By Mike Curtin I’m not an expert on any of this, but 3I/Atlas is the object that’s captured my attention lately. It’s the third interstellar object known to enter our solar system (thus the “3”). The “Atlas” part refers to the telescope that first spotted it. This is an unusual comet. It’s green, for one…
By Pam “Gates” Johnson As far back as I can remember, I have always believed that we are not alone. To my Mr. Spock mind, it doesn’t make any sense that, in all of the gazillions of planets and solar systems and galaxies, we are the only “intelligent” life form. Granted, I am not an…
By Seán Malone and John Sweetman The West Seattle Bridge was closed to thru traffic going east and west. I had allowed 50 minutes to get from the Fauntleroy dock to my appointment at Swedish Hospital. I called the hospital to cancel and request a new appointment. I had waited three weeks for what I…
By Suzanna Leigh “Hi! Is anyone aboard this boat?” I put down my scrub brush and looked out over the stern to find the source of the words. Wait … is that woman standing on the water? The woman spoke again. “Is this boat for sale? Can I come look at it?” Nope, not standing…
I feel like rambling this month. Not any particular topic, just odds and ends that may or may not tickle your fancy, and maybe start a conversation that we can discuss over coffee or a Colvos beer. Why do we have SO many pizza places on Vashon? We have Rock Island, Vashon Pizza, there was…
By March Twisdale Yes. Yes, we do. Remember that game you played in early elementary school? It’s been called various things. My generation called it “Telephone.” Put 20 kids in a circle, have them whisper a short phrase in their neighbor’s ear, and by the 20th person, the message inevitably changes. The moral of the…
Useless Old Woman? By Suzanna Leigh and Marj Watkins Every once in awhile Marj Watkins says, “Oh, I should write something for The Loop.” She has been writing her “Island Epicure” column since the 1970s and only quit when she reached age 100. I remind her, “I told them you are retired. You don’t have…
By Seán Malone and John Sweetman Our assignment this month from The Loop editors was to write a “spooky” Halloween story. Now normally we do not take story “assignments,” but this seemed a quite reasonable request since we were running low on story ideas, and a little additional “direction” came just in time to forestall…
By March Twisdale Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed the perfect proof that social media can churn up a hurricane of inaccurate memes, cherry-picked quotes, and other sloppily shared content that utterly misconstrues the true breadth and width of a person’s very public and very well documented life. As the world responded to…
By Suzanna Leigh Sailing season is winding down; I don’t sail much in winter any more. Now I’m off to a new adventure: making watercolor paint from plants. Color from plants gives me a very different palette than I am used to working with. Will I even like it? Have you ever tried to dye…