By Seán Malone and John Sweetman As Seán remembers, Mom formed hats out of buckram, using the forms to glue Chinese pheasant feathers in, making a unique women’s hat. A full-grown male Chinese pheasant has a chest of iridescent, electric blue and brown feathers. Mom loved the colors, and would badger Dad and I to…
The Supreme Court of Mom
By Seán Malone and John Sweetman As John remembers: “He hit me!” “She was making faces at me!” “I was not!” “He was making fart noises with his armpit!” And so convened the daily district court of summary justice where the prosecutor, defense council, and detective agency was all in one. MOM! Mom interrupted her…
Report from Aman Omid Village, Part 2
By Nellie Bly Prologue: This was written over the course of several deployment periods of one to three weeks. Aman Omid Village on Holloman Air Force Base closed at the end of January 2022, having in-processed and placed 16,000 Afghani evacuees. All but eight survived. For the five months it existed, and adjusting for average…
Excerpts From “The Heart Of Vashon”
“The Heart of Vashon: Sharing Our Stories” is a lovingly written tribute to the Island. The stories were originally solicited for a community-building literary project of the same name spearheaded by Mary G. L. Shackelford and Shirley Ferris in 2015. The book may be purchased at the Vashon Heritage Museum, Vashon Bookshop, and Vashon Pharmacy….
Report from Aman Omid Village, Part 1
By Nellie Bly Prologue: This was written over the course of several deployment periods of one to three weeks. Aman Omid Village on Holloman Air Force Base closed at the end of January 2022, having in-processed and placed 16,000 Afghani evacuees. All but eight survived. For the five months it existed, and adjusting for average…
If It Tastes Bad, It Must Be Good For You
By Seán Malone and John Sweetman As kids, we attended schools that were a quagmire of communicable diseases, where various ailments were freely communicated, just like today. Pink eye … ringworm … head lice … measles, and so on, including various rashes, itches, and the common issues of sniveling, coughs, and sometimes more serious issues of croup…
Excerpts From “The Heart of Vashon”
The Vashon Way: How to Be Mistaken for a LocalBy Gayle Kellner When you run out of almond milk and have to go purchase more, put on a loose-fitting dress and mismatched sweater, preferably hand-knit. Finish off your outfit with a pair of rubber boots. If they look new, walk through a couple of mud…
Useless Skills and Dumb Ideas, Part II – Pants on Fire
Gene Amundson and I came up with the first rendition of “concealed carry” long before the National Rifle Association had it as a policy. We found we could make a “zip” gun out of a clothespin, using just a pocket knife and something to bend the spring. We used these at first to shoot spitwads at…
Una Oración a Nuestra Señora
By Jane Valencia Mis abuelos hablaban español, yo solo aprendí a hablar un poquito, pero ahora estoy tratando de aprenderlo. En honor a mis abuelos, me gustaría contarles una historia muy pequeña y decir una pequeña oración. ¿Les parece bien? Gracias, queridos lectores. Un día, estaba en el Jardín del Rosario en la Iglesia Católica…
The Shining Mountains
By Catherine Henderson “The Shining Mountains,” a historical novel set in the mid 1800s and written by Alix Christie, is the enthralling story of Angus McDonald, a Scottish immigrant, and his wife Catherine Baptiste, from the Nez Perce tribe. Angus is a trader for the Hudson Bay Company, moving between their outposts in Montana, Idaho,…