You know that the Run Ladies Run (RLR) folks are putting on their half-marathon/10K on March 25th – you have two months to get ready & continue your training, but if you sign up today, the signup fee is lower (it goes up tomorrow)!

Here’s the link to sign up!

The Jimi Hendrix Tribute is this Saturday! At the Community Theatre....photo by Sandy Buckley

Lots of stuff going on around the island…let’s catch up:

That's sailing team members Marga Eshelman and Jenny MacDonald waxing the sailboats at last weekend's work party.

• Mary Jane Anderson reports it’s never too cold to get ready for sailing:

Members of the San Juan Sailing Foundation and the high school sailing team held a work party last weekend to get the boats ready for the sailing season.

Students from grades 8 through 12 can join the sailing team,which starts practicing for the racing season on March 1. Interested students should contact coach Des Bridgemon at 378-1015.

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• Are you smart? (Goes without saying – look what you’re reading!) You may find this fun & useful…

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• Teri at BeChic Boutique has a special going on:

With all the cold weather and the snow, we have been feeling a little lonely here at the shop!  We decided a 30% off sale would be tempting…Plus, we put together a sale rack with everything priced at $20 or under!!  There are some amazing bargains, so hurry in to check it out!
Sale excludes consignment items.

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Jess & Danny got married about a year ago, in France...

• Over the last couple of years, FHHS grad (’98 or so), Jessica Oldwyn has been dealing with a brain tumor with incredible grace, her usual charm and has been an inspiration to her mob of friends who continue to be amazed at her strength of spirit and hope.

Now there’s a bit of a movement to see if The Ellen DeGeneres Show would consider carrying her story…here’s more from the Green Lake report. Read it…you’ll be inspired.

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• Have you seen islander Beau Borrero‘s video of his song Rise up! Occupy Wall Street? Check it.

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• Over at Island Rec, Sally wants you to know this is great to time to get into the swim of things:

Island Rec happily announces it is currently taking registrations for swimming lessons which begin in February.  Classes span age and skill levels from infants as young as six months accompanied by a  parent where the focus is on being safe and comfortable in the water to advance classes where older children refine their swimming stroke skills.

“Learning to swim is a basic skill that opens the door to enjoying a lifetime of other recreational pursuits and is especially important to children who live on an island,” stated Sally Thomsen, Recreation Director.  Thomsen who grew up on an island near the Chesapeake Bay, a former Water Safety Instructor, lifeguard and overall water sport enthusiast she knows first hand the benefits of learning to swim.

Island Rec has been providing swimming lessons to island children for over two decades by contracting with San Juan Island Fitness and pays nearly 50% of the cost charged by San Juan Island Fitness to keep the fees paid by families between $30 and $35 per session.  Additional discounts are available from Island Rec for income eligible families.

For details about the classes go to Island Recor stop by Island Rec at 580 Guard Street or call 378-4953, M-F between 1-5pm.

What kind of weather did you want last week? 15 degress & massive snow on Wednesday/Thursday. rain & slush on Friday, sunny days on Saturday with only traces left....we got it all.

The tickets go fast – get yours early! Here’s more from Island Rec’s Rebecca Clark:

Kevin and Lilah at last year's dance

One of our most popular and exciting events, Island Rec’s 7th Annual Father-Daughter Dance is on Friday, February 3rd from 7-9 pm at the Mullis Center. The dance is open to all ages. Tickets are $20 per couple in advance or $25 per couple at the door.  Additional daughters are $6 each. Delicious appetizers and desserts will be provided by Vinny’s Ristorante.  

Each girl will receive a corsage and keepsake photo. Tickets are available at the Island Rec office located on 580 Guard St. The office is open from 1-5 pm Mon-Fri.  For more information call 378-4953.

You’ll not only stretch your mind, but you will want to stretch your body…. Here’s more from Nancy:

Griffin Bay Bookstore and the San Juan Island Library are excited to present the bestselling author, Claire Dederer, on Saturday night, January 28, 7:00 pm at Griffin Bay Bookstore. Her memoir, Poser – My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses, full of wisdom and wit, has received wide praise nationally. Don’t miss this special evening with a gifted writer!

