Nikko's Notes

Among us in the San Juan Islands on our very own Orcas, we have a great treasure. We usually see this treasure during the winter. It is a handsome, black and white, five foot long bird called the trumpeter swan, otherwise known as cygnus buccinator.  Trumpeter swans are superlative birds. This story, except for the introduction, is told by a cygnet, a baby swan in his trumpeter swan family.

Don’t you love a good bird when you see one? Well, I have two pretty handsome colors. White is the predominant color of my plumage while the feathers near my neck are a rusty color from dipping into the water to get food. The decaying minerals do that. My feet and beak are onyx. I kind of like that word.

When I say that my looks are very handsome, it’s supported by those humans over there who keep pointing, “oohing and ahhing” and going crazy over us. We trumpeters are the largest not only of all swans, but also all waterfowl. With my neck extended, I...

Building Community with Hilary Canty

Have you used the new school track? Do you ever visit or donate to the Food Bank? Have you ever needed housing assistance? Have you taken classes in the elementary school about emotional awareness? Hilary Canty, the Executive Director of the Orcas Island Community Foundation (OICF), is a BIG part of making all these amazing things happen. She is also a dedicated volunteer EMT at Orcas Island Fire and Rescue.

Hilary’s early life had a big impact on the way she lives her life now. She lived with seven brothers and sisters, and in her neighborhood, some families had ten or more kids. There were approximately seventy kids in their neighborhood in Washington, DC. Sometimes they stayed up until midnight with fun and games then managed to sneak out again for another hour of fun. Being around so many people helped her learn about big groups and be comfortable surrounded by many people.

She learned her biggest lesson about people at a young age when...

Charlotte Doyle boards a ship to go to America where her parents and siblings await. When she boards the ship, she meets many people, including Captain Andrew Jaggery. The crew tries to warn her that Jaggery is an evil brute, but she doesn't listen, and with Jaggery’s gentle and polite demeanor, she’s easily persuaded by him. He is a murderer, a felon, and a savage. Yet, she doesn't see it. On Jaggery’s ship, The Seahawk, she isn’t safe. Or is she?

The story takes place in 1832, with a British-English tint. From my experience, Avi likes to write olden-times. Both The Secret School and The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle seem to be in the same time period. I would recommend the two hundred and seventy-eight page story to readers grade fourth to eighth, because there is a taste of adventure, and murder. In the first chapter, there are many gripping sentences. This book will grab a hold of you and get you to read it. You can get to the author, Avi’s,...

Samuel Gribley runs away from home with only a penknife, a ball of cord, an ax, and $40, plus some flint and steel. He makes a home in the Catskill Mountains by burning a room out of a huge tree and using a deer hide door for added protection. On the way through this 177-page story, he meets many friends, including a newspaper reporter who won’t tell the secret of his dwelling in the mountains. But his secret will easily slip. During this time, he tames a peregrine falcon named Frightful to catch his food. Do you think he’ll starve to death? Do you think he’ll survive with his secret kept? 

    I think this story is very well written and apparently Jean Craighead George wrote it according to the George family dreams. Her mom wanted to run away, Jean wanted to run away, and Jean’s daughter wanted to run away, too. For me, her dream might have been nice to try, but I’m too busy doing all kinds of fun things. Jean worked her...

The Call Of The Wild is a breathtaking, fun and sad story. When a wolf-dog, Buck, is dog-napped from home to mine gold in the Yukon territory, Buck is not happy. He was taken away from Judge Miller at first, and then had to deliver the Alaskan mail with Perrault and François, who got a letter saying that the mail system didn’t need them anymore, so they sold the dogs to a mean trio but a friendly man named John Thorton saves him. He has a lot to learn, and a lot to unlearn, and a broken heart, do you think he’ll survive?

    The Call Of The Wild is a fun to read, good story that I personally will put on my Top 50 Favorite Books List. The story is an interesting classic, with a lot of details. Buck is timid and tame at the start of this 142 page-book, and at the end, strong, untamed, pack-leading, huge, wolf-dog. He has changed so much. Quite impressive. If you like adventures, thrillers, or classics, you’ll want to read it. It is...

