Local Family Lost Everything in Fire

My mother’s next door neighbor in Port Madison lost everything in a house fire, roads were too small and from what I have been told they could only fit 1 truck down to fight the fire, but I am trying to get things set up with the fire department or Helpline or something for people to send donations of all kinds for the family. If you would like to help or donate please contact me and I will get you hooked up with the right people. I believe the couple is an older couple with 3 grown kids who live off island, but any help they can get I am sure would be greatly appreciated. Emily

Emily the here-say that spreads like panicked wildfire on your forums drives me nuts. The lane’s were only big enough for one truck? It seems to me in order for a street to be a street it would need to be able to support a few engines, or “trucks” as you put it. Let’s see what the Bainbridge Island Review says about the incident.

Eighteen firefighters arrived to find the house 40 percent engulfed in flame. Power lines at the property were also exposed and sparking, limiting some access routes to the fire.

18 firefighters arrived. I know that our fire department is largely volunteer based but eighteen firefighters sounds like a bit more than one truck. While this event is tragic, our willingness to believe everything we hear on the island never ceases to amaze me.

Hit and Run

Hi there,
Our van (grey Honda Odyssey) was hit this morning in the Safeway parking lot, resulting in a fair amount of damage. We were parked in the center aisle, with the nose facing Rite Aid, about three spaces past the cart barn. The other vehicle left red and maroon paint on ours, and left without leaving a note.

If you witnessed this, or if you happen to notice a red/maroon vehicle with damage to the front left or right rear, I’d appreciate hearing about it (license plate number and state would be helpful). The BIPD has a case open and I’ll pass any leads to them.

Alternately, if someone owns up and pays for the damages in the next day or two, I will not press charges.

Thank you for your help,
Ben

After reading this post I was going go on about how though unfortunate your car was hit and someone didn’t leave a note you’re delusions of the police department having a case open and you choosing whether or not to press charges amused me. I was also going to write about how I’m sure an officer came out and took an accident report that will no doubt be filed away somewhere as a service to the insurance companies rather than on the desk of a gum shoe ready to solve his next caper. Then you posted the following and I don’t think there is much more I could say.

Well…never mind.

I woke up at 3AM this morning with realization that I had backed into some bushes at the farm the day before yesterday (darn the subconscious anyway!). Went and had a look just now, and sure enough, the other “vehicle” was a small pump handle tucked into those bushes. K then noticed the damage when she came out of Safeway yesterday.

Boy do I feel dumb…

Happy new year to all,
b

Happy new year. I’m looking forward to more of the island mom posts. When we first moved here everyone in their welcomes would always ask, “have you gotten on island moms yet?” Our neighbor was the only one who warned us of how ridiculous it gets. When we asked her for more detail she only added, “oh you’ll see.” Six months later after some initial frustration it’s all still very amusing. Here’s hoping your mild bouts of tragedy and struggle make you feel alive all through the year.

~cheers

How are the roads?

Disclaimer: I grew up in Michigan. I learned to drive in February’s inclement weather and find it terribly amusing/annoying to watch the region shut down for a few inches and seeing everyone lose their minds.

OK – Sat. morning – how are the roads into town? We NEED to go in and get food and get prepared. I haven’t left the house since Wed. I live near Battlepoint Park and will need to take Arrowpoint to Miller or Battlepoint all the way down to Miller or perhaps Tolo as I think Battlepoint was still closed yesterday, but I’m wondering how in the world Tolo could be better than Battlepoint? Please help! Thanks!

Carrissa

Just wondering if anyone has heard how the roads
are in town. My husband tried to get to the ferry
from Stetson Ridge and after sliding through 2
intersections, he came home. Has anyone been out
and about?

It seems to me that you don’t NEED to go in and get prepared. First it’s too late, sure there is another storm coming and the national weather service has issued a blizzard warning, but you can’t get prepared three days into snow fall and road closures. Second, if you really NEEDed to go in you already would have, the buses have been running all over the island this entire time. I’ve driven my Sonata around the island for days now, I only got stuck on a back road off of a back road, but you know what? I pushed my self out, it wasn’t that difficult and it took less than five minutes. Third, if you have an internet connection and the ability to post ridiculous cried of volunteer victimism then you’re probably fairing pretty well.

What happened that we suddenly became unable to take care of ourselves? After seeing terrorist attacks, massive black outs, martial law educing hurricanes, and crippling regional winter storms how is it that you still find yourself so adequately unprepared and unwilling to do anything about it other than post message-board topics from the comfort of your home?

A few months ago I met someone who expressed concern over the island’s ability to endure a major natural disaster. She was concerned the class gap has forced emergency personnel off the island. She wondered if the city didn’t pay their fire and police enough to live on the island who would be left to respond to emergencies? If the working class has disappeared from the island who is left to man the volunteer fire department? She was concerned the upper middle class could not protect itself. As long as posts like this continue I’m afraid she may be right.

Snow Day: Everybody panic.

Disclaimer: I grew up in Michigan. I learned to drive in February’s inclement weather and find it terribly amusing/annoying to watch the region shut down for a few inches and seeing everyone lose their minds.

