By Michael Shook The question came to mind because we bought an electric car. Well, a partially electric car, a plug-in hybrid. It feels like a tank compared to our 16 year-old Subaru, but nonetheless drives very nicely, and is quiet as can be, even when the gas/hybrid motor kicks in. The Subaru was doing…
By Seán C. Malone and John Sweetman “How many of these joints have you done?” “Well, only one today, but it’s not even lunchtime yet.” That refers to the “Mortise and Tenon” joints we were making to assemble a “picnic cover” for our friend Bill who had a property on Indian Point. It has been…
By Ed Swan Ed Swan, a master ornithologist with an incredible depth of knowledge and a generous enthusiasm to share it, inspired many Islanders to learn about birds. His column, “Don’t Forget the Birds” appeared for years in The Vashon Loop. Ed passed away on Oct. 28, 2022. With birds returning from their migrations, and…
By Michael Shook “… the hounds of Spring are on Winter’s traces …” They are indeed, lashed to a dead run by this year’s strong El Niño weather system. Buds are plump to bursting, daffodils, hyacinth, and crocus have been out and blooming for weeks, and the scents are shifting. In the late winter breezes,…
By Seán Malone and John Sweetman We were poking around the old Ford F-250 four-wheel drive three-quarter-ton pickup that Seán acquired from me about 30 years ago. It seemed to have a problem with steering. This truck still is a formidable beast, with an 8,000-pound winch and oversized custom bumpers and guards, but it was…
By Jane Valencia This article concludes our interview with Mik Kuhlman regarding her remarkable one-woman show, “The Standing Nation – Remembering Our Kinship with Trees.” In these performances, the audience journeys to a special tree in nature. The tree serves as setting and co-star, bringing surprise and wonder into the experience. In addition to working…
By Michael Shook It is February, Black History Month. I think January and February dovetail nicely, since last month we celebrated the birthday of one of the great leaders of the twentieth century, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And as I’ve considered the history of recent years, and the legacy of Dr. King,…
By Andy Valencia I’ll finish this series of articles with some final notes on places to make a living without a college degree. The point isn’t to supply an exhaustive list, but rather to give you a feel for where to look – and who to ask – when you start thinking about your future…
By Marc J. Elzenbeck With much care, and over months, our foster cow Leslie’s terrible wound began to heal under daily debriding and cleaning. Amazingly, what had been a deep, two-foot-long gash in her left shoulder, imitating for all appearances a hanging flank steak, gradually closed back together and began smoothing out into short-haired Holstein…
By Jane Valencia In May 2022, I attended a private performance of Mik Kuhlman’s one-woman show, “The Standing Nation – Remembering Our Kinship with Trees.” We gathered around an old and large Bigleaf Maple in a field. The tree itself was both theater and a centering presence, around which the show wove. Mik engaged with…