This was Kamala’s final 18-minute pre-election-day speech: And this was Trump’s 2-hour verbal vomit (fast forward the video 2 hours and 15 minutes, where he begins speaking): It is inconceivable to me that a person this negative, narcissistic, petty, immature, insulting, and rambling, who says nasty things about anyone and …
Shawn and Kaleena McGarry outdid themselves. Their Halloween Haunted Barn was so pro. Not to mention all of the extras like a haunted forest trail, haunted barn sweatshirts and merchandise, a bar and hang-out tent, an ongoing bonfire, and treats, jewelry, and taco tents. If you missed it, come along …
Last Friday evening, 25 contestants gathered on the Orcas Center stage at 6 PM to begin spelling and misspelling their way to a winner. The one who prevailed to the end was Pedro Lopez de Victoria! Third place went to Douglas Hageman, second went to Shane McRoberts, and first to …
Oh, how tempted I am to post the photos and videos I have of this year’s Haunted Barn, but I don’t want to give anything away! I will post them after Halloween. What an astounding thing Shawn and Kaleena McGarry have created. Not to mention the large number of people …
If you missed this three-and-a-half-hour show, it was quite a thing! Local bands rocked it – Bonzi played songs by Limp Bizkit, The Bad Dads played songs by Weezer, Chubasco played songs by The DollyRots, Dolly Rotten from San Juan Island played songs by Nirvana, one of Steven Baker’s bands …
Enjoy!…
Opening Night: Orcas Food Heroes Celebration at the Orcas Island Winery Bob and Maria Nutt’s Warm Valley Orchard Brian and Laura Torma’s Tekla Farms Chelsea Thorpe and Jesse Herzog’s Rising Oak Farm at the Crow Valley Farm Stand George Orser and Molly Donovan’s Orcas Farm Not all farms that were …
The new seniors… Class of 2025!
It’s a good rainy day to look at the beauty we’ve enjoyed over the past months…
The tall remnants of these giants still hover above as we walk by, with pockets stuffed full of seeds now, preparing for next summer’s beautiful display along our sidewalks…
The Annual Orcas Island Farm Tour begins with the Orcas Food Heroes Celebration at Orcas Island Winery, Friday October 4th from 4:30-8 PM, where there will be a film viewing, food, music, island art, and Washington wine tastings by the fireside. Click here to RSVP for a seat for the …
Somehow this wasn’t on my radar the last two years, so I’m glad I heard about it and went this time around – it was wonderful. John and Maia Vechey, you are doing fascinating things for the community, from an observer’s standpoint. This event that you held on your land …
The Orcas Island Library is presenting the 2nd Annual Adult Spelling Bee Friday, October 25th from 6-8 PM at Orcas Center Main Stage. If you would love to enter, sign up by emailing Sam Gailey at sgailey@orcaslibrary.org. If you don’t want to enter, come out to be part of the audience …
Tune into OrcasRadio.org from 1-3 PM today to listen to the interview of local vocalist, songwriter, and performer, Rafe Pearlman, recorded this past Thursday afternoon.
A few years ago we took a chance on seeing a musical group we hadn’t heard of before and went to a Good Lovelies concert at Orcas Center. We were very impressed!! Years go by and the memory can dull. The Good Lovelies were back in town and we waffled …
I love when life provides the perfect moments to photograph. The other day, a friend and I walked out of the dark, rainy, drippity morning into Orcas Bakery where Shawna Hanan was checking on hot loaves of bread in the giant oven and pulling out fresh, warm scones with apples …
It’s the final Farmers Market of the season. See you there!…
Tune into OrcasRadio.org at 1:00 today for a live interview with local vocalist, composer, and musician, Rafe Pearlman. The interview will be replayed on Saturday from 1-3 PM as well… Enjoy!
