It sits off the road—settled in the trees, about a mile from downtown Langley. You might miss it if you didn’t know it was there. The entryway is nondescript, matching the peacefulness that permeates the neighborhood. We spent over a year on the island without knowing a cemetery was nestled in the forest behind the…
Meet Larry. With two different colored glass eyes, askew on opposite sides of his small head, he stares out at the world from his humble perch. He’s not glamorous, but maintains a sense of dignity. We first met Larry at an antique store in Anacortes. Lined up on a high shelf with other antiques, it…
A new year. New adventures. New people to meet. We still love it here in our new home. As we take stock of 2023, we have an extensive list of people we are thankful for, things we are proud of, how we have taken steps to care for others and our planet, and the causes…
The day glistened, with light dancing off Penn Cove’s deep blue waters. It was a cool afternoon on Whidbey Island, but the sun’s rays penetrated through the calm. Out on the water, looking at the rolling hills and tree lined land off in the distance, I couldn’t help but think of Grace. Grace, who set…
An early morning excursion brings us to the Coupeville ferry terminal, waiting for the next available transport off-island. Having passed the palatial farm estates and rolling fields along Ebey’s Landing, we drive by the glassy water of the National Historic Reserve. Driftwood and large rocks dot the shoreline, and the cool, misty morning conveys a…
It has been raining every day…and every night. And we are happy about every drop. To us, this means climate change doesn’t have quite so much control over our existence. It means we are having some semblance of typical seasonal weather. It allows our environment to be refreshed and regenerated. It gives us hope that…
The light clouds shield us from the sun, and a gentle marine layer hangs over Puget Sound. Down a nondescript, residential street, we had driven to a parking lot full of spaces for oversized vehicles, but empty in the early morning. We made our way a short distance, passing an abandoned general store, sagging under…
Vibrant warm colors, soft velvets, and intricate details. It felt delicate in my hands as I unwrapped it from the safe plastic box in which it was lovingly housed. Unfurling it, I tentatively held in front of me the unfinished quilt started by my fourth great grandmother, Sophia (née McBride) Murphy. It had passed to…
“You know you’re in a good place when you see ice cream everywhere.” Those were the wise words of a passerby, noticing the delicious ice cream scoops we were enjoying. A beautiful sunny day had brought us to La Conner, Washington, about an hour-and-a-half drive from Langley, up through Oak Harbor, and to the mainland….
The forest drives never fail to take my breath away. The raw beauty that surrounds the roads is something I rarely experienced in suburban Southern California. Weekend drives were usually spent going coastal or to the mountains, with the surrounding landscape a desert chaparral, filled with dark brown and grey hues. On Whidbey Island, the…
Originally from Ireland, unique circumstances brought my fourth great grandparents Francis and Grace (née Mullen) McCrohan to Australia and its New South Wales penal colony in the 1830s. Their daughter, my third great grandmother Elizabeth, was born in Australia and married her Irish husband Thomas Nunan there. By 1858, circumstances had changed and Francis and…
We did it and we are celebrating! Our first year in this beautiful place has yielded new opportunities, new friends and a renewed view on life. What was once important has been replaced with a focus on working to live, enjoying our environment and setting goals related to our impact on this community. We are…
A yellow film coats everything, from the outside of the car to the windowsill. It blankets the driveway as a visible snow, floating lightly to the ground. Springtime and summer in the Pacific Northwest couldn’t be more different than Southern California. For those who are allergy-prone, this means bracing yourself for all that the seasons…
The first time I can remember crossing it, I was in awe. When I was little, I crossed over it many times and my mom would retell its story and the importance of it, just like her father did for her. I just never really focused on it as a child. It took on new…
Grandma Bernie was the only grandparent I ever knew. She had a wicked sense of humor and loved me because I was her beloved son’s daughter. My earliest memory of her is a trip to Disneyland with my dad grumbling at my grandma because her footwear for the day was completely inappropriate. That was Bernie…
With the winding road taking us through dense forest, we caught occasional glimpses of sparkling blue just beyond. Hidden for most of the journey, it was only as we were right upon it that it came into view — Lake Crescent. At the foothills of the Olympic Mountain range, nestled within the peninsula, this glacially…