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Health Matters
Kitchen Medicine
“Kitchen Medicine” is my family’s system of natural healing: the right food for every physical condition, plus home remedies, plus exercises to exercise aches, plus vitamin therapy. We believe that by immediately eating, doing, and taking the right, simple things as soon as we first notice minor symptoms, we can avert or prevent major illnesses….
Health Matters
The Hawthorn Berries Are Ready
There are many hawthorns on Vashon, and their berries will soon be ready to pick – they are said to make the best medicine after a good frost. Most years, the small trees or shrubs are covered with berries that hang on well through winter. For some reason, few people bother to take advantage of…
Arrival Stories, Entertainment
Flying Donuts Versus Flying Saucers
In the summer of 1947, Harold Dahl, a tugboat captain from Tacoma, described the hollow-centered crafts he saw as flying donuts. Edward R. Murrow, the nation’s foremost journalist, flew out to interview eyewitnesses, and he reported what they saw as “flying saucers.” The phrase was soon adopted as common parlance. But doesn’t “flying donuts” sound…
News
School Bond Withdrawal Signals Transformation
On November 15, the Vashon school board voted unanimously to rescind the bond request for $19.5 million slated for 2023. Their decision was somewhat surprising, but in the finest and most refreshing sense, they elected to confront hard realities boiling down to a stew of bad timing. We should take this decision as a solid…
Editorial Page
Loop Upgrade – How You Can Help
Since its inception, The Vashon Loop has been two things: free to all and primarily supported by the Vashon business community. We aim to keep the first and change the second, and we are asking for your help to do this. Our reasoning is simple: The past three years have been extremely challenging for small…
Literary
Rain Music
The melodies of tree rain are magical from the dull, droning Chinese water torture tunes to the scintillating syncopation of penthouse jazz and back street blues to the jaunty Harlem tap dance or the trotting gait of a Gaelic hornpipe The rain dances of the great trees are pure, sublime magic
Editorial Page
Invitation To Divide
The Vashon Loop has a fun series called, “What Brought You to the Island?” Such arrival stories often include surprising and unique details, but there is also a common thread – a desire for community. What is community? Is it the mere presence of other human beings? Is it the roads, mailboxes, parks, and stores?…
Arrival Stories
What Brought Me to the Island
The most obvious method whereby I arrived here is “by boat,” which is, I admit, a dreadful and dreadfully weak attempt at humor, for which I blame a certain recalcitrant eight year-old in my head, who refuses to grow up, and who will not go away, either. I could also blame my father, who, like…
Commentary, Llaughing Llamas
Llaughing Llamas Chronicles
The story I want to share this month is a simple one. Do you remember the man, named Carl, who had hearing aids in both ears? He always told the best Dad Jokes ever. One day, he was at the Senior Center telling jokes around the room. But all you could hear was the punch…