When you are in Washington State, make sure to take a ferry to Vashon Island. This mostly rural 8 miles long and 3 miles wide island sits in Puget Sound between Seattle to the north and Tacoma to the south. Ferry routes connect to the northern and southern tips of Vashon Island. Attached by a narrow peninsula below Vashon Island is smaller Maury Island. From here, there are views of Commencement Bay, Robison Lighthouse, and Oscar the Bird King.
This troll is one of six trolls created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo and installed around the Pacific Northwest. Dambo has created and placed his trolls around the world, but these trolls in Oregon and Washington are a series known as Northwest Trolls: Way of the Bird King. I dodn’t know if this title puts Oscar in charge of his group, but he is in good company. I have seen Ole Bolle in Portland, and I intend to see all six of these trolls in my part of the world.
Dambo creates the trolls from recycled materials. He wants them to be whimsical and a delight to viewers. Dambo also wants people to think about new uses for the items we discard in our consumer habits. This is “reuse,” the part of reduce, reuse, and recycle that is little mentioned in public discourse.
