Only Connect

I just finished Sarah  Vowell’s new book Unfamiliar Fishes. Once again, Vowell reads a lot of books so that we don’t have to.  She is  master at synthesizing massive amounts of research into short, clear, readable books that teach a lot and still can qualify as a vacation read.

Unfamiliar Fishes  is about Hawaii.  I bought it in Anacortes.  Every time I come up here for a visit, I meet someone who grew up in Hawaii.  When I go to Hawaii, I inevitably meet someone who spent time in the San Juan Islands.  I thought this was just an island connection, but maybe it’s more than that.

George Vancouver, of course, is connected to both archipeligos.  He sailed to Hawaii (The Sandwich Islands) with Captain Cook.  Later, he explored the Pacific Northwest looking for the Northwest Passage.  As the ferry was sliding across the dark green water of the sound, paced by the Coast Guard gunboat, I was reading in Unfamiliar Fishes about his time in Hawaii.

In Anacortes, I stopped for a coffee drink at a kiosk in a parking lot.  The lively young woman who was working asked me where I was from and I told her.  She said she vaguely knew where Sonoma County was, but she also knew about a place called Sonora because her husand was from there.  I told her I had been to Sonora.  I asked where she was from and she said. . . (wait for it). . . Hawaii.  Which island?  The Big Island.  She grew up in Hilo.

This is not a review of Unfamiliar Fishes, which I plan to do later.  I recommend the book though.