Category: People

Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts

We’re spending the weekend immersed in live music and performance at the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts in Port Angeles. It’s a four day lineup of talent from near and far, and an opportunity to be saturated with awesomeness.

Chris Swenson was a highlight of our first day. He calls his work “human jazz,” a description that barely scratches the surface of voice/song, movement/dance, and performance that defies easy characterization. Check out his website to get a better idea and see him in action.

The program reads, in part, “His work is unique in its cross-cultural synthesis of theater, dance and music and its willingness to unbridle the imagination.”

The festival is a family event with a street fair and free outside entertainment. As the day progressed, kids joined the fun and danced joyfully around the periphery of the main stage.

Oh, the things we can do!

Today is the official grand opening of our new local Michaels store. But the doors were thrown open for a “soft” opening starting last Thursday night.

What’s appealing about a bigger store like this is a broad array of the many things a crafter might use. From minding ones Ps and Qs to yarn and art supplies there’s lots to choose from, a bigger selection than we’re used to locally.

And there’s a lot of stuff for home decor.

Michaels has a lot of everything and the employees seem like genuinely nice people. But I do hope that locals will remember to also support our own locally owned businesses like Doodlebugs, Karen’s Quilts, A Dropped Stitch, Local Yarn Shop, and Over the Fence. They are vital to the health of our community.

One down, one to go

Ulta opened in Sequim last week.

It’s a venue for all things girlie: makeup of every color and type, perfume, you name it. It’s a happy development for anyone who wants more choices than offered at our drug stores or Walmart. I cruised the aisles and saw more stuff than I’ve been offered in a long time.

There’s sunscreen. Lots of sunscreen. And every kind of shampoo and hair product imaginable.

Michael’s, next door to Ulta, is scheduled to open later this week. Though I was able to get out of Ulta without opening my wallet, I’m not sure I’ll have the same restraint at Michael’s. Craft supplies call to me.

Sweet Spot

You can get ice cream in Sequim, sort of. But there wasn’t a dedicated venue, at least not one I’d ever found. Until Sweet Spot opened last week, though it isn’t ice cream. It’s frozen yogurt. Even better. More calcium. Less butter fat. Or so I’m told.

Enter this colorful space. Take a cup. Choose your yogurt and fill the cup. Add toppings. Weigh and pay. In the middle of the afternoon yesterday there were about a dozen of us there. I guess the word’s out.

There’s a place like this in Silverdale, an hour away, so I though I was safe from temptation. This one is in the Sequim J.C. Penney shopping center. Sunny Farms Supplements on one side, Strong Points Fitness on the other. No doubt about it. I’m doomed.

The painter

A local man has worked for us several times. After the first very good painting job he did for us we brought him back twice, the last time to paint our shop building. When friends came over while he was working I took the group to see his work trailer, a marvel. Paint hoses, ladders, extension cords, every bit of equipment had a place and all of it was organized and clean. He showed up on time, worked hard, and cleaned up before he left each day. When he was finished one friend was so impressed she hired him to paint her house. I don’t usually hug household workers but before he left we hugged.

He held a green card. Last January he had an appointment in Seattle to sign “immigration papers.” He arrived as requested and was handcuffed and arrested on the spot. He has been in a detention center since.

I don’t know the details of his case but I do know this is a decent, honorable, hard-working man. He has a wife, children, and extended family. The adults all work and work hard. If they’re guilty of anything it is of seeking a better life.

Plenty can be said about immigration, on all sides. But at the end of the day it’s a story about human lives. I’d like to think that we can treat people better than this.

SDP meets SDP

I can’t imagine a better play date than meeting up with another photo blogger to head out and find great things to photograph. In this case Sequim Daily Photo (SDP) met Jan of Sarasota Daily Photo (SDP) last week. Jan came to the Pacific Northwest from Florida and included a trip to Sequim and the Olympic Peninsula on her itinerary. During our quick tour of Sequim we successfully hunted for eagle shots, making the best of drizzling weather. Jan and her famous Junior Editor brightened the day with curiosity, humor, engaging conversation, and all around good cheer. My idea of a perfect day.