50+ Characteristics

1. Time slows down the minute you get in line to wait for the ferry to the island
2. Natural beauty surrounds you wherever you are
3. Long, winding roads through the forest lead to beautiful harbors and docks
4. The community genuinely cares about each other
5. All your errands can be done within a couple minutes’ walking distance of each other
6. Going to the store is a social event – you know half the people there
7. Everyone has time to talk
8. You know you’ll see every person again sometime, so every conversation on the street is meaningful
9. Locals make eye contact and chat as they pass; tourists avert their eyes until they de-city-fy
10. Most people have gardens and composts
11. You can buy your veggies and meat from local farms
12. There is no hospital, lab, or specialized medicine; there are just general doctors
13. Going to a specialized doctor off-island (in “America”) is an all-day event
14. Fashion is not an issue
15. You can’t tell anything about people’s financial situation by their outward appearance
16. There are no stoplights, chain stores, fast food joints, or malls
17. The fastest speed allowed is 40 MPH
18. We pay for every pound of trash and recycling that we discard
19. Stocking up on food is an all-day affair on the mainland
20. It can be gray and rainy for two months straight – or more
21. Mail and FedEx packages fly into town on small planes each day
22. Strangers wave to you from their cars, even if you’re a tourist
23. There’s a festivity just about every week and sometimes every day
24. The Community Church and the Christian School staff are genuine extended families of people who care about you (the other churches may be as well, I just haven’t been to them)
25. I wear a down jacket for five months straight
26. Power outages bring modern life to a halt
27. There’s not much to do in town once it’s dark
28. There are flower stands, egg stands, veggie shacks, and even a clothes cabin where you can leave your money in metal boxes and jars on the honor system
29. Artists, gardeners, ceramicists, sculptors, and painters abound here
30. Away games take all day to get to and return from
31. The mayor is an annually-elected pet (it’s a fundraiser for a local school)
32. The Village Green in the center of town hosts summer Saturday farmers’ markets, summer Sunday afternoon concerts by local musicians, and all kinds of other town events
33. Most families buy an annual $80 Airlift Northwest membership in case anyone needs to be airlifted to a hospital for emergency medical help
34. We have our own film festival in the summer
35. You can pick blackberries, pears, plums, and apples to your heart’s content in the late summer all over the island
36. Chopping wood is less a nostalgic old-country notion and more a survival activity in preparation for the cold months – most of us have done it (thank you, husband!)
37. Dirt roads are commonplace
38. You can kayak along the coast, swim in the lake, and hike to the highest point all in a day
39. Wildlife is abundant – rabbits at the ferry landing, deer in your yard, eagles above, owls at night, geese on the shore, newts in the ponds, and the list goes on
40. You have to spend $40-$70 every time you need to go off-island – that’s the ferry fee depending on the season and how many passengers you have
41. The weather can change by the hour or by the minute; though when it’s gray, it can last a month
42. It’s a place where you can live out your passions – you have a good chance at getting the role you want in a play, you may be the only one volunteering in a certain capacity, your art will be in art shows, etc.
43. The photo on the front page of the local paper might be a praying mantis, a missing dog, or your child
44. Street names really are what they’re called: Enchanted Forest Road, Mt Baker Road, Prune Alley, Rose Hip Road
45. While walkers, bicyclists, and baby joggers abound in the city year-round, there are very few people out in the elements in the winter here
46. There are so many school options for such a small place that it’s common for lots of kids to move around each year to find the best fit for each year
47. Every island has its own feel; Orcas is welcoming, genuinely friendly, charming, forested, and hilly
48. Orcas has many microclimates; one area may report an inch of winter snow while another reports 16
49. Diverse types of people are mixed together and coexist gracefully regardless of lifestyle differences
50. Seasons shape who you are; sunny summers are external and we never want to step foot inside; in sun-less winters I go internal and creativity takes over – pondering, writing, reading, art-making, etc.
51. It never gets too hot or too cold
52. There are no mosquitoes or other irritating bugs; just some harmless fruit flies in late July and August
53. You can take an hour ferry ride over to San Juan Island to shop and eat at Friday Harbor, walk through the fields and beautiful gift store at Pelindaba Lavender Farm, and walk around upscale Roche Harbor where people from all over the world dock their fancy yachts to eat and shop
54. You can take a day trip to the tulip farms in Skagit Valley where there are thousands of rows of color
55. You can book a retreat away from the world for as long as you’d like at Our Lady of the Rock, a Benedictine Monastery known for its cheesemaking on the more isolated Shaw Island
56. Mold, Vitamin D supplements, and special indoor “daylight” lights are topics of local conversation