I am not ashamed to say I spent the entirety of last weekend inside my house, mostly in my pajamas. With the exception of one brief sojourn to find sustenance, I hunkered down in my hermitage, perfectly content.

But it’s time to break out and should I need an excuse to do so beyond impending cabin fever, the coming days at the Wild Buffalo are full of reasons good enough to get me out of my pajamas, into a proper pair of pants and out in the world again.

The first time I saw…

As per the Lady of the House’s request, we’d spent the entire morning blazing trails through the streets of Bellingham methodically patronizing every garage sale in sight. Although the material effectiveness of this operation couldn’t be disputed, her hesitance to push the treasure-hunting process further afield threatened to unnecessarily curtail a good adventure. 

Henceforth and entirely of her own volition, she momentarily deferred navigational prerogative to me, her intrepid…

Joe Biden in retirement is not a pretty picture: grouting bathroom tile, napping and watching Barack’s globetrotting adventures with the likes of Bradley Cooper and Justin Trudeau on cable television. Barack has yet to call him and he feels the sting as would a jilted lover. “No late-night texting. Not even a friendly poke on Facebook,” he laments.

In Andrew Shaffer’s Hope Never Dies, Joe learns of the mysterious death of his favorite Amtrak conductor, Finn Donnelly, hit and…

Elwood Blues isn’t a real person, but he might as well be.

When Dan Aykroyd first channeled the character in 1978 during a memorable sketch on Saturday Night Live, he probably didn’t think he’d still be bringing the harmonica player and vocalist to life 40 years later, or that fellow actor and erstwhile musician John Belushi—who played his sibling and lead Blues Brothers singer, “Joliet” Jake Blues—could ever be replaced.

Sometimes, however, truth can be just as strange as…

“Are you as excited for the next SeaFest as I am?” my first mate queried recently.

“For the record, it’s called SeaFeast,” I replied, reminding him that I’d had to make the same correction numerous times during last year’s festivities, when we spent a sunny September afternoon at Squalicum Harbor slurping briny bivalves prepared in front of us by reps from Drayton Harbor Oyster Company, polishing off a plate of traditionally fire-pit grilled coho salmon perfectly executed by Lummi…

Tracy Powell’s “The Peacemaker” is not a typical work of art.

For example, the gun the simplistic figure beseechingly holds in his sturdy stone hands—bending it and making it inoperable—wasn’t originally created by the popular Pacific Northwest sculptor. Instead, it was the first firearm donated to the Anacortes Regeneration Project, which aims to turn decommissioned guns and other weapons into pieces of art as a way to jumpstart conversations about gun control.

“One of the…

It’s tulip time, and the fields are alive with the light and color of spring. The word’s out, and this spectacular time in the Skagit Valley is no longer a secret.

But Skagit still holds a lot of secrets—mist-shrouded valleys, swollen and mighty rivers, and frosty high country thick with dark pines and devil’s club. And there are the hidey holes—the hamlets sprinkled along old forgotten highways, the winding sloughs and channels of the fertile delta, and the coast beyond—dotted with islands pungent from salt and rain. There are the bars and diners and coffeehouses, the playgrounds and trails. And there are the people who fill them, hearty and happy. And though our readers revealed some of these secrets, Skagit remains a treasure undiscovered.

Entries by Tim Johnson, Amy Kepferle, Carey Ross, Stephanie Young, and Trail Rat
Photos by Jessamyn Tuttle and Andy Porter