if the market turns down.

                                                            Pros and Cons

Each of these possible approaches have pluses and minuses, some heavily one way or the other. And, the ultimate solution(s) lies in the eye of the proponent. I would hope that, first and foremost, the basis for any change would be to “do no harm”. Keep the system and keep it independent as at present. Avoid building in risk. Any change should not adversely affect the currently vested enrollees. Implementing any change in a graduated way is also a good basis to minimize individual impact, and, there appears to be sufficient time to do that. Change that retains the security of the system for both present and future enrollees is essential. This is exemplified by periodic adjustment of the tax rate/salary cap and maintaining the annual cost of living adjustment in order to stay current and assure a healthy reserve. Without further elaboration, what do you think about these possibilities?

                                                            What Can I Do?

The possibilities for action outlined above may not list every alternative available. You may have an idea nobody else has thought of. But, no matter what else, stand up, speak up and be counted. Make your voice heard.  Talk to your family, friends and neighbors. Communicate with your Congressional members that will be deciding how to proceed. E-mail makes it easy but try to catch them face to face at recess time as well. And appeal to them to act in their best bipartisan way. This is participatory democracy by “We the people”.  Your thoughts are important but do no good if kept to yourself. Finally, make sure you are registered and vote!

Rationality

As we rush pell-mell daily to embrace “progress”, we need to take time to smell the roses and assess what we are doing and what we are leaving behind. The last decade in particular has seen a progression of new assaults on our senses, our wallets and our psyches, aided and abetted by the media. Essentially nothing has been left untouched by major change, whether it be the world, our country or us, individually. Technology, terrorism, wars, politics, and the waning economy, have all taken their toll, literally and emotionally. And while it’s not all negative, it’s an impact anyway. Even positive impacts are, or can be, stressors. So, what is this doing for our capacity for rational thought?

ra-tion-al 1.  Having or exercising the ability to reason. 2. Of sound mind: sane. 3. Manifesting or based upon reason; logical.

rea-son 4. The capacity for rational thought, inference or discrimination. 5. Good judgment; sound sense; intelligence. 6. Normal mental state; sanity.

Many items of technology are proving to be significant increases in personal convenience. However, the exploding use of the internet is having a profound effect on our world and our lives. One program alone, Facebook, is said to have 750 MILLION worldwide users! That’s more than twice the entire population of the US, men, women and children combined, and more “friends” than most of us wish to have. E-mail messages probably number in the billions daily and texting messages may well exceed that. This usage has spawned a plethora of “gadgets” to connect and utilize this capability, computers we can carry and others we can’t, cell phones both smart and not so smart, the I-Pad and all its cousins. It’s possible today to carry an entire library around in your pocket. We are light years from cuneiform writings painstakingly scratched on clay tablets and even the more recent pony express delivery. Now, we have instant access to each other and to a world of information within arm’s reach continuously. This unprecedented access to information, and to each other in particular, is without parallel in history and impacts us all, sometimes favorably, sometimes not. It seems clear though that major impacts of this are higher dollar cost, higher emotional cost and a loss of continuity with our roots.

Technology has similarly exploded in the medical field. New treatments, new processes and equipment, new materials, and new medications have increased longevity and improved the quality of life for millions of people. Long term studies of the safety and efficacy of these new items, however, are not keeping pace. In the automotive field, technology is asserting itself in the form of improved passenger safety and convenience, improved gas consumption and incorporation of communications media like On-Star, internet and cell phone availability. While generally beneficial, these advancements have led to higher costs, some impacts to driver attention and a profound sense of nostalgia for the '56 Chevys, Barris customs and throaty Hollywood mufflers of our recent past (whatever happened to identifiable fenders and running boards?).     

Are these impacts/shortcomings of technology affecting our rational thought? I think yes. At least, it would seem that it gives rise to increased anxiety because of our extreme accessibility, overwhelming amounts of new information, ever increasing costs, and the losses of moving away from past lessons learned. The somewhat intrusive and always impersonal communication practices nowadays distance us from others and easily foster misinterpretation and misunderstanding when we’re not face to face. When was the last time you wrote an actual letter to someone? It’s easier and infinitely faster to simply bang out an e-mail instead. It’s almost a stigma today to be without e-mail. Does your cell phone ring at awkward or embarrassing times? When it does so with a loud ring or when you speak loudly in a crowd, do people around you look at you funny? Do you wonder about people wandering through the supermarket seeming to talk to themselves until you notice that odd-looking blue tooth “growth” on their ear? Excepting for some super sports cars, does the sameness of today’s automotive designs bore you? We might as well all be wearing the same uniform to go with them!  If a new technology permits an advancement, does that mean it should be pursued? Will it pass a “laugh test” or result in a higher price? When it’s recalled months or years in the future because of “unanticipated consequences” is there any responsibility for its defects? There’s no free lunch.     

