In the middle of January, with the rest of the country locked in wind and snow and icy rain, we went to a rainforest. Rockport State Park is nestled in the cascades, a lush old-growth forest rich with the tingly smell of greenery. We wandered for a long time, taking picture after picture, and breathing in deeply of the rich warm air. Desperate to capture the beauty; trees so tall they took your breath away, and a lush bed of moss covering every surface.
I took it home with me, and did some graphic artwork inspired by what I saw there; still desperate to capture it and make it my own. It's always a losing battle to capture beauty, but I feel compelled to try.
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21 candidates for mayor; so many you can hardly figure out who is who. We don’t have “republican” and “democrat” primaries here, we have non-partisan primaries, so that you are picking not based on political party but by what you can gather of their voting records, statements about themselves, endorsements, and plans. Which can be good, and force more accountability from the voter; but I'm thinking it also leads to "voter fatigue." One curmudgeon said (when asked in an exit poll who he’d voted for): “I don’t know, I just closed my eyes and pointed. I’m exercising my right to vote.” A weird thing about Seattle is that they mail out $25 “democracy vouchers” before the election so that even those who don’t have any money can still support a candidate of their choice. It’s meant to keep the people involved and keep money out of politics. Of course, candidates have to opt in and this means that they can’t take money from big donors, but if they opt out, then they can take just as much money as they want from Amazon. It’s a classic example of the silliness of Seattle: raise property taxes (and therefore rents) to fund a program so that everybody can “afford” to support democracy. Another silly Seattle thing: there was a proposal on the ballot to raise the sales tax to fund arts programs for low-income kids. The thing is, the sales tax in Seattle is already over 10%, and many progressives complain about it being a regressive tax that disproportionately affects those in poverty. So we’re going to fund arts programs for low income kids by making it harder for those same low income kids to buy school supplies, clothes, cars, gasoline, and everything else required for them to be able to survive. Fortunately this ballot measure failed. I’m sorry about arts education. But there has to be a better way of funding it than taxing the very people it’s meant to help. There was one race in which the four options included a career politician, a protest candidate who wanted to draw attention to the failures of the career politician but had no intention of winning, a perennial candidate who is always entering races to promote causes like a monorail (the Simpson’s monorail episode comes to mind), and a candidate who calls himself Goodspaceguy (which about sums up his candidacy). That’s four candidates for one position, only one of whom seems like a serious candidate (though possibly flawed). I went ahead and didn’t vote in this race, I just couldn’t take it seriously. And then there are those 21 candidates for mayor. The race swelled after it became apparent that our current mayor would not survive (politically) a sex scandal. How do you tell the difference between 21 candidates who all say that affordable housing is their top priority? Which one of these has a plan for the city that will actually help and not make everything worse? We had the socialist, the activist, the first openly gay attorney general, the idealistic 26-year-old, the former mayor, and a woman whose motto seems to be “US Out of Guantanamo!” Not to discount the man who says, “Stop fascism with idiotic face!” (That is not a mistype. That is actually what he said in his bio, which is rich with similar gems). Who did I vote for? The former mayor (not the sex scandal one, the one before him). Because he seemed to me to be the only one with actual plans. He didn’t even make it into the top three, so he won’t be on the ballot in November. But that’s democracy in Seattle for you! As a newcomer in this city, I'm still trying to make sense of Seattle culture, what the people and city are like. This is the second of an ongoing series on my observations of the city. I'm not trying to define anyone, just make sense of what I'm seeing and experiencing.
Willie loves being a city dog.
He loves going for walks, sniffing for other dogs (there are many), and running down the hallways of his apartment building. There's so much to see and smell; he's always sitting at the window watching people pass, nose twitching, waiting for E to get home from work. I think Seattle is a stressed city. Like, everybody’s worried about something. The "Land Use Action" notices that seem to be popping up everywhere and always signal yet another condo building in place of a historic home. The environment. Rising rent prices. Traffic getting worse. Donald Trump. Amazon changing even more of the cityscape. The weather. Pursuit of better jobs, more success, more days off, enough money to put food on the table. It is a young city, a city of transients and transplants, a city caught in between the drive for financial success and the urge to get out into the mountains and have a day off. It is a city where the hunger of the homeless is matched by the high cost of coffee; and where the $15 minimum wage is not even close to a living wage. It is a rapidly changing city. There are more building cranes in the cityscape than in any other US city. There is so much to love about Seattle, but I do find I’m more stressed being here. I feel the push of the city rushing forward, and the pull of those who don’t want things to change too quickly. I too see new buildings going up and think “everything’s changing.” And not all change is bad; gentrification has made some neighborhoods safer and brought in businesses. But not all change is good either, and when change is primarily driven by money, it will be voracious; it will never be satisfied. Already I feel myself more driven by success, more insecure about my accomplishments, more anxious about change than I have ever been before. But I don't want to be driven by the desires of this city, controlled by its mores, or in pursuit of its successes. The challenge is how to enter in to the life of the city while holding myself - my heart - separate; letting God hold my heart and set a different standard of success. As a newcomer in this city, I'm still trying to make sense of Seattle culture, what the people and city are like. This is the first of an ongoing series on my observations of the city. I'm not trying to define anyone, just make sense of what I'm seeing and experiencing.
Sugar Plum is a little ice cream shop on 15th Ave that specializes in vegan ice cream and unusual flavors. First impressions: Cute little shop, friendly staff, really interesting selections of house-made ice-cream, all of which was vegan. We ordered the Oat Milk Grilled Peach with Thyme ice-cream, which was delicious. It wasn’t super creamy, had a slightly icy texture, but had a really good flavor and blend and the right fruit-to-cream ratio. Price: $4.50 for a rather large “small” bowl that we split. Special diet friendliness: Unless your kryptonite is sugar, this place has you covered. They use mostly oat milk, but their sorbet doesn’t use any type of milk at all. There are also gluten free cone options available, and some of their other sweets are gluten free as well. Seating: There’s plenty of outdoor seating with some benches around the front door, but it’s been too cold for people to really gather. There’s also a couple stools inside but it’s not the kind of place where you would bring a laptop and work or anything. Other options: There is a soft-serve that we didn’t try, and also sorbet and sherbet options We got in late Monday, four days of driving; I walked around my new neighborhood and saw this:
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