The following poems are included in a new anthology of poems written by over 30 Vashon poets, and edited by Jeanie Okimoto of Endicott and Hugh Books. The book is called “Grief Age Love: Poems for the Autumn Years.” Jeanie Okimoto writes in the Introduction “…As we all make our way in this broken world,…
Bird Sermon
By S. E. Reid Aside from being one of the most widely recognizable saints in history, Saint Francis of Assisi is typically used as an enduring symbol of holy ecology and love for Creation. According to the legends about his incredible life, Francis preached to the birds, extended compassion to a ferocious wolf, and surrounded…
Community: Being Part of a Whole
By Daniel Hooker You’re new. If you really want to be part of the community, get involved. You’ll feel better about being involved, and your body will feel better. For me, many years ago, saving myself from pancreatic cancer and heart disease (68% blocked descending aorta) involved coming to peace with myself and finding salvation…
Cash is Queen
By Rich Osborne My name is Rich Osborne. My company is All Things Rich. I sell olive oil, vinegars, sauces, spices, salts, rubs, and local raw honeys. Also dragons. I was a vendor at the Vashon Farmers Market on Saturdays for five years. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, my retail sales opportunities were closed down….
Charlie Kirk Spoke for the Voiceless. Now, We Speak for Charlie.
By March Twisdale Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed the perfect proof that social media can churn up a hurricane of inaccurate memes, cherry-picked quotes, and other sloppily shared content that utterly misconstrues the true breadth and width of a person’s very public and very well documented life. As the world responded to…
From Sailing Adventures to Painting Adventures!
By Suzanna Leigh Sailing season is winding down; I don’t sail much in winter any more. Now I’m off to a new adventure: making watercolor paint from plants. Color from plants gives me a very different palette than I am used to working with. Will I even like it? Have you ever tried to dye…
Tech Blitzkrieg, Part Three …
… or, “Open the pod bay doors, Hal.” By Michael Shook That, of course, is an iconic line from Stanley Kubrick’s classic science fiction film, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Hal – the HAL9000 computer responsible for keeping the spacecraft operational – is malfunctioning badly. Rather than allow itself to be partially shut down, and having…
The Urge to Purge
By Pam “Gates” Johnson It’s not spring, so why has the spring cleaning bug landed on my shoulder and begun to scream in my ear? It is telling me … PURGE! CLEAN! DOWNSIZE! I ignored the screams until they started to drown out everything and take over most of my waking thoughts. Okay. I get it….
Ferry Follies
By Dave B. Here it comes, the ferry discussion. I think we have heard it all, but here goes: Our wonderful ferries and the folks who ride them. Now THIS is a subject all Islanders have an opinion on. How do YOU feel about riding our WSF system? I can tell you if I had…







