In Bellingham, section of South Bay Trail is now temporarily closed due to more housing construction.

There is a street detour. I've mapped my own detour which I modified for going north along 12th. The main Boulevard route works okay for going south.

My route avoids crossing the boulevard to northbound side where there might not be a stoplight or flashing crosswalk. One can ride on sidewalk, however.

Detour follows the main boulevard, but for going northbound, I prefer 12th. This avoids using 10th and crossing the boulevard, to northbound side, where there isn't a light. the main boulevard, in that area is called 11th St.

Graffiti on a "trail closed" sign. Yes. Bellingham is a popular city. There is population and economic growth.

Toward the north end of 12th (at Adams ) there is a flashing crosswalk across the boulevard at the access road to Boulevard Park.

I have often used South Bay Trail Route between downtown and Fairhaven District. Then come back north through Western Washington University for variety and a fitness hill climb, myself.

There are various ways to go.

Some effects of culvert removal for salmon enhancement.

I-5 Salmon crossing work near Lake Sammish

Washington State is spending lots of highway money for culvert removal and salmon enhancement due to court order related to tribal treaty rights.

I've often thought that a few of these expensive crossings could also create opportunities for pedestrian and bike crossings as well. One expample would be the planned culvert work at I-5 and Meridian here in Bellingham.

A stretch of Old Samish Highway southwest of I-5 will soon be closed for many months for culvert work along the road and adjacent I-5. There are alternative routes like Samish Way north of I-5.

A few days before this road was to close, I decided to take a last bike ride out there for a while. Turns out the road was already closed to bikes. Seeing the sign, I tuned around and had a better trip anyway.

The detour is 32nd street which is horrible so I went back the way I came. I came back into town by way of some real nice trails in an area called 100 Acre Woods.

There is some interesting history about the 100 Acre Woods area. In the early 2000s, there was plans for a large development called Chuckanut Ridge. It would have preserved some forest, but also find room for around 700 homes and townhouses. Some folks in the community wanted the area preserved, versus any development.

My picture from 2005

I'm not anti housing so I had my own ideas about it back then. Clustered development in one part and preservation in the rest. My clustering is a bit less "family oriented" and more like high rises for singles without cars on one corner of the land. Most of the world isn't that way.

Maybe the development wouldn't have been the end of the world, but folks were quite concerned about increased traffic on the old bridge into Fairhaven District. It would have cost a fortune towiden that.

Traffic on 12th street Bridge

Turns out the Chuckanut Ridge Development ran afoul from the 2007 mortgage crisis so the market value plummeted. The city was able to buy it for a good price by borrowing from its Greenways Fund.

Then the plan was to sell some of the land for development to pay back the Greenway Fund. South side of Bellingham does have quite a bit of open space while the fast growing north side needed more parklands.

Quite a few neighbors on the southside still wanted the whole thing preserved so they formed an LID (local improvement tax district) to fund it. This means the majority of voters within the LID district voted to tax themselves a bit more to pay back the Greenways Fund. The entire 100 Acre Woods remains forest.

Since then, some trails have been built. I haven't been back there that often, but it was a nice treat to go through there as I came back into town.

In some cases, it may feel like my writing says, "I told you so."

As the world struggles with its problems, it seems like I can't offer much to help except my unique way of thinking. I don't have a lot of money, but my relatively low footprint lifestyle could be an example for more people to live. That, and some little things I can do each day in my local world is the best I can offer; like mostly just trying to be a decent human being.

My worst case pessimistic population scenario could be avoided.

Our world of over 8 billion people could embrace sustainable economics aided by alternative lifestyles and alternative energy. Instead there has been lots of mostly rightwing politics bringing us things like the anti gay laws in Senigal and Camaroon west Africa plus Donald Trump and more cutoff of forgien aid.

There are borders closing to refugees around the world as politics is affected by flows of refugees that have overwhelmed local infrastructures, housing and resources. Now we have war with blockades of the Straights of Hormuz leading to a worldwide fertilizer shortage among other things. Famine is likely on the increase around the world.

One of my senarios of the future is a significant increase in the deathrate possibly leading to a measurable decline in world population. This, stabalizing population versus choices for sustainable lifestyles and economics. Ironically rightwingers often talk about the sanctity of life when they focus only on abortion. Other killing and famine seems to matter less.

In the longrun, I have a senario where the world eventually recovers from the period of famine and comes to its sences; like learning the hard way. Eventually we could embrace more sustainable lifestyles, values and economics. Eventually there could be a period of population stability and rebuilding of economies, but in the meantime world famine could be so large as to overshadow any famine in recent times.

The third world would, as usual, is hit hardest by this partial dieoff of the human race.