Wars cost extraordinary amounts of money and cost many lives. Terrorism has created fears and mistrust. Both in recent years have given rise to a milieu of widespread financial impact, feelings of hate and aggression, racial tension, greed, and political and individual polarization. Fear mongering should not be taken for the truth of a matter. Blaming others is rampant. Fueled by copious amounts of money, responses to both war and terrorism have fostered greed and power grabs in institutions and individuals on a scale never before seen. At the same time, families and individuals are experiencing major economic downside repercussions and some have made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. Political institutions have reached a level of polarization that is bringing our nation to paralysis. These and other societal impacts have had the effect of creating an atmosphere of mistrust, lack of respect for our government, corporations and each other, and a diminished ability to think and act rationally or to identify truth. Are we so desperate for progress that we seize on mistruths and new “-ism’s” as gospel without taking an in-depth look at the whole problem? Change that is meaningful takes time and thought AND rational thinking.

The media have largely abandoned their reportorial role and are following sensationalism. Any pronouncement from a person in the current limelight is quoted verbatim, often out of context, with little or no regard to assessing the truth of what is being said. It’s enough if the utterance is from someone with a little prominence, no matter how harsh the rhetoric. Single issue extremists have center stage. Unflattering labels are used or invented to characterize situations or persons of opposing views, the critics proliferate, and superlatives exaggerate the realities. Non-controversial news is banished to the back of the bus.

Have we ceased to be rational human beings? Are we only capable of spontaneous reactions without thoughtful consideration of a situation? And, as Lee Iacoca famously asked in the title of his book, “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?”. Iacoca asserted the following characteristics of leadership:

            Curiosity

            Creativity

            Communication

            Character

            Courage

            Conviction

            Charisma

            Competence

            Common Sense

Very few people exhibit all of these traits or have them in equal amounts. But they form a checklist against which leadership candidates may be measured. One does not have to be an attorney or a millionaire to be an effective leader. In fact, just the opposite may be true. Have we arrived where we are today because of a vacuum in leadership? I think so. And then, what about our personal responsibility? These and related questions bother me immensely, the more so because I have lived through this time of change and am therefore a participant.

If I were king, I would want to reinfuse the public with the values that we have long held individually and as a nation but that seem to be getting left behind by many. These values include honesty, trust, discipline, common sense, optimism, common courtesy/respect and rationality. In other words, let’s get back to basics and start the process of regaining our rationality. We need to get out of Dodge and start righting our ship at home. We need to reassert the separation of church and state and get on with the business of both separately. And we need the leadership at all levels to bring all this about both by policy and by example.

Volunteering

It would be so easy to sit here at the beach and vegetate. It’s quiet and usually peaceful as long as the world’s news doesn’t intrude through the TV or internet and the weather stays calm. And then, there are occasional days when just vegging out at home watching the world go by makes good mental-health sense. But, if I want to be able to keep tying my own shoes, getting out and involved with the community and the world is not only rewarding but necessary.

There are lots of ways to get engaged with the community. But the first question to come up is “Why?”.  I think the best overall answer to that is the same reply I used to give my kids when they asked that question – “Because”. The variety of opportunities does not lend itself to one answer that fits all our urges. It’s not just altruism, i.e., “wanting to give back”, but it may be. Volunteering may originate from a long term hobby which leads to a local group concerned with the same thing and, in turn, develops into volunteer work either directly or through the contacts being made.

Just as likely, the reason to volunteer may be to acknowledge a long-held interest or desire, or to “fulfill a dream”. Have you always wanted to fly an airplane, jump from one, drive a race car or boat,  learn to play an instrument, or go back to school as a student or as a teacher. These aren’t volunteer positions but they illustrate latent passions that, when we think about it, motivate us to get up off the couch and get involved in something.

