By Kim Cantrell, Little Bird Gardens April is National Native Plant Appreciation Month. It began in 2003 as a weeklong observance, sparked by a conversation between Fred Weinmann, President of the Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS), and Bill Brookreson, a state board member. “Native Plant Appreciation Month celebrates all the individuals and groups who have…
Health Matters, May 2025
Practicing Naturopathic Medicine on Vashon
By Caitlin Rothermel On Vashon, conversations about health happen everywhere, all the time, and go well beyond the typical topics of diagnoses and drugs. We discuss what we eat, where that food came from, how we move, and how we want to age and ultimately die. At a time when conventional healthcare can feel increasingly…
Health Matters, May 2025
Address Your Physical Health Through Subconscious Work
By Dr. Lisa Morse I remember it vividly: The day during my clinicals of naturopathic medicine that I realized how much thoughts and emotions affect our physical health. I was seeing a 70-year-old woman who had a full-body itchy rash. She was attached to the idea that candida was the cause. Upon questioning, it was…
Island Resilience, May 2025, Recipes
Mayo is Magic
By Marc J. Elzenbeck For decades I thought mayo was the province of professionals and was too intimidated to try my hand. But looking at store shelves full of white stuff made with industrial oils at $10 a jar provided the final oomph. (What is a canola? Where does it grow?) Turns out, mayonnaise is…
May 2025, Recipes
Island Epicure – A Mideastern Dinner
By Suzanna Leigh and Marj Watkins “I am getting to be an old lady all wrinkled up,” Marj frowned, as I handed her a cup of tea. It was the day after Easter Sunday, traditionally a day our extended family gathers together for feasting and visiting. Mom loves having her family around, but only my…
Literary, May 2025, Poetry
Violet – Lore, Poem, and Herbal Litany
By Jane Valencia In Catholic faith tradition, flowers have a treasured place in devotions to Our Blessed Mother Mary. Since the earliest centuries of the faith, flowers (and other plants and trees) have served as nature’s “icons” – expressing the virtues, character, and mysteries of Our Lady, as well as other spiritual truths and tales….
Literary, May 2025, Poetry
May 2023
By Jo Ann Herbert These fragrant historic roses have not opened yet this season. My garden’s past beauty has suffered damage as the poem references, but as all of us age and life unfolds, I hope we remember what of beauty and joy we have expressed created and shared in this life. I just went…
Entertainment, May 2025
The Observant Frog’s Log
By Alex Soriano The Observant Frog’s Log – Alex Soriano
Entertainment, Llaughing Llamas, May 2025
Llaughing Llamas Chronicles
By Daniel Hooker One of the worst critics of my joke column passed away; I went to his funeral and I stared into his coffin: “You’re dead wrong. Thinking outside of the box is better.” ~ Someone asked me where my grandmother and grandfather lived. I replied, “Alaska.” “Never mind,” he replied, “I’ll ask her…