A Saturday Haiku For Seattle

With the gloom clearing

Patches of blue sky eastward

Yet more rain’s coming

Weather, especially in June, can be quite fickle. Such is today. I guess.

The Pike Place Market: A Meditation

Memories of walking the market 

Wood floors creaking 

My grandparents walked here 

Aunts and uncles, cousins 

So very much of my soul

Looks at the westward view

Sunset behind the Olympics

Elliott Bay’s colored waters

Blues, reds and purples

Their history upon my eyes

Check out this video I made of one of my team’s new homes

As this project is one of the first I’ve seen from concept to build, it’s of particular importance to me. Since I needed to be onsite, I thought it would be fun to share it with you.

Check it the video below.

Yeah, I realize I shot all the clips in portrait. Ugh!

Anyway, this house is for sale. Have your agent put an offer on this one! Tell them it’s MLS# 1233212 (in the NWMLS). Don’t have I agent? I can fix that for you.

We’re looking forward to turning this new house into someone’s new home. That’s the best part of this job.

Hey Seattle, the weekend’s looking pretty good

Weather

Though the next few days look a bit drippy, the weekend is looking pretty nice. Actually, we’ll be pushing the Seattle comfort band pretty hard Sunday and Monday. 80? Ooofff!

Anyway, excited and ready to get outdoors? Or are you going to find a coffee shop or a mall with AC?

 

With an Everett building’s rebirth, I consider the future of this lovely city

I’ve been watching the evolution of this building for a few years. Moving from weathered to worn to abandoned to dilapidated and now, finally, getting refurbished.

I love this style of building. When I lived in downtown Seattle I got to live in a couple of similar vintage and style. Watching it come back to life fills me with joy. The only downside for me: I was hoping I couple work directly with that.

Everett has an amazing amount of potential. There’s some great buildings, nice eateries, and a solid arts community. It’s also quite affordable. I firmly believe the city is on the cusp of a rebirth.

The economics of real estate play a key part. Combine the great walkable streets with reasonable prices, it’s just a matter of time. And as light rail expands up here, de-brutalizing the commute (to Seattle, at least), the expansion should grow.

I’m fond of this city and delight in the opportunity to grow. Everett also is in a place to learn from the development mistakes of Seattle, and others. Keeping the city’s unique charm, and liability would be wonderful.

Walking in Edmonds, My Grandparents, Sunsets and Memories

One of my favorite things to do: walk along the Edmonds waterfront. It’s picturesque and just delightful, especially when the weather is nice (like tonight). Yet there’s far more to this for me. For most of my memory, Edmonds was the home of my grandparents.

I walked along the same space with my grandpa, though it’s worlds different now. So many differences: no longer able to fish off the ferry dock and pretty much all the businesses they knew are gone (I don’t miss the old cat-food/meat processing facility that was over by Anthony’s, though…blech!), yet there are things that trigger memories. Some of the old buildings, the older restaurants (hi Pancake Haus!), but the biggest thing was walking by the place my grandparents lived. In the dusk, looking at the building, I have expected to see grandpa walking out.

These memories drive home how much this little city by the bay has changed. Yet there’s so much the same. He’d know where he was were he to materialize in front of me, familiar and alien. I do love my dichotomies.

The photos here are, simply, snapshots of this evening’s walk. I think I’ll bring my camera down there, soon, and explore the city in terms of my memory.

 

City of Lynnwood Free Community Shred Event – No, Not Skateboarding, Documents!

Here’s a great way to get rid of those sensitive documents. Brought to you by the City of Lynnwood. I intend to use this myself.

Shred Truck

Saturday, May 12th from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Lynnwood Operations & Maintenance Center

20525 60th Ave W, Lynnwood, WA

 

FREE COMMUNITY SHRED EVENT

Bring and shred financial statements, receipts, invoices and any other personal documents*. Documents will be shredded on-site by LeMay Mobile Shredding.

*Up to three paper bags or two file storage boxes per household.

Reflecting on our burst of summer-like weather 

Well, it was pretty hot today. A real scorcher by Seattle standards. The temperature above was in Marysville, taken right after I got in.

I’m not the biggest fan of heat, but it doesn’t bother me like some folks. I remember getting off the plane. In Orlando. In August. The wave of heat and humidity was invigorating. Weird, I know. But it brought up memories of the Philippines. A wonderful period in my life. That was many decades hence. Yet it’s still in my heart. 

Where I hate heat: when I’m trying to sleep. I love feeling cool. No logic. Just is. Thank goodness for fans. 

Now the layer of grimy duat covering my cars each morning irritates my sinuses. That’s been adding an element of misery. Fortunately, my allergy meds work mitigates my misery. V_

Clearly, spring has sprung. 

And, in classic Seattle, Charlie Brown-esque luck, after one last nice, albeit cooler, day, we launch into another dripfest weekend. Oh, we hapless Seattleites and our penchant for indoor weekend fun…or rain gear. We’ll need to utilize one, or both, this coming one. 

May it be wonderful for each of you. Rain or dry. 

A great respite in this dreary spring of Seattle’s discontent

Quite the lovely day, today, north of Seattle. A wonderful sunny and warm respite in this gloomy spring of our discontent.

We have a project slightly north of Marysville, right off of Centennial Trail. So most of my team took a walk this afternoon. A delightful way to spend an afternoon.

The site’s going to have great views of the Olympics and the valley north of Marysville. It’s a really fun project. Been creative with AutoCAD and laying out lots. Getting to the site and seeing the land, the layout and flow is much more powerful than topographical lines on my computer.

Lots of wins. Though I did spent a chunk of this evening dancing with CAD. In all, a productive day, just in unexpected ways.

A view along Centennial Trail
A lovely afternoon walk