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Works in Progress

Biochar: Banishment or Bonanza?

At its essence Biochar is pure, black CARBON, the basis of life; the foundation of all organic matter; the ultimate sequester of carbon in soil and remover of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere for centuries.  And the beauty of it is that it is made from waste that nobody wants…

Help “Fix” the Wildland-Urban Interface Code

WIP readers will be overjoyed to hear that NOT ONE BUT TWO SOLUTIONS have been proposed to correct problems caused by including defensible space requirements in the 2021 Wildland-Urban Interface Code. But both remain in doubt. You can help by registering your support for ESB 6120. Best solution – Pass…

“Green Amendment” Proposed for Washington State

On January 22, 2024, Representative Debra Lekanoff (D-Bow) introduced a “green amendment” to the Washington State legislature. HJR 4210 would have added a new section to the Washington State Constitution giving present and future generations ”the right to a clean and healthy environment, including pure water, clean air, healthy ecosystems,…

Support the Hub

I urge folks to support a new County service, the Thurston County Resource Hub located at the Thurston County Courthouse Complex. It’s geared toward people who are involved in the justice system, but service is open to anyone. The Hub helps clients find housing, support for substance use, jobs, peer…

Can Trees Really Sing?

Can Trees Really Sing? How do they sound when they sing? Do they change their tune when it’s sunny or wet? What is it like to dance barefoot in a forest? How can we connect to nature indoors? Find those answers and many others at Dancing to the Music of…

Return of the “Procession of the Species”

On April 26 and 27, Olympia’s downtown will be a joyful jumble filled with creatures of the air, land, fire and sea as the Luminary Procession and Procession of the Species celebration returns after a 4 year interlude caused by the COVID lockdown. The free community art studio that is…

Holly Gwinn Graham –1946-2024, A Retrospective

Since 1990, Holly Gwinn Graham has been a treasure of Olympia’s music and activist communities. In September 2023, she released her 10th album, Hopeful Traveler, at Traditions Cafe, the site of many of her concerts over the years, to a crowd of friends and fans. Sadly, she passed in February, leaving her wonderful songs to enlighten our hearts and minds for years to come.

Meditation by Unacquainted Lives

I’ve been alive for a long time. I survived the rain, ice, floods, wind. I found a home here in Thurston County as the glaciers receded. Under the prairies. Over the meadows. I swam the vast marshes with beaver dams. As those habitat creations evolved to airports and farms, I…

The Brass Ring

Privilege weaves blinders so soft and light they are almost not there. I could peek, but guilt is the price of seeing.   No matter that I started with a leg up, a few rungs up the ladder. Life isn’t fair or so my parents told me.   I never…

Timesheet

Fern Roush is a writer, teacher, organizer, long-distance runner and hiker based out of Olympia, WA. Her/their work has appeared most recently in the Cooper Point Journal, Slightly West, The Jackson Hole Poetry Box, and The Mobile Moon Collective Zine. She was a featured poet at the 2023 Cultivating Voices…

Reviving the Concept of Trusteeship as a Stepping-Stone to Peace in the Middle East

Like it or not, our world has become so interconnected and interdependent that events that have hitherto been regarded as regional in nature now threaten our well-being everywhere. The Ukraine war triggered global food and energy crises, global inflation, exacerbated the worldwide refugee crisis, and renewed the specter of a…

Community Spotlight — March 2024

Zine Workshop -- Food Planet Future -- Music of the Forest -- Lacey Cultural Celebration -- Greet your creatures -- Capitol Theater -- Story Swap... More