What a month.

Locally, we’ve experienced the grief of the death of J Pod orca Tahlequah’s fourth calf, the passing of the torch for leadership at Vashon Island Fire & Rescue and the kick-off of a new Legislative session and leadership team in the state executive branch.

Change and challenges can propel us to creative breakthroughs, too. As detailed this week, our county landfill — the destination for Vashon’s trash — is running out of space.

That’s an opportunity to rethink our relationship to stuff — the plastic packaging we buy, the mindless Amazon purchases we tire of and toss, and the food we trash rather than compost. Our response to this problem can’t merely be building bigger holes in the ground to fill with all of our accumulated detritus. We must find another way.

Nationally, January 20 marked both Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the former of which was celebrated at Vashon Center for the Arts on Monday, as seen in our page 1 story.

We’ve seen wildfires rage in Los Angeles, and felt the connections to our island neighbors and loved ones who were affected, as explored in our coverage last week and this week.

The annual Christmas Bird Count, chronicled on page 2, is in part a story of the ups-and-downs of the bird world — the species fleeing northward as things get too toasty here, and those making new homes here to escape the weather. We’re not so different from our feathered friends. We’re all just trying to stay out of the heat.

In all these local stories, individual islanders are doing their best to educate, uplift and protect each other. Sometimes that work can feel grim. But there is so much good in the world to celebrate, if we look for it.

Israel and Hamas have, as of press time, agreed to a three-stage ceasefire proposal that could become permanent if the peace talks hold. “Permanent” is a tricky word, and peace is a fragile thing. But the end of hostilities — of bloodshed, bombs and disease — and the return of hostages and refugees to their homes is something we should dare to hope for.

So, too, should we hope for a rebuilding of the shattered Gaza Strip — that project being an audacious act of hope in and of itself — the dawn of an era of justice and rights for Palestinians; an time of healing for Israelis; and a society in which they can live together in peace and equality.

In all things, it’s easy to think about all that could go wrong. But in our own lives, we tend to discount the power we have to make things go right.

There’s still another week left in this first month of the new year. What wonderful things might you do with it?