“Breathe the bug spray in, Beavis. Go to your happy place…”
The blast of the train whistle hangs in the muggy West Virginia afternoon air, a stark reminder I no longer camp along the placid shores of Penn Cove.
Strafed by bugs of all sizes and shapes, which rise in waves off the well-manicured lawns rain or shine — at least when I’m around, it seems — it makes for a far different life.
I was born in Washington state, and between the last day of April, 1971 and late July of 2025, I was perfectly content with it being like 45 degrees, mildly misty, and gently breezy nearly every day.
And now, 37 days into taking up space at my sister’s house 2,800 miles away from Cow Town, it’s not just the weather.
Back at “home” on the prairie, Coupeville High School sports teams start playing games for real Friday night.
Volleyball is first up, with a home clash against archival South Whidbey, followed by Wolf football and cross country teams hitting the road Saturday for brief off-island journeys.
But I won’t be there for any of that, like I wasn’t there for the recent football jamboree or volleyball alumni clashes.
And that’s taking some getting used to.
This blog started in 2012, and has been a focal point of my life for a decade-plus.
Add in the countless freelance stories I banged out for the Coupeville Examiner, and, before that, my early ’90s stint as Sports Editor at the Whidbey News-Times, and I’ve arguably written more about Wolf athletics than just about anyone out there, past or present.
As a new season comes screaming into view — the final ride for CHS seniors Teagan Calkins, Camden Glover, and associates, or the start of a whole new chapter for freshmen like Tamsin Ward and Brian Thompson — there is an inescapable feeling I should be there documenting it.
I’m not, and that’s weird. It just is.
Coupeville Sports 