Volunteering may or may not relate to any actual experience we have or any particular expertise and, more often than not, it will not lead to employment. Remuneration isn’t the volunteer’s goal. If it was, it would be part-time work and that’s not what this is about (getting reimbursed for expenses though really helps). We may simply seek the socialization that is involved with being a volunteer. Often, just the interest in doing something we’ve never done before is the motivator. When I first retired from engineering and management work, I thought it would be fun to become a kindergarten to second grade teacher. Young ones at that age are little sponges that absorb learning readily and, generally, they aren’t old enough yet to be behavior problems. Their sense of discovery in learning something new is amazing to watch develop. With some investigation, that didn’t work out but it did motivate me to find something through volunteering that fit the need to get out and get busy.

The next question is “where”. As a practical matter, volunteering is best managed by staying local. It minimizes traveling, creates accessible new friends and, most importantly, fulfills your own community’s needs. So, what are some local opportunities? Perhaps the most obvious opportunities are service clubs – Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis, AAUW, Soroptimists, Community Foundation, etc. A community Historical Society is another prominent group. Aside from the social interactions, each has a particular focus that requires volunteers, such as collection of eyeglasses for reuse, overseas outreach, scholarships for local students, provision of a color guard for public events, oversight of community parades, historical preservation, etc. Beyond service clubs are numerous local community groups run by volunteer boards with very limited or no paid staff and which use a multitude of volunteer members. Senior Services for example needs volunteer drivers for medical appointments, meals-on-wheels and center/event support. Friends of the Library sponsor events and programs. Churches have a variety of volunteer needs. United Way oversees the sponsorship of a number of grants to local organizations. Red Hat ladies provide woman-power to many civic activities. Several artists and art organizations volunteer their artistic talents and products. Environmental groups include volunteer parks development and maintenance, trails development and maintenance, marine program activities, and land use review and comment. Our local animal shelter provides a vital community function and runs mainly with volunteers that operate and maintain the facility. Our local fairs are managed and produced by volunteers. Many groups adopt a section of County road for litter pickup. These are just a few of the multitude of available local volunteer organizations and activities.

Children’s groups such as Boy and Girl Scouts, Big-Brother/Big Sister, 4-H, Little League, soccer, and numerous others are in constant need of volunteers. My first volunteer work was as a little league coach in southern California, fresh out of the Navy in good physical shape and full of energy and optimism. Our team did well and had an excellent pitcher that threw hard and was ready for Pony League but not old enough. One Saturday at practice, I was catching this pitcher and our smallest player, barely old enough to be playing, came to bat. He was choked up fully half the length of the bat just to be able to make a full swing. After a couple of pitches which he cleanly missed, he swung again and just tipped the ball. It deflected upward over my glove and impacted squarely on the end of my nose. Unhappily, I wasn’t wearing a catcher’s mask and, instantly, there was blood everywhere – bad example for the kids! So, in order to make lemonade from lemons, I called the team around me and used the situation as a learning experience for them to ALWAYS wear the mask if catching. There was a further irony to this. The small boy that tipped the ball was the son of a lady that worked at the same place as my mother. On Monday my mom stormed in to work in mock anger and accused her coworker’s little son of breaking my adult nose!

Several years later, I was the den father for a group of cub scouts. We had great fun working through the badges, wolf, bear, etc. But our major accomplishment was that every single boy in the den earned his Webelos badge, the highest you could go as a cub.

As a further example of a volunteer experience, at one point in the late 1960’s, a youth drop-in center was formed in Bellevue to provide a safe place for young people to gather in the evenings. I volunteered to become a “rapper”, a person who would simply be available to talk with any kids that dropped in. It’s where I learned what it’s like to see the world through the eyes of a teenager suffering from schizophrenia. With training, I went on to become a “flyer”, a person that would go out in the streets to intervene in various kinds of youth situations. Those situations included drug overdoses, drug induced hallucinations/paranoia, mental health breaks, threats of suicide, or whatever came up on the spot. We worked in pairs, wore a “bell boy” (early pager) and would be on call 24/7 for a two week stretch. Callouts at night were common and this work was stress inducing, but at the same time was one of the most rewarding volunteer jobs I have ever had. I spent part of my 50^th birthday searching for my partner and a kid in trouble but without success. The address I had proved to be phony and, after several hours of searching, I came back home dejected and found a surprise birthday party organized and perpetrated by a group of friends. Their diversion really worked to get me out of the house for a while!

