By Stephen Buller Continuing with the “Cash on Vashon” concept, this article will get to the heart of why so many people use credit cards, namely the rewards. We’ll look at the incentive this creates, why it’s okay for you to get that cash back, and how you can consciously choose when your reward is…
Island Voices
Stella
By Elizabeth Van Deventer Stella taught me one of the most important spiritual lessons of my life. Yet, you wouldn’t find her sitting in the lotus position in an Ashram or giving a sermon behind a church pulpit. She wasn’t a guru with a great following or what anyone would think of as a spiritual…
Island Voices
Encounter With a Frog
By Michael Shook A few weeks ago, my wife returned from taking the Scotties on their morning walk, and informed me she had seen a squashed frog on the road. The younger Scottie, Walter, had lunged for it, no doubt to eat. She at first thought it to be a rat, albeit a misshapen one…
Island Voices
Aging in Place
By Deborah H. Anderson There is a Halley’s Comet watch party at Gaswork’s Park on my 110th birthday. I have let the appropriate people know they can roll me up to the top pf the hill in my wheelchair and then put me in the pine box and six feet under the next day. Now, hearing…
Island Voices
Summer Gardening
By Kim Cantrell and Little Bird Gardens Hello, sunshine. It’s so good to see you! Thankfully, we have made it through one of the coldest and rainiest spring seasons in a long time. The daffodils did bloom longer than usual, with their bright blooms alongside tulips in their vibrant display of color. What an exceptional treat,…
Island Voices
The Footloose Foodie
Hello! I would like to introduce myself and why I write. I am your “Footloose Foodie.” My plan is to visit the various businesses that offer food on and around Vashon, sharing my experience here in The Loop. I have no nefarious intent, nor will I write unkindly about my experience. Honesty served with kindness is easier to…
Island Voices
Nike Army Base on Vashon, Childhood Memories
Hello, my name is Lisa Devereau. I am a cemetery commissioner and a funeral director. I grew up here on Vashon, and have a story about growing up here. A few years ago, a woman named Verna Bacon Everitt moved back to Vashon. She had hopes of writing for our local newspaper, so she wrote…
Island Voices
Burton History Trail – A Place Away, But Near
As you drive north and turn the corner into the quaint town of Burton, you are suddenly transported back 100 years, and are surrounded by a turn-of-the-20th-century village. What is now Burton was once a thriving village of the sx̌ʷəbabš or “Swiftwater People,” with longhouses and a potlatch house. Historians estimate that prior to European…
Island Voices
Useless Skills and Dumb Ideas
Seán and I were sitting out on his deck a few years back, looking out at our crab traps set in our secret spot, the Trench, just offshore. We noticed a boat approaching and suspected it was a “crab pot poacher.” Waving the boat off seemed to get no answer, so Seán, after a false…
Island Voices
AtWork! Part 2 – An Interview with Brette
Brette is a smart, bold, funny islander who always speaks her mind. Brette recently began working at Vashon Thriftway and utilizes a job coach accommodation through AtWork! – a supported-employment nonprofit organization that works throughout Washington state to match people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with good jobs in their communities. Brette and I shared…