You spend hours, days, nights, weeks, years, decades loving your children every moment – deeply, wholeheartedly, sacrificially – only to get to their teenage years and realize that you have to start gradually letting them go. To a backdrop of beautiful songs playing on the Alexa on a new album …
Tune in to OrcasRadio.org next Saturday from 1-3 PM as I interview Rafe Pearlman, a local musician with stunning natural talent. (He started coming down with something this morning, so we postponed the interview to next week.) He makes sounds with his voice and his musicians like you might hear …
Sunday morning, I found out that my brother Charlie died in a motorcycle accident. He would have been 63 on October 16th, which is when we will be having a celebration of his life where he lived in Texas. We were five siblings and now we are four. This has …
Family Tides Farm and Lummi Nation invite you to the 3rd Annual Fall Festival on Sunday, September 22nd, from 12-4:30pm, at 6389 Deer Harbor Road. There will be performances by the Blackhawk Singers, ancestral arts, live music by The Hot Tomatoes and Adrien Xavier & Ska Island, local makers guild …
Sarah Burns is one of the kindest, most responsible high school graduates that I know. She learned it from her mom, Suri. Suri Burns and her children – Sarah (19), Maria (16), and Thomas (14) – moved from Indonesia to Orcas Island in April of 2022. Suri has been working …
On Monday I wrote a letter to the people involved with the water board issues (Eastsound Water Users Association), which I posted on my blog here. These were my words to Teri, Jim, Leith, Jim, Ron, Steve, Dan, Carol, Tenar, and Mike: It isn’t possible for every person on the …
If you haven’t been here yet, you need to go… This is a new shop right near the ferry, and it feels so good that you won’t want to leave. The trio of women who masterminded it made a space that pulls you in and keeps you there – from …
I just sent the following email: Hello Teri, Jim, Leith, Jim, Ron, Steve, Dan, Carol, Tenar, and Mike, This is Edee Kulper and I have been thinking about this water board situation for a few weeks. While I imagine that all of this has been so ongoing and convoluted for …
As you may have read in the past on this blog, Dr. Vincent Shu’s acupuncture has helped me immensely with a disc in my back that is shot from over or improper use. One session with him alleviates pain for about 9-12 months, and that relief is something I have …
Here is this past Sunday’s Village Green entertainment, for which there was a large crowd: Everything was done from a truck, and they were quite good, especially when watched close-up.
Three years ago, Grace Grantham posted something very brave on Facebook – a list of the ailments she deals with daily and the ripple effects they cause. It was no short grocery list. It was dauntingly long. I haven’t been able to find it since, but when I wrote a …
What a beautiful weekend it was for celebrating our freedom…
Summer began around July 3rd this year, meaning that’s when the sun came out and stayed out. Well, until lately – after three weeks of summer, now it’s fall (hopefully not for good!). But that’s how it goes here on Orcas. Before July, sun and rain are intermittent, and that’s …
Don’t miss the upcoming storytelling events by many performers led by the amazing Nancy Wang and Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo. Our kids grew up watching these performances, and trust me on this one, they are NOT reciting things out of books or whatever you might be assuming. You HAVE to see them. …
I’ve been considering selling canvas prints of my Orcas Island photos for years now, and finally got down to business ordering some samples for myself. In the past I’ve used Canvas Champ for little personal canvas prints here and there, but the most recent order I received was horrible. The …
I always feel it’s important to start off a travel post by communicating some reality. Posts in all forms of social media can make viewers feel things. One of those things is that the life being viewed is enviable for some reason. While I am beyond grateful to be able …
I am in a deep phase of pondering what new things I would like to do on this earth, and I would love your thoughts, even if they are very much out of the box. I decided that one or many of you might have ideas about fascinating work opportunities …
Meet Roxy, my paddleboarding co-captain. She goes with me almost every time I go out in the Sound. Yesterday we set out on the water around 5 PM in the stunning sunshine – no clouds in the sky, no wind, calm water, and warm air. The perfect antidote to the …
Sunshine and human-height hollyhocks…doesn’t get much better than this!
