My Island Life

Hey there everyone!

Yes, I know it has been awhile. But as I see it...it is better for me to be busy and not be able to post then to post all the time about nothing. So let's see...

I have been going to the Presbyterian church here on the island. It is one of the bigger churches so I thought that going here would be a way for me to meet more people. If I were to ever move here though, I would look around at all of the other smaller ones to see what "fits" me better. My first Sunday there I sat towards the back next to a very nice lady. (I'm not going to use real names here so for now I will refer to them as the church ladies). After church she asked me if I would like to join her and her friends for lunch at the bowling alley...that is "if you don't mind hanging out with a bunch of old ladies." I had a blast. They were all very nice. It was a hoot! I was asked what I thought about the whole Michael Jackson thing. Well, since I do not really have television or internet at the house my whole news and info connectivity has been limited. I am living in a bubble of sorts. I only knew that the guy passed away because my bro sent me a text message...and then he just said M J died. My response was..."Michael Jordan? How?" He set me straight. My bubble popped a bit that day. :-) They all laughed! "Can you believe she didn't know about Michael Jackson?!? Be glad. It's all the news people are showing."

They were also planning to see that new Sandra Bullock movie "The Proposal." I think that was the title. One of the ladies had already seen it and told everyone that there was a "nude scene!" She wanted to go back and see the movie again.....a hoot I tell you...these ladies are feisty!

I told them about myself and they returned with a little about them. One of the ladies had recently lost her husband. She has lived on this earth for 88 years! God bless her! They all thought that I look younger than my age...a good thing I guess. I was invited back to church and lunch with them. (And I did go back). They even wanted to see if I would like to help with VBS. They said they would get my cell number later so they could pass it on to the people who run it.

Ranger and I have gone on a lot of hikes. My new favorite is the Mount Finlayson loop. Wow! Awesome! However, I think I took the trail backwards. And I just love it when the dog waits to poo after we have walked well beyond the point of no return for the trash. I try to do the right thing and pick up after him...let me tell you...there is nothing like hiking 2 1/2 miles carrying a bag of dog poo! I might have to rethink that one. (I think he does it on purpose).


I saw a sunset a little over a week ago that pretty much left me speechless. A picture of it is at the beginning of the blog. First off, I learned that I shouldn't wear my flip-flops from Target on smooth surfaces. I should have learned when I slid (by accident) on the floor in my kitchen...but NOOOO! Instead, I decided to wear the things and take a different path to watch the sunset. There is this spectacular place on the island, just south of Lime Kiln, where you can go to catch the evening show. I stepped onto the path and started to walk down the some-what steep hill towards the bluff. Fortunately, the only people who were around were on the other side of a big boulder so they did not see what happened next. My shoes...those blasted flip-flops...decided to "skate" down the grassy path (without my weight on them, I might add) and KAPOW!!! There I was...flat on my backside! Ouch! So, I thought that my landing spot was as good as any to watch the sunset, so there I sat. But wait...I'm not finished. In the distance, there it was...over by the lighthouse...a dorsal fin! Eureka! A pod of orcas (killer whales) were swimming by. Their path looked as though they were feeding on salmon, I suppose. Wow! Oops...It appears that this might be an event worthy of using my new handy-dandy Flip camera and I left it up in the car. My digital does not take very good videos. Up the hill I climbed to retrieve my video camera from the car. And it appears that one time just didn't do it for me...those blasted shoes. Slid down the hill again, I did! This time the landing was a bit harder and the distances traveled was a bit further. Yet further still, my digital camera thought that it would be a good idea to get an even closer vantage point. Good thing I bought that Olympus camera that can withstand impacts! So down the hill I went (this time I was barefoot), and found a nice spot to watch the sunset and whales swimming by right next to the spot that my camera had scoped out. Needless to say, the journey was well worth the reward. Absolutely awesome does not even begin to describe what it is like to watch the sunset as these magnificent creatures "danced" in the waters below. It was so still and quiet that I could hear their "puffs" of breath as they came up for air.

I am going to put the Forth of July festivities on a later blog. This one is already long enough! But I will say that it was a fun weekend. The town of Friday Harbor is celebrating its 100 Anniversary this year so a lot of the events focused on that. The parade was cool to watch...I just love small towns! And the Pig War Picnic was neat. I even ran into my realtor and the ladies from church at the picnic. They said they needed my phone number (for VBS I presumed), so I obliged. I ended up having lunch with them again on Sunday. One of them invited me over for tea when my mom comes into town. So mom get ready!

I have worked on my property a bit. There is still much to do. It is somewhat bittersweet working on land that I will ultimately have to sell. But you do what you've got to do, right?
And...I used a gas grill for the first time! I have grilled on charcoal before. You know...the basics: hamburgers, hotdogs, etc. This time I was attempting to grill fish and veggies. Halibut is one of my favorites! It actually turned out pretty good! Yay for me! I must not neglect to thank my little bro for his most excellent instruction on how to fire up the grill. Thanks! I did not go boom...so I would say that it was a success!

I know that there is a lot more to tell you all about, but that will have to wait for another day. I left my journal at the house. Oh...I do, however, have an interesting tidbit that happened on Sunday as I was leaving church. I was talking to a new friend that I met that morning when another lady walked up to me and asked me if my name was Kandi. I acknowledged that it was and she told me that her friend (one of the ladies I had had lunch with the previous week) had told her about me and spoken very highly of me and was impressed with me. Okay...I thought. She told me that she was the one that had asked for my phone number.....you see.....she has a grandson. What? I thought. WHAT? I thought the phone number inquiry was all about VBS?!? Hmmm? Hang on folks...this could get interesting!!! ;-)

I finally broke out my new guitar and am starting to get the hang of it...some what. It really helps that I know the basics from playing piano. I am having a bit of an issue with holding down the strings all the way with my left hand in order to get a clear unmuted sound. I guess I need to build up callouses or something because the wires are cutting into my poor pinky finger! Ouch!Have a wonderful day! I send my love back to Missouri...try to stay cool. 100 degrees! Yuck! You all should come up here for a visit...it's a balmy 62 degrees today! :-)