West Seattle Blog…

Sorry, no refund

What’s left of the Monorail Board has spoken.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

-West Seattle’s most famous Christmas display, at the Menashe house on Beach Drive (a mile or so south of Me-Kwa-Mooks), is up and running. Drove by tonight and noted a feature we don’t recall from previous years — a big star in one of the trees.

-The official WS Christmas tree is in place at the site of Saturday night’s big festivities on the north side of Alaska between Cali and 42nd (just east of the Cupcake Royale/Swee Swee Paperie/etc. building). This site is currently dubbed “Junction Plaza” but its official city page says they’re soliciting suggestions for what to name it — you’ve got about six weeks to throw your idea into the hopper.

-Confirmed a visitor’s tip that there is another WS Christmas-tree lot we hadn’t listed (till now) on our Holiday Stuff page — south side of Westwood Village, next to Sally’s Beauty Supply, where a couple more restaurants are set to be built next year.

Back to school

Seattle Public Schools will reopen today, with a 2-hour delay, according to the site that lists major regional school changes.

Five reasons to go out tonight

1 — this snow/ice madness should finally be over and done with
2 — first night of “Voices of Christmas” @ ArtsWest (link on our WS Holiday Stuff page)
3 — Alki Art Studio reception @ The Bathhouse
4 — Greg Laswell live in-store @ Easy Street
5 — a wild-sounding poetry-book release party @ Talarico’s (really)

Super-size snow

So pretty. Big flakes that look like confetti, or even in some cases falling leaves.

A watched storm never boils

But this one finally hit the second we decided we would take advantage of the “delay” and go out for a little drive. Headed down Cali Ave … and right as we reached Admiral, freezing rain started pelting the car. Had to turn around and head right back home in hopes the hill wouldn’t be too badly frosted by the time we started back up. If you see this somewhere around the time we’re posting it, go open your door or window and listen … freezing rain is a very interesting sound. Uh oh … now it looks more like snow …

The waiting is the hardest part

Tonight’s weather radar pictures show a Big Blob of stormy something coming this way. But its true nature may not be revealed till after you tuck yourself beneath three layers of comforters (down from four last night, when Seattle set a for-this-date record low of 18 degrees). One thing seems to be for sure … by this time tomorrow night, we should be able to stop worrying about the weather for a while. Good thing, too, since three interesting events are happening in West Seattle tomorrow (Thursday) night — we’ll post about them first thing in the morning.

Festival of the flakes

Even as another snowburst headed our way, intrepid decorating crews toiled in the Junction, wrapping poles with white garlands leading up to illuminated … what else … snowflakes.

Eye on the roads

Since the roads outside WS seem to be a mixed bag, you might want to check the city’s entire traffic cam network before going anywhere today. Outside the city, King County has some cams too.

No school

Seattle Public Schools’ home page says things are still so icy on the north side, the entire district will stay shut down again for a second day.

Chilling chronicles

Poked around the tubes to see who else is talking about the Semi-Big Chill with a WS spin. The Lone Tomato saw our snow through the eyes of a former tropics-dweller. The Duke mentions crossing the bridge in the midst of the worst of it last night. The Weatherman put up a pic of the view from his walkway, quite the representative WS scene. Period of Useful Consciousness features video of a rare event: a dog deciding it’s too cold for a swim in the water off Alki. Demi has pics including both snow/ice and tonight’s spectacular sunset. Peter writes about leaving work in West Seattle last night to try to get home. Red Kev also had to negotiate the streets right about then. (We personally think the most dramatic and horrifying tales will occur when the utility bills hit the mail slot next month.)

The good news is …

… the really bad weather should be done by this weekend, so we can all enjoy the 2nd annual West Seattle Tree Lighting (this time it’s going to be at 42nd & Alaska, and county councilguy Dow C will be the MC) on Saturday. But in the meantime, we’ve got near-record cold in the works for tonight (here at WS Blog World HQ it’s a three-cat night … oh wait, we need another cat for that) and supposedly some more snow to smack us all tomorrow night into Thursday morning, with a chaser of rain, just like the big melt of ‘96 (remember that one? that’s the worst memory we can muster, having not been here for Bridge Sinking ‘90).

