PI

My favorite weekend