By Anne Cotter Moses
June 2026, Poetry
Sonnets to Orpheus, Part I Sonnet 1
There stands a tree. What pure over-climbing!Oh Orpheus sings! A tall tree rings in my ear!Then all falls still but even in the silencingare new signs and portents that draw near. Creatures press in quietly from their clearly absolved dens, untussled bushes and nestsfree from predation, at their curious best.Not quiet from stifled fears, instead…
June 2026, Poetry
two ears two spirals
By Claudia Hollander-Lucas In summer, the forests are alive with aerial sounds that include the song-life of birds – and with poetry. Here is a poem I wrote last spring for a Poetry Festival in Port Angeles themed “The Music of Summer.” A beautiful placard of the poem was made by the Art Center and…
June 2026, Literary
The Lake
By S.E. Reid Editor’s note: For your summer reading pleasure, we have an island tale by local author S.E. Reid. Ferris Island is “located right at the elbow where Puget Sound meets the Salish Sea. The inhabitants are normal folk, just like you and me…except that the place where they live has some strange hidden…
Island Vehicles, June 2026
100 Smiles Per Gallon
By Marc J. Elzenbeck Imagine it’s 2006 and you’re looking to buy a subcompact car for parking in tight spaces and weaving through some of the heaviest urban traffic tangles in North America four times a day. A connoisseur of fine engineering, let’s say you’re also a bit large, at 6’ 8”, and tip the…
Entertainment, Island Voices, June 2026
Llaughing Llamas Chronicles – June
By Daniel Hooker Three From Debbie at Ace Hardware: Q: Why do the French eat only one egg for breakfast? A: In French, one egg is un oeuf. ~ Q: How many nihilists does it take to change a light bulb? A: It doesn’t take any, because why should they change the light bulb? It’s…
Editorial Page, Island Resilience, Island Vehicles, May 2026
When Your EV Dies on Vashon
By Andy Valencia EV’s are in most ways simpler than their internal combustion engine cousins. There really just need to be batteries, a controller to send power to the wheels, and a charger. But these parts work hard, since we want fast recharges and even faster acceleration. Stressing electronics means failures will show up eventually….
Island Businesses, May 2026
Qigong on Vashon
By Caitlin Rothermel For a practice built around slow breathing and gentle movement, qigong has had a surprisingly turbulent history. Originating in China and thought to date back more than 2,000 years, qigong has moved into favor, out of favor, and eventually back into favor again. During the “qigong fever” of the 1980s and 1990s,…
Editorial Page, May 2026
Some Notes on Stealing Cars
By Marc J. Elzenbeck Imagine it’s May of 2022. You’re a 15 year-old boy in Chicago named Merritt. You’re sitting in your bedroom in front of your laptop wearing a mask all day on Zoom, pretending it’s school. Your teacher, also in their bedroom on Zoom, sits in front of a fake digital shelf of…
