West Seattle Christmas lights, 12/7/07
OK, so it’s not the splashiest outdoor Christmas tree in West Seattle, but the spirit was certainly there as the Our Lady of Guadalupe tree was lit tonight, as our video in the post below proves. So it’s our official nightly Christmas-lights photo. Its location (34th/Myrtle) has been added to the WSB West Seattle Christmas lights map, which you can access any time from our Holidays page – click any location in the map and you’ll get its title plus a thumbnail photo. We’re also making the rounds of the suggestions e-mailed to us by folks in WSB-land, too. (In addition to clicking the aforementioned map, you can also check out all the West Seattle Christmas lights we’ve featured by going through their category archive here.)
As night falls in the afternoon, a musing on safety
Out of the WSB inbox, from “The Velvet Bulldog,” as the heart of December brings the longest nights of the year:
In the past month during evening driving (read: dark) I’ve had three incidences of narrowly missing bicyclists who were riding without adequate visible materials. One guy was in all black, had no reflectors on his bike and wore no helmet. I kinda wonder if he’s even still alive to tell his tale. Thursday night it was a guy with a few strips of reflective material on his coat (covered by his backpack) but no rear light. I also recently had the unsettling experience of coming around the bend on the uphill side of Admiral near the infamous crosswalk at Alki Mail and Dispatch and a woman was running in the street facing oncoming traffic. She also didn’t have bright clothes on. (Also, I’m really curious – why are runners in the street rather than onthe sidewalk? It seems dangerous.) I just want to ask any of you who are bike riding or running (again–why??) in the street, or if you know someone who does, to ensure you’ve got the gear to be visible in the dark. I’m all about sharing the road with bicycles, but I have to be able to see you to safely share with you!! Thank you!
Damage from the deluge? Report it soon
(26th/Juneau photo by Kristin, originally posted Monday)
From the city and county, via the North Delridge Neighborhood Council: If you suffered flood damage from the Sunday/Monday deluge, be sure to call 800-523-5044 as soon as possible — local governments are trying to get an accurate picture of how much damage was done, for reasons including helping the federal government decide whether to make low-interest loans and other types of aid available. The hotline’s answered 7 am-7 pm daily; if you have trouble getting through, you also can report damage online. Also, if you need help clearing storm-related debris, you can call the city @ 206-684-3000 to find out how to get assistance.
Chilling way to call attention to global warming
Just out of the WSB inbox — Sustainable West Seattle and friends are suggesting you jump in the Sound! But not till tomorrow afternoon. That’s when climate-change activists are inviting you to meet at the Alki Bathhouse for a polar-bear swim to raise awareness about global warming, and in particular, the climate talks under way right now in Bali, as well as “the importance of this issue during the upcoming elections, and … the danger posed to the Arctic ecosystem (and its polar bears!) from the rapidly melting ice caps,” according to organizer Kristin Wheeler, who also says, “We will taking pictures and making ‘holiday cards’ for Congressman Reichert (the only W. WA member of Congress not doing what he should be doing for the planet!) beforehand and then we will plunge at 12:30 pm.” Kristin also says the nearby Tully’s is donating coffee to be provided to the chilled warming-fighters immediately afterward. It’s part of a national day of action; more info here. (That link asks the question “Have you invited local politicians to your plunge?” — hmm, given his activism on the issue, you suppose Mayor Nickels will walk down the hill to take part?) The weather tomorrow should be clear and bright (and cool!), by the way. This will be added to our Events page shortly as well as the forthcoming West Seattle Weekend Lineup list.
A message to you: “West Seattle rocks!”
So says the West Seattle Food Bank‘s executive director Fran Yeatts (who you met in this WSB video report last month, if you didn’t already know her in person) — it was the subject line of this e-mail to WSB:
West Seattle is such an admirable community. I say this because of the wonderful responsiveness of our neighbors, businesses and individuals alike, who brought us holiday food and cash donations. With your help we were able to provide food to hundreds of families for Thanksgiving. On behalf of all the infants, children, teens, adults and seniors who rely on the West Seattle Food Bank to make ends meet, we extend our most sincere thanks.
And now – to the Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year’s/Kwanzaa/Solstice season. You can give $ online to the West Seattle Food Bank any time by going here. And here’s what else you can do to help:Read More
TGIF and other reasons for thankfulness
We’re starting the day in a thankful mood — so first we want to post a public thank-you of our own. WSB may not look any different than it did a week ago, but it is running a lot more smoothly “under the hood,” thanks to a whole lot of time, energy, creativity, and sheer determination expended by STUART MAXWELL. We’ve known for months WSB simply had to move to a new “host” server because the old one was on the brink of doing what it did back in June, and worse — publishing a simple update or change took extra time just to wait for the server to deal with it (or not) — but because we needed to make the move without losing any of the thousands of posts, comments, and photos published on WSB in the past two years, and for some other reasons Stuart discovered along the way, it was way too complicated for us to handle (despite some bleary all-nighters during which we tried). We asked technically oriented crosstown friends for advice on a tech adviser — and the inquiries blazed a trail straight back to West Seattle (of course!), and, in fact, to someone who happened to have a site linked from our Other Blogs page (one of Stuart’s many projects is The New Big). So again, HUGE thanks to Stuart – his tireless, creative, good-natured, patient work has saved the site and our sanity, and is paving the way for more improvements. … Also on the thankfulness front – an unusual tale landed in the WSB inbox – someone who pulled off a last-minute wedding with a lot of West Seattle help:Read More
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