West Seattle, Washington
30 Tuesday
Driving around today, seeing asphalt again, we realized a bit of complacency might sneak in – but, especially if you have to go back to work tomorrow, be aware that it could be another dicey morning, because the mercury’s going sub-freezing tonight, and some of that slush could ice over. In addition, more snow showers are possible, especially morning-midday – here’s Cliff Mass’s take on it; here’s what the National Weather Service says. Two other notes: Remember that, as Metro reminded us yesterday, buses will be on a “partial holiday schedule” AS WELL AS “adverse weather” reroutes — so you will still want to check this page. And we’ll see in the morning if city garbage pickup gets back in gear — because of the holiday, homes with Thursday pickup were scheduled for Friday pickup this week, but trucks have gotten to few if any homes in the city for the past week, so we’ll be awaiting a status check in the morning. Since tomorrow might still be tough going in the morning, we’ll publish a “Friday morning updates” post in case commuters need a handy place to share and get info.
Snow coverage has been so intense, we didn’t even stop to think till tonight – belatedly writing the holiday newsletter for family ‘n’ friends outside West Seattle — that last night, Christmas Eve, marked the 3rd anniversary of West Seattle Blog. 
The entire WSB archive is accessible via the month-by-month list at the bottom of the sidebar, though if you poke around the first year, you’ll notice that Year 1 hadn’t much in common with Year 3! Our first-ever post, December 24, 2005, was a not-especially-West-Seattle-y musing on Santa. (It was the equivalent of a tree falling in an empty forest, because a full three weeks passed before anybody discovered the site – our stats software shows the first visitor accidentally wandered in on 1/15/06.) Anyway, while the snow has been a challenge, to say the least, we are thankful to you for the collaboration and camaraderie that concluded WSB’s third year so memorably, and we hope you will find it worth your while to spend time here in Year 4, as we are committed to working to connect West Seattle with 24/7 news, information, and discussion, in an ever-more thorough, timely, and relevant manner. Most important of all: We thrive on hearing from you any time there’s something you want to report, say, ask about, share with people, suggest, etc. — our e-mail addresses, phone number, and other contact info can all be found here.
Tonight’s sunset. That hedge-mounted flag, by the way, has been raised each morning and lowered each night by one of our neighbors since right after 9/11 (maybe one or two exceptions). Now, from earlier – Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) proprietor Lora Lewis and daughter smilingly serving a steady stream of coffee customers (including us) this morning:
Jenifer sent this photo of her dog in “Christmas collar … enjoying the last of the snow”:
Here’s a snow dog courtesy of Amy – sculpted by Jim – unfortunately, Amy reports, the canine-esque creation has sagged out of its former glory since this photo was taken:
And a rare sight – a snow CAT – Luka, caught snowgazing by Kerry Lusignan:
Kerry also sent a nice shot of her High Point neighborhood from earlier this week:
Last but by no means least, Erika shared the Riverview Playfield “snowball” scene on Tuesday night, but we managed to miss it in the WSB inbox till now. It’s not “Casey at the Bat,” but more like “Frosty at the Bat”:
And here’s good news … the word “snow” does not appear in the latest forecast at all after tonight; see for yourself here.
If you need some entertainment tonight (or just need to get out and go SOMEWHERE) – the Admiral Theater does show movies. Christmas-specific schedule is on the Admiral’s website – click each movie for its showtimes. (Shows start with “Religulous” at 3:50 pm.)
This is not necessarily a comprehensive report but we’re just back from a trip to Hotwire, followed by an expedition up the rest of California to Admiral, then back down Admiral to Alki/Harbor, up Avalon, up Fauntleroy, back home. Here’s what we saw open, in case you are wondering about restaurants: Ho-Win Chinese Restaurant (California/Juneau; its menu is even online), Be’s Restaurant (Junction, California just south of Oregon), Pepperdock on Alki, Redline Music/Sports (35th just south of Avalon). Again, this is not necessarily comprehensive, but what we could tell from our driving tour. It’s been snowing/sleeting on and off for most of the hour and a half we’ve been out. Best moment: Hearing the Junction church bells at noon after leaving Hotwire. Roads: All the majors have at least one lane open each way, and those big medians of dirty snow. Only stretch we traveled that still had some slush in the main lane — Harbor Ave between the Duwamish Head turn and The Bridge. ADDED NOTES: We’re checking websites for any definitive sign of dinnertime open or closure, beyond what we observed. So far: Endolyne Joe’s in Fauntleroy, closed all day/night. JaK’s Grill, closed all day/night. Spring Hill (per phone recording), closed tonight. We also got a note via Facebook that Abbondanza is definitely closed tonight.
