Langley resident and author Drew Kampion.

Author Drew Kampion of Langley is headed for Southern California this week. Turns out he's going to be inducted into the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame. It's a big deal, as he's the first journalist to receive the honor.

Now in its 15th year, the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the sport and culture of surfing. The annual ceremony will take place on July 24 in front of Jack's Surfboards in Huntington Beach. Later that day, the inductees will join with honorees from the past 14 years at a luncheon in their honor.

Other inductees include Andy Irons, Rich Chew, Lynn Boyer, Wayne Lynch and Buzzy Trent. Along with Drew, they are the six founding members of the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) and will join the Walk of Fame's coveted Honor Roll.

The sidewalk surrounding Jack's Surfboards is now dotted with more than 100 granite stones representing the champions, heroes and legends of the sport of surfing.

Drew is touted as "the dean of surf scribes." He's a writer, editor and photographer and his bio includes editor-in-chief of SURFING Magazine and editorial stints and contributions to SURFER Magazine and The Surfers Journal. He's currently the American editor of The Surfer's Path.

Drew also wrote two books on surfing: The Book of Waves and Stoked! A History of Surf Culture.

Islanders may know him as the Island Independent guy. He founded, published and edited the Island Independent (1993-96), an award-winning "bioregional magazine in newsprint," serving the "maritime rain shadow" islands of Washington State.

The Washington State Department of Transportation reports that crews will begin work next week to pave State Route 525 in Clinton. Road grinding will prepare for paving on Sunday night and on Monday, crews will pave between the ferry dock and Bob Galbreath Road.

Crews will work nightly between 9 PM and 5 AM.

Good weather is expected and the paving should be complete by Friday, July 26. Temporary lane markings will be applied as crews complete the work. Permanent striping will be added 21 days after the fresh asphalt has cured.

A lane will remain open in each direction, but there may be minor delays in the construction zone. Drivers headed for the ferry should keep that in mind.

On nearby Fidalgo Island, WSDOT will temporarily lower the speed limit for three miles on SR 20, from the Miller/Gibralter Road intersection to Meadow Creek. The speed limit will be reduced from 50 mph to 40 mph and last for the duration of the project.

Several close calls between drivers and constructions workers in recent weeks have prompted WSDOT to lower the limit. There was a serious collision near the Miller Road intersection several weeks ago that sent two WSDOT surveyors to the hospital and severely damaged both vehicles involved. Give 'em a brake!

Musician Troy Chapman at his home in Langley. Photo by Sue Frause.

Probably the toughest thing about listening to Billet-Deux is their name. Troy Chapman, solo guitarist with the group, laughs about all the different pronunciations he hears.

Billet Ducks is one of the better ones.

For the record, Billet-Deux is the name of a Django Reinhardt tune. It's French for love letter and is pronounced bee-lay-du.

I sat down and chatted with Troy last week in Langley. Although I'd heard about the talented musician and knew he was an active participant in the annual DjangoFest NorthWest, I'd never met the guy or heard him perform.

We shook hands and I told him, "I thought you'd be tall and blonde!" He's not blonde. But he's one heck of a musician (I'm listening to his new CD right now, titled Deux). Troy formed the band in 2002 with guitarist Steve Kirk. In the beginning, they played pure, straight gypsy jazz. But six years later, the group has morphed into a more modern tradition. It's a melding of Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grapelli and the Hot Club of France with the coolness of modern jazz.

Billet-Deux is currently an all South Whidbey band. The members include Troy Chapman, solo guitar; James Hinkley, cello and vocals; Josephina Hunner, guitar; Michael Yocco, bass; and Roger Bennett, drums.

"We all get along, we enjoy each other's company," said Troy. "We're making the kind of music we want to make."

Troy moved to the island in 2001. He grew up in Montreal, always surrounded by music, and has been listening to gypsy jazz legend Django Reinhardt since he was 17. He got into the folk music scene while in Montreal, and fondly recalls The Yellow Door as a popular venue. He majored in jazz guitar performance at Montreal's Concordia University and also at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.

While in the Windy City, the guitarist played with a number of groups including the Lee Roland Orchestra, the Neophonic Orchestra and the hard-edged melodic rock band Something Orange.

These days, the 48-year-old splits his time between Langley and Seattle with his wife Julie Quiring. Between them, they have four daughters. He's been an air traffic controller for 20 years, currently working at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Troy is also a board member of Whidbey Island Center for the Arts.

Saturday night is Billet-Deux's CD release concert at WICA in Langley. It's the band's second CD, and three of the dozen tunes are original (Sarita was written for Troy's daughter). Not only did Troy play on the CD, he engineered and mixed it, a six-month process.

Troy says both the CD and concert are dedicated to Michael Nutt, Billet-Deux's friend, mentor and member forever.

"We wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for Michael," said Troy. "He'll always be with us when we play."

Billet-Deux, CD Release Concert, Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. Saturday, July 19, 7:30 PM. Tickets $15, call 360.221.8268. The group will also be performing at DjangoFest NorthWest 2008, Sept. 24-28 at WICA.

An eagle atop a snag off Vancouver Island. Sue Frause photos.

Quadra Island ~ While whooping cough has been the illness du'jour on Whidbey Island, I have my own personal headline : Woman catches cold while on the road (it's something to sneeze at).

It's not a big deal, just a summer cold, but has sort of put a crimp in my four-day getaway with a friend up in British Columbia.

