Vashon Island is tiny— you could drive all the way around the coast and be back before dark. It's a twenty-minute ferry ride away from Seattle, and about 80% of the island is made of trees and dense forest. There’s one grocery store, one high school, one movie theater, maybe three or four restaurants—everyone knows each other's name and dogs don’t wear leashes up here.
My family owns a house on the island that we rent out during the school year, but in quarantine, we’ve been living up here for quite a while. It’s colder. You don’t need a mask as much; there are fewer people. It’s not raining ash. My dog gets to run around and cause mayhem as much as she pleases.
Amidst the backdrop of political chaos, the height of the pandemic, and a general feeling that the apocalypse is nigh, I’m aware of how lucky I am to have had as much time as I did up here. We’re headed back home soon, but before we left I wanted to take some pictures of this place— the rural, the calm, the magic, the heart of the island. Here are the results.
(swipe over image to see caption at the bottom)