The last holiday event we made it to before Snowpocalypse ’08, Snowmare ’08, whatever you prefer to call it, was the Christmas Ship at Seacrest on December 13th. We went to that one to get video, intending to bring it back to WSB HQ, publish it (which we did), and then go see the Lowman Beach/Alki stops later that night, just for fun (which we didn’t). The snow started (around 7 pm as chronicled here), and so did the WSB Collaborative Continuous Community Coverage (just made that one up). With most of us largely snowbound (except for essential runs like food or work), we’re not the only ones who missed out on some holiday traditions, including ones that happen outside West Seattle. So in the days ahead, we’ll make special note of anything you can catch up on. For starters, the WSB Holidays page has the new dates for a couple Christmas performances that were postponed because of the snow; also, we are noting that what we consider to be Puget Sound’s most wonderful Christmas lights display, Zoolights at Point Defiance Zoo/Aquarium in Tacoma, has extended its run — it’s usually closed Christmas but is reopening tonight, and also adding an extra early-January weekend (see full details on the PDZA website). We have a favorite way of getting there – take the Fauntleroy ferry to Vashon, drive down Vashon to the Tahlequah/Point Defiance ferry. Not sure if the roads on Vashon are all clear yet, but in another few days, we might brave it. Our second-favorite lights display, Garden D’Lights at Bellevue Botanical Garden, says online that it’s hoping to reopen tomorrow. Stay tuned for other notes about extended chances to catch up on holiday cheer, and if you know of New Year’s Eve/Day events, please let us know, as the WSB Holidays page is in action till then – editor@westseattleblog.com. (Junction Christmas tree photo by Marybeth Coghill)
**NOTE – AS OF 1 PM MOST OF THIS IS LIKELY A MOOT POINT, SINCE MOST THAT WERE OPEN JUST OPENED FOR THE MORNING**
The past two Christmases, we’ve compiled this list in advance, both by phone and by driving around to check what’s posted. This year – forgive our lameness; we’ve been a little busy, AND the weather has rendered advance plans subject to change, anyway. So here’s the next best thing: We’re listing the ones that just MIGHT be open, based on past holidays, and we looked up their numbers. We’ll make calls when we’re up and update with whatever we discover; if you call anyone to check before that, please post what you found out.
CONFIRMED AS OPEN (updated 10:44 am with WSB’er reports – thank you!)
Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor), 8 am to (approximately) 1 pm
Morgan Junction Starbucks
Morgan Junction Tully’s
CALL AND CHECK (10:51 am note – we have dropped some off the list after calling and getting no answer)
Admiral Starbucks 206-937-5010
Aimonetto 206-937-0920
Alki Starbucks 206-933-6974
Alki Tully’s 206-938-0732
Bird on a Wire 206-932-1143
Cupcake Royale 206-932-2971
Diva 206-937-5225
Drive-Thru (Triangle) Starbucks 932-4230
Easy Street coffee bar 206-938-EASY
Java Bean 206-938-5665
Westwood Village Starbucks 206-937-1732
Thriftway, QFC, and Metropolitan Market are closed for Christmas, but all 3 West Seattle Safeways are open 9 am-3 pm today, according to phone recordings. (If you don’t know which one’s close to you, here’s the Safeway store-finder.) Convenience stores, too, and Walgreens.
7 minutes of Lowman Beach snowy holiday duckiness, courtesy of Ron Sterling, whose “Duckies Rule!” sideline was featured in this WSB story in October.
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