I did manage to tear myself away from the Kleenex box yesterday and get out on the waters for three hours. These photos are a sample of some of the wildlife I saw.

But back to my cold. It's a summer cold, and that makes it even worse. There's something much more fitting about sniffing and sneezing and having the chills when it's cold and rainy in the winter than on a beautiful summer day.

Blowing one's nose is not a good match for July in the Pacific Northwest.

I'm not doing anything special to get over this cold. I took Zicam the first thing Monday morning when I woke up and went, "Uh oh, I'm getting a cold." I'm not sure how effective that is. I'm also doing aspirin and zinc lozenges and drinking lots of tea and water. Last night after dinner I added to my liquid intake with a special recipe of peppermint tea with a shot of Jack Daniels on the side.

Funny, but I feel a bit better this morning -- just in time for the trip home.

Thanks, Jack.

A black bear cub on Vancouver Island. We didn't see his mom.

A view from Quadra Island to Vancouver Island. Photo by Sue Frause.

Amy Walker at Choochokam on Sunday afternoon. Sue Frause photo.

It was fun to run into Amy Walker at Choochokam this weekend. She was at the RainDance Short Film Festival at The Clyde Sunday afternoon, where she was awarded Best Actress for her role in 21 Accents.

Her video, which she filmed in the kitchen of her apartment in Philadelphia, was a big hit on YouTube -- going viral with currently more than 4 million people watching it. Amy ended up on The Today Show, Inside Edition and on NPR.

It was heady times.

Amy has since moved from Philly, and right now is somewhat of a nomad. Last month, she performed in eight plays at the International Mystery Writers Festival 2008 in Owensboro, Kentucky. Donning 11 personalities in 30 performances, she picked up both Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress awards.

Since then, she's been preparing for her second one-woman show, this time at West Seattle's historic Kenyon Hall. Amy Walker : Inside Out is a new version of her ne-woman variety show that she staged at WICA last year. It includes original songs, monologues, musings and whimsy.

But the biggest news is that Amy has written a screenplay. She describes Connected as a small ensemble dramedy "with humor and poignance, family angst and true soul." She wrote the screenplay in six weeks and in addition to having a small part in it, she will direct it. Of course there's the $$ thing, and the million-dollar budget film will need some funding. But there's already interest out there.

She is also in discussions with FremantleMedia about a possible collaboration.

"I wake up galvanized," says Amy about her passion for what she does. "I have to live the life that I have to live."

Mt. Baker from West Beach Road in Coupeville. Sue Frause photo.

It was a busy weekend on the island. I awoke to the sounds of cheers as the Langley Half Marathon passed by our house early Sunday morning. And the whooping cough outbreak didn't seem to deter people from celebrating Choochokam. Farmer Bob, Max and I walked down Sunday afternoon and enjoyed the music, some lunch, checking out the booths and just hanging out.

There were grumblings about not enough local talent in the music line-up, but as a former Choochokam coordinator for three years, there are always grumblers. I like the new lay-out of the festival, which is much more spacious and features additional performance venues. The food booths seemed a little skimpy, but I heard that three of them pulled out at the last minute.

The new Choochokam info booths and signage are a welcome addition. And yes, that was feminist icon Gloria Steinem shakin' it up at Saturday night's street dance! Ms. Steinem is on the board of Hedgebrook, a Whidbey Island writer's retreat.

One of the best additions to the arts festival was the RainDance Short Film Festival at The Clyde. At the awards ceremony on Sunday, Lynn Willeford said there were 60 entries, a great start for what is to be an annual event. Patrick Moote's Just MeTH, which received the Jury Prize, was also given the People's Choice Award.

Other winners are listed on The Clyde's website; just click on Schedule of films for Raindance.

Later that evening, I finally sat down with the Sunday paper, visiting the Clinton garden of Kirk and Judith Prindle in The Seattle Times'Pacific Northwest magazine. Their beautiful grounds and Kirk's sculpture were included in a feature by Valerie Easton titled Choreographed Chaos.

What a lovely place we live in.

A dozen farm fresh eggs from our happy hens. Photo by Sue Frause.

Breaking News : Farmer Bob's Egg Prices Jump to $3 a Dozen

I figured my blog was the easiest way to let my regular egg customers know that after years of selling Farmer Bob's eggs for two bucks a dozen, I'm raising the price to $3.

This was after a lot of research and a few sleepless nights. I recently spotted a sign on Darst Road in Coupeville that was advertising eggs for $3 a dozen. And I knew Farmer Bob and I were missing the big boat when a dozen eggs at Bayview Farmer's Market was selling for $5/dozen.

In Miami Lakes, Florida, a dozen brown/organic/jumbo/happy hen eggs goes for $4.89 (on sale from $5.19). And the Jiji Press reports from Tokyo that Japan's largest egg distributor, Zen-Noh Tamago, will raise wholesale prices of eggs for supply to supermarkets and other mass retailers on Aug. 1, 2008.

Cluck Cluck.

Sound Transit's Mukilteo Station on a sunny morn. Sue Frause photo.

Click here for a Flip video of the Sounder in Mukilteo by Sue Frause.

I did a double take as I drove into Langley the other afternoon. There was "my" car on the street with a FOR SALE sign in the window. But how could that be, as I was driving "my" car?

Turns out it's a 240D and not a 300D like mine (shown above). And now it's gone, so it must have sold. Another Langley mystery solved. Now, who's stealing all the crab pots? Photos by Sue Frause.