Fair Isle Vets...

Our poor Maggie-dog got hit by a car.
Yes, she was chasing deer.

I let her out and she took off.
I couldn't chase her, suprising the infant and toddler left me unable to do so.
So I just let her, assuming she would return.

She got as far as a neighbor when I saw her limping.
I carried her home.
She wasn't bloody but just not moving hardly at all.

The next day they took her to the vet.
And, they were so so good to us.
No shaming, trying the cheapest simplest thing first.
Good caring for Maggie and then being so kind when I kept having to haul the kids and the dog into the office.

Maggie is not totally better.
And, she is currently at the spa (Nana and Pop's house).
But I feel really good about the care these folks provided.

Vashon Laundromat

In spite of my total charm of this island, I have found the underbelly.

The laundromat.
Half the machines broken.
The change machine broken.

The whole thing is bad...and I'm not talking Island rustic charm just a crappy place to (kinda) do your laundry.

And the bars on the windows. Seriously! Seriously?

nytimes.

Here is an article from NYTimes about Vashon from March 2012.

Thriftway Bags

There is an underground currency on Vashon Island: Thriftway Bags.

Buying kindling at the Senior center all piled into a brown Thriftway bag.
A used Christmas gift for a sweet toddler is stashed into a Thriftway bag.
We toss our recyclables into the mouth of the transfer station and below are hundreds of Thrifway bags.
For Christmas we will invert our Thriftway bags and decorate them with red and green and then we will wrap our little surprises up in Thriftway bags.

There is a thriving industry in thriftway bags.
They are the lifeline that rescues our arms from our new purchases,
and save our guilt from plastic bags drifting in the wind.

Vashon does Halloween

Of course the Vashon Island community would not just let Halloween be a family or even neighborhood holiday. It is much too creative and playful for us to leave that one!

So Vashon town center closed down from traffic and most of the businesses open their doors and welcome trick or treaters.  From the senior center to the thriftway grocery store most everyplace was open!

It was really fun! People of ALL ages (seriously ALL) were dressed up.  I personally loved a Hula Zombie Dad and one of the businesses has people "haunting it." In general, it was really easy to handle our three year old despite the crowd of High Schoolers, Older kids, adults etc. 

All in all, we will go back next year- without a doubt. Hey, we even saw someone we knew so that was nice/cool.

Oh, I forgot, the Vashon Island Roasterie had hundreds of carved and lit pumpkins outside it was super super cool! We ALL loved it!

We didn't participate in this, but our neighborhood also had trick-or-treating.  We were pretty much done coaching our three year old through, "say trick-or treat," "Say thank you." etc. But it's cool that the houses around our neck of the woods  have a tradition too.

The Vashon---Seattle Commute- It's normal

One of the wonderful things about Vashon is how everyone makes it work.

Kids on the water taxi, having Island cars and city cars, working for lower wages on Island, working from home some part of the week...

How people live on the Island and still manage to pay their bills is one of the things we Islanders talk about. One of our neighbors works in Everett and drives up and back 5 days a week. It must take him about 2 hours.

And, because we islanders talk about how we all make it work, we have this way of normalizing it for one another.  At work (in Seattle) my colleagues seem dumbfounded by my commute. How I (and my partner) make it work with kids, childcare, water taxi, buses, ferry rides, working nights sometimes baffles them.  But to Islanders it is all on the spectrum of normal.  And, that is pretty cool.

Grease- by Drama Dock

For a play that seemed to be put on almost exclusively by kids under 18 it was awesome!

Today, my three year old and I went and saw the musical Grease at Vashon High School.  It was such fun! She loved the dancing and the music. I really enjoyed seeing the Island kids acting and creating.  It made me dream for my girls. Not that they will necessarily do drama but the auditorium was full of other teenagers supporting one another.  Very cool!

They did a great job! We had plenty of fun!
Oh, and the snacks at intermission were by donation only.

I confess though this was my first experience of not loving all of it.  Some people were pretty hostile at intermission. I was trying to negotiate helping Junia make a donation for her snacks. She had brought some of her own money and I wanted her to donate it before she grabbed a cookie. She was totally fine with it- but the woman behind her wanted her beverage NOW!  C'mon people, I have a three year old with me, and you are at a freakin' musical.

So be it.

Nonetheless, it was great fun!

Driftwood

The Puget Sound beaches are mostly rocky and driftwood covered.  Perhaps a failure of my midwestern imagination, it took me awhile to learn to love them.  After all, when we think beach don't we mostly think sunny sandy and warm?  But having lived in the PNW for awhile and now on Vashon I am starting to feel connected the the driftwood, the rocks moving up and down with each wave, even the way that people's gatherings around a warm beach fire leave a footprint.  I wonder what ways I am being molded and shaped, hoping that I becoming softer and smoother as I age.  

Just FYI this is my Vashon Island blog we just moved here and I'm starting to take note of things that I find unusual, love and want to point out...

My other daily life blog is called Did I.  Please take a look!

Barn Dance

Last night we went to a barn dance on the Vashon.
All four of us got gussied up and headed out.
Okay, we didn't really get gussied up but plenty of attendees had on their best western wear.

I'll admit I was nervous.
Dancing in front of people, in public with our kids.  Spending $30 and not being sure if we will have fun. It is a bit of a risk for two lousy dancers like ourselves.

In an old warehouse or a series of warehouses that is now the "open space for arts and community" we danced into the night and had a blast. (okay into the night isn't quite true it was from about 6:30-9pm but as band notes 9 is late on Vashon!)

It was super kid friendly but had an awesome mix of young people and old people and a bunch in the middle.  Their was live music and beer and had no sense of pretension at all.  It was much better than most wedding receptions I've been to because everyone there wanted to dance and listen to music- so even though we  terrible dancers it didn't matter because many people were dancing yet the large space allowed for the dance-floor to not feel crowded.

We had a great time.
I am falling in love with this place.

Point Robinson

With a few hours to myself I took baby Miriam and myself on a morning weekday jaunt to Point Robinson State Park.

I wasn't utterly impressed. I guess when you live in the Isles of Shoals near the White Island lighthouse for several years in the summer you are spoiled by lighthouses.    But still, it was lovely; the warm slightly foggy weather, and low tide afforded me a lovely walk.  Oh and right at the point I ran into this seal, at first I thought it was a rock.  I kept my distance though. 

Darkness

I grew up 10 miles from a small midwestern town. 

I thought I knew what it was like to see stars at night. 
Being only several miles from Seattle, Tacoma and all the inbetween I didn't expect such darkness.

Perhaps it is the near total lack of light because of the water (not much light pollution on the sound) or  because we had a "security" light growing up.

But the darkness here is different.
I am aware of the moon because of it.

So dark.
So so dark.

KVI

Oh KVI  Beach in Ellisport.

I am falling in love.