That being said, to the guy idling his eighty thousand dollar mercedes 4WD SUV with new chains on all four tires into the parking lot near Pegasus… you are a jack ass. If you’re going to make a spectacle of walking on the treacherous parking lot ice and slowly make your way through the island’s thoroughfares you should have just stayed home. I suppose in someway this might be our collective struggle against nature in an over comfortable post industrial lifestyle, something to remind us all that we’re still alive. In the end though, it’s just snow. It isn’t news worthy. It happens every year.
When people such as yourself make a grand spectacle of overcoming the slightest setback nature has to offer, you remind me of the ridiculous hipsters that walked the streets of San Diego during the wild fires a few years ago. When I lived in San Diego it wasn’t uncommon to see the thirty somethings getting out of their Lexus sports cars donning respirators in an effort to show the world that they couldn’t be held back, and that nothing was going to get in their way.

One more thing Mr. Guy who idled into the parking lot with his overcompensating ride, you put the tabs on your plate on wrong, you’re not supposed to put this years sticker over last year’s month. It makes me wonder how you’ve managed this far in life being either too self absorbed or lacking such an apparent attention to detail and yet you are the pinnacle of upper middle class.

Running out of ideas here! What are you doing today w/kids?

When my daughter was younger and we were housebound, we would have an opposite day. So, on a snowy day we would have beach day. I would spread a tablecloth on the floor and she would wear her bathing suit with flip flops/cover up. We would have our meal as a picnic. After we had our picnic, we would have “sand” time where we would put several cups of rice or cornmeal into a large tupperware container and she would play measuring it into smaller cups/bowls and place her small toys into it. (I put a small plastic tablecloth under it – easy to wash afterwards.) Then we would have swimming time where she would paint sunny scenes on her body with non-toxic paint (I have quite a number of hilarious pictures that she has asked never to share with anyone!) and then she would take a warm bath. We did occasionally receive funny looks when she told people that she loved for it to snow so she could have a picnic/beach day.

Lydia

Post By: Carrissa

So far today we’ve baked brownies, made a fort, watched a movie, played in
the cardboard house, gotten the paints out and painted a wooden butterfly, and
played a couple of games on the computer not to mention all the other chores.
It’s only 3:30 and we’re house bound. I’m waiting on one kid’s
coat to dry and then we’ll go outside, but would love some more ideas here!

Carrissa

You remind me that I have a button box…something I played with a lot as a kid at my aunt’s house. She had a huge one! Endless fun sorting by size, color, making designs…

Also when desperate…let the kids play with some of your jewelry. Also cut paper into strips and make paper chains…can add to the holiday decor. We actually have a Hanukkah tradition of making blue and white chains…plan to make some more tomorrow.

Carol

Ok wait. Am I missing something here? What’s wrong with going outside and playing in the snow on snow days? I went sledding yesterday. I also went grocery shopping, so I’m not exactly sure what you mean by homebound. Your words invoke images of rescuing a writer in a winter storm and forcing him to finish his final novel. I’m also wondering if you take your family sledding down the dirt hills in the middle of a heat wave in summer? How is it that you have kids and don’t know how spend time with them? Are they so overstimulated with a multitude of events and outings that everyone sits at home and blankly stares at the wall?

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

Years ago I knew a girl. We would sit drinking red rose tea with her mom in their back den and I would look through coffee table books about cottages in Saskatchewan. She told me of her ideal lifestyle. I would love to live on a lake with a small community of friends and family. We would each specialize in our specific area and once a week we would get together to trade. The farmer would trade with the baker, and the butcher with the blacksmith, the basket weaver with the candle maker, and the cobbler with the mason. Her ideal life was simple living in which she shared with the community to sustain each others needs. Though this socialist like utopia may not exist I have found that some places beyond the confines southeastern Michigan come close. Farmers markets are growing more and more popular as the eco-trend flow beyond their epoch.

Unfortunately the more popular it is the less farmers it becomes and the more market it grows. Over the years the Everett Farmers Market has turned into a small weekly street fair with three or four soap vendors selling overpriced hand made eco-soap for seven and eight bucks a bar. The last few seasons in the Cascades have been detrimental to local farmers with snow falling as late as June and November rains that wash away roads often take crops with them. The Farmer’s Markets are still going strong though and as food prices continue to grow exponentially at your local grocer and people begin tilling their own yards harvesting their own food from hobby or need, the market’s place in our community may become more integral.

My wife quickly found and joined Island Moms, a Yahoo Group where parents get together to discuss various activities on the island and offer used goods for sale, barter, or free. Another similar site popping up around the country is Freecycle which is a movement designed to reduce waste, saving resources and easing the burden on our landfills while enabling people to benefit from the strength of their community. Yesterday we picked up a booster seat for our youngest son from someone who no longer needed it. The day before my wife picked up some high end children’s tea that someone else couldn’t get their kid to drink. And now with our booster seat we’ll no longer need our high chair, keep your eyes open for it we’ll be giving it away soon.

