Black Coffee Northwest Attacked Again

BlackCoffeeNorthwest

Saw this in my Twitter feed this morning:

Racists annoy me greatly. They’ve worked hard to intimidate these good folks. I might not have a lot of power, but what little I have I’ll bend to helping Black Coffee Northwest grow and prosper.

I zipped down there just now and got some great coffee and pastries (try the peanut butter malt bar…heavenly!) I encourage everyone to do the same. They’re open today until 4 pm today. If you haven’t been there yet, they’re just south of Shorewood Highschool on the west side of Aurora. Click here for a map link/directions.

Larabee State Park: A Haiku 

As the cliff decays
Life will keep grasping skyward
Hope thrives in sunlight


Tide pools are a big deal for my family, so we trundled off to Bellingham’s Larabee State Park. This tree is just above the trail came down to the beach from. I’m always fascinated by the way trees adapt to their surroundings. Especially when their paths are inhibited. In this case by erosion. 

A fine day on the shore 

Late morning my wife and I made our way down to our favorite beach in Edmonds. It was an exceptionally low tide, which is always a delight to explore. These tides expose much that’s hidden, leaving amazing creatures in the tide pools. Below are just a few examples of all that was there. 

The view of Edmonds’ Brackett’s Landing at low tide

Normally, where all the seaweed is on the sand is below water. Rather deep water. 

I’m pretty sure this is a sea spong
An ochre star amidst the rocks at the jetty
Gobs of sea cucumbers
Grays Moon Snail egg casing

The first time we saw these, I thought they were some kind of gasket. 

Loved this kelp crab. 

I’ve never seen a crab crawl into a piling. 

And the evening ends

Road Healing Coming to I-5

Generally, the first response when seeing news like this: groans. Ugh, more roadwork! More snarls; slow, slow, slow! I try to think of the long-term with this stuff. Sometimes it works. But knowing that not doing this, not taking care of the preventive stuff only makes things worse. And, maybe, this will result in something better. A better, more wonderful life for us all. Well, one can dream…

New pavement preservation project begins on I-5 next week
A new pavement preservation project begins on I-5 in Seattle and Shoreline next week.
Beginning Aug. 11 contractor crews will start replacing more than 300 old, cracking and failing concrete panels that make up the I-5 roadway. The work is located between SR 104 at the King-Snohomish County line and Northeast 117th Street near Northgate. Crews will start in the southbound lanes and then work northbound. After the concrete panel work is done at the end of October, the crews are scheduled to start grinding the highway. The grinding will start no earlier than Nov. 1. The project will also add a new overhead electronic sign near Northeast 155th Street which will display travel times and messages. Durable, high visibility striping will be added in spring 2015. Thank you in advance for your patience as we begin this work that is so important to keeping commuters and freight moving on I-5.

 

Shoreline Community College Faculty member Troy Wolff Dies in Seattle stabbing

Just read about Troy Wolff’s death. Troy was a long-time staff member at Shoreline community college, where I attending in the early 2000’s. Troy was a fantastic teacher and will be missed. I studied with him and thought very highly of him.

Read the details here. 

Know he will be missed.