By March Twisdale Prior to moving to Vashon, my family helped develop a Cohousing Community in West Seattle. We lived there for four years. During that time, I fell in love with our Community Work Parties. Twice a year, all 23 families would set aside a weekend to work together to improve, beautify, and maintain…
Vashon Trash Can Trial Hits Midpoint
By March Twisdale As we hit the midpoint of the Vashon Trash Can Trial, it’s the perfect time for Islander feedback, but who do we contact? That question is a moving target, but The Loop has dug deep and we have answers! Before we dive down the nearest trash chute (a la Leia, Luke, and…
New Year’s Resolutions for Our Community
By March Twisdale As we step into 2024, I think we can agree on one thing. Our interconnected lives are directly impacted by individual choices, including our habits and decisions as consumers. Everyone can agree that options are good for customers, and what’s good for customers is good for business. This includes payment options. Indeed,…
Holiday Shopping, Vashon-Style!
By March Twisdale Some tend to wax negative about shopping during the holiday season, expressing concerns over thoughtless consumption of resources or over-commercialization. In truth, there’s nothing wrong with shopping. We do it all year round, and for good reason. It’s human productivity expressed and shared. And during the winter, traditions focused on love, kindness,…
The Nuts and Bolts of Paying with Plastic
By March Twisdale Nowadays, you can walk into almost any business, whip out your preferred form of plastic, and buy what you want. If you’re over 50 years old (like I am), you remember when this was anything but normal. But, here we are, and the question is: “Do we want to stay here?” If…
What’s a Boiled Frog to Do?
By March Twisdale When we’re dealing with human nature, concepts tend to last. Consider the phrase, “Out of the frying pan into the fire.” This has roots as far back as ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE, and its wisdom is summed up by two other well-oiled phrases: Sometimes, we get “caught between a…
How to Avoid Being Nickel and Dimed
By March Twisdale While researching my first article about choosing cash over debit and credit cards, the Vashon Island business community showed considerable interest. I followed this up with online research, but the bulk of the data influencing my articles comes from local business owners. We, as consumers, have a brilliant opportunity to listen to…
What Brought You to the Island
By March Twisdale When we moved from West Seattle to Vashon Island, it was after a two-year search. We were looking for a rural environment with an eclectic homeschooling community, but every rural community in the region was almost exclusively religion-inspired. Concern that our children would be disconnected from both schooled kids and homeschooling families…
Vote Against “Bank Taxes” – Pay Cash
By March Twisdale You may have noticed that young folks working the register tend to automatically assume customers will pay with a card. This happened at C&P Coffee a few weeks ago. As I was tapping on the screen, my brain started to ping at me. Only when I handed my $20 bill to the…
If I Were Running for the School Board …
By March Twisdale We need people who know the job. If I were running for the school board, this would be my first and primary focus. What is my role? My duty? My obligation? Who do I serve? We need people who can hold power responsibly and gently. Power is scary, because coming along right…