Periodically, a one-time group of volunteers will gather to accomplish a specific purpose. The Camano Island State Park was founded this way some years ago as was the new Rotary-supported Camano  playground that was planned for a year and built in a matter of days by a very large group of volunteers. Volunteers were also responsible for the pro bono acquisition and development of Freedom Park at Terry’s corner on Camano.

Government agencies use a surprising number of volunteers in advisory or other support activities. This is especially important in the current times of diminishing budgets. Examples are a number of boards and commissions that provide a citizen voice and recommendations on a wide variety of subjects as diverse as land use planning, mosquito control, water resources, workforce development, aging services, roadside cleanup, local parks operation and weed control. Other volunteers support our first responders in the form of Sheriff office duties, citizen patrol, on-scene emergency support, Red Cross aid, emergency preparedness, and fire district and law enforcement equipment support. Beyond local government needs, the state has a large number of boards and commissions that provide advice to the Governor and the various state agencies on virtually every subject that the state addresses from cemetaries to transportation to aging and public health.

With the advent of the 2012 political season, candidates and issues will demand an army of volunteers. Duties will involve fundraising, advising, doorbelling, phone calling, sign placement, research, and a lot of “grunt work”. Shortly after moving permanently to Camano, I was drawn by a local news article to a meeting of the newly formed Camano Community Council, a statutory group that sought a say in Camano Island land-use planning. After attending meetings for a while, a Council vacancy came up. I volunteered and was voted in as a council member. We struggled mightily with comments on and a local version of the County’s Comprehensive Plan. This went on for several years during which time, Council members had to stand for reelection and the County Commissioners went to court to get our group disenfranchised. The County prevailed and we were forced to abandon the effort. At the same time, a volunteer group formed on Whidbey to pursue the same objective of working with the County to create a new, State-mandated Comprehensive Plan. I joined with them and after two years of intense work and meetings, the County approved a plan that at least partially included citizen input. Lingering frustrations from that experience led me then to decide to run for a County Commissioner position which proved successful.

A major activity of many volunteer groups is fundraising. This is an important function where needed and can occupy a significant amount of time to be successful. As a person gets more involved volunteering, it’s easy to get overcommitted. Thus, an ability to say “no” when reaching that point is an important characteristic of a rewarding and sustainable volunteer commitment.

So, let your passions come out, follow those interests and you’re bound to find rewarding experiences by volunteering. Count on finding a lot of fun and satisfaction, developing long-term friendships and memories to last a lifetime. As for the “when” part, there’s no time like the present to get involved. Just get up, tie your shoes while you still can, and start looking for the next opportunity.

Beach Creatures - Part Trois

Beach Creatures – Part Trois

While their saga will continue with future shenanigans yet to be experienced, this blog will be the last dedicated exclusively to our beach creatures. This one concerns the terrestrials that come and go and which are fewer in number than our avian and aquatic friends. However, that’s not to say that several of our encounters haven’t been somewhat intense!

The common species that visit our cove include rabbits, moles and their cousins, rats, mice, a ferret (or weasel), deer, raccoons, and the river otters. Some are just passing through when they appear and others take up residence (or attempt to).

One of the earliest encounters after acquiring the beach house was with an otter that had gotten under the house. At the time, the beach was a weekend place with gainful employment in the big city taking up all my spare time. On arrival on a Friday evening, it was obvious from the odor that the place had been invaded. The house has only about an eighteen inch high crawl space underneath and somehow an otter had found its way in and decided to stay. They are cute to look at but not the least bit tidy as housekeepers (which I readily empathize with). Their habits cause them to bring their fish catches home with them to be eaten at their leisure. When they are full of dinner, the remaining fish carcass lays wherever it was last gnawed on and it doesn’t take long for these remains to become disgustingly odiferous. After consulting with neighbors and friends who sympathized but were not helpful, a fish and wildlife “expert” suggested scattering mothballs under the house to drive them out. This proved to be a case where the cure was almost worse than the disease. It required first that I had to squeeze into the crawl space to scatter the mothballs (I was both younger and thinner then) and then created a combined and intensified odor with the otter’s contribution that rendered the house uninhabitable for several succeeding weekends. After a final airing out, blessedly, the otters have stayed out from under the house ever since and I never did find their entrance.

