By Anne Cotter Moses
April 2024, Island Voices
Retrospective – Don’t Forget the Birds
By Ed Swan Ed Swan, a master ornithologist with an incredible depth of knowledge and a generous enthusiasm to share it, inspired many Islanders to learn about birds. His column, “Don’t Forget the Birds” appeared for years in The Vashon Loop. Ed passed away on Oct. 28, 2022. With birds returning from their migrations, and…
April 2024, Island Resilience
The Value of Giving a Damn!
By March Twisdale After a year of talking with Island businesses about the significant negative impacts of point-of-service (POS) transaction fees (Bank Taxes), I came up with an idea. How about passing these fees back to customers paying with plastic, just like the grocery stores charge customers who show up without a bag? The only…
April 2024, Island Resilience
Ham Radio in “Peacetime”
By Andy Valencia Last issue, I talked about the strength of ham radio in providing communications during catastrophic disruptions of our traditional networks. But what does a ham radio operator do when the world hasn’t gone full Mad Max? If you have a handie-talkie (a hand-held radio, about the size of a cell phone), the…
April 2024, Children, Island Resilience
Herbs With Kids – Springtime!
By Jane Valencia Spring is here, and behold! Many of our beloved herbs are in vibrant form, with new leaves unfurling and some actually in flower. This is a fine time for you and your children to forage for herbs, as the new growth that beckons us mirrors the vitality the plants impart to us….
April 2024, Children, Health Matters
Sleep in the Weeks and Months After Your Child is Born
By Amber Matusky In the first weeks and months after a baby is born, sleep is elusive and fragmented at best. Newborns need to feed frequently and parents are on high alert, tending to their infant’s needs. Sleep is a basic human need, and long-term sleep deficiency can have a negative impact on parents’ mental…
April 2024, Recipes
Beets, Hemp Hearts, and Parsley: A Hearty Antioxidant Salad
By NIchole Banducci I love a good salad. They’re such a great opportunity to cram a bunch of veggies into one meal, while delivering on flavor. Bonus points for a salad that can hold its own at any time of year. This hearty antioxidant salad certainly makes the grade! To me, each salad needs to…
April 2024, Recipes
Island Epicure
By Marjorie Watkins and Suzanna Leigh Marjorie With the thermometer on my balcony reading 40 degrees, the temperature in the kitchen is cool enough to make a baked dish for dinner. How about a custard or a quiche? People have been eating mixtures of eggs and milk heated to thicken them since at least ancient…
April 2024, Entertainment
Llaughing Llamas Chronicles – April
By Daniel Hooker Q. How do you ask a country girl out on a date. A. Attract ‘er! ~ Q. You know it’s springtime when you look out your window and you see two black birds stuck together. A. And then it snows, and you realize they were just vell-crows. They stick together until the…
April 2024, Poetry
Poetry by Ona Gritz
In Sycamore Park A narrow path overseen by a few metal benches leads to the massive wonder this place is named for, limbs the size of trunks, and a plaque that dates it back to 1650. Today, beneath that great latticework of shade, my friends discuss what is known about the communal network of roots. Even a stump, otherwise dead, still shares what it…