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Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com

Why leave when Camano's a paradise?

By Kristi O'Harran
Herald Columnist

Bev Meadows-Lein lives on 10 acres on the west side of Camano Island.

During a garage sale, a customer came up her driveway and asked about some appliances that were for sale.

"As he got out of his truck, he had a funny look on his face," she says. "He asked me if there used to be a log cabin in front of our barn."

Come to find out, the man's grandparents used to own the property. The man's grandfather was in law enforcement and would bring buddies to the property to relax on weekends.

They would sit around the fireplace, tell stories on each other, drink and then, for target practice, use a huge knot in the wall above the fireplace in an old cabin that was eventually torn down.

When law enforcement types left, they chucked their empties into a ravine on the north side of the old cabin.

"As time goes by, this area keeps regurgitating some of those treasures," Meadows-Lein says. "I have found short-neck Rainier beer bottles, some pottery shards, a few pieces of broken depression glass, interesting bottles, car parts and wire bundles."

In the summer, when her family plots vacation ideas, her first thought is always to stay put.

"We live in a place people go to get away from it all. It is very cool to be able to walk a few minutes and sit around the campfire, roast marshmallows, listen to coyotes howling, owls hooting, smell the evergreens and salt air, fold up your chair and sleep in your own bed."

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Linking readers is my pleasure. I recently wrote about Marli Holden of Lake Stevens, who moved to Snohomish County with a lump of sourdough starter she began 13 years ago in Alaska.

Barbara Adams in Darrington said that sounded delicious.

Not only is Holden mailing her the recipe, she's planning a visit to Darrington to meet her new friend.

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My friend Michelle McGee from Lake Stevens was surprised while shopping at Costco in Marysville.

By the exit, she noticed a new product in a choice of silver, gold, black or pink.

She asked a sales associate where folks would store the item.

Probably in the garage, Michelle was told.

She didn't buy the casket.

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Fun fact: Michelle Heiderer, genealogist and head librarian at the Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Library in Arlington, enjoys cold Progresso soup straight out of the can.

"I can't have a lot of salt and fat," she says. "It's low fat."

It's also handy, with a pull-off top.

"I'm so busy," she says. "And I'm not going to pay $7 for lunch some place."

Columnist Kristi O'Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.