There are a couple of possible routes from our house to the Interstate. One - the route that takes us past our son’s farm - has three four-way stops. The other has a single four-way stop and two traffic circles. Traffic circles or roundabouts are pretty common around here. The principal is pretty simple. Traffic moves around the circle in a counter-clockwise direction meaning all cars turn right to enter the circle and right to exit the circle. When the traffic is flowing smoothly, all cars slow for the intersection and drivers look to their left, yielding to any cars in the circle. Theoretically, you can ignore cars on your right as they are supposed to yield to you. However, as is the case with lots of driving, you still need to pay attention. It seems that there are always a few drivers who can’t get the concept. For the most part those intimidated by the circles just sit there and yield to everyone until the circle is empty before proceeding. But, from time to time, there will be a particularly aggressive driver who barely slows and who doesn’t yield to anyone. I’ve been in a circle and been cut off by someone entering it. It is enough to keep me alert and on my toes when driving.

But the traffic circles seem to be a bit safer than the four-way stops. While the rules for four-way stops are clear - yield to the car on your right - there are a lot of drivers around here who don’t seem to follow that protocol. The most common thing I notice are drivers who seem to think that hand signals are the best way to navigate the intersection. You pull up and they wave at you to proceed even if they have the right of way. It is as if they are saying, “You go first, I’ve got plenty of time.” The problem with those drivers, though, is that they are unpredictable. I’ve started to enter an intersection multiple times only to have another car change their mind and start to proceed. What should be a predictable and orderly intersection is often a bit chaotic.

It is even worse inside the city limits of Bellingham. There are plenty of drivers there that seem to want to avoid going in front of anyone. I’ve been following cars who yield to four or five vehicles before entering the intersection. It certainly disrupts the flow of traffic. In the big picture, it doesn’t take much time. It is just a bit annoying when people don’t follow the rules in a way that helps traffic to flow.

Here is another thing that takes a bit of adjustment. We have curbside recycling. Trucks pick up garbage, food waste for composting, paper, cardboard, and mixed plastic and metal. The local recycling company provides containers for the various kinds of trash, but especially when it comes to recycling, people seem to ignore the labels and color sorting. If you are lucky, the company delivered three bins for you to use for recycling plus two toters - one for garbage and one for composting. However, we never got the three bins for recycling and when I called the company they said, “Just use whatever container you have. It doesn’t have to be one of our bins.” Since we don’t have the bin for cardboard, I use a cardboard box, which is never recycled because the recycling truck only picks up flattened cardboard. We have neighbors who have three or four or five bins in a variety of colors and seem to put whatever in those bins. Just because a bin says “Scrap paper,” doesn’t mean a neighbor will use it for that. It might be used for plastic and metal or for cardboard. We have one neighbor who carefully sorts metals from plastic and when the recycling truck comes they are dumped into the same bin on the truck.

We never did receive a compost toter, which isn’t a problem, because we take our compost to the farm and add it to large composting piles there. I provided my own smaller toter for that use because I don’t like to lift the weight of a full toter. I’m hesitant to call the recycler anyway because I suspect I’d be told to just use whatever container I have.

Maybe you have to be a local - one who has lived here for many years - to figure out the trash recycling system.

Although we live in Birch Bay, we go to Bellingham on a regular basis. We attend church in that town and are frequently at the church for volunteer activities. It is a good place to attend special events such as speakers and concerts. There is a large variety of shops including many different kinds of grocery stores and a large independent bookstore that we love to visit.

But I have never figured out the dress code in Bellingham. It seems that everyone has their own look. We have members of our church who are always dressed in bicycle gear. They probably commute to the church on bikes, so that makes some sense. However, there are others who are always wearing hiking clothes. The heavy boots are certainly a look, but not what comes to my mind when I think of dressing for church. Then there are the people who are always wearing croc casual footwear regardless of the weather. And sandals are pretty common. Around here when the weather gets cold they just wear socks with their sandals.

It isn’t just shoes. It seems that casual is a requirement. I like to wear a dress shirt with a tie to church and most of the time I’m the only one dressed that way. One of the pastors once told me that a sport coat might be acceptable, but that a suit is definitely too much for the church’s informal nature. I tried to observe those “rules” when I worked at the church, but now that I’m retired, I dress however I feel which generally means I dress up for Sunday worship regardless of the fact that it makes me stand out.

I don’t know if it is official, but the slogan most often associated with Bellingham is “The City of Subdued Excitement.” Whether driving, recycling, or dressing, I try to keep my excitement subdued. I don’t think, however, that I fit in at all.