Alleys of Langley

~ My Whidbey Island Adventure ~

Part III:   A Walk  Along  The  Alleyways

Autumn's elegant style 

          

           
                       softens the day 
      

            

paints late afternoon 

with moody light

           as alleyways show us 

                                                            

the heart of

a place

         



   

       
         where paths cross
  
                     as

          you stop and chat 


            

  

 




  



     feeling more alive
  

 

             


                    just knowing 
            










                                                                             

                 

                 that everyone

                        

             

 simply belongs 

           A town

           where 
           
    a boy and his dog

         
stare into deep blue waters, amazed by LIFE

~ ~ ~ 

Langley's alleyways are intimate places where neighbors wander amidst shops, pubs, cafes and galleries. 

This tiny storybook village is populated by folks living in a mish-mash of cabins, old farm houses, and modern homes. Here, folks recognize each other and an easy familiarity makes one feel 'at home'. I found that a trip to town became much more than merely picking up provisions. Langley's layout invites you to explore! It's charm beguiles.

  

Inside Langley there are but a handful of streets, each offering treasure and fascination, like a big playground. The actual dwellings where people live, are spread out, mostly found along dead-end roads off the highways that lead in and out of town. Exploring such avenues, might reveal a moody shoreline vista, a wild stretch of open land, or a home tucked among magnificent old trees.

Langley reminds me of the early San Fernando Valley, where the 'Eucalyptus Days' of my childhood meant driving to the dairy for milk, or taking trips to the dump with any trash we could not burn in our incinerator (when my brother and I, would have a blast riding back home in the empty 'open trailer' after we'd emptied out all the trash)! 

Being here took me back, to an era before subdivisions, shopping malls, zoning laws, and safety restrictions. When you chatted with the clerks at the hardware store, bank, or gas pump. When school bus drivers still knew everyone's name. 

Discovering Langley you step into a vibrant small town world, that pulsates with love, made visible. Life and work are not separated, here. Artists, business folk, professionals, and craftsmen contribute in obvious and visible ways, as integral members of a thriving community. They raise families, earn a livelihood, and yes, tourism is essential to the town, but it seems that Langley is an endangered species on an idyllic island! If you have a chance to visit this adorable place, I encourage you to take the Ferry Boat across the water and make yourself at home in a place that time forgot. You won't regret it!