Of course this is just one senario I think about. It's not inevitable. It's one somewhat bleak senario, but at least it's not the extinction of the human race or even the total collapse of modern, technological society. It's just what some might call a correction.

Bailing out the ocean with a teacup.

It may seem like commenting on world issues is futile; like trying to bail out the ocean with a teacup. My mom used to say that, when describing an overwhelming task.

Still, I do enjoy sharing ideas so at least it's therapeutic and could be helpful.

I am starting to learn a new platform called Substack. At first, it seemed like just redundant to my blog with little momentum of audience, for me at least. Like reinventing an already existing wheel, but I have found a feature that my blog doesn't have. Substack Notes.

The reason why it's different is that it links to articles in other media, like Facebook does. It provides a thumbnail image from the media source similar to Facebook, but can be seen on the open web.

Facebook is still more of a "membership only" platform, yet it has the momentum of interaction that's lacking on other platforms, unless one is a celebrity.

If one is not a celebrity, for instance, having your own thing like Truth Social isn't likely. That's Trump's bully pulpit. Yes, most of you will groan. Mediocrity does seem to rise to the top.

As for fame and fortune, I sometimes am a bit envious of folks who are being chased by reporters with microphones and cameras.

Still, it's good to have more privacy; the privacy of being a nobody. These things are always tradeoffs.

My Substack Notes works well for linking to articles in other media with my own introductions. I just started it today. By the way, it happens to be Earth Day 2026.

My website is a repository for my own writing and photography.

Sorry. Your eyes are probably glossed over by now.

Beyond just tariff refunds, imagine if Trump remembered corporations and wealthy that avoided taxes.

Trump is now saying he will remember companies that don't seek tariff refunds. Yes, the federal debt is growing and if all the 166 billion collected in tariffs has to be paid back, the debt grows even more. I guess he is showing some concern about the debt and the public good.

Imagine what would happen if so many wealthy people, who oppose and avoid income taxes, felt enough concern for the public good that they paid up. The debt would go down. I'm not holding my breath.

It does seem like everyone in this country is on the take. Everyone seems to want retribution, reparations, compensation and lower taxes. The math never adds up and the public good is held hostage.

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone paid their taxes, including the income tax, out of altruism with the rich, who have the most money, paying the most. I don't see that happening.

In our divided society, there is little trust in the public sphere. Right wingers often say that their tax dollars will go to abortion while left wingers worry about all the killing done by the military.

Trust of government and to some extent the public space is low. Still, we somehow need to put energy in to get the things that a great society provides.

Tariffs did hurt lower income consumers more than graduated income taxes would have. They were a bad idea which seems typical of Trump who's looking out for the wealthy.

The Supreme Court, which is usually in Trump's Court did rule against him on the tariffs so now there is a mechanism for refunds.

The refunds are likely to go to corporations that paid the tax. They passed much of that cost on to consumers. Whether consumers beyond those corporations will benefit is a murky question at best. As usual most people will likely feel, as always, that they have been ripped off.

There is no shortage of young workers eager to migrate to less repressive societies.

As for some people's fear about declining birthrates I say.

If western democracies, with low birth rates, need more young workers in their economies, there is no shortage of talented young people eager to immigrate to less repressive societies. No need to raise the local birthrate.

About wealth taxes, Washington State could learn from New York's 2nd home tax idea. It's hard to move homes out of state.

Homes are a form of wealth that can’t be easily moved out of the taxing district.

New York City’s Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul have secured New York state’s first tax on luxury second homes, calling it a major win for taxing the rich. The annual fee applies to homes worth more than $5 million for owners who mostly do not live in New York full time. It is aimed at ultrawealthy people who use New York real estate to store wealth without actually living here. They say around $500 million dollars per year could be raised. That's a lot of money. There's that much money just in second homes worth over $5 million? Wow.

I think it could work a lot better than taxing portable wealth, such as stocks, that folks could move out of state with them. Homes and land are attached to the earth.

I think it would work better than focusing most of taxing on business. That could diminish business in the state.

Detractors to the home tax fear that it could reduce the value of the homes. Maybe more of those second homes would go onto the market as some folks would still bail out of the state, but that seems like a lesser unintended side effect than crippling business or having a tax that wealthy people can easily avoid by just switching their legal residence to another state.

Reduced home value could lower projected revenue, but it seems like the lesser of the unintended consequences from a wealth tax.

It's harder to move home equity wealth out of state than stock portfolio wealth.

Just being allowed to fly a rainbow flag shouldn't be that difficult a thing for governments to provide.

