One last Christmas-lights photo to spotlight, received tonight from roving photographer Theresa Arbow-O’Connor, a sighting in North Admiral. It joins our other spotlights in this WSB archive (where you can scroll through previous years’ lights too). Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

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Merry Christmas today, Happy Hanukkah tonight! Here’s info we hope will be useful on this holiday:

BUSES: Metro‘s running on the Sunday schedule.

WATER TAXI: Not sailing today.

STATE FERRIES: Weekend timetable today – check the alerts page for status/changes.

MORE TRANSPORTATION NOTES: No charge for street parking in areas of the city with pay stations … West Seattle-relevant traffic cameras are here; see all cameras citywide via this map.

COFFEE SHOPS OPEN TODAY: We found eight – here’s our list. (Plans can change after our research, so if you encounter a change, please text or call us – 206-293-6302 – thank you.)

RESTAURANTS AND BARS OPEN TODAY: Fifteen are on our list – see it here. (And please let us know of any changes!)

GROCERY STORES OPEN TODAY: Again this year, as noted in our Holiday Guide, only the three Safeways (Roxbury, Admiral, Jefferson Square) are open (8 am-5 pm) – all other West Seattle grocery stores are closed until tomorrow.

CHURCH SERVICES TODAY: Four of the churches on the list in our Holiday Guide have Christmas Day services.

OTHER NOTES: Trash/recycling pickup is delayed one day for the rest of the week (next week too) … Seattle Parks closure info is here … Libraries (city and county) are closed.

SEE A MOVIE: The Admiral Theater (2343 California SW) is open this afternoon/evening – first screening of the day, 3 pm.

ASTRA LUMINA: Celestially inspired light show continues tonight on the grounds of the Seattle Chinese Garden at the north end of the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus, opening at 5 pm. Timed tickets and info here.

OTHER LIGHTS TO SEE: Scroll through our archive to see the local homes we’ve shown all month!

If you see/hear news, please text/call 206-293-6302 – we appreciate your tips and collaboration every hour of every day and night!

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A texter identifying themselves as veteran radio personality Bob Rivers‘s longtime agent sent that link – a new video featuring one of his popular holiday spoof songs, taking on Christmas lights and starring West Seattle’s best-known well-lit house. So if you’ve wearied of singing along with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and/or “Joy to the World” after the 20th time, check this out. (And explore Rivers’s “Twisted Christmas” discography.)

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On this Christmas Eve, a decoration display that evokes the Christmas wish for “peace on Earth”:

This winter scene at the “Candy Cane Pole” will breathe a sense of stillness into your soul. With its crisp white forest and Deer a-grazing, you will be taken back to a simpler time. Can you spy Santa peeking out the window?

Stop and pause awhile at 6303 45th Ave SW
Mr and Mrs Winter Merriment

To see what we’ve shown previously, scroll through this WSB archive!

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Our Christmas cards were delivered to the wrong address yesterday and we’re wondering if the blog could help? They are labeled correctly, but a certain delivery company dropped them at the wrong house! (Photo attached – this isn’t our front porch!)

We’ve driven the few streets surrounding our house to check similar house numbers, but no matching house exists… is there a chance that the blog could help crowd-source finding our missing cards?

If you got them by mistake – contact us (westseattleblog@gmail.com or text 206-293-6302) and we’ll connect you!

2:39 PM: Nick says “the house has been located.”

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Over the past decade-plus, hundreds of residents of the Arrowhead Gardens senior-living complex in southeastern West Seattle have “warmed up a lot of feet,” as resident council president Diane Radischat describes it, donating more than 12,000 socks to people in our area. At a party tonight, they hosted this year’s recipients:

25 members of the Duwamish Valley Youth Corps came to Arrowhead Gardens to enjoy pizza, cookies, cocoa, and cider, and to choose presents for their families – not just some of those socks, but also hand-knit blankets, handmade jewelry, and other items geared for all ages so they could find something for everyone in their families.

The gift items for the youth to choose from were all donated by residents – including almost 1,000 socks – donated at a recent Christmas brunch, Radischat explained (she’s second from right below, with, from left, some of the other organizers, L-R, Joe, Diana, and Marty):

Over the years, the Arrowhead Gardens residents’ donations have gone to shelters, tiny-house villages, and the West Seattle Food Bank‘s Clothesline. This year’s recipients, the Duwamish Valley Youth Corps, are deeply involved in their community too, with the program including outdoor work from tree planting to raingarden construction.

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Thanks to Jeff for the Christmas Eve-Eve lights spotlight photo! He emailed to say: “For the young and young at heart. Merry Christmas, Mom!” This display is at 5420 40th SW and if you zoom in on the photo, you’ll see many familiar Christmas-character faces … Santa, Rudolph, “Bumble,” Frosty, Grinch, Snoopy, among others. We still have a few more in queue, so check in on Christmas Eve, Day, maybe beyond … and scroll through this archive to see what we’ve already shown!

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P.S. The Holiday Guide already has grocery-store info for Christmas Eve/Day as well as links to our lists of restaurants and coffee shops that are open at least one of those days.

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A little rain doesn’t stop dedicated runners … like the ones in our photo, who showed up at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) tonight for a beloved tradition – the annual Christmas Lights Run. It’s one of countless running events that proprietors Tim and Lori McConnell – whose store will celebrate its 15th anniversary next spring – presented this year, including the Float Dodger 5K, the first-ever Halloween Lights Run, and Thanksgiving morning’s Gobble Gobble Run and food drive.

After a safety talk (and a moment to remember WSB co-founder Patrick Sand, who has been there to take the group photo at the start of so many previous Christmas Lights Runs), everyone headed out on a route the McConnells had planned:

You can see the route map here.

P.S. Looking into 2025, West Seattle Runner’s free fitness programs get going right after New Year’s – Get Fit (January 2 info night), Full Fit (also January 2 info night), and Got Fit (January 8 info night).

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Tonight’s Christmas-lights photos were sent by Deb, showing not one house, but several in the same block – 1900 block of Sunset Avenue in North Admiral. What they have in common: Trees with light-encrusted branches and/or trunks.

Still at least three showcase spots through Christmas, so we’re still welcoming photos/location suggestions – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you! (And scroll through our archive to see what we’ve shown already.)

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After setting up the stage in the Easy Street Café, Cocoa Cris Cringle has launched his annual West Seattle photo session. If you get here before 7 pm, you too can get your pic taken with Cocoa Cris for $20 (benefiting charity) – hats and props available if you want to use them. Kids and pets welcome too. Santa pics can be serious business but it’s always fun with Cocoa Cris – who says he’s been doing this for more than 20 years!

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Last chance to get a handmade wreath benefiting – and made by – Pathfinder K-8 students and supporters! Look for the booth at the KeyBank corner until 2 pm.

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Saturday we dropped off about 25 shopping bags full of new games and toys collected by West Seattle High School students, benefiting Seattle Children’s Hospital. (Pictured: Adam Gosztola, Junior and Student Council member)

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