Just got a note from Darren – I was wondering how the video contest is going – here’s the scoop: Hope all is well in Update-land! Speaking of that, we just wanted to give you a quick “update” on the San Juan Islands Vacation Video Contest: More than 7,000 total videos have been watched in  Continue Reading

Whoa, it’s happening today, too…WSF reported the Kaleetan started the day 25 minutes behind schedule; yesterday (Sunday) the Yakima was as much as two hours behind, resulting in lots B & C on either side of Mi Casita overflowing. Meanwhile, the ferry-slowing fog continues…both Chris Teren & Sandy Buckley told me these are the last  Continue Reading

It was a busy weekend all over the island, and one of the happy things going on was Katie Carlton & Andy Flierl getting married out at Roche Harbor. The Saturday wedding included best girl & daughter Paige, and the weather couldn’t have been nicer. All the best to you!

It was a busy weekend all over the island, and one of the happy things going on was Katie Carlton & Andy Flierl getting married out at Roche Harbor. The Saturday wedding included best girl & daughter Paige, and the weather couldn’t have been nicer. All the best to you!

Ran into two of my favorite people, Christine Gabler & Patrick Minney, the other day – they tell me they’re getting married on September 12th, which is next week. Congrats, you two!

The real work of planet-saving will be small, humble, and humbling, and (insofar as it involves love) pleasing and rewarding. Its jobs will be too many to count, too many to report, too many to be publicly noticed or rewarded, too small to make anyone rich or famous. Wendell Berry

A picture tells the story, and if you’re trying to sell your house (like I am – here’s the rest of that story), you need a good one. I’ll be painting the house soon, but in the meantime, my efforts at shooting a brown, tree-shadowed structure were coming up pretty…dark. So, I called my buddy  Continue Reading

The second annual Islands Village Faire (also called the Stress Less fest) was held this weekend at Missing Mountain Farm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It offered a nice visit with folks who wanted to barter, share sustainability ideas, eat great food, hear music, and more. Sponsored by Kels Boreen’s One Tree Records, the event  Continue Reading

The second annual Islands Village Faire (also called the Stress Less fest) was held this weekend at Missing Mountain Farm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It offered a nice visit with folks who wanted to barter, share sustainability ideas, eat great food, hear music, and more. Sponsored by Kels Boreen’s One Tree Records, the event  Continue Reading

If you read “Eat, Pray, Love,” then you probably already think Liz Gilbert is someone to listen to… now take it a step farther & listen in as she riffs on being creative & where it comes from (you’ll want a Dobby-like house-elf named Genius by the time you’re done). I like Derek Sivers’ response  Continue Reading

This weekend six folks were rescued when fishing boat Anna J capsized near Salmon Bank… Charlie Chevalier & Nick Nash were helicoptered to the mainland, while the other were checked & released here on the island at the medical center. Traci Walter sent me her photos of the folks responding to the accident – see  Continue Reading

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not  Continue Reading

To halt the decline of an ecosystem, it is necessary to think like an ecosystem. Douglas P. Wheeler

It was cool to see the Guards in Anacortes on the way back from America this week…they were coming back from a dentist trip to Renton (Melissa’s bro is a dentist), as well as getting ready for school. Gavin starts at FHHS next week, while Frankie & Melissa are keeping things lit up on the  Continue Reading

The pictures in this year’s County Fair were awesome! Here’s a note from the guy who managed the exhibit: Photographers – We Called and You Responded! Thanks to all who entered such wonderful photographs at the County Fair, The Photography Exhibit was a great success this year.  People were talking – all over the islands.   Continue Reading

It was great to drop by Maloula’s for lunch this week, overlooking the harbor from the top of the building in that complex where the Ale House is… it was also a nice surprise to see Roula, who just graduated from high school & is headed for university in Damascus in October to study dental  Continue Reading

It was great to drop by Maloula’s for lunch this week, overlooking the harbor from the top of the building in that complex where the Ale House is… it was also a nice surprise to see Roula, who just graduated from high school & is headed for university in Damascus in October to study dental  Continue Reading

My friend Melissa Crane over at the County says the training for the new GIS system is open to you, and you might like to come by. (You can review it here – I found it really easy to use!) Here’s the scoop: The GIS Team will be hosting Polaris training tomorrow morning in the  Continue Reading

Hope you got a chance to swing by the Skatepark last weekend & see how talented the guys are…their tricks & moves in Island Rec’s Skateboard/BMX Jam are captured  in this wonderful gallery of photos by Concepia’s John Sinclair & posted at http://www.sanjuanskate.org/. You will believe that kids can fly. Good eye, John!

When I was driving across the country last week, I was thinking about how cool it is that we have nice, sweet names of things that people hear & want to come visit: quaint Friday Harbor, sweet Lopez Village, welcoming Griffin Bay, and so on… then when they get here, they can visit Massacre Bay  Continue Reading

Over at Lynn Danaher’s Churchill House and Carter House spot on Argyle Avenue, there’s a new studio – Licensed Electrologist Allison Lance is offering electrolysis & thermocoagulation services (that means she removes hair & spots & sun spots & stuff). Drop by & see her at 470-A Argyle Avenue or call her at 298-0368 &  Continue Reading

When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water. Benjamin Franklin