My next door neighbor had a similar problem under an old cabin (since torn down) next to their house. So, one Saturday I had brought my 8-year old son and his friend Scotty to the beach and we volunteered to help him get rid of his otter. He tore up several deck planks on the small cabin porch which gave direct access to the crawl space which was facing their boat slip. I went to the back of the cabin and prepared to fire my .22 pistol into the ground next to a hole in the ground connecting also to the crawl space. The idea was that the noise would scare the otter into leaving. I fired the first shot with no response from the otter. Meanwhile, the boys had gone around to the water side and were standing in front of the opening in the deck hoping to see the animal. A second shot also did not produce any response. With the third shot, the otter apparently decided it was getting too noisy there and it literally exploded out of the deck opening direct at the boys. Both boys were bowled over and the otter, undeterred by their being in the way, ran out the slip and into the water not to be seen again. The experience left the boys completely “gee-whizzed” for some time.

The cat that preceded Fred was Casey (after Mighty Casey at Bat). Casey was a stray that wandered in one day at our city house and stayed. She was a small indoor/outdoor cat that knew how to survive in the wild but decided that roughing it all the time wasn’t the best way to live her life. So, over my protestations, and aided and abetted by their grandmother, my kids prevailed and Casey moved in. With her insistent cuddling on my lap, she and I first formed a truce but in short order bonded and became best friends (BFF’s in today’s lingo). She would come with me to the beach on weekends, often just the two of us on Friday evenings. On one such summer evening, I was sitting quietly in the living room reading the local paper with the sliding door open. I heard a small, muffled “meow” at the door and got up to let her in. To my surprise, Casey had a fully grown rabbit as big as she was by the ears and had marched the rabbit up to the door, I presume as an offering to me which she often did with moles or garter snakes. I rescued the rabbit who took off like the devil himself was chasing it and brought Casey in. About a month later, the same thing happened again only this time it was a small bunny just several months old. She had it by the ears again. Often, Casey would sit in the lane during the day and stare intently at the bordering hillside, sometimes for an hour at a time. More often than not, she would spot a disturbance in the brush and would bring home a mole or snake as her contribution to our subsistence. One afternoon, an elderly gentleman from the nursing home on the hill behind the beach wandered into the yard where I was working and sat down on a lawn chair to chat. He was a retired merchant sailor chock full of stories. Casey wandered in and checked him out and he asked her name. What he heard was “K.C.” vs. Casey and after a moment’s thought said “Oh, Kitty Cat” which I thought was a remarkable connection for him.

The moles, over time, have been a chronic problem. Most are ordinary looking but there is a variety that has multiple short, pink fleshy protrusions around their nose which, head-on, looks like a sunflower. They were a constant problem for years for me as well as the neighbors on either side. One of the neighbors is the epitome of the Bill Murray character in Caddy Shack and has been for years. As a result, he gets a lot of teasing from me. At first, when they came up in my yard, I would open their run and put the garden hose in with the water running. I probably put at least a thousand gallons of water down their hole to absolutely no avail. Next, I tried burying poison smoke bombs from the hardware store in their runs. Didn’t work. I tried the mothball trick. Didn’t work. Then I started watering the lawn only once or twice through the summer. The grass stayed green and not only did it result in only having to mow a couple of times a year but it apparently caused the worms and grubs to go elsewhere. Since these are mole food, the moles quit coming up in the yard and confined their travels to the flower beds where they are not doing any damage. However, one mole apparently tunneled under my deck over to the neighbor’s yard and is driving him nuts. I half expect to see him sitting on his porch with a loaded gun in the middle of the night watching for the mole to come up again. It would seem that this mole-mania is catching too because one of his four sons is equally paranoid about the mole.

One spring morning I came out in the yard and noticed a couple of small indentations in the flower bed. I realized that this was where I had planted new gladiolus bulbs a day or two before. When I dug into the indentations there were no bulbs. At first, I thought it was the mole getting them but did not know they weren’t vegetarians. More bulbs disappeared over the next several days and finally, quite by accident, I saw a rat run through the flower bed. It was living under the outer deck. Our island has a known rat problem. So, I put out a rat trap at what I thought was the nest entrance and within a day caught a big rat. That ended the bulb thefts immediately and now I know that rats are not only omnivores but can be vegetarians!

