Vashon Philosophy: Learning to Live Without (And Why That's a Good Thing)
I recently had a conversation with my elderly neighbor, a true Vashon native. Her childhood stories paint a picture of a vastly different Vashon—one where she and her friends treated horses like bicycles, traveling the island long before they could get a driver's license, enjoying a level of unsupervised adventure most modern kids can only dream of. But one moment in our chat really stood out. We were talking about the modern necessity of online shopping, and she declared her strong dislike for Amazon. "Why?" I asked. "It feels like a necessary evil these days. We're so limited on what we can get locally. What if you need a specific bulb for your car headlight? Or a niche plumbing part that isn't stocked at the hardware store?" Her answer was beautifully simple, and profoundly Vashonian: Growing up here meant learning to live without. Separating Wants from Needs She explained that island life, historically, forced a different kind of a...