She’s Come Here for 32 Years

Meet Jan Pliler. I just did in Darvill’s Bookstore. You may have met her over the course of your life here.

She and her husband honeymooned here, they came here every year with their kids, her kids grew up paddling across Cascade Lake to what they call “Gummy Bear Bridge” (they’d eat gummy bears once they got to the bridge), her daughter got married at Little Summit on Mt. Constitution, and Jan continues to come as often as she can, thanks in part to her Susol friends. Before knowing any locals, she’d make a visit possible no matter what, even if it meant sleeping in her car.

Jan must know things about Orcas Island that most of us don’t, even if she doesn’t own the “local” title. I can only imagine the history and the gradual (or not-so-gradual) changes she has watched over the years.

Jan’s husband teases her for her “obsession,” but she feels like coming to Orcas is coming home. She even has Christmas guests awaiting her back at her house in Maple Valley, but she made the trip here anyway! I can’t blame her. My husband’s brother asked if we’d like to come visit his family in Oregon for the holidays, but being here on magical Orcas Island for Christmas is hard to release.

I say magical because here on the island you experience all of the true magic of Christmas – the time to love each other; the utterly still, beautiful, and peaceful surroundings; the community to love around you; and the opportunity to be present in every moment without constant distraction brought about by busyness. All you have to do is disconnect with the online world, walk into town, walk into Darvill’s, and meet someone like Jan.

Overlook the funky photo quality. For some reason this photo wouldn’t upload into my blog, so I took a picture of it off of my computer screen.