By Jane Valencia On Thursdays, I head across the water to an Eastern Catholic church where I am learning how to write (paint) icons – sacred images in the Orthodox tradition considered to be “windows into heaven.” I also happen to love juvenile and young adult fiction. Imagine my delight when I found “Icon: A…
By Jane Valencia Note: Links within the article are to articles and recipes previously published in the Vashon Loop. As we enter Autumn and the flu season, a responsible thing we can do for ourselves, our loved ones, and our community is to ensure that we ourselves are in excellent health. Here are three avenues…
By Jane Valencia If you stop in at the Food Bank on most Wednesdays, you’ll come upon tables arrayed with clothing, sleeping bags, blankets, and other gear, available for free. Your host is Daniel Hooker, who is not only a humorist, offering jokes as he does here in The Loop pages, but, when asked, sharing…
By Jane Valencia Autumn is in the air, apples are ripening. Kids are back in school, and we resume activity with renewed focus and will. As we anticipate the approach of cold and flu season, nurturing one’s immune health is, as always, a practical path. As one may expect, talk has resurged about COVID. Is…
By Jane Valencia Are you curious about learning how to use herbs in your yard or around the Island for medicine? A great way to start is to learn with your kids. And here on Vashon, chances are they know some herbal remedies already. Start there! Do they have a favorite remedy for a nettle…
By Jane Valencia Mis abuelos hablaban español, yo solo aprendí a hablar un poquito, pero ahora estoy tratando de aprenderlo. En honor a mis abuelos, me gustaría contarles una historia muy pequeña y decir una pequeña oración. ¿Les parece bien? Gracias, queridos lectores. Un día, estaba en el Jardín del Rosario en la Iglesia Católica…
In a time when technology has fallen away, Islanders are rediscovering the ways of the forest. In a frenzy of excitement and discovery, two children, Rose Hip and Snowberry, have yanked quantities of moss and licorice fern from a tree. When a licorice fern-being named Sweet Root berates them for their lack of consideration, the…
The Loop invites Islanders to share what they appreciate about Vashon-Maury Island and Island life. Send your letter to editor@vashonloop.com Dear Island, That morning I said yes to writing you, I had some doubts. You’ve changed so much in recent years. Did your magic still exist? Then I recalled what I love about you. Every…
Photo by Julian Dahl. Used with permission. Several of us were out on the land, picking out microplastics from the compost-laden field (see “Plastics in the Soil” on page x). Our friends had put out a call the day before that they needed help, and here we were, on a beautiful almost-spring morning, plastic bags…
The songs are soft and gentle, sung in what is called a “lullaby voice,” all voices blending in music that is not intended for performance, but for the comfort of those who are suffering near or at the end of life. Two to four singers gather at the bedside, offering restful songs to soothe and…