When I heard that somebody on Vashon Island had a collection of photos of naked guys on display in a makeshift showroom and that some of Seattle's television studios had plans to do an expose (so to speak) on an evening program I took notice.

I asked a friend and property owner on the island to fill me in.

"Yes," he said. "That is true."

He and his wife own a building that had an unoccupied hall. They have been letting some artists show their wares without charge. He was unaware they showed some photos of some men without underwear.

"When my wife heard about it she took off (so to speak) and demanded to know the naked truth.'

''She insisted they remove what she considered off-the- wall and had the stripper pictures stripped."

I have had glimpses of guys in the buff in steam rooms. It does not offend me but would make Elsbeth close her eyes or turn to stone.

So, don't go out and buy a ferry ticket. The rude nudes are now gone.

A Vashon Story

We once owned a small rental house on Vashon and knew Don MacDonald, husband of Betty MacDonald, who wrote "The Egg and I." Big deal?

Don was my wartime partner when we both worked as test electricians on B-29s during some of the war years.

I could not a write book like Betty but I could write a book on the number of times Don and I got our wires crossed. Our foreman called us Arky and Sparky.

Another Vashon story

I also knew Aaron VanDevanter, first principal at Chief Sealth High School.

He and his wife owned some acreage on Vashon where he raised cattle that ate thistles. I never heard why.
Aaron had a beautiful small trout pond, which he stocked with fat Rainbow trout and once invited me over, to the island to try my luck.

I could hardly wait and rushed down to his gem of a trout pond. I started casting a Doc Spratley dry fly. One cast and disaster struck.

I had left my tackle box open. Aaron's huge Boxer, attracted to some shiny lures, got both it's lips snagged in a flatfish cluster of very sharp hooks. He went nutty trying to shake the lure free.

After a terrible struggle we managed to wrestle his tortured pet into my car for the drive to a doctor's office to get rid of the torment (there were no vets on the island then).

I felt so guilty we left without catching a trout.

And one last Vashon story

We had a woman renting our island house. She complained that the bathroom floor needed repairing. She also wondered if I had any extra firewood at home so she could feed her fireplace.

I took one of our boys along to replace some flooring. We had some time left so I took my chainsaw out of my truck and attacked a row of alder trees in the back of our property.

I cut a tree almost down but it fell onto the next tree. So I sawed the next tree and it also fell onto a third tree and now both trees were stuck up.

Yes, I tried once more and the third alder also hung up.

About that time a rugged-looking guy came along with a brush hook. I was embarrassed but friendly, saying something like what a pickle I had created.

He was not friendly when he said, "It's not bad enough that you have never cut a tree down but that row of trees is on my property."

I decided he had an advantage on me with his brush hook so I took my chainsaw and faded away without arguing about property lines.

I never did get to give our renter some firewood. She was not deterred. She had another complaint. She pointed out that the pipe that supplies water to the toilet was too short and each time she sat down she got a jet of cold water on her derriere. Since it was a delicate situation I advised her that it was better than a cold shoulder. She was not amused.