Road report

Scoped the roads while going home for lunch. The Bridge is in vastly better shape than it was this morning. You can hear the crunch and crackle of traction sand working its way into your tire treads, but that’s a much more pleasant sound than the screech of brakes, spinning of wheels, smashing into Jersey barriers and so on. Should be pretty decent for the evening drive home. The Admiral offramp still looked a little icy, though, so beware of that; the stretches of Fauntleroy and California that we traveled were relatively ice-free, but most side streets still look relatively ominous.

Brrrrr-idge

The approach to the high bridge has a lighted sign reading ICE ON BRIDGE … perhaps they should simply change it to STAY HOME OR ELSE.

Saw that one coming

As of 10:45 pm, Seattle Public Schools have already decided tomorrow (Tuesday) will be a snow-closure day.

If nobody’s made this joke already …

… let me be the first: You just know SOMEONE’S story about the Seahawks’ Monday Night Football game is going to allude to “the 12th Snowman.”

Half an hour and the street’s all white

Haven’t seen it snow this hard since the Post-Christmas Blast of ‘96. P.S. In case you wondered, the city has a snow & ice FAQ. And there’s the handy-dandy list of streets most likely to be closed probably closed right this very second already.

It’s he-e-ere

Six o’clock straight up and the latest wave of snow just hit our end of WS. Right after we drove through it on our way home from work … past Qwest Field, where as I write, Monday Night Football features the Seahawks hosting a team that’s more used to this kind of weather. This time, the snow seems to be more a matter of geography than altitude … a little while ago, the cars at Huling Brothers already had a decent coat of white, but by the time we passed Morgan Junction Thriftway, the ground was nearly bare … till now. Whoa, it appears to be snowing sideways at the moment. Be safe!

From wonderland to wind-erland

The snow’s stopped but now gusty wind has roared in. Looks like the experts think we’re done with the serious snow threat (till you get north of Seattle, anyway). Nice while it lasted (provided you didn’t have to drive last night). If you were wondering “how early did we see snow last year, anyway?” my memory didn’t help, either, but the archives of Metroblogging Seattle did.

Still snowing

Just after 7 pm and here on the southern hills of West Seattle, it’s been snowing for a few hours, with flakes still falling and some slush on the street. Will this mean an extended Thanksgiving holiday for local schoolkids? No word yet. If it does, the info should show up here before dawn. Also remember that if you have to drive (hopefully not) we’ve got city traffic cameras, including the bridge, linked from our WS cams page.

Sad snowman

Got snow?

Woke up late and missed the actual snowfall up here on our hill, but there’s still a bit in the yard and on neighboring roofs. Not for long, though, since it’s raining and 37 degrees. We’re going out to see if anything’s photo-worthy; meantime, if you want to check out an actual Winter Wonderland, look at the live state cameras in Whatcom County.

Saturday rounds

This near-winter time of year, it’s tougher to get a chance to tour the town in daylight. So here’s what we spotted today while catching up:

-A new pedestrian stoplight is up (though the crosswalk’s not painted yet) at Fauntleroy & Kenyon, around midway down the east side of Lincoln Park. About time; without it, you’re taking your life into your hands if you try crossing Fauntleroy anywhere between the 76 station and the park’s southernmost parking lot. Looks like the Fauntleroy Community Association’s been campaigning about this problem for a long time, so perhaps we have them to thank. (Speaking of pedestrian safety, here’s your chance to make a BIG difference: The city’s Pedestrian Advisory Board needs new members, and Monday’s the application deadline.)

-What was Fauntleroy Auto Works (Cali Ave just north of Fauntleroy), future site of what we think of as the Monorail Memorial Park, is now a pile of rubble.

-We found six seven places to buy Christmas trees in West Seattle, so far. (All are now listed on our ever-evolving West Seattle Holiday Stuff page.) Seems like fewer than years past, but as we realized while driving around, we’ve got fewer empty lots these days. P.S. The P-I mentioned the Holy Rosary lot today in a story about nonprofit tree sales.