Enjoy living vicariously through each other’s lives…
Enjoy this still-photo timelapse from November to June…
Across the street from the Co-op in Eastsound is Kay’s. If you haven’t been in for a while, it’s a great place to hunt for treasure if you need a gift for a birthday or special occasion coming up. I found a beautiful one-of-a-kind onyx goblet for our 14-year-old son, …
A smattering of photos from the past several Saturdays…
This has quickly become one of my favorite places to peruse in town. It’s colorful, visually stimulating, peaceful, inspiring, and the quick turnover of art keeps fresh new paintings popping up on the walls and tables every time I happen to saunter in. I think all of Peter’s paintings are …
I’ve had to pause the debate and write. Political commentary is not going to be the new trend of this blog, just a tiny, necessary intermission for a moment. This is what I’ve learned from Trump over the years: I will not stand down any longer.
One of our island’s biggest weekends… Watch a video clip of the parade here and of the celebration in the Village Green here. Happy longest day (technically it was June 20th)!!!
Here’s what you learn real fast at the Island Market and Post Office corkboards (they are not in chronological order)…
A day off-island…
Coming Soon! Check back here in the next few weeks for information on ordering large prints of Orcas Island photos…
Come by today from 12-3 for some cupcakes and brownies! (Here is his GoFundMe page for more info: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-levi-kulpers-mission-to-mars-stem-program)
This flyer was just handed to me this morning in the rain – I hope you can make it!
We islanders are always working on art projects, theater projects, music projects, garden projects, woodworking projects, writing projects, event projects, technology projects, and the list goes on infinitely. While I love absolute quiet for much of the time that I’m writing, reading, thinking, and creating, I put the following message …
I’m sure there are more, but here are the handful I’ve seen…
Photography has been part of my life for over 30 years, but aside from my wedding day, I’ve never had my portrait taken by another photographer. That’s why I am so excited about Satya Curcio’s upcoming photoshoots for $75. She did studio portraits on May 5th but unfortunately I was …
Here are some shots from Friday night’s light show in the sky. How fun it was to drive around to different spots and watch that transparent milky movement make its colors known with each 3-second exposure on my iPhone’s night mode. And how fun it was to see a LOT …
Put away those dinner fixins and come on into Eastsound for a free Mexican dinner right now, from 5-7 PM! No strings attached, no ulterior motive, no Jesus talk – just in case that might be in the back of your mind of why not to come. That’s not what …
As the Salish Sea Yarn Co. transitions from its current space over to the Farmers’ Market and online sales, the weekly Knit Night group will migrate to the library on Tuesdays from 6-8 PM. Inspired to write about this knitting community, Lori Maxfield put into words the deeper things of …
I have a GIANT thank you to say to Jim Bredouw, the man who conceived of the Funhouse and made it a reality, and Ryan Carpenter, the new Funhouse Executive Director. They just finished hosting Saturday Science Nights at the Funhouse for the past 6 weeks, where kids of all …
Come along on the ride that was Earth Day… Click here to watch a 20-second video of the parade.
I think Daphne has invited just about every family on the island to her annual Easter egg hunt at one time or another. She and her family filled over 1,000 eggs this year with candy and money for the kids!… Click here to watch a 20-second video of it.
You know you take too many pictures when you’re so overwhelmed by the number of sunrise photos you have from Easter morning that you take three weeks off from your blog. Finally picking up where I left off in late March… Orcas Island Community Church’s Easter morning sunrise service on …
Get ready for a full day of activities… Great Islands Clean-up at 10 AM: Participants of all ages can register to clean up trash on a designated beach or road, then bring collected items to the Village Green. Pick up bags, vests and grabbers at the Village Green in Eastsound …
Bruce Langford is one of the most dynamic people you could ever go and listen to, with stories of experiences few of us have had, a sense of humor that will have you rolling, and knowledge of his subject that is sometimes jaw-dropping. Come on over to the library tonight …
See you at SeaView Theatre at 7:30! Here’s the preview…
Orcas Island Community Church: Emmanuel Episcopal Church: Good Friday March 29, 2024 5:30 PM With the Passion according to John, the veneration of the cross. Easter Vigil, Part 1 March 30, 2024 8:00 PM With Lighting of the New Fire and the Paschal Candle, the chanting of the Exultet, and the Liturgy of the …
And remind me if I forget them!