There have been occasional deer come down on the beach, but only infrequently. I suspect they come down to lick the salty rocks. One time there was a lone raccoon that came by but I never saw it again. There is a ferret or weasel that used to live under the neighbor’s outer deck. It would occasionally poke its head up through the very narrow openings between the deck boards. How it could manage that is a mystery. If Fred the cat spotted it he would act startled and make a kind of whimpering sound. Now, it appears to be living next door under some concrete steps down to the beach.

Mice have been an off-again/on-again problem in the carport storage areas. On more than one occasion I have gone out to the carport in the evening and when I flipped on the light found myself staring directly at the cutest, most appealing, big eared little mouse face imaginable. They have almost cartoon-like faces but are not something I want to cohabitate with. I have used traps baited with walnuts, which they love, with some success. More successfully, I used DeCon Mouseproof pellets. One early morning I stepped out on the deck to admire the beautiful weather we were having and noticed some movement in the grass out of the corner of my eye. When I looked carefully I could see it was a mouse staggering across the lawn. It would take three or four steps then stop and throw up. Then, another few steps and barf again. Obviously, it had eaten the DeCon and was on its way to the big nest in the sky. I felt terrible to be the perpetrator and have not had occasion to use DeCon again!

Recently, I had a lot of difficulty trying to rid myself of at least one and maybe two otters that had taken up residence under my outer deck. The second one was only here briefly and I'm assuming the one that hung around for several months is the mom who has annually had pups around here for the last several years. The second one was probably a guy who split as soon as he got her pregnant! I call her “mom” and she was extremely efficient at defeating or ignoring my attempts to get rid of her. She freely used my yard as her bathroom and was really messy. Although encouraged by some neighbors and friends, there was no way I was willing to shoot her.  My first attempt was to block the entrance under the deck with several loaded flower pots. These weighed about 15 pounds and she simply moved them out of the way! Next I blocked the entrance with rocks and flower pots. Same result. Then I tried pouring a witches brew I made from habanera and jalapeno peppers into the opening. She loved it. Next was the old mothball trick. I scattered them around under the deck and the next day found them neatly piled by the entrance like she had just piled them there. Finally, I saw her leave the den one morning and rushed to block the entrance with concrete pavers. This worked and I haven’t seen her since but once or twice she did try unsuccessfully to dig her way back in.

One morning, before I got the entrance blocked, I was standing on the deck looking out front toward the water and saw mom running hell bent for election across the neighbor’s bulkhead heading for her "home" under my deck. As she got closer, I could see she had a good sized fish in her mouth and very close behind her came a screaming eagle, legs and talons extended, obviously after the fish and maybe mom too. By the time she got to my bulkhead, she had spit the fish over the side and was now running for her life. Apparently the eagle didn't see her drop the fish as he kept coming and got perilously close to grabbing her as she dashed across the lawn toward her den entrance 10 feet in front of the deck. I tried to shoo her away but she was so totally focused on getting home that I don't think she even saw me.  As she ducked into the entrance, the eagle swooped over not 10 feet away but too late to get her. The eagle went to the perch tree behind the house, waiting, I imagine, to see if the otter was foolish enough to come back out, which she did not. High drama on the old beachfront!

So, with this trilogy of blogs on the creatures we are blessed with here at the beach, I’ll move on to other topics later.

Beach Creatures – Part Deux

Hopefully, this will not sound like a natural science lecture. But, I find the wildlife here at the beach to be a never-ending source of interest.

While not as numerous as our avian friends here at the beach, there are plenty of terrestrial and aquatic creatures that keep life interesting. We have rabbits, a ferret, moles, rats, deer, raccoons, mice, and feral cats on the land side and river otters which are neither land nor water creatures exclusively.

On the water side, there are several clam varieties, mussels, moon snails, worms, mud shrimp, limpets, whelks, chitons, barnacles galore, anemones, spiny sea urchins, starfish, tiny sand and hermit crabs, and the occasional nudibranch (colorful, small hairy sea slug) in the intertidal zone. This area of the beach also supports large colonies of a variety of brown, green and nearly black seaweeds, large kelp and sea/eel grass which serves as an incubator for salmon fry and small species that are food for larger fish. Some varieties of seaweed are gathered by residents for making specialty foods. The seaweeds firmly attach themselves anywhere to the rocks. The larger varieties like the giant kelp spread roots around smaller rocks much like a grasping hand which is known as a “holdfast”.