Snow or no?

If you’ve checked the papers or watched tv, you may have heard the latest round of “it might snow” hysteria. Here’s the latest from the experts.

Ferry-tale holiday

In line at Morgan Junction Thriftway on Thanksgiving afternoon, we listened to our checker swap tales with customers about what sounded like the Ferry Line From Hell down at the Fauntleroy dock. Didn’t have time or need to check it out for ourselves; but the blog stories we’re finding tonight sound like the next best thing to having been there — 1,000 Comedian Out of Work…’s Blog tells of surviving the seemingly endless line, only to wind up at the wrong dock; Acting Up mentions giving up upon the mere sight of the line, and “driving around” instead to get to Kitsap County.

‘Twas the weekend after Thanksgiving

… and all through the town/nothing much was scheduled/’cause few were around.

Well, it’s not that slow, but close (the really good stuff is next weekend, including the 2nd annual West Seattle Tree Lighting). Keep in mind that the community centers are closed, the Senior Center’s closed, but stores are open, so it’s a great weekend to start shopping! (We’ll post some recommendations soon for only-in-WS gifts.) Aside from that, here’s a few weekend events: Santa’s arriving @ Westwood Village at noon Saturday … the Holy Rosary Tree Lot opens Saturday (we’ll be scoping out others this weekend too) … on Sunday, it’s one of the final four West Seattle Farmers’ Market days of the year … ongoing art exhibits include “Visual Ensembles” @ ArtsWest, Alexis St. John’s retrospective @ T(ea) Gallery, and “Art for the People” by Chad Stieg @ Revolution Coffee & Art.

Ready to think about Christmas yet?

Soon as you are … check out the latest additions to our WS Holiday Stuff page. And as soon as you (or your neighbors) turn your house into a light-encrusted showplace, send us the address … we plan to list the coolest decorations, too, for all to see.

Mahalo, gracias, arigatoo, merci, kiitos, niawe …

Among many other blessings, we are thankful for you taking the time to stop by this site and see what’s up. (Otherwise, we’d be talking to ourselves, and heaven knows, we’ve done enough of that in our time on this planet so far.) We are also thankful to still be here in wondrous West Seattle … where you can see sunsets like this (photo by Lisa) and this (photo by Michelle) … where you can go for a summer swim at a pool like this … where you can find community groups like this and this, spending their “spare time” to nurture our neighborhoods … others banding together to caretake precious bits of urban wildness between the condos and the concrete … yet others who do what they can to share with those in need … We could go on all day, but we’ve got other things to do and so do you. Again — thanks.

Here come the backhoes

While the “for (re)sale” sign flaps in the breeze outside Gatewood Baptist Church (on Cali, just before the big hill), the city has just issued a fat set of permits for the multi-family housing that’s going up on what was church property across the street: two “duplex townhouses” at 7200 Cali, two more (plus a demolition permit) at 7202 Cali, two more at 7206 Cali, and last but not least, two more at 7208 Cali. As a meditative scene, if this density disturbs you, ponder this photo of West Seattle housing some decades back.

Pizza progress

The Junction’s future Garlic Jim’s Pizza just put in for its sign permit.

Java Bean steps up

Just got a note from Tony, longtime proprietor of West Seattle’s most illustrious coffeehouse brand, Java Bean. Tony is (#1) thanking everyone who donated to JB’s just-completed food drive — 200 pounds of food on its way to Northwest Harvest! — and (#2) offering to take turkeys over to the White Center Food Bank (urgently needed, as we mentioned a couple posts down). Tony says that if you drop a turkey donation off at Java Bean (on Avalon, just south of the bridge; here’s a map) BY NOON TODAY (Wednesday), he will take it to the food bank. Three cheers for Tony! (And for Java Bean, whose old cart at the pre-‘97-fire Thriftway is where we first truly fell in love with lattes, guzzling intense triple-grande-nonfat from our old-school saucer-bottom reusable mug. Ah, the memories …)