Summer isn’t over, officially, for three more weeks, but there is no mistaking autumn’s approach. I’m writing this “off island,” from Portland Oregon, where I’ve been for the last 10 days.  Before I left Orcas, the mornings were getting cooler, and the trees were getting yellower.

The first peaches I had here on the property was July 31, 2024. Closing was still a few weeks away, so they weren't technically yet "mine." They were a little too fuzzy, underripe yet mealy, but they were definitively peaches. When I came back to the

None of the weather that’s been wilting the continental US has shown up here in the San Juans, where it hasn’t yet crested 80 degrees. As with the rest of reality, I’ve lost all perspective on what weather even is. At 6am when it’s 56º, it’

There are no stop lights on Orcas Island. I didn’t notice at first, because there is hardly anything resembling traffic here. The first time I realized it, I was in Portland, right off the I-5 from a trip up to Orcas, stuck in traffic on NE Weidler, which has

Despite the lack of running water or plumbing, the daily mouse dropping patrol in the kitchen, and the fact that opening and closing two cattle gates to come and go from the property has lost some of its charm, I am settling in and, I think, settling well. I joined

Important!  If you happened to reply to my inaugural newsletter last week, I have bad news—it disappeared into the black hole of no-reply emails, and it was never received. I’ve since reconfigured my settings, so moving forward, it’s safe to reply.  But if you don’t mind,

You’ve stocked up on good olive oil, gochujang, and several jars of Duke’s Mayonnaise. You changed the oil in your car. You’ve forwarded your mail and have pre-addressed packages ready to go with your prescriptions. Over the last few weeks, you’ve been provisioning and preparing yourself

3:24 am, Tuesday April 15. You wake up, as you always do in the middle of the night, though 3:24 am is not customary.  1:29, 2:32, and 4:12 are the oddly consistent clock numbers that you see when you wake up. Your brain says you