To the editor:

Another Sunday afternoon, the lineup at Shirley’s Kitchen was almost as long as the tourists leaving the island (up past Dalton’s).

A man was in the middle of 525 above the ferry tollbooths, camera in hand, snapping photos of the most photographed piece of public art on South Whidbey. I asked him if he was local, “No.”

At first I didn’t pick up his German accent that his Asian buddy teased him about. I told him I was doing an informal interview with people taking pictures of the art on the hillside.

When I told him the sign was being replaced with a government sign proclaiming you are entering a scenic isle-way, and that his photo subject was to be moved miles up the road, he responded, I would never stop and back up on a highway to take this picture. Why don’t they put the government sign up the road? Is there a petition I can sign to keep the sign where it is? It is perfect – you see it right as you come off the ferryboat.

He got back into the lineup to Shirley’s Kitchen, and I heard him explaining to others in line about the sign’s removal. Heads were shaking in disbelief.

Bradley Robertson

Clinton