Off at a 40th b-day party for a friend, we finally managed to meet Jake Beattie, Deputy Director of the Center for Wooden Boats and quizzed him a bit on their efforts to open a waterfront activity center just to the west of Gas Works Park. View Larger Map There's quite a bit of background on the Friends of North Lake Community Wharf web site, but we were still scratching our heads a bit trying to figure out exactly where they…
(Sharon continues her Notes from the Playground series) The official start of fall may have been last week but now it feels like the real deal. A little rain here and there, mixed in with crisp blue bird days that feel refreshing yet cozy at the same time. Fall is my favorite season in Seattle. I love going on evening walks, hearing the sound of autumn leaves crunching beneath my feet as I savor a hot cup of coffee and watch…
(Sharon continues her Notes from the Playground series) I may have mentioned before how great we think the playground is at Wallingford Park. It's cool that there are two play structures, side by side, so both toddlers and older ones can do their thing, but still mingle. I especially like how the blue squishy stuff underneath it makes me feel so safe, since my son, like most three year olds, has taken his share of tumbles there. Tunnel slide by Mike…
(Sharon continues her Notes from the Playground series) We took the kids to the park this afternoon to enjoy the last days of summer (ok, fall). Per my son’s request, we split up before heading in. He and I took the south entrance near Hamilton Middle School and my husband and daughter went in by the wading pool. As I approached the merry go round, I saw my husband snicker. He walked over to me and asked if I could smell…
(Our new contributor Sharon continues her series of vignettes, revolving around the Wallingford Playfield) On the way out for our nightly family walk a few weeks ago, I found a flyer in our mailbox about a lost cat. Hugh, an adorable gray kitty, lived a few blocks away and was greatly missed by his family. I was reading the text aloud when our son came bounding out of the house and snatched the paper away. “Why do you have a picture…
It's almost upon us! Back in early August, we told you about PARKing day, the now yearly event where people across the country put the "park" in "parking space", reclaiming them as mini-landscaped art projects. At least one Wallingford group, including Nancy "Lorax" Merrill and Stuart "Folkstore" Herrick, has taken up the banner and will be greening up a spot just north of 42nd and Latona Thackery this Friday, September 18th. Lester Goldstein has written up this proclamation: PROCLAMATION Whereas reliable…
(This post begins a series from Sharon, who will be sharing stories from the Wallingford Playfield playground.) The first time we really noticed Wallingford Playfield was when I was pregnant with our son. We were taking our nightly hour-long walk, as many first-time expectant parents do, when we stumbled upon it. Sometime since our last tennis match there the play structure had been updated or perhaps even disassembled and replaced with a much newer model. We marveled at the multi-leveled towers,…