“Are you an ARTIST, or just a hobbyist?” That question always makes me feel like dirt. What do I have to do to be a “real artist?” Spend 40 hours a week in my studio? Produce 50 new paintings a year? Make my living with my creations? I assume the asker means, do I make…

The songs are soft and gentle, sung in what is called a “lullaby voice,” all voices blending in music that is not intended for performance, but for the comfort of those who are suffering near or at the end of life. Two to four singers gather at the bedside, offering restful songs to soothe and…

The Vashon Loop is grateful to the author and those involved with its writing, and to the Vashon-Maury Heritage Museum for permission to reprint this article. In late December 1854, hundreds of Native people from villages in south Puget Sound gathered at šxʷnanəm (Medicine Creek), having been invited to a potlatch by Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens. They…

I hired a crew to reroof the cabin. After 60 years, the leaks and weight of the moss had compromised the roof.  There are just some things that have to be done, whether you need to or not.   John and I were watching the workmen, and were grateful we were not up on the…

In Part One, I shared how our family found itself deserted by the Social Security Administration, for over ten months and counting… Thankfully, I speak Spanish. Thankfully, the Mexican Consulate helped us piece together this bureaucratic puzzle. Thankfully, I have a cell phone service that allows me to call Mexico. Thankfully, after a woman put…

By Aly Norling When, amidst the pandemic, Vashon lost Seeds4Success, the Island’s only supported employment organization, AtWork! stepped in to continue providing employment services for Islanders with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). AtWork! is a supported employment nonprofit organization that works throughout Washington state to match people with I/DD with good jobs in their communities….

We are in the time of Winter, Rest, Earth, North, Elderhood. Elson M. Haas, M.D. wrote the book, “Staying Healthy with the Seasons.” I was drawn to this knowledge in the 90s, and Haas’s book was very influential on my learning journey.  The insights he shared resonated with my inner knowing, and enlivened my passion for health and wellness….

It’s just not nice to be hit with a snowball with a rock in it. At Cove, we forbade the use of rocks. They took the fun out of a good snowball fight. We hid behind the walls of our forts, a wall of giant snowballs that could be four or five feet high. Behind the wall, we…

There are many things in our kitchen cupboards that can bolster our body’s ability to heal itself. Every mother is a bit of a medicine woman, and what do you do if no doctor is available? Prevention is of course the best medicine. We all know that fresh air, fresh vegetables and fruits, and plenty…