Giant Killer Worm Emerges on Crescent Beach Orcas celebrates Halloween with pizazz.  Island Market hosts a decoration contest between their departments, witches swarm Eastsound on paddle boards, and families parade through town trick-or-treating at every store.  It is...

I had the great pleasure of having very dear, old friends visiting this week.  After almost two years of isolating, time together felt especially wonderful.  It also gave me the opportunity to take them on a deep dive into island life.  Hiking Moran and Turtleback,...

Finding shelter in on the Village Green As the weather took a turn towards winter this week, my thoughts are with those on the island that lack sufficient shelter. In this community while some homeowners here have multiple homes, there are other folks without a roof....

My apologies for the bad pun. And my thanks to Robin Kucklick.  Robin is a professional gardener who has worked on Orcas for decades.  About 25 years ago, he helped the County select and plant trees throughout Eastsound.  He chose varieties that had a great fall color...

Island Market goes full on pumpkin for the season! The weather this week surely helped us all put summer to bed and face fall head on and bundled up.  Unfortunately, we are still in the midst of Covid and needing to socially distance and keep our masks on. (See the...

Beach Haven. What a beautiful start to the season.  I recently ran across the Columbus Survey results for 2019.  This data is collected from Community Foundations of all sizes across the country.  They look at distribution rates, number of transactions and amount of...

Not the way you want to land. I have been a member of Orcas Fire and Rescue for 22 years, serving as a volunteer EMT.  It has been a very rewarding experience for the most part.  Being able to assist colleagues, neighbors, and friends during their times of crisis is a...

Don Stillman came by to take a drone photo of our garden this week.  Fun to see the fruits of our labor from a new perspective! If you are over 70 ½ you may be eligible to take a qualified charitable distribution of up to $100,000 from your individual...

Pedestrians and cars pass through Eastsound on Orcas Island. (Erika Schultz / The Seattle Times) I just saw this article on the staffing shortage that local restaurants are experiencing.  The challenges extend to our nonprofit sector as well.  Currently, the Orcas...

Acrobatic Conundrum Orcas Island Fire and Rescue will be holding an EMT Academy this fall.  It is a fairly intensive multi month program that can be completed locally.  There is a small book fee that is reimbursed upon completion of the course.  I took the class 22...