Our island’s working folk have a new resource for living in quality homes they can afford, thanks to Home on Whidbey, a community land trust that formed last July. HOW, a non-profit met Jan. 24 to unveil its plan for providing permanently affordable homes and a thriving community for island residents. With more than 225 such community land trusts operating nationwide today, HOW joins their ranks. The non-profits use a combination of public and private funds to fill the gap between what a family can afford and what the home actually costs. How this works can be explained by following…
Author: Kate Poss | With Photos by David Welton
Kate Poss | With Photos by David Welton
Kate Poss This Is Whidbey was founded by Kate Poss for readers who are interested in cultivating our island’s quality of life, including its land, sea, and air; its people, plants, and animals; and the bodies, minds, and spirits of its inhabitants. You may know Kate from her work in island libraries through May of 2016. Her background includes a career in newspaper reporting in Los Angeles for various weeklies and dailies, including The Los Angeles Times. She was a frequent contributor to the online Whidbey Life Magazine and still writes for the biannual print magazine. David Welton Stories are highlighted by David Welton’s excellent photography. David is a retired physician who was a staff photographer for Whidbey Life Magazine since its early days. His work has also appeared in museums, art galleries, newspapers, regional and national magazines, books, nonprofit publicity, and on the back of the Whidbey Sea-Tac Shuttle!
With approval secured from the city’s Design Review Committee last month, design renderings for the remodel of the Langley Library will be presented at the Feb. 6 City Council meeting. Washington State awarded a $700,000 grant to improve accessibility and energy efficiency of the hundred-year-old building, which is owned by the City of Langley. Its interior is managed by Sno-Isle Libraries. Plans for the building’s remodel must be secured by June 30, under the state grant requirements. At this point, the design/review/remodel process is less than halfway through its journey from concept to grand opening. The total project cost is…
After 25 years as manager of Sno-Isle’s Langley Library, Vicky Welfare will retire at the end of February. The community is invited to drop by Feb. 17 from 6 to 8 PM to wish her well on the next leg of her journey. I was hired by Vicky as a library assistant from 2014-2016, and worked at Langley before then as a substitute from 2009-2013. The staff I worked with felt like a second family and we all were a good fit, thanks to Vicky’s talent for hiring the right people. That talent extends to now, where the library’s team…
Note from Kate Poss: following the Dec. 26, 2022 king tide, which flooded low-lying coastal areas in Island County and throughout the state, Island County Commissioner 1 Melanie Bacon posted a weekly newsletter Jan. 4, 2023 on king tides. Another king tide is predicted for Jan. 21-24, 2023. Here are some helpful tips Commissioner Bacon shared regarding staying informed, protecting our homes, and being prepared. I have her permission to reprint the newsletter. A king tide, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration–NOAA– is defined as “a non-scientific term people often use to describe exceptionally high tides. Tides are…
While searching drewslist for compassionate cat care while we travel to Hawaii next month, I read Maureen Belle’s post, which offered her services for better communicating with our pets. I recalled her extraordinary rapport with our neighbor’s cat Millie the year before. Later, last year, Maureen held a virtual visit with our cat Ollie when he suffered from a UTI we didn’t know he had. Her advice sent us to the vet where Ollie was successfully treated. Two weeks I ago, I emailed Maureen and asked if she remembered us and she replied she did. She asked if I would…
Hello Readers and welcome to 2023. I’ve reprinted, with permission, the United Student Leaders newsletter from outgoing co-founder Maggie Nattress. She is taking a gap year to decide her next role in life. Thank you, Maggie, for your inspiration and that of United Student Leaders! Thanks for making a difference. David Welton took the banner photo–Kate Poss Since September of 2019, United Student Leaders has been an organization focused on uplifting youth voices. For those of you who have been here since the beginning, you may still remember our first protest in front of JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo…
Hello everyone, here is a review of 2022. Whidbey is a place full of causes, connections, characters and curated arts. All photos are by David Welton unless otherwise noted. Wishing you a year of being fully present to life’s gifts and lessons. –Bajada Bill and Cactus Kate January 2022 David Welton gets the shot he longed for. The photo, which also appeared in the South Whidbey Record, took second place in the state newspaper contest earlier this year. He wrote: “The money shot looks like it’s shining on the car deck. I thought, Oh my GodI I was delighted. The…
Exhilarated by a morning swim with my lady mermaids Sophie and Sharon at the Langley Marina in 50° water, I am writing to let you know that after less than two weeks following our nine week road trip, it is good to be home. You may ask why is that? It’s Whidbey’s touchstones. It is swimming in water joyously in the winter with women who love the thrill of the chill, with Bufflehead ducks, a Kingfisher on a branch, a harbor seal peeping curiously at us, Sarah the Golden Retriever leaping in the water to join us. It is the…
Good Morning. It is Tuesday, Dec. 20 and I am sitting at our Langley table watching the snow hypnotically add inches of white fluff to the deck. Our Saratoga Passage is made invisible by low and pregnant clouds. Bill is keeping the suet and seed feeders filled for the winged nation members outside who puff up their down feathers on this 27° dark day. We returned home last Friday after nine weeks on the road with Marion and Beatrix. One of the hardest things getting used to is all the space and too much stuff. It took 48 hours to…
Here we are, snug with wifi, our own bathroom and electricity at the Jack London Lodge in Glen Ellen, with only a week left on our autumn road trip. We cancelled our reservation at nearby Sugarloaf State Park due to the big rains predicted here, as well as the redwoods in Northern California, where we planned to camp Dec. 11. We celebrate the spirit of Jack London and his love for Glen Ellen. The saloon he once drank in is next door. During our travels the past eight weeks, we’ve ‘caught the wave’ of peak experience, gathering memories that have…