It would be nice to see a more graceful ending to the signature lines of Lombardy Poplars that have enhanced a crucial span of the welcome to Port Townsend. If they go, something grand should replace them as they will be a hard act to follow, and please let’s not let a failure of imagination end up looking like everywhere else.

I have walked that stretch of road enough times to know that it is a truly dreadful experience to travel so close to the noise and frenetic energy of the constant rumble of traffic. You would never saunter, amble or promenade (or any of the other finer ways of walking) along that forsaken stretch of Sims way. While the lines of Poplars look good in a car coming down the hill, on the ground it is not such a good place to be.

This is the secret wish of gardeners everywhere — to make a better place to be. And what could be better than to recreate a small stretch of Rhody Drive. Believe it or not the drive to Chimacum was once one of the wonders of the world in its season. I can imagine nothing else that could so readily capture the grandeur of the Lombardy Poplars.

That said, I cannot picture future Rhody Princes and Princesses promenading down that forsaken stretch. If the path along the north side of Sims Way was moved over say 20 feet into the Kah Tai Park and buffered from the road by plantings of evergreen native shrubs (we are after all the Evergreen State, isn’t it time to live up to it) interplanted with amelanchier and oso berry it would make a right nice place to strut your stuff and expose yourself to nature.

This is only my first impression after five minutes of imagining a better place to be. In hindsight I wish I would have mentioned Garry Oaks, our native Dogwood and bioswales especially on the Port  side. 

For goodness sake, let’s take our time, envision the future with a sense of history and place and do something to remember ourselves by. 

John Barr
PORT TOWNSEND