There were a lot of fun things going on around the Courthouse this weekend, including the Arts Fair, the Chalk-It-Up deal, food, and, of course, getting a new hat for the summer….

Whenever I see one of islander Jason Napier’s bronze sculptures, I always think: “Wow! That’s lifelike! That’s shiny! That’s got an emotional element! How does he do that?” I think stuff like that. But now, with his new piece, I think: “That’s big! That’s huge! AND all that other stuff!” His new piece (click here  Continue Reading

Remember? We stayed up into the middle of the night to watch those grainy pictures on TV…. it was on July 20, 1969. Wow…

The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard. Gaylord Nelson, former governor of Wisconsin, founder of Earth Day

Jim Maya reported this was a photo he took yesterday shot in the fog, of L7 – he and Jeanne Hyde id’d this as L& because you can see the notch on the dorsal fin….

People often ask how I get some many nice pictures for the San Juan Update. I just keep my eyes open, that’s all (blush).

I dropped by the Market Chef for a moment yesterday and was pleased to run into Diane Kinnaman and her 95-year-old grandmother, Gertrude, who had just dropped in for a bite.

The San Juan Island Community Foundation has spent the last few months surveying folks in the community to determine groups that need extra help to make it in these difficult times. Wednesday night they announced the recipients of some $50K to start pilot programs & help continue others – islanders helping islanders. Here’s the list  Continue Reading

That’s Tim Shumm at last weekend’s opening of a show featuring his acrylic paintings at waterworks gallery… I dropped by to see him last Saturday & his paintings are wonderful, with a 3-D feel that makes you feel you’re there. Drop by the gallery & see what I mean…

Jan from the Community Theatre says the preview is this weekend: Sneak Peak at SummerFest 2009 Play on July 18 San Juan Community Theatre’s summer play takes us deep into the South and into the lives of six women, who the author notes are “witty, intelligent, and above all, real characters.” The Sneak Preview for  Continue Reading

The problem with having so many talented folks around here is sometimes they get recruited for other gigs… I hear Denise King is heading for Missouri to serve as Dean of Arts and Humanities at St. Charles Community College. Denise came to become Director at Skagit Valley College/San Juan Center back in October 2005 (here’s  Continue Reading

The new Harry Potter movie got here last night, and was expectedly on overload…people started queuing up as early as 8:30pm for the 9:30pm show (as you can see above), which was basically sold out by 9. It was a similar story for the shows earlier in the day, but in spite of the interest,  Continue Reading

Sometimes you just gotta be patient. And they’re in there, getting food for you, anyway.

Saw Casey Lehman over the weekend crossing the street in front of Paul’s bike shop (where I just got my bike tuned up, by the way – sweet…it just glides….). Those deals the 2009 FHHS grad has attached to his legs are really sturdy & he is actually very graceful (if a little bouncey) when  Continue Reading

Hey, several of you asked, so I thought I’d spill the beans: I’m not going anywhere. Yes, I’m trying to sell the house I’ve raised the kids in for the past 12 years – going from four bedrooms to an empty nest, so we’re downsizing. But not moving off the island…sheesh, do we LOOK crazy?  Continue Reading

The local online paper on Vashon says their new superintendent (and our old one) Michael Soltman is off to a fast start there – here’s the story. Michael’s last day here on the island was just two weeks ago…