By Dave B. MPH. What does this acronym mean and what does it mean on Vashon? Theatrically, in the Washington State Driver Guide, crafted carefully by our genius government officials, it means miles per hour. Posted on signs all over our great country and Island are suggested speed criteria for our gas-guzzling and hybrid, semi-hybrid, all-electric cars, trucks,…
By Michael Shook Civilized. While wandering the streets of Paris back in May, that was the word that I thought of. Why civilized? Goodness knows, France has as many misguided actions as any other nation, but that only places them with humans in all countries and cultures. If we were to disqualify a nation on…
By Cynthia Delgado While one may imagine that the Vashon of yesteryear was an innocent and bucolic existence marked by wholesome and simple endeavors, the truth is our little green Island has always been eccentric and touched by controversy. Why, just a glance at these headlines from 1905, 1922, and 1908, respectively hints at just…
By Pam (Gates) Johnson Sometimes, living in an apartment doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Let me give you a little backstory. I’ve been living on my little farm since 1975. It has a house (duh), a barn, an orchard, a garden, a big lawn, and fenced pastures. My life-long dream was to live on…
Seán Malone & John Sweetman Seán and I grew up on different islands, but shared so much of the same experiences. We always knew the “warning signs” of summer, which arrived in July, not June, which was typically a gloomy month. The signs of summer were not merely longer daylight hours, warm days, and the…
By Suzanna Leigh It was the summer of 1999, and we had just set the anchor in Longbranch, a little bay in the South Sound. We hadn’t taken the sails down yet when a gust of wind caught the mainsail and nearly sailed us into an odd collection of boats rafted together. The anchor held,…
By Pam (aka Gates) Johnson Oh yeah, everybody says it’s better than the alternative, but I’m not sure. Nobody I know has tried the alternative enough to give me a firm evaluation on the pros and cons. I’m not saying that I am ready to shuffle off this mortal coil just yet, but again, getting…
By Seán C. Malone and John Sweetman Seán and I have always had dogs of one kind or another in our lives, and we have a lot of “dog” stories to relate. Getting older, it would appear that we have “downsized” a bit, as we now both have members of the Terrier clan. Seán’s little…
By Suzanna Leigh During the dark days of winter, my boat sits alone at the dock, the leak I neglected to fix last summer dripping enough moisture into the cabin to encourage mold on the walls and rust on the stove. Her keel sports a beard of sea algae. She needs some work to get…
By Dave B Here is one we all find troublesome. The famous, or infamous, four-way stop sign. Prominently displayed from the bar seats at the Hardware Store where people drink, eat, and watch headstrong or unconcerned drivers navigate into downtown alongside 200 other drivers, all coming off the ferry to discover the Island, and trying…