I could have gone a lot of directions this week in this little therapeutic corner of the Internet.  Last week, a client’s Facebook page was just taken down without warning. A generic message from Facebook said that there had been hate speech or something like that. With this week’s posts having to do with the Mariners, tulips and Hyundai’s, I had no explanation as to how this could have happen. I was unable to reach a human entity at Facebook and even wrote up a report that Mark Zuckerberg was harassing me, just to get their attention.

The page remains down.

But then you have things like the fire at Notre Dame, the insanity of the presidential campaign already heating up and, I’ve made a decision: I’m dropping a flying water tanker on it all and going back to those tulips.

Yes, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is off and running up north once again. I’ve actually talked to several people this week who have lived here all their lives that have never been. With this weekend looking on the sunny side, it would the perfect occasion for that first trip, so here are my suggestions for a great time in the tulips.

• First, get a brochure. They’re free to download at the festival site. If you can’t make it this year, you can have them mail a printed version you one so you can plan for next year.
• When we went last weekend, the forecast was for rain. That actually turned into a blessing, as the crowds were WAY down and we just drove right in, hit Tulip Town, and even managed to get out by the fields in-between rainstorms. While it was gray, the colors in the fields were still beautiful.
• I mentioned Tulip Town. We like it because it’s an all-in-one experience. Free parking (which can be hard to come by this time of year) and for $10, you can hang inside their festive barn, see displays, do some shopping and then, head out to the fields. When it’s not rainy and muddy, they have wagons you can ride in that take you around the fields. Otherwise, like last weekend, we had to walk it and it was really muddy. Like walking on ice.
• There are other farms and fields. That’s when you’ll need the map that’s included in that brochure.
• And Skagit County has finally spoken up. Apparently, when the lines get long and the cars get backed up, so do people. They’ve had a problem with people going to the bathroom in the Tulip Fields. It’s so much of a problem, they had to create PoopSmart.org. Plan ahead.

While you’re up in the area, swing through La Conner. An artsy little town on the river with a bunch of fun shops, restaurants and a brewery. It doesn’t get much better.

If this weekend is more dedicated to Easter or Passover, I get it. But we probably have a couple of more weekends of blooms for you to catch and by then, the crowds should have died down a little. We live here, it’s a rare treat right in our own backyard and something you really need to experience, if you haven’t already.

With all the craziness in the world around us, it would be good to stop and smell the tulips. Yeah, it’s time.

Tim Hunter