Our tide varies from a minus 3.5 feet or lower to a plus 13.5 ft or higher over the course of a year. Of course, there are two high and two low tides each day, generally occurring within that range. Since the beach has a shallow slope to deeper water, the tidal range creates a large intertidal zone which is uncovered twice a day and which accommodates these species. With the lowest tides, a person is able to walk several hundred yards out from the beach without encountering the bottom dropoff and water any more than waist deep. The beach denizens generally orient themselves in bands running parallel to the shoreline, seeming to prefer certain shallow water depths and/or temperatures for their “homes”. Further out in open water, there are several salmon varieties, sea-run cutthroat trout, skates, bullheads (sculpin), several varieties of crabs, perch, small flounder-like flatfish, dogfish (small sharks), sea lions, dolphins, whales – both grey and orca, and many other species that we never get to see. However, during the several extra-low tides in the summer of each year, an occasional unfortunate small open-water individual will get trapped in a tide pool and have to wait until the tide returns to swim free. On one occasion, a large perch was trapped in a derelict crab pot on our beach and had to be set free.

The two most prevalent species in the intertidal zone are the clams and mussels, both generally good to eat. The clams live just below the surface of the beach and extend a neck up to the mud surface to feed. . Digging them out for making fried clams or chowder requires a bit of effort. They are detectable by a small dimple in the mud around the neck or, more easily, when disturbed and they squirt a jet of water several feet into the air when the tide withdraws. A nearby footstep is enough to trigger their squirt and, sometimes when directly underfoot, it goes right up a pantleg! With the tide out, on a sunny day we are treated to a “dancing waters” display of clams randomly squirting, unprovoked except by their own exuberance. When digging clams, it’s not unusual to also find thousand-legged sand worms up to a foot long and small mudshrimp that are not good to eat.

Mussels are mostly black or deep blue colored with an occasional brown shell. They locate on the beach surface and attach themselves tenaciously to rocks in colonies by threadlike “beards”. Looking across an expanse of beach it can appear black because there are so many. The density of the colonies, however, varies widely from year to year since winter storms can transport large amounts of sand to the beach which covers them the following season and they must generate new colonies. When picked, their beards must be removed before steaming, but they reward the pallet in numerous recipes.

Moon snails are somewhat of an oddity. They are fist-sized snails and are eaten by some folks. Their eggs cases are large, a six to ten inch diameter sheet of grey sandy material with a foam plastic appearance and a collared opening in the center. These egg cases are found scattered around the beach in their spawning season.

Other intertidal species like limpets, chitons, and barnacles attach themselves either by suction or by a very effective adhesive to the rocks typically high on the beach and remain static. Limpets are small, Chinese-hat shaped creatures considered a delicacy in Japan. Chitons are flat creatures up to a few inches in length with a segmented, armored shell similar in appearance to an armadillo.

Barnacles are the ubiquitous denizens of the salt water environment. They adhesively attach themselves to anything that moves (or that doesn’t) whether it is boat hulls, rocks, crabs, fish, whales and even seaweed. They tend to gather in large colonies, often on rocks, high up on the beach. Their sizes vary from miniscule to an inch or more in diameter. When viewed underwater, they will open and extend delicate tentacles like the pistils in a flower in order to feed.

Some of the most desirable open water creatures are the crabs, succulent Dungeness and rock crab varieties. There are spider crabs as well but, while interesting to see, these are not edible. Like game fish, crab trapping is carefully regulated to assure the sustainability of the species. Only male crabs of edible size may be kept and the trapping season this year runs weekends only for the two months of July and August. Our cove seems to be a hot spot for crabbing. At times there may be 8-10 pots or more showing, all placed near the bottom dropoff several hundred yards out from the beach. During the commercial crabbing season, 30 or more pots are out front in the same general area and the attending boats are equipped with hoists to help in pulling the pots. The seagulls are wise to the commercial crabbers. When the pot is pulled, female and undersized crabs are hand sorted out and thrown back in the water. The gulls swarm around the boats when that happens and attempt to grab a rejected crab before it sinks.

