By Mary Litchfield Tuel I have spent years in therapy trying to get the critical inner voice of my mother to pipe down, without success. Having realized that, I thought if I can’t get her to move out, I might as well mine her for material. My mother was fond of telling me that I…
Island Voices
An Incurable Trickster
By Seán Malone and John Sweetman John Sweetman and I were sipping beer in front of a roaring fire in the cozy confines of my log cabin overlooking outer Quartermaster Harbor. “Why don’t you write about that thieving raven you had in Republic,” John suggested. I laughed like hell when the raven tore out of…
Island Voices
My Little Slice of Heaven
By Mary Litchfield Tuel The cat jumped up on me, and he was wet. I thought maybe he had slobbered all over himself, but as I toweled him off, I looked out the window and saw the leaves on the apple tree bouncing with raindrops. Earlier, before it rained, I swept off the front porch. That…
Island Voices
The Dorsal Spin: Enduring Spirits
By Orca Annie Stateler In the grip of the pandemic, Tlingit artist Odin Lonning painted four square panels for the Open Space Arts and Community’s public outdoor mural project. From openspacevashon.com: “Attention! Artists at Work” is a jobs program led by Open Space in partnership with local nonprofit organizations. The goal of the program is…
Island Voices
The Strength of Pretend
By Deborah H. Anderson Finding the perfect cinnamon roll at the Edmonds Bakery was a moment of bliss. Huge, spirally, gently baked, lightly glazed, with hidden chunks of nut pieces in the inner fold’s perfection brought unparalleled mouth happiness. Saturday afternoon delight, for sure. Smithsonian Free Museum Day drew me to Edmonds. The drive to…
Island Voices
Blackberry’s Bundle
By Caelan Angell Landing on Island and surveying the possibilities of restoration work, the first major and apparent challenge is handling the intimidating blackberry buttresses. Their thick ridged canes form seemingly impenetrable thorny defenses, any attempt to wrestle them resulting in a desert sky’s worth of red and purple constellations. Their ability to regenerate and…
Island Voices
Groovy Man, Far Out
By Mary Tuel When the Loop folded its tent and crept away last summer, I thought, well, that’s that. I was recovering from a broken back at the time, and that took up a lot of time and energy. So, I blessed The Loop and let it go in peace. Then word came that The…
Island Voices
The Dorsal Spin: For Pod’s Sake
By Orca Annie Stateler “Killer Whale and Salmon Nations of Whulj” Side A – By Odin Lonning Tlingit artist Odin Lonning recently installed a panel on the lawn shared by The Lodges on Vashon, Wine Shop Vashon, and Vashon Brewing Community Pub. “Killer Whale and Salmon Nations of Whulj” is a cutout hardwood panel painted…
Island Voices
TideLines
By Seán Malone & John Sweetman We sat together on Seán’s deck overlooking outer Quartermaster and lifted a small glass of single malt as a mutual toast to the revival of “The Loop.” The deck in particular had been the “source” of many of our stories that ran in the earlier Loop; which had earlier…
Island Voices
What Brought You To Vashon?
By Jonathan Laine Many years ago, after deciding to leave northern California and continue exploring the West Coast, I checked in with a new friend of mine in Arcata. He asked where I was going, but I wasn’t sure. I told him I wanted to go north. He said: “I know exactly where we are…