Further Reading:

Critique of the Gotha Program
Bainbridge Online Yard Sale
Bainbridge Bartering Moms
Freecycle Bainbridge Island
Bainbridge Farmer’s Market
Everett Farmers Market
Sound Food
Freecycle

Take Your Time

I’ve noticed quite a few aggressive and aggravated drivers on the island in the month we’ve lived here. At first I figured it was only rush hour people making their way home. Thursdays and Fridays are particularly horrible as we fight crowds of weekend warriors armored in sport utility with sleeping bags in tow. I am always gifted with the presence of horrible drivers nearly every day though. In the twenty or so miles that I travel to and from the docks I always seem to get behind one in the same area. Last week I was fortunate enough to avoid rear ending a Honda SUV decorated with Aloha style as the driver stopped in the middle of a three lane road to allow a vehicle with a Yield sign to enter from an arterial road. A few blocks later she drifted into my lane unaware of her lane of travel’s impending termination. In the five years that I’ve lived in the great northwest I have come to expect Washington drivers to stop for no particular reason in the middle of the road. Each region has their own diver oddities; in Washington people just come to a dead stop on the roads and interstates, that’s just what they do. Thinking I had finally escaped tailing her as I pulled into the prepaid ferry line I soon learned that I was mistaken. As I made my way right toward the queue who should come blindly turning right in front of me? The driver of the Honda. Once across the sound she once again cut me off making a lane change on the boat’s ramp.

Friday I got downtown just after five. I was actually able to catch the 6.20 sailing home. I was engrossed in the books that I’m reading and didn’t mind that the boat was delayed twenty minutes. A few blocks from the entrance a blue Jaguar turned into me causing me to go into oncoming traffic. At first I figured she was making a wide turn without signaling and I lost her in my blind spot. Suddenly she came up on my passenger side front quarter gesturing with a wave and a smile that portrayed her empathy in such as way as to say, “Yes I am going to cut in front of two blocks of traffic because I am the only one in the world thank you and watch out for those delivery trucks now coming at you at thirty-five miles an hour.”

Today we were leaving the Bluegrass festival at Battle Point Park. While exiting the gravel parking lot a woman in a Mercury minivan flew up behind me and appeared to try and pass me on either side as I waited for traffic to clear. She honked as I made my turn and screamed out the window “MOVE NEXT TIME!”. As we made our way down the road she turned her lights on and off several times in vain beneath the six o’clock sun. I eventually turned off to head home as she continued straight scowling at me the entire way. I figured that the friendly reminders around the streets to drive safe and friendly were because Islander have such a laid back lifestyle and the tourists were begged to conform. Apparently they need to serve as constant reminders to our citizen here to chelax.

Compelled to make a show of low fat ice cream.

To the Gucci chic hipster with sunglasses remnant of a fly in front of me at Mora’s last night.

“Do you have any low fat ice cream?”
“We have sorbet which is no fat but it’s not ice cream.”
“But do you have any low fat ice cream?”
“Well our ice cream is locally made and has less fat than most commercial ice creams.”
“Um, ok. Which of your ice cream would you say has the lowest fat?”
“…”
“Which one has the lowest amount of fat?”
“I have no idea.”

First of all, it’s an ice cream parlor. If you’re going to make a big show about how you’re not going to eat the ice cream please save us all the display, there were people in line out the door. And understand that one day a decade from now you will look at photographs of the way you were dressed today and realize how horribly dated you looked and wonder in amazement “We actually dressed like that?”

Couhousing community maintained trail.

There’s a neighborhood trail that we pass every day on our walks into town, and every day our six year old asks if this is going to be the day we take it. On our way to get ice cream last night we decided to take that trail. The community maintained path meandered for a few blocks through the natural habitat left between two parcels of land. It eventually led to a co-housing community of cottages sharing common areas and a community garden. The pedestrian neighborhood connected each home with walkways set in a flourishing wild garden. Like most landscapes on the island the flora and fauna blended with it’s natural surroundings. It often feels as if I have come upon an alpine meadow in the Cascades. The co-housing community immediately reminded me of In Watermelon Sugar. I imagined community dinners, a garden, and meeting hall. As the trail wound through the neighborhood we came through such a garden. Well maintained produced was planted in nearly every available space. Asparagus shot up to eye level yearning for the July sun. “Does the trail go through the garden?” I asked one of the residence who was maintaining the grounds. “Oh sure!” The trail ended on the other side of the garden at a gated fence a few blocks away from where we had ventured in.
It didn’t take long to find the Co-housing’s home page once I got home and it seemed most of my instincts of the place had been right. As for the In Watermelon Sugar thing, despite the coyotes moving into the surrounding area, I doubt there will ever be the same problem with tigers. Which also makes me think that I may be living in the land of forgotten things.

Semi related reading:
Winslow Cohousing Group
Richard Brautigan
In Watermelon Sugar
The ins and outs of Richard Brautigan, and his novel In Watermelon Sugar
Two new coyote sightings, and another “coexistence” chat.