Other types of crabs are plentiful on the beach. These are small sand crabs and hermit crabs. The sand crabs are only a quarter-inch to an inch across and hide in small puddles under the rocks on the beach. Turning over any rock may reveal 10-20 in a colony and, when exposed, they make their sideways run to hide again under an adjacent rock. The hermit crabs are curious small soft creatures. They appropriate an empty whelk or moon snail shell and move in. If disturbed, they withdraw into the shell closing the opening with a large claw. Hermit crabs move along the bottom with several legs that poke out of the shell opening along with the claw. As they grow, they will discard their shell and find a larger one.

Starfish frequent the beach and tend to be found in shallow water. Up to about10-12 inches across, they occur in a rainbow of colors from grey to brown to shades of red, purple, orange and green. Typically with five arms or webbed arm-like lobes, they move about slowly. Even though the arms are covered with a hard coarse covering, they are flexible. The bottom of each arm is covered with hundreds of tiny tube-like “feet” that are actually suction cups. They will wrap their arms around an unlucky clam and, using their suction attachment to the clam’s shell, will apply a steady pull to open the clam. When the clam tires and opens, the starfish will extend its stomach through its mouth into the clam and proceed to digest it in-situ so to speak. Several times there has been a seagull sitting on the bulkhead with several arms of a small starfish protruding from its beak. The starfish had apparently used its suction feet to attach to the inside of the gull’s mouth. One other variety of starfish can be found here and that’s the sun star or sunflower star. This variety is a foot or more in diameter, orange in color and has 20 short arms arrayed around it’s perimeter like a fringe.

In the summertime we are often visited by pancake-shaped moon jellyfish that may be a foot or more in diameter and range in color from clear to shades of brown/orange. Often at low tide one can be found stranded on the dry beach. Their name is no misnomer since they appear to be made of firm transparent gelatin with some colored interior organ patterns.

Larger gamefish like salmon do not normally come close in to the shallower beach water. Fishing for them requires trolling from a boat. From time to time, often in the evenings, salmon and other fish can be seen jumping out of the water, sometimes as high as their own body length or more. They are either feeding on smaller fish or are being chased by a sea lion. The sea lions swim just under the surface of the water with only the crown of their head , eyes and nostrils showing above water. Several summers ago, one fat sea lion spent several months in the daytime sprawled on a large rock on the beach. He would orient himself to expose his belly to the direct sun with his flippers splayed out as if ready to embrace the sun. He was apparently a visitor from Southern California!

When the whales come by it’s an event, especially if they’re orcas. The grey’s that come by are largely loners. They lumber past with their backs undulating above and below the water surface, occasionally flipping their tail, and, periodically, noisily blowing a great spray of mist (and probably bad breath) from the blowhole at the back of their head. There is an area several miles south of our cove where the grey’s go to feed. The bottom there is comprised mostly of a mix of mud and sand with very few rocks. When the tide goes out, a number of long shallow troughs are visible where the grey’s have scooped up a large amount of the bottom and water. They then spit it back out through their broom-like baleen which filters out shrimp, worms and other edible creatures (and probably some that are not edible!).

 Three or four years ago an entire pod of orcas paraded by, enormous dorsal fins erect. They were grouped in what I assume were families of about 2 to 5 and totaled 60 or more in number. As they were spread out a bit, it took a half hour or so for the first and last to pass, an incredible sight. Whenever the whales are present, island residents turn out in droves and line the bluffs to watch. Several years ago, a pod of Dall’s porpoise came by. These are colored black and white, much like the orcas, but noticeably smaller and with a short dorsal fin.

Other open-water species in the neighborhood include sea-run cutthroat trout, skates, bullheads, small flounder and dogfish which are small, 2-5 ft long sharks. The cutthroats are a great fighting sport fish. The bullheads that the kids delight in catching from the bulkhead are small, ugly, spiny fish with a very large mouth. They are mostly a bottom dweller. On one occasion, two small skates with a wingspread of about three feet were trapped in a tide pool in the cove as one of the years very low tides withdrew. They ultimately escaped when the tide returned.

More about our land-side species including otter escapades in another blog and then, perhaps, on to other subjects.