It’s been raining so much that Quartermaster flooded. Deep in the comments, someone posted a picture of cars driving through the water, disappearing in the splashes they created. I’m kind of surprised they all made it across. My car needs to be jumped every time I’m on the ferry, probably because just the thought of being that close to water spooks it.
We’ve debated what to do about all this water, as flooding will only grow more common with global warming. Our best suggestions so far are building an above-ground bridge or purposefully destroying the isthmus, freeing Maury from the tyranny of being overshadowed by Vashon.
The water was so high that the barge on Judd Creek nearly floated away, taking its mysterious contents with it. I’ve been told it’s full of sewing machines and was meant to be a lawless sweat shop on the high seas. I’ve also heard that it was a gambling den meant to sail to Alaska. I like to imagine that it was once a ship belonging to pirates of the Salish Sea. Now it just hangs out in the creek, attracting geese and graffiti.
If you know the true story of the barge, please put it in the comments.
We rang in the new year by going outside and banging pots and pans together. I didn’t hear it, on account that I spent New Year’s Eve in my traditional manner, falling asleep on the couch in my clothes and getting startled awake by fireworks. If you live in Burton, please let me know if the banging set off the sensitive car alarm there, which, much like my husky, likes to wake up the whole neighborhood anytime a large truck goes by.
We need a new logo for vashonites.com. It needs to represent the local color of Vashon and show we’re a community. It should communicate that the site is for classifieds and job listings. We’ve decided that having faces in the logo was too jarring, the lighthouse picture too busy, and the shape of the island too plain. Also, how come it doesn’t mention Maury? Maybe we should change the name to vashonmauryites. But then if we destroyed the isthmus, we’d have to change the name again. We’ll keep workshopping that one.
A dog crossed the street in front of his house to drink from a puddle on the other side. We were all on high alert, making sure the dog got home safely. Thankfully, after he had his fill, he turned around and went home, much to our collective relief.
An indoor-outdoor cat has been returning home neatly brushed, and we’d like to thank whoever’s brushing random cats. No on thanked me when I brushed the cougar, but I’ll try not to be too sour about it.
I learned that there’s a thing called lasagne gardening. It involves my two favorite things- getting rid of cardboard boxes and lasagne. I have no idea how it works, but I’m going to bury some boxes in my yard and hope for a fruitful lasagne harvest.
The beach cleanup on January third was a success. People removed loads of small pieces of plastic and styrofoam from local beaches. Thank you to everyone who participated. I honestly enjoyed seeing all the pictures of garbage that you collected.
Goats have eaten the Vashon Christmas tree and the candy canes are coming down, which means the Christmas season is finally over, and we can move on from hearing holiday music in shops. Ace Hardware has reportedly played War Pigs, a song about holding politicians accountable for war crimes. Maybe that’ll be the spirit of the coming season.
We’ll see you next week!
Author: Anna Shomsky
I'm a former teacher and a data engineer living on Vashon Island. My writing has appeared in Five on the Fifth, Women on Writing and on the Post-Culture Podcast. I wrote and produced the radio show Whispers of Vashon for 101.9 KVSH. I’ve had short stories published in the anthologies Island Stories and Chicken Scratchings, as well as through the Open Space Literary Project.
Thank you! This is hilarious