Staying cool, and other options for your West Seattle Sunday

(Young belted kingfisher emerging from burrow to be fed; photo by Mark Wangerin)
Yes, yes, we know the 80s aren’t THAT broiling, but even those of us who spent many years in way hotter climes have a lower tolerance level … so again today, we’ll start with the “keeping cool” info.

KEEPING COOL

HIGHLAND PARK SPRAYPARK: Day three! Hours 11 am-8 pm. (11th SW/SW Cloverdale)

TODAY’S WADING POOL SCHEDULE: Delridge and Lincoln Park wading pools are open – see the hours here.

COLMAN POOL OPEN: See the schedule here. (On the Lincoln Park waterfront – reachable via walking or biking)

SOUTHWEST POOL OPEN: See the schedule here. (2801 SW Thistle)

AIR-CONDITIONED LIBRARIES: Delridge, High Point, and South Park Libraries all have A/C, and all are open 1-5 pm today. For location and other info, check the Seattle Public Library website.

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

In addition to some every-Sunday events you’ll find on our calendar, here are a few more highlights:

LITTLE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT CONTINUES: District 7 9-10 and 11-12 All-Star teams are in tournament play at Alki’s Bar-S Playfield all week, hosted by West Seattle Little League, and our tipster Teresa tells us the local teams are playing at 10 am and 4 pm again today. Details and links in our Saturday update. (6425 SW Admiral Way)

WEST SEATTLEITES IN PRIDE PARADE: The parade runs through downtown, starting at 4th and Union at 11 am and heading north, but it will have even more West Seattle flavor than ever, with its grand marshals including history-making couple Jane Abbott Lighty and Pete-e Petersen as well as The Seattle Lesbian founder Sarah Toce; the list of participants also includes OutWest Bar.

GRETCHEN’S GRAINS DEMO: Cooking demo today, 11 am-2 pm at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor), for a West Seattleite’s line of frozen fully cooked grains. (42nd/Admiral)

SPUD/NEUTER FUNDRAISER FOR KITTY HARBOR: 5-8 pm at Ola Salon, a special event with live music, auction items, and a gourmet potato bar will raise money for Kitty Harbor, the West Seattle facility that finds homes for hundreds of cats and kittens every year. Details in our calendar listing. (2942 SW Avalon Way)

FEEDBACK GOES ACOUSTIC: A new series of charity-benefiting acoustic performances starts tonight at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), where by the way, they have “state-of-the-art” air conditioning. Details in our calendar listing; starts at 6 pm. (6451 California SW)

WOMEN’S SOCCER – LAST CHANCE TO SEE AC SEATTLE! According to the schedule, it’s the last West Seattle home game for AC Seattle, playing Issaquah Soccer Club at Southwest Athletic Complex tonight at 6 pm. (2801 SW Thistle)

Trileigh June 30, 2013 (9:03 am)

Wow, love this photo, Mark! Was that around here?

Mark Wangerin June 30, 2013 (10:07 am)

Yes, I take many bird photos around the region, but only post West Seattle stuff to the WS Blog. That was a week and a half ago. I checked this morning and I believe all have left the nest/burrow…

enviromaven June 30, 2013 (10:38 am)

Fabulous shot!

Keli June 30, 2013 (10:54 am)

At Highland Park spray park 10:50am. Apparently its not working. Two park folks here trying to fix it.

WSB June 30, 2013 (11:07 am)

Thanks for the report. If it comes back on while you’re still there, please post – otherwise, we’ll go over a bit later and check on it …

Keli June 30, 2013 (11:55 am)

As of 11:30, it was not on but the Parks people were confident it would be at some point. I would have stayed but the two year old ran out of patience.

WSB June 30, 2013 (1:11 pm)

Just went by, there’s water. 1:09 pm.

Jim Clark June 30, 2013 (12:50 pm)

Great Shot Mark curious is it on one of the hills at Lincoln Park?

NW June 30, 2013 (3:33 pm)

Thanks Mark for the photo and for not telling of the location just let them be…..undisturbed

Trileigh June 30, 2013 (5:31 pm)

Agree with NW – don’t tell us where it was, just knowing it was in West Seattle is exciting enough.

Jim Clark June 30, 2013 (6:18 pm)

Thank you NW an Trileigh for assuming that I would find it and get right up next to the opening and shove my lens right in the hole to get a close up.

WSB June 30, 2013 (6:41 pm)

Jim – it’s really hot and we’re all grumpy and I don’t believe that’s what they were saying (all comments are held for review right now and your comment might not even have been visible before one or both of them posted theirs). Mark in fact e-mailed us that photo with the caveat that he didn’t want to say where it was, and I didn’t press the point, since we often publish photos with fairly vague locational information … I understand sensitivities out there, between whether publicity means education or whether it means something might be loved to death: Somebody did ask me the other day in e-mail whether I should have published the “phantom orchid: photo, mentioning it was in Lincoln Park (which the photographer did, in the caption on our Flickr page), given there is apparently concern for their survival … I told that person it was too late, I had no idea, the info was out there, and saying “Lincoln Park” regarding one tiny plant, here on a website read by 10,000 people on an average day, wasn’t likely going to lead to a stampede of rare-plant hunters combing every corner of the LP forest … I understand the concern, though. I hope there is someplace that wildlife lovers and photographers whose work has led to more appreciation and care for the wild things left among us can share more details amongst themselves. – TR

Peggy June 30, 2013 (8:48 pm)

Thanks for the lovely photo, mark. I met you in FP today and appreciated the reminder to check the blog today. Don’t want to belabor the point but I appreciate your not revealing the location. J C might not disturb the birds but there are some who would, best not to take things personally . Will we see owls soon?

Dennis Cheasebro July 1, 2013 (8:42 am)

Regarding the rare orchid, it’s rare, not on the verge of extinction – if I’d read that the species was officially either Threatened or Endangered, I wouldn’t have said where I’d seen it. But species don’t get to be threatened in a vacuum. They get that way by first (via nature in general) being neglected and abused. Secrecy won’t solve that – education will. Thus I thought perhaps it was more useful to ask people to appreciate it, than to hide its presence.

Trileigh July 1, 2013 (11:45 am)

Thanks to all for the thoughtful discussion of this important issue. Jim, I certainly did not intend criticism of you; I was actually mostly concerned that my initial question to Mark about whether the photo was taken in West Seattle would come across as a request for specific location information, so I wanted to confirm that I did not want such information. My apologies for not making that clearer.

JumboJim July 1, 2013 (7:10 pm)

It’s nice that people are concerned with respecting the flora and fauna, but in the case of a kingfisher burrow it’s likely that it’s somewhere rather inaccessible. The photographer would be able to judge that, and apparently did so, but folks should see that the potential for probelms is rather case by case.
–
If people know where something of community and wildlife value is (such as a bank where kingfishers and other animals nest) they can try to protect it when development and destuctive park use is proposed. If we aren’t aware where wildlife lives and which specific spots are most important than we can’t speak up for them.

Sorry, comment time is over.