Author Claire Dederer

Ten years ago, Claire Dederer threw her back out while breastfeeding her baby daughter. Told to try Yoga by everyone from the woman behind the counter at the co-op to the homeless guy on the corner, she signed up for her first class. She fell madly in love and over the course of the next decade she would tackle triangle, wheel, and the dreaded crow, becoming fast friends with some poses and developing long-standing feuds with others.

At the same time, she found herself confronting the forces that shaped her generation. Daughters of women who ran away to find themselves and made a few messes along the way, Dederer and her peers grew up determined to be good, good, good—even if this meant feeling hemmed in by the smugness of their organic-buying, attachment-parenting, anxiously conscientious little world. Yoga seemed to fit right into this virtuous program, but to her surprise, Dederer found that the deeper she went into the poses, the more they tested her most basic ideas of what makes a good mother, daughter, friend, and wife.

“Poser is a powerful, honest, ruefully funny memoir about one woman’s openhearted reckoning with her demons . . . In the hands of a gifted writer, the universal is embedded within the personal.”—Dani Shapiro, The New York Times Book Review

When Thor Hanson released his new book last year, it was favorably reviewed on NPR, in The Atlantic Monthly & The New York Times and a few other places, and now he’s giving another presentation on-island to talk about it (his presentations at Griffin Bay Bookstore & the Library were packed). If you didn’t hear him before, here’s a chance…The San Juan Nature Institute’s Fiona sends us this:

On Thursday, January 26 at 7:00 pm, local conservation biologist, Thor Hanson, will present the first of the 2012 Arthur Whiteley Lecture Series offered by San Juan Nature Institute in collaboration with UW Friday Harbor Labs. Thor will be speaking on his book,  Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle.

Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. In Feathers, Thor details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us?

Copies of his book will be available at the lecture.
Engineers call feathers the most efficient insulating material ever discovered, and they are at the root of biology’s most enduring debate. They silence the flight of owls and keep penguins dry below the ice. They have decorated queens, jesters, and priests. And they have inked documents from the Constitution to the novels of Jane Austen. The award-winning Feathers has garnered critical praise from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Science Weekly.

The lectures are free and open to the public and are held in The Commons at the UWFriday Harbor Marine Labs. For further information please visit the Institute’s website www.sjnature.org.

Beautiful song by these Swedish guys – love Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen…this is the longer version:

A quick note from  Penelope Haskew, who is directing the middle school play this year:

We got the word that school has been cancelled for the day on Wednesday, so I postponed the auditions for Charlotte’s Web that were scheduled for that afternoon.  They will now be held on Sunday, January 22 at 5:00pm at the PARC on Beaverton Valley Rd.  The auditions are open to all kids grade 6-8 or the homeschool equivalent, no preparation necessary.
Could you please put out the word?

Thank you!
Penelope

The Winter Carnivale performance for tonight (Friday) at the Community Theatre is ON for tonight – see you there!

The Friday Harbor basketball teams were scheduled to play today (home vs. Darrington) and earlier & the week with Orcas, and both were waxed by the weather… FHHS AD Rod Turnbull says here’s the re-scheduled dates:

Darrington at FH on Monday, January 30,  with Boys Varsity and Girls JV at  4:00, and Girls Varsity and Boys JV at 5:30

Orcas at FH on Saturday, February 4, Girls Varsity and Boys JV at 12:30, and Boys Varsity and Girls JV at 2:00

Snow ponies: That's Theresa Simendinger on Breeze, Eva Cooley on Adia, on Kneeknocker Trail in the National Park on the westside...photo by Ingrid Malone

Looking around the island, as the snow melts & puddles around us….

Easy & fun....come to the Grange tomorrow night!

• The Third Saturday Contra Dance is this weekend at the Grange – guest band Triangularity from Seattle is coming by, and Marlin Prowell is calling. No experience? No big deal – come early & learn a bit. $10 & $5 for students….starts at 7pm.

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•  Looks like you have choices now for your gas, especially if you need non-ethanl gasoline – here’s more from Kate Schuman at IPS (Island Petroleum Services):

Hi Ian,
In response to customer request, we are now pleased to offer Mid-Grade Clear Gasoline (no ethanol!) at IPS, available during business hours M-F 7:30-5:30 and by delivery (minimum order 50 gallons).