Sophie Foster is a telepath. She doesn’t know how or why. She bonked her head when she was five which triggered her telepathy. She has no idea what to do about it, until she meets Fitz, a stranger that appears to be a telepath, too. He takes her to a different dimension inhabited by elves. Sophie doesn’t realize she’s not human until Fitz takes her to the elf world where she feels at home.

I think Keeper of the Lost Cities (KOLC) is a great story, because I like long chapter books that have suspense and plot, and KOLC is gripping and makes you want to keep reading it. I also liked many of the story’s details, like “light leaping” that I wish I could do and their lockers; there is a strip of metal that you have to lick to sense your DNA for it to open. There are a lot of cool, futuristic ideas in the book that draw me in to read it. There is also not too much dialogue which I sometimes find a bit boring. KOLC is a book you can read anytime, in any...

Your garbage gets thrown into a landfill. Totally unhealthy for the earth and all of us, right? Well, the Orcas Island Exchange is trying to reduce the amount of island waste going into landfills under the direction of Jeff Ludwig who runs the operation with dedication and hope that it will work.

The Exchange originally started in the mid-eighties when it was just a lot of tents. For sixteen years, Jeff worked there in the winter while enjoying time on the water as a sea kayak guide during the warmer months. The original Exchange was lost to fire in 2013. When they were rebuilding, the people running it recognized that Jeff had the most experience, so they decided to put him in charge. He loves working there and his favorite part is the people. He manages a team of thirteen people, with six more working on the Transfer Station side.

The original landfill was outside the Exchange, but that got full, so they started shipping waste far from Orcas to Eastern Washington....

It was Friday. I was feeling good about my vocabulary and multiplication tests. My younger brother Orion and I were good all week so my parents brought us to Clever Cow, our local ice cream parlor. We always enjoy playing our made-up game on the way, changing “Clever Cow” to “Carniverous Cow”, “Cretaceous Cow” and other crazy “C” adjectives. We had lots of fun. 

April Pollock, the charming mastermind behind Clever Cow Creamery, made her business in 2015 because Orcas was a tourist destination with no ice cream parlor. Clever Cow scoops unique ice cream flavors with fun names while also offering soups and sandwiches during colder months. She calls her shop Clever Cow because the milk comes from local Holstein cows on a family-owned farm, called Edaleen. Sourcing locally is clever and beneficial for all!

As a lifetime vegan, I am so grateful that April serves yummy vegan options. I like to order a cake cone...

It was a crisp autumn day when I walked into our local grocery store. I smelled ginger, cinnamon and cloves. 

Holly Dennis, creator of Harmony Chai was handing out free steaming hot cups of her vegan chai with a warm smile!

The chai is unique because it’s not over-sweet like other chai. My taste buds lit up after I tasted it. 

Holly started her business in 1993 in Homer, Alaska. She was inspired by somebody who was brewing chai. So, after many years of experimenting with recipes, she started selling her chai during festivals and gatherings. Loads of customers loved her tea, so she made Harmony Chai, a yummy chai tea company we like.

Authors Note

The reason I made this article is because I thought you would like Harmony Chai tea. 

Holly Dennis was so happy to get my interview, she let me take a picture with her. She also sells our favorite falafel pita sandwiches at our Sunday Farmers Market. Her website is: www.harmonychai.com. Order some yummy...

Hi, I’m Orion. 

I love to skate at the skate park! I like to play soccer, too. And I like to play with my brother, Nikko.  My favorite holiday is Christmas. Thanksgiving, too (but not eating turkey). One of my favorite places is the beach. And I like to play with the playmags with my brother Nikko. I like to run MatchBox cars down our car track! It’s so fun. 

-Orion W. Naugle, Creative Genius’s brother

By Orion W. Naugle, Nikko’s bro!

Meet me below!