Winter is on its way out and I am counting down the days until spring blooms. Our jardin is steadily being prepped for planting seeds: I'm slowly getting rid of major weeds and an invasive ground cover plant that I hate. After I finish adding compost to the soil next weekend, we are going to … Continue reading Jardin Journale: Late winter inspiration
It's been raining nonstop for the past month. But this week was one of the worst yet. Day after day of unrelenting rainfall left me feeling like I might drown in the growing mud puddle surrounding my house. So when the clouds parted Friday afternoon and I saw blue sky for the first time in … Continue reading Jardin Journale: After the rain
We don't wake up with the sunrise to get out in the garden. It's still winter, we're still young and waking up slowly and sweetly is too lovely to give up. Besides, we know that just as much can be done in the warmth of a setting afternoon sun as in the morning. In the … Continue reading Getting our hands dirty
If we didn't have winter, would we still feel that immeasurable joy on those first warm, spring days? My job gives me the opportunity to meet and talk with a lot of people. Just last week, I met with a rambunctious crew restoring an old houseboat, talked with a sunny flower farmer, and had lunch … Continue reading Sunny, dreamy
At 9 a.m. Saturday morning, Bertram Levy, a short, mustachioed sailor wearing the beret he is known to wear got in line at the Northwest Maritime Center to sign up for the annual Shipwrights' Regatta. In front of him were two novice sailors -- young men from the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, with zero … Continue reading Eating a sandwich during a sailboat race
These late night thoughts are sponsored by the colors of autumn Here's something I think about a lot: I'm 23 years old. If nothing crazy happens, I might live for another 70 years. What will those 70 years look like? Smoke-filled skies? Aliens? Lifespans shortening? The rich getting even richer? The poor getting even poorer? The … Continue reading Finding helpers
By now we've all heard of it: that abstract giant mass of garbage, three times the size of France that's floating out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The Garbage Island, or the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. We're worried about it, collectively, especially when we think of all those cute otters and seals choking … Continue reading What Is In the Ocean?
For spring break I brought two of my friends from college to the wild wild west known as Coupeville, WA. They'd never been to the PNW before and so got to experience some special Washington things, such as rain.
