Mukai Farm & Garden is proud to announce the winners of the Mukai Haiku Festival 2025. The festival received over a hundred haiku from twelve countries around the world. The prize winners and their haiku are below. Youth 5-13 1st: Aiden Hermmans Jungle Green, leafy, wet, coolIt is an ecosystemCanopy of life 2nd: Peter T….
Entertainment, June 2025, Llaughing Llamas
Llaughing Llamas Chronicles
By Daniel Hooker Q: What do you call a lazy opossum? A: A pouch potato. Editor’s note: This is a correction of this joke printed in the May issue. ~ Q: What events do spiders like to attend? A: Webinars. ~ Q: What type of bat loves doorbells? A: Ding bats. ~ Q: How did…
Entertainment, June 2025
The Observant Frog’s Log
By Alex Soriano The Observant Frog’s Log by Alex Soriano
June 2025, Recipes
McSheehy’s Disappearing Summer Pasta Salad
By Dr. Slade McSheehy In our house, no graduation party is complete without a big bowl of McSheehy’s Disappearing Summer Pasta Salad. It’s perfect for large groups, forgiving on ingredients, and pairs well with speeches, sunburns, and proud tears. Guaranteed to vanish faster than your last free weekend in June. Ingredients: 1 lb rotini or bowtie…
Health Matters, June 2025
Does Digestive Distress Have You Down?
By Dr. Lisa Morse Digestive Distress is a common condition – it’s estimated that 10-15% of people suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). I’ll admit this isn’t a pretty topic to talk about – gas, bloating, constipation, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. But these symptoms are plaguing too many people, causing pain and discomfort, an inability…
Island Voices, May 2025
There’s No Place Like Home – A Ukrainian Woman’s Journey
Raccoons and All, Part 1 By Daniel Hooker I met Olga as I walked into Island Lumber here on Vashon Island (a place I’ve called home for many years). Olga’s bright smile and courteous questions immediately caught my attention. As I walked on, the faint accent registered. I turned and asked Olga where she was…
Editorial Page, May 2025, News
Struggles of the Supermajority, A Legislative Soap Opera
By Caitlin Rothermel This spring’s 2025-2026 session of the Washington state legislature has pushed the envelope in terms of how much state government should spend and how little the public needs to be involved in the process. The final 1,366-page 2025-2027 proposed operating budget totals $77.9 billion and was released with barely a day to…
Entertainment, May 2025
The Door Fence
By Andy Valencia Some wonders of Vashon keep forever, like KVI beach. Others come and go – I still mourn what’s left of the original bike in the tree. Have you seen one of our newer attractions? The Door Fence is located in the alley running alongside “The Village Green” right in Uptown Vashon. And…
Editorial Page, Island Interviews, May 2025
Olga and the Ukraine War
By Andy Valencia The Russia-Ukraine war has touched millions of lives. Who can make sense of lives being disrupted at such a scale? But the Loop had an opportunity to interview a remarkable young woman from Ukraine who literally heard the first shots of the war. Currently living on Vashon, she gave us a peek…