A few weeks ago, someone was giving away a box for a fort. This week, an even bigger box for an even better fort is available for the taking. Now I just need to wait for someone to give away a tarp, and I’ll be able to build a guest house in my lawn.
It’s legal to shoot guns on your property at night, but is it considerate? If you point out it’s inconsiderate, does that mean you are getting upset? If you say that someone else on the internet sounds upset, then are you the upset one? Should expressing emotions remain taboo? Uh-oh. We’ve lost the thread. Something about guns? Oh well, moving on.
Someone is looking for creepy old dolls for an art project. Presumably, the project involves sending nightmares directly into my brain.
In March there will be a detour around Judd creek bridge for construction. Finally, the chance has come to sneak down and see what’s in the barge for myself.
Some group members said that we need more garbage cans along the road for motorists, bicyclists and dog walkers. Others said we also need garbage cans along the paths in the woods. The cans can’t have lids because they need to be easy to drop banana peels in while biking by and still keeping one hand on the handlebars. However, they need something to prevent them from filling with water. What if we built little ditches along every road, like the Bächle in Germany, but instead of water, we filled them with trash?
When a group did add garbage cans around town, they mostly got rolled into a ravine or filled with people’s home garbage. My trash-stream concept cuts out the middle man, and the trash flows straight to the ravine on its own.
We’re still talking about the graffiti. Some say it’s gang symbols. Though which gang is claiming the port-a-potties at Lisabuela, and to what end, was never speculated. Other’s say it’s the name of an 80s hip hop group. So, time traveling hip hop artists have come to Vashon. Mystery solved.
Out of curiosity, If you put the name of a band on a toilet, does that mean you like the band, or no?
The graffiti has made its way to Vashonites Rant, where some people think it’s the result of bad parenting. Whoever’s posting that idea must be the expert, because nothing says good parenting quite like making vile, unfounded accusations about strangers on the internet.
Someone abandoned a school bus/ tiny house on someone else’s property. The S and H have been spray painted away, so it says C OOL bus. For just 500 dollars, you can get the bus, plus all the treasures inside. If you’re in need of empty water bottles and granola bar wrappers, then this is the deal for you.
Someone has suggested we do Yardi Gras this year, which is like Mardi Gras, only we all celebrate in our yards. I’m making a float out of cardboard boxes and a tarp. Come drive by and check it out.
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.
