Oh my. 80 degrees in April.

Water Taxi got canceled...again.

The water taxi had a heart attack or something.  So it is out of commission for the evening.  At 5:05 I got a text and discovered that the 5:30 and the 6:30pm runs from downtown would not run.  It already pretty much as a terminal illness- these boats of ours are thinking about hospice and having conversations with palliative care.  Thankfully we haven't pulled the plug yet. I still gotta get to work!

Well when I found out that the boat wasn't going to run I met up with my spouse and we decided to take a cab from downtown to Fauntleroy.  We ended up grabbing a taxi-van with 3 other Vashon folks.  It worked well but really here's the hilarious thing....we kind of chatted...about things like airplane crashes, and teenage boys hitching rides to Hawaii in wheel wells and that kind of thing but, in classic Pacific Northwest fashion we didn't actually introduce ourselves or swap names or share anything personal.  Ha.

So be it. We ban together us islanders...even if we do so anonymously.

Rain. Moss. Mildew. Vashon Island Damp.

One of the reasons for moving to Vashon was that we wanted to become more aware of the natural world around us.  We have succeeded in this point, and one of the things I have become more aware of is the rain.

I don't think it rains more on Vashon than it does in Seattle, Tacoma, Federal way etc. Living on the Island though has me much more aware of the rain.Whereas living in Seattle we only had 1 tree and  a grassy back yard and most of the water ended up running down the drains, here on Vashon the rain just settles in.  Things don't dry out as quickly.  To be honest, I find the gloomy rain of the PNW much less gloomy and rainy now that I am more connected to the life and the rain-forest that it creates!

I love the smells of our damp woods. I love the fuzzy moss covered trees.  I think it is funny how mildew grows on everything.  I appreciate how much things are growing and decomposing constantly and so quickly here!

Oh Vashon, You make me so much more aware of my world!

Vashon Library

 Something about reading the same children's books again and again and again makes me want to stab my eyes out.  Even if the themes are great it kinda kills me.  Sure, there is the rare book whose lyrical form works for me an I can enjoy it, but generally reading the same story again and again and again and again and again is worse than having to read the word again...again.

So I love that at the King Co. Library their is no limit to the number of books you can check out.  We will often go to the library and get as many books as we can fit into a bag.   They might only get read once for the couple of days that we have them, but I won't be secretly skipping pages so that it ends faster!

I am also a voracious reader, and my partner, as voracious information gatherer.  So we seriously love love love the library.  I will often pick books up from the fiction section and then start reading the jacket flap only to realize I have read that book.  I read a lot of books...

 So anyway the Vashon library is newly remodeled and is great! So much light and a great kids area! Yippee.

Monsters are hidden in the carpet of the kids section.

This is the only time my kids sit in front of a computer. It's great.

 Decor on the ceilings.

Blessed be books!

Doesn't it look cool, modern, and also very PNW...

Oh, there are also places to put all the books your kids pull of the shelves that you can't reshelve because you now have to chase the little bugger.  Thank you Librarians!

I don't know what child sits down and uses a table at the library. But this is cute. Maybe someday I should bring crayons and papers.

Looking around...

Oh, very cool rocking...animals.

SpringGreen.

Here on Vashon the world has turned green!  The trees without leaves are in the minority of the trees with leaves.  Even though it is pretty much green here year-round there is something totally different about the green leaves and the flowering trees, bushes etc. 

Also, what has changed is that when the sun is out, the sun is warm.  It is so lovely.