Look Skyward!
On Tuesday, Nov. 24, contractor Steve Orcutt was at a client’s home performing clean up at the work site, and he and a co-worker were getting ready to toss a few odds and ends into the back of their vehicle when, on a whim, one of the men unscrewed the caps on the end of a PVC pipe.
Lopez Sound a cappella octet will present their annual holiday concert series at Center Church on December 11, 12, and 13, 7:30 p.m., plus a Saturday matinee at 3 p.m. Admission is by donation, with a portion of proceeds going to the Lopez Community Food Bank. Non-perishable food items will also be collected. Seating is limited; free tickets are available at Islehaven Books, Blossom, and Paper Scissors on the Rock.
Odlin South is getting a little help from some island friends.
Lopez Island Community Radio – KLOI 102.9 FM and www.kloi.org – has a new show called Once Upon an Island: Tales From Lopez. It is hosted by Alie Smaalders and Lorrie Harrison and is broadcast on the last Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. with a rebroadcast the following Sunday at 4 p.m.
It’s a compelling premise: three men on the search for a scientific discovery in the Antarctic at the turn of the century. What makes it even better: it’s a true story.
No excitement or helicopter rides to report, just back-to-basics articles,– although I may let it slip that Dr. Bob has been dumpster diving at the pharmacy. I had a Vitamin D and calcium article written and ready for the November Health Matters column. Boy was I surprised when I saw his article on Vitamin D in the October issue! However, Vitamin D is still a hot topic; so I’ll try to build on Dr. Bob’s excellent article.
Aries (March 21- April 19): This week you feel an energetic burst, and at work you will gain a lot of ground. Your sector of intimacy/things shared is also very active now, so you have plenty of distractions to keep you from going crazy! Polish your sense of humor, keep that sparkle in your eye, and when you’re sufficiently worn out, flop down and pull up the blankies, hot cocoa in hand. While you’re doing that, think of innovative ways to have fun with your favorite people.
Lopez Island
When asked what her greatest personal accomplishment has been as an artist, Heather Malone of Orcas Island, who is known by many as “July,” answered, “When I look back at a creation and say ‘wow, that is a really great piece.’” Going on, she explains that her art has always been a part of her, whether it has been in the building of her home or drawing and creating art as a child, and every piece, even one that doesn’t turn out so well, is a personal accomplishment.
In these days of financial uncertainty, many couples are thinking about and disagreeing about money and financial management.
We islanders are fortunate to have a delightful, new Lopezian residing in the village. Her name is Virginia Moore and she is the mother of Lopezians Michael and Pat Moore. Virginia moved to Lopez in 1992 after having visited her children here for 20 years.
Buried in some of San Juan County’s wet woodlands are remnants of hundreds of beaver dams. Inconspicuous shallow berms of humus rich silt are all that remains of our original wetland engineers, who did not survive the establishment of fur trading posts at Fort Langley and San Juan Island in the 1820s to 1850s.
You don’t have to be a classical music fan to enjoy the concert by Saint Helens String Quartet, joined by brilliant Brazilian pianist Jovino Santos Neto, on Sunday, Nov. 2, 4 p.m. at Lopez Center.
Goldengrove by Francine Prose HarperCollins, $24.95 “We lived on the shore of Mirror Lake, and for many years our lives…
As part of their emergency preparedness planning, the San Juan County Health and Community Services Department will be conducting a drive-thru influenza vaccination clinic at Lopez School on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The clinic will be set up to test drive-thru capabilities, such as traffic flow and service directly to each vehicle. Planning involves personnel from the Lopez School District, Lopez Fire Department Emergency Responders, San Juan County Public Works, San Juan County Sheriff and Department of Emergency Management. Workers will handle traffic control, check medical information and administer the vaccinations without the recipients ever leaving their vehicles.
Honeybees are a presence in many Lopez gardens. I’d noticed them most recently in my mid-September garden, busy on the purple blooms of anise hyssop and summer savory. Wanting to know more about bees and beekeeping, I called Kevin Murphy and Mary Hayton, whose hives I’d noticed in their garden off Farm Road.
It’s an epidemic on Lopez, probably throughout all of Washington, and probably throughout our country.
Lots to Talk About!
How Goes It?
Once again a group of Lopezians are putting on the Trail of Terror, an haunted path full of spooks and freaks this Halloween season on the 700 block of Vista Rd, Lopez Island.
The Sally J, on display in front of the museum, is getting a fresh coat of paint – and the project has attracted lots of attention. People love this boat, and an amazing number of Lopezians have dropped by to share their own fishing stories.
When Tyson Balcomb and Chapin Hemmingway met at Orcas Island’s Camp Four Winds in the summer of 1999, the young boys instantly shared an interest in cinema. Unbeknownst to them, they would continue their friendship for the next ten years, founding their own film company during their college years. In the summer of 2007, the young men returned to Orcas Island along with a small cast and crew to film the majority of their first feature film, Last September.
Lopez Island
“I always drew secretly. I kept it under wraps, except in school. In fifth and sixth grade I got to paint big murals at the back of the classroom while the other kids did schoolwork. That was really the only encouragement I ever got.”
Enjoy ten recent Iranian films in eight weeks at Lopez Library as a student in the Skagit Valley Community College course, “Contemporary Iranian Cinema,” which begins the evening of October 7 with Lopez instructors Russel Barsh and Madrona Murphy.
“Savor the San Juans – A Medley of Food, Art and Culture” will take place during the month of October on Lopez, Orcas and San Juan Islands, thanks to the Cultural Tourism Committee of the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau.
American Life in Poetry
Natural History
The eighth annual Lopez Island Tennis Open was held August 22 through 24.
Please join The Whale Museum in welcoming Thomas White for a special lecture and book signing on Friday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.
Lopez photographers Anne and George Willis have just released their second book of the summer: “Under The Influence: Life on Lopez Island.”
She was believed to be the oldest whale in the Southern Resident Killer Whale community. The Center for Whale Research, who estimates her birth year as 1910, designated her K7. She was given the name “Lummi” through The Whale Museum’s Orca Adoption Program. Lummi was a great-great grandmother – the leader of a five-generation intact family. Sadly, she did not return to the Salish Sea with her Kpod family this year.
Robbing the Bees reads like a novel, a memoir, a history and biography of bees. The author backed into beekeeping with no previous experience with bees or even honey. Her obsession and reverence for the bee may have required professional assistance, but her lyrical style and passionate research shine through every fascinating page of this celebration of the world’s most delectable food.
The 10th Annual Steve Braun Memorial Triathlon in Moran State Park on Orcas over Labor Day Weekend was fun, comfortable, and had lots of positive energy.
How do you learn to farm? If you didn’t grow up with farmers, you could apprentice yourself to some. That’s what Eleanor Burke and Andre Entermann have been doing with Ken Akopiantz and Kathryn Thomas at Horse Drawn Farm on Lopez since March and plan to continue doing for another year and a half.
When blood comes out of the wrong places, people get upset. And really, why shouldn’t they? Blood belongs on the inside. Not all bleeding needs to be investigated, but some does. Here is a brief guide for the evaluation of dripping, seeping, oozing, leaking, flowing, spurting, gushing red stuff.