I love this new place in the heart of Eastsound, which is on the corner where Roots was. I think it is so smart, simple, affordable, and fills the kind of niche many of us have been looking for. And importantly, I think it will survive Orcas winters, which can …
What a beautiful day to watch a 3-minute parade and then stay outside and talk with people on the street, bike ride, and eat pizza out in the sunshine at the new corner place (more on that soon)! It would’ve been fun to stop in the White Horse Pub since …
The previous polyamory post was an introduction to a topic I have known little about until last year. I have lived most of my life around traditional, monogamous-marriage couples and families. It wasn’t until I read Chelsie Guilford’s Facebook post last June that my eyes were opened to how some …
Would you like to feel the little vignettes of life here? Go to the Life on Orcas Island Instagram page, where every day I will leave one or two 20-second video clips of what if feels like to be here – from stunning nature scenes when I’m the only person watching life unfold on …
About six weeks ago, I put the word out that I welcome anyone to be the subject of a Q&A regarding any topic they are navigating that is challenging, unique, or against the current. I received a response from someone who prefers to remain anonymous, and they kindly agreed to …
While registration has closed, the Summit kicks off with a film screening and community conversation at Sea View Theatre tomorrow night (Thursday, March 7th) at 6:30, open to anyone. And there are still tickets available for the Friday night (March 8th) dinner and community social at Oddfellows…
You just never know what you’re gonna find here on Orcas until you go and seek out the beauty…
You most likely know who Alexei Navalny is. If not, you must learn about him: My family watched the following documentary about Navalny when it came out two years ago. You need to watch it if you haven’t yet seen it. Here is the trailer: The prison Navalny died in: …
Many of us here in the Northwest have the dark, wet, winter weather to thank for the travels we end up planning to balance off the gloom. Even though we are in the thick of it right now, even if you don’t go anywhere, dreaming and planning is its own …
It’s been a while since I’ve written my column in theOrcasonian. Last year I took a break indefinitely, thinking my family would be moving away for a year to San Luis Obispo, California. After being there for less than a month, it became clear in a hurry that it wasn’t …
Last Friday I was in the mood for a movie at the theater. I went online to check what was playing and realized it was the burlesque performance instead. There were seven seats left that night, and the next night was sold out. Burlesque shows aren’t typically on my radar, …
The next Island Voices is Friday, March 1st at 6 PM. Everyone is invited. Bring something you’ve written to share out loud (about 5 minutes’ worth). Or just come and listen. The last one was so full of variation and talent. Don’t miss it! Submit your piece ahead of time …
I love that the library will be staying open this Friday night until 9 PM for anyone who wants to write! I won’t be able to make it, so enjoy it for me, y’all!
What’s not to love about a day full of fun, loving gestures – something Orcas does well! Right now, Clever Cow Creamery is having a pop-up shop with Sweet Craft Bakeshop! I’m heading there to check it out in a few minutes… These red beauties were at the Teezer’s counter …
A few weeks ago, the Orcas Library had a terrarium workshop for kids and one for adults. It was awesome. Thank you, Lynn, for teaching us how to do this and for gathering all of the beautiful supplies. Make sure you check out Lynn’s samples on the library check-out desk.
I don’t tend to augment photos I put on this blog, but I did a little ‘shopping with these just for fun since their winter hues were a bit drab.
Yesterday this amazing, artful cookie spread was decorating the entrance to Island Market. I didn’t have any cash on me at the time, and I never made it back to the store to buy a few of these. Does anyone know Sydney and Paula, and if there were extras and …
While a sight like this would be very unique elsewhere, it’s not all that unusual here on Orcas. Meet Wren – a triplet born 5 days ago that needs a little extra attention, so it’s getting some cozy time on a jaunt into Eastsound.
