To Live a Good Life
A young friend of mine died — unexpectedly last week. Way too early. Decades too early. Jesús died in his sleep, in his bed,...
The lost commencement address by Tom Robbins
Updating this to honor the life and times of Tom Robbins, who walked on today. He lived a remarkable life.This post originally appeared here...
Father’s Day: Remembering Leonard Miner’s War
This edition of Rainshadow Journal is sampled from “Leonard Miner’s War,” photos and writings collected and edited by Miner’s son and Port Townsend resident,...
Notes from a First Mate in Training
Editor's note: We have not heard from Corky Parker in a while, other than that she had headed off to Mexico for some of...
Field of Dreams: How We Signed Cal Ripken
Each spring, as we approach Opening Day, I’m reminded that baseball is about a weird concoction of reality and fantasy, physics and psychics, curve...
Confessions of a Weather Girl
by Karen Sullivan, aka Roatan Rose
In 1978, the Bay Islands of Honduras were placid and undisturbed by hordes of tourists or gunfire. Few people...
Cherishing Our Actual Lives Beneath the Clouds
I lived most of my life in the Southwest, far from the upper left-hand corner of this country. How did I encounter Mike O’Connor...
Conversation with a friend
Recently Cathy Nickum has contributed two pieces to Rainshadow about her feelings and thoughts on the death of David Crosby and the ideals...
A Christmas Eve Story
When I was a young girl my father always assisted Santa in the most delightful ways. It was one of his special things that...
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Insectivore Birds Part 1
I love the diversity of Pacific Northwest birds and insects. This is a two-part photo essay about both— Insectivore Birds. (Of course, the lovely...
The lost commencement address by Tom Robbins
Updating this to honor the life and times of Tom Robbins, who walked on today. He lived a remarkable life.This post originally appeared here...
So Long, Pygmy Kayaks
More than three decades ago, when guys like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were building technology companies that would change the world, another Ivy...
Who the Heck was Juan de Fuca?
The recorded history of the Pacific Northwest begins four-and-a-quarter centuries ago, when two grizzled, gray-haired sailors met up in Renaissance Venice and struck up...
Brazilian music in our “little village”
We are republishing this article from last year with updates for the 2026 Centrum Choro workshop.
Some years back a Brazilian musical friend stated "we...