It seems like just allowing people freedom of speech and allowing things like the flying of a rainbow flag shouldn't be that hard for governments to do. It's good news that Hungary has elected a less authoritarian leader.

Economic demands, that can come from constituents, are less easy to accommodate. For instance the cost of lowering fuel prices below world market prices with subsidies and tax cuts. In Ireland, protesters have been demanding that recently.

Good news from Hungary. Péter Magyar wins election against authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán.

Good News from the nation of Hungary. Authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán has lost in the election to Péter Magyar, a more progressive leader.

Hungarian voters have ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, delivering a stunning rebuke to one of the Western world's most entrenched populist leaders.

Remembering some pictures from bicycling through Upstate New York. From my 1991 and 1993 cross USA trips.

Road sign entering New York State, 1993.

1991 at Niagara Falls. This photo actually taken from the Ontario, Canada side just before crossing over the Peace Bridge back into USA.

Main building in Fort Niagara. Built by the French in 1720s, then taken over by British and later by the Americans. 1991.

Bike Path along much of the old Erie Canal Route. 1991.

Lockport New York along the Erie Canal. 1991.

Downtown Syracuse, NY. 1991.

Telescope Mirror on display at Corning Museum of Glass.

This mirror was intended for the Palomar Telescope which was built in the 1940s; then the largest telescope in the world. A mistake was made, so another mirror went to the telescope while this piece went to the museum. 1993.

Countryside around Ithaca. 1993.

Watkins Glenn near Finger Lakes, 1993.

Exploring Campus of Cornell University. 1993.

New York had real good shoulders on many of it's roads. 1991.

Riding through Adirondack Mountains, 1991.

A farmer invited me to say at his place in Upstate New York. This was me in 1993.

My 1993 bike trip ended in Hudson, NY.

Earlier, my 1991 trip ended in Massachusetts.

I took Amtrak back from both trips.

Reducing the birthrate is more humane than closing the borders against migration and supporting war.

The conservative, fundamentalist branches of religion are often used to justify war on both sides of a war. They are also used to promote population growth, versus the cultural values that reduce population growth, such as the broad concept of "alternative lifestyles."

Reducing population growth is a more humane way to deal with things than closing borders, cutting off foreign aid and promoting war.

When mass migration and the problems of the world become overwhelming to the housing, infrastructure and environments of various localities, our old fashioned value systems seem to choose the less humane solutions.

A windfall profits tax on selling inflated real estate is less vulnerable to people moving than Washington State's millionaires tax.

I think a windfall profits tax on selling homes and real estate would be less vulnerable to people leaving the state than the millionaires tax in Washington State. It's easier for someone to change their legal residence to another state sheltering stocks and other portable wealth. Real estate is attached to the land of the state so it doesn't move. It may not bring as much money, but it's less vulnerable to people moving out. Possibly less vulnerable to Washington State's constitutional prohibition on income taxes.

The all guns Republican Party priorities backfire.

It looks like Trump and the Republican's war with Iran is a strategic blunder. Support for Ukraine could have helped the cause of democracy more. With Iran, I think it would have been better to wait things out and let Iran struggle with it's own internal problems. It's people were starting to turn against it's government while the government was mismanaging water shortages and other domestic issues in Iran. Now the people of Iran are more rallying behind the country that's under attack.

Meanwhile the effectiveness of domestic government, in the US, is in jeopardy. Trump's latest budget request calls for huge increases in defense spending to support the war while hinting at significant cuts to things like Medicare. Republicans tend to support war spending more than domestic spending, but slashing things like Medicare are politically difficult. Many voter's lives depend on programs like Medicare, so Trump's budget would be unlikely to pass even in this slightly Republican Congress.

Republican aversion to any tax increases, even on the super wealthy, will likely just push such huge deficits that the solvency of the federal government is likely to be in question. This may lead to another financial crisis which could be smoothed over by printing more money and more inflation.

Politicians, whether they be Republican or Democrat, tend to panic during a financial crisis, such as when covid closed down the economy in 2020. Money was created, back then, to keep things solvent.

Somewhat like Iran, though not as serious, the mismanagement of our government is leading to much dissatisfaction among the American people. Hopefully the vote will swing against Republicans in the November Midterms.

A friend remembers things I sent in the mail.

There is a network of artists who exchange things in the mail informally that I found way back in the 1980s. Called the Mail Art Network. Leslie Caldera, from Los Angeles area recently sent me a photo collage of some of the things he has gotten from me over the years. Quite a few of the mail artists are now online.

I have mixed feelings about human spaceflight.

