Tag Archive Doe Bay

ByGD

Ok Village

My family has been incredibly fortunate during the pandemic. Unlike so many other people, we haven’t suffered any significant material losses. All we can complain about is missed traditions, like my daughter’s final Village Day at her elementary school. But complaining about those seems wrong in the midst of everything that’s going on.

This photo shows my youngest daughter’s ear protection and wristband from Doe Bay Fest 9. We’ve gone to almost every Doe Bay Festival since we discovered it in year 6. This year would have been lucky 13. How ironic.

The wristband says

Ok village, raise me

It’s a reflection of the DBF spirit of community that makes parents feel safe letting their kids run around the festival unsupervised. They can’t get lost because on that weekend the whole resort is packed with hundreds of people. And at Doe Bay, you know that those people are all keeping an eye on whatever kids are within visual range. If a kids falls off a rock or out of a tree or gets a bee sting – someone will notice and they won’t hesitate to help.

I’m not a particularly social person, so for the most part the whole quarantine experience has relieved more stress than it has caused me. But I’m sad there is no DBF this year and really hope it’s back on next summer. Because at least once a year, almost as much as the music, I miss the village.

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Stank Baby

That time my daughter’s friend from rock camp pulled her up on stage at a music festival. That day at Doe Bay they danced, but earlier that summer she taught my girl the importance of Stank Face. For those who don’t know, it’s the ugly face you make when you’re getting down and the music is more important than looking pretty.

Adra Boo, then of Fly Moon Royalty, is still a favorite at Doe Bay (playing music at the fest and teaching at the writing camp). She also writes for The Stranger, and perhaps most importantly, mentors young women in music through Rain City Rock Camp.

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FOMO, the Multiverse, and Doe Bay

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I was reading Neal Stephenson’s book Anathem when my family made its annual pilgrimage to Doe Bay Fest on Orcas Island. It was a hard book to get into in the middle of summer, but sometimes what you read and what you live integrate in the strangest ways.

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Marching Band

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This ragtag marching band greeted the day on the first morning of the first Doe Bay Fest I attended. At Doe Bay, the festival line up is just a starting point. Music pops up like daisies in the oddest times and places.

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Doe Bay Guardian

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This statue stands guard over the bay at Doe Bay Resort on Orcas Island. It is irresistible to children, who are compelled to climb it. And it terrifies me, because I constantly imagine them tumbling off the statue and all the way down into the bay below. No one else seems worried, though, so maybe I just need to have more faith in the guardian.