Yesterday I wrote a post about how much I like On Island Time… This morning I Googled the author and illustrator to show the book to a friend, only to be shocked by the word “obituary.” Chandler O’Leary died unexpectedly last April from a sudden and vigorous case of pneumonia. …
Last time my friend Frank and I did a book signing, we were sitting in Darvill’s Bookstore on a dark, blustery, pouring-rain day. Most people were staying home next to their warm, cozy fireplaces, so we had plenty of time to chat and look around at the books in front …
I first heard Serena Burman’s thoughts on these topics during an Orcas Island Library event called Island Voices a few months ago. Anyone interested was invited to come and read five minutes of something they had written, and Serena’s entry blew me away. (By the way, there will be another …
I love bread. If you do too, consider being a founding member of Orcas Bakery, set to open in the spring in the building where Tide Pool Coffeehouse used to be. They were giving hours of various warm, buttered samples at Island Market in December and WOW, were they good!! …
Last week I had a final Redemption Salad made by Bill. Our kids grew up playing on Eastsound Beach (as I call it), not far from Chimayo in the basement of the Odd Fellows building. Many a summer afternoon was characterized by catching small crabs, exploring Indian Island’s low-tide creatures, …
A few of you who have subscribed to this blog have mentioned that you can no longer see the photos that go with each post. I’m not sure why that’s happening, but someone suggested that you tap “Comment.” You’ll be routed immediately to the post on my actual blog site, …
There are so many experiences people have to navigate that don’t fit the expected, hoped-for, happy, traditional, comfortable, practical, standard, narrow, familial, cultural, societal, or accepted path. Not feeling able to express a journey into what feels like uncharted territory is isolating until people realize they are not alone by …
If you would like to enjoy MasterClass but don’t want to pay for a subscription, I just learned that the library has 4 separate subscriptions that can be checked out! How cool is that?! Thank you Orcas Island Library!
I heard that Cascade Falls was beyond dramatic during last’s week snow, but we couldn’t get out of our driveway until the final melt day. Check out these amazing photos by Kelley Diamond, edited by Denise Thomasin. They look like they are from a fantasy movie set, and Kelley and …
I can’t believe we are already nearing February. Here are some glimpses of Orcas beauty over the past two months…
Cooking has lost its allure for me. If I didn’t have a family, I’d probably avoid the kitchen at night except for a quick smoothie in order to keep working on creative projects I’m enthralled with. It’s hard to leave the library and stop the state of flow I’m in …
Saturday morning, our son had to get to Friday Harbor on an early morning ferry to participate in the new winter Youth Conservation Corps program. Despite the fact that the main road was clear, we couldn’t yet drive up our steep, slick road due to the lingering snow, so some …
I love the immediate 180° shift that snow brings here – kids stay home from school, families sled and build snowmen, businesses aside from the essentials all close, people stay in and do intentional activities together, and life is like a picture in a little snow globe. I appreciate it …
One of the trade-offs of living out on this beautiful island in the Salish Sea is that special occasions can be fairly mellow unless there is a community-wide celebration planned. And boy, do we have our community celebrations and events here in general! We have myriad memorable festivities for almost …
Recently we broke down and bought a new TV that was a great price at Costco. For years we had the thick, heavy TV my in-laws had given my husband decades ago. Then our neighbors gave us their old TV when we stopped in at the tail-end of their garage …
I’ve been happening upon Mandy Troxel’s wool “paintings” here and there on social media over the past several months and decided you need to see them if you haven’t yet… Aren’t those amazing?? Mandy has a website for her art, music, and writing here and a blog here, and if …
Our younger son asked to borrow my phone yesterday after I told him to give me his word that he wouldn’t skate on thin ice, literally. He took a few videos to show me that the ice he was on was thick and safe, plus shots of some of the …
Living on Orcas Island has been magical, but something I’ve begun to sorely miss every winter is light. Sunshine isn’t a big deal until you go about 9 or 10 half-years without it. This winter has been amazing overall because the annual multi-month permablanket hasn’t set in yet. That’s quite …
Thinking of a loved one falling through a frozen pond is terrifying. I can toss and turn at night with scenarios racing through my mind after watching our dog fall in a frozen pond several years ago. Orcas Island is covered with frozen ponds, streams, and puddles right now. As …
Dictation from my phone in bed last night: I lie in bed thoroughly agitated. It is 3:17 AM. Our normally predictable, calm little dog scratches endlessly on the sliding glass door. It all began two nights ago with a bowl of chili. The previous night, I remembered noting to myself …