We also want to let customers know that we offer a 5-cent per gallon discount if they pay with cash, check, debit card, or Shell Master Card.

Come on by and check it out.  We’re at 315 Carter Avenue and we’d love to see you!

Thank You!
Jim and Kate Schuman, Owners, Island Petroleum Services

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Tim (Market Chef) and John (Rocky Bay Cafe) got away to Stevens Pass on the early ferry yesterday with the kids (Eric & Sam) for a bit of skiing before the island snow melts....

Dona Reed & Ruth Offen, off skiing on the early ferry yesterday...bright-eyed & ready to go!

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• If you’re hoping to learn more about the school levy, drop by the info table at Marketplace today & ask…you getta get food sometime, and the island needs to fix up the schools.

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• Jan Bollwinkel-Smith at the Community Theatre says this may be your last chance:

Lina Downes tells us that the Winter Carnivale’s Saturday and Sunday (this weekend, January 21-22) performances may be the last chance to see island ballerina Julie Hagn perform “enpointe” in Friday Harbor (remember her mesmerizing “can cans” during The Ladies Man?). Julie is a senior in high school and will be off to college in the fall. Lina says she has choreographed a ballet specifically for Julie to perform during the Carnivale. Don’t miss this special treat!

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• Cynthia Stark-Wickman tells me over 165 people came to the New Year’s Eve Party on the 31st, put on by the Prevention Coalition – you can see who was there in this nice portfolio she put together.

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More snow ponies: Eva Cooley and Adia, Ingrid Malone and Sprite cross the new Puncheon on Kneeknocker Trail...photo by Theresa Simendinger (thanks, Theresa!)

That's Greta dancing at the Fair during my set, a few summers ago...great fun!

Here’s a little sampling from the three albums that I sell, so you can hear bits of the songs & buy either the songs (to download) or the albums (to download or to get physical copies of the CDs).

Thanks for listening!

This is the poem that Maya Angelou read on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations in 1995…a reminder that “We must confess that we are the possible/
We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world.”

A Brave and Startling Truth
Maya Angelou

We, this people, on a small and lonely planet
Traveling through casual space
Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns
To a destination where all signs tell us
It is possible and imperative that we learn
A brave and startling truth

And when we come to it
To the day of peacemaking
When we release our fingers
From fists of hostility
And allow the pure air to cool our palms

When we come to it
When the curtain falls on the minstrel show of hate
And faces sooted with scorn are scrubbed clean
When battlefields and coliseum
No longer rake our unique and particular sons and daughters
Up with the bruised and bloody grass
To lie in identical plots in foreign soil

When the rapacious storming of the churches
The screaming racket in the temples have ceased
When the pennants are waving gaily
When the banners of the world tremble
Stoutly in the good, clean breeze

When we come to it
When we let the rifles fall from our shoulders
And children dress their dolls in flags of truce
When land mines of death have been removed
And the aged can walk into evenings of peace
When religious ritual is not perfumed
By the incense of burning flesh
And childhood dreams are not kicked awake
By nightmares of abuse

When we come to it
Then we will confess that not the Pyramids
With their stones set in mysterious perfection
Nor the Gardens of Babylon
Hanging as eternal beauty
In our collective memory
Not the Grand Canyon
Kindled into delicious color
By Western sunsets

Nor the Danube, flowing its blue soul into Europe
Not the sacred peak of Mount Fuji
Stretching to the Rising Sun
Neither Father Amazon nor Mother Mississippi who, without favor,
Nurture all creatures in the depths and on the shores
These are not the only wonders of the world

When we come to it
We, this people, on this minuscule and kithless globe
Who reach daily for the bomb, the blade and the dagger
Yet who petition in the dark for tokens of peace
We, this people on this mote of matter
In whose mouths abide cankerous words
Which challenge our very existence
Yet out of those same mouths
Come songs of such exquisite sweetness
That the heart falters in its labor
And the body is quieted into awe

We, this people, on this small and drifting planet
Whose hands can strike with such abandon
That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living
Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness
That the haughty neck is happy to bow
And the proud back is glad to bend
Out of such chaos, of such contradiction
We learn that we are neither devils nor divines

When we come to it
We, this people, on this wayward, floating body
Created on this earth, of this earth
Have the power to fashion for this earth
A climate where every man and every woman
Can live freely without sanctimonious piety
Without crippling fear

When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible
We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world
That is when, and only when
We come to it.