I have mixed feelings about going back to the moon even though I was pro the space program as a child during the first Apollo flights to the moon. Today, I am still pro science, but robotic missions provide more science for the cost. I'm afraid that human spaceflight could take money away from some real interesting science missions like the Webb Telescope and gravitational astronomy. Still I am glad there is still interest in space exploration. It's better than all the effort spent on warfare.

Some pictures from New York City after my 1993 bike trip across USA.

Going through old photos from the only time in my life that I was in New York City. It was when I took the train back from my second bike trip across USA in 1993.

Arriving from Penn Station.

In 1993, a two month bike trip got me as far as the town of Hudson, NY. I took the train back from there.

I spent one night and parts of 2 days in New York City between trains. It was rainy and dreary, but I still walked all over taking lots of pictures.

My bike was shipped back from Hudson so I was on foot.

I would have stayed in a hotel, but got to talking to someone at the Hudson train station who invited me to his psychologist's office to spend the night on a therapist's couch.

I was afraid the guards wouldn't let me in the building, but he reassured me that he would let the guards know I was coming. He was in Hudson, that night, so the office was vacant as planned.

When I got to the door, the guard didn't recognize me, but then he found a note on the bulletin board and welcomed me with great fan fair, impressed that I had biked across USA.

Then I walked around the city in the pouring rain looking like I was just another of the homeless.

I brought the rolls of film, from my trip, with me in case I couldn't get back into the building I was staying at. The only thing I left behind in the therapist's office was some dirty laundry.

When I got back, there was another guard, at the door, but he also found the note and let me in. I slept comfortably that night.

For parts of two days, I walked somewhat uncomfortably in shabby sun bleached clothing, from biking. Landmarks, like the Empire State Building, had their observation decks up in a layer of fog so I figured I might come back later.

During my childhood, I was fascinated in a city within the city, Radio City otherwise known as Rockefeller Center.

The childhood fascination was more subdued by 1993, but I did take the tour of Radio City Music Hall; one of the only indoor things I did.

I walked around outside at Rockefeller Center with it's flagship building, formerly called the RCA Building.

Inside was likely lots of security guards making entry somewhat difficult without legitimate business in the building. I didn't even try it being a bit shy myself anyway.

I'd heard that a suite and tie was required to even enter the Rainbow Room which was the fancy restaurant at the top.

More recently, the rainbow Room was closed and replaced with an even more exclusive club. The observation deck was only for VIP guests (back in 1993).

Since then, I have learned that the observation deck is now open again and a big tourist attraction called "Top of the Rock."

Base of what was once called the RCA Building. I saw lots of things from the outside.

Plaza at Rockefeller Center. An early version of what they call a "planned unit development," I guess; sort of like the coordinated planning of a college campus.

During 8th grade, I had a big interest in that center. I remember dividing up the WSU campus, in Pullman, into blocks that were like little kingdoms. I shared that little dream with a friend, who I'm still in touch with, named Jeff Goebel.

For some reason, the block, I picked at WSU in that 8th grade fantasy, wasn't as good as the one Jeff picked. I decided to broaden the concept and pick what I thought would be the biggest blocks of all, in New York City.

Maybe that was cheating as it wasn't in Pullman.

Those little fantasies were part of our learning in those days.

Meanwhile on my 1993 trip, I continued walking in the rain taking lot of pictures.

I kept needing to go to the bathroom so I visited places, like Mc Donald's, To get the bathroom key. I had to buy something, so it was another soda pop. That probably just made me have to go to the bathroom more often.

Times Square 1993.

Probably the highlight of my visit was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. City views were fantastic.

Rockefeller Center was good, but my interests had broadened since childhood and there was "so little time and so much to see."

So many famous landmarks in one city. Dakota Apartmants.

UN Building.

Flat Iron Building has been standing since 1902. These days, things like that interest me a lot.

I even got to original World Trade Center and walked through the lobby, but the observation floor was up in the clouds. I figured I wouldn't see much so I kept walking. I saw lots from the ground.

This was all before 911, but the attempted 1993 bombing, in the parking garage, had happened. I could see restoration work being done.

Another landmark, the New York Stock Exchange.

It was an interesting time. Hard to believe, now days, that I was even there. It was a fun time, but really like a whirlwind visit.

Late afternoon of the second day, I got on the train and was headed back to Bellingham; a 3 day train trip after a 2 month bike ride.

Biking can be a good way to avoid traffic rat race.

Cut through on a quiet residential street. Humboldt St. in Bellingham.

Northbound lanes of I-5 are still closed dumping some of the I-5 traffic onto South Samish Highway through part of Bellingham. This puts more traffic on the main street past Lake Padden, but there are back routes and trails. After our Sunday Lake Padden Walking Group, I traced my route to our after walk lunch gathering at Whole Foods. I used the Bike-o-meter app.