No matter how old it gets - and 17 degrees was pretty cold - the horses and other animals still need to be fed. Photo by Amrita Ibold at Sweet Water Farm.

It’s interesting to see & hear all the different ways folks respond to all the cold & snow – some go inside, some go outside & play, some go to work anyway, and some have the school days notion of a “snow day” so impressed on their brain that they go to work but don’t get much done because of looking out the window all the time (that would be me.)

Some of my friends sent me photos from around the island of all the snow around their places, so I put them together for you in a little video, which also includes some video from Norris Palmer of birds at his feeder. The rest of the photos are by Tamara Weaver, Kevin Holmes, Cameron Byington, Alex Shapiro, John Nelson Simon, Amrita Ibold at Sweet Water Farm, John & Patti Wickman, John Boyd, and a few by me. Hey, you guys – thanks for sending ’em in!

So, here’s a little memory of yesterday:

Some people were closed yesterday because of the weather, and some like Skip & Mildred at Cattle Point Rock & Topsoil were frozen shut. 🙂

As folks dig out from the leftover snow, and try & imagine what the weather report means for tomorrow, with a high of 43 & a 90% chance of snow (sounds slushy, but I guess you can’t say “90% chance of slush”), let’s look around & see what’s up:

• If  you live in town, the walking’s good & the driving is a bit funky in places (everything IS still frozen, in case you didn’t notice), and it reminds me that Stephen Wright once said we really don’t need cars because “everything is within walking distance if you have the time.”

So…take the time, and take it easy.

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Basketball news: That's Coach Mo Woodward with the 7/8th grade girls. She tells me the girls placed 2nd in the Chelsey Ebert Tournament in the Bellingham area last weekend. Way to go, girls!

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• Kirk at Isle Be Jammin’ has guitars:

Need an inexpensive, but very playable acoustic guitar? I have several in my store, even have a “lefty” …. need the space….come check ’em out!

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• Heard that Elizabeth & Chris Schubert had twins on Monday – welcome, Caelyn Marie and Sara Lorraine Schubert!

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It's this weekend!

• This weekend, it’s the return of the Winter Carnivale to the Community Theatre – I just checked, and Friday night’s soldout show is still scheduled, and I wanted to let you know there are still tickets available for Saturday & Sunday’s shows. Here’s more from Jan at the theatre:

Winter Carnivale Time!

Back by popular demand, The Birthday Boy returns to highlight the opening of the three-day 2012 Winter Carnivale in the Whittier Theatre THIS Friday, January 20 at
7:30 pm.

This original neo-burlesque musical, written by co-producers Mary Lou Mills and Lina Downes, premiered in 2011 to a sold-out audience. Nicholas Zervas and Patti Bair reprise their popular roles in this adults-only play featuring Seattle stars from The Can Can Club, including dancers Danny and Sylvain Boulet and aerialist Michele Francis.

Please note: you must be at least 18 years old or accompanied by a parent to attend Friday night’s performance.

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
While Friday evening centers on comedy, Saturday evening (7:30 pm) and Sunday afternoon (2:00 pm) take on a more classical tone with a performance art and musical program.  Island and Seattle-based dancers, musicians and singers will share the stage, including performances from pianist Stella Joh and harpist Mark Anderson.  A new ballet choreographed by Downes for Dance Workshop II dancers and former Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre ballerina Leslie Lott will delight all members of the family! Islanders Julie Hagn, Jolie Loucks and performance artist Cynthia Church are also featured.

Buy Now on line! or Box Office hours are 11 am to 4 pm Tuesday through Friday and 11 am to 2 pm on Saturday.

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• This weekend, there’s this talk about Chronic Pain – here’s more from Michael Wingren:

Greetings!  I am leading a discussion on treating chronic pain and the new state law limiting dosing and requiring off island pain consultation.  It will include representatives from Inter Island Medical Center, San Juan Healthcare Associates, Friday Harbor Drug, Compass Chemical Dependency services and patient perspectives. It will take place this Saturday 1/21/12 at 3:30-5:00 pm at the library’s community room.  All interested persons are welcome to attend.  Thanks for including this in your calendar of events!

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•  A friend tells me there’s another lost dog – can you help? Here’s the deal:

Found…a big black dog wandering near Cattle Point Road and Burton Lane. Long haired, maybe a lab/border collie mix. Collar but no license and no tags. Very sweet and friendly guy. He is at the animal shelter and would love to go home. Thanks.

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Laura, in action...

• This will be fun – you’ve heard Laura Chorba singing & playing guitar with the Local Harvest Band, The Sliders, and more – this weekend she has a solo show – here’s more:

Coming out of hibernation……..just in time for the snow apparently! Singer songwriter Laura Lee Chorba debuts her solo performance at the Rumor Mill On Sunday the 22nd from 6:00 till 9:00pm. She says, “ I have added many new songs to my set lists, new material from Jason Mraz, John Mayer and Averil Lavign, as well as some classic songs from artists like Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr and Peter Frampton. I can’t wait to share them with everyone!”

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• Good to hear this is happening – here’s more from Cathy Cole:

Have you noticed that the island is getting a lighter? Have you seen some islanders who look healthier and happier? Well, that’s because Weight Watchers is here and is working! Since the group started a year and a half ago, we’ve lost a total of over 2400 pounds! Several have become lifetime members. Some have stopped taking blood pressure and diabetes medications. Best of all, we have developed a great support group that meets Thursdays at 8:15am at the Islander’s Bank Administration Building Community Room.

We are starting a new session in February that offers a monthly pass for $39.95! This is about $2 less per week than the old price! That includes FREE online Weight Watchers E-Tools! Ellen and Sandy are our leaders who come over from America every week. They are THE BEST!

So, if you are ready, come visit on a Thursday and see what all the losing is about!

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That's Coho's Chief Chef Bill Messick and Sofie enjoying a snowy morning at the Quarry on Tuesday....

The Capital Projects and Technology Levy next month is one of the more important levies we’ve had for a while, which you can get some sense of by checking the campaign’s website. Sarah Crosby and the League of Women Voters are setting up a chance for you to find out more:

On February 14, the San Juan Island School District will ask voters to renew the Capital Projects and Technology Levy for four years.

In anticipation of this election, the League of Women Voters is sponsoring an informational Town Hall meeting in order for voters to have a chance to learn the details of the levy request. Among the speakers are Brent Snow, June Arnold, Rick Thompson, Charles Zalmanek and Glenn Kaufman.

The panelists will make some remarks and then participate in a give and take with the audience.  The meeting will be held at the Mullis Center from 5:30 until 6:30pm on Tuesday, January 24.

It was sad to hear at the end of last summer that someone as active & always-in-motion as Friday Harbor Middle School humanities teacher Tina Jones had cancer, but she tells me the treatments have gone well & things are looking pretty positive.

In the meantime, several of her students who are at the high school now have put together a get-together this weekend to help her out…I know I’ll be there, and I hope you will, too! Here’s the scoop:

It's this weekend!

My friend Jennifer Elise from the Islands Museum of Art (IMA) asked me to pass along to you an invitation to their new exhibit by Adonna Khare:

Adonna's Surreal Animal Kingdom

Adonna created a life-sized, 35-foot-long carbon pencil and paper drawing of a surreal animal world.  The Islands Museum of Art shipped six pieces of this work from Santa Monica, California with the help of sponsors Vern Howard (King’s Market), Lang Simon (Friday Harbor House), Ned Goldsmith and Judith Dubbell.

During the winter months of January to April, the IMA will focus on school tours and education outreach with this playful art exhibit. There is a children’s book illustrated by Adonna and a coloring book including drawing lessons that the IMA has created for the school tours of the exhibition.

Celebrate the new location of the IMA and the Opening Reception of the Adonna Khare Exhibition Saturday January 21 5-8pm.

The exhibit runs January 21 through April 29.

For information please contact Jennifer Elise, Director at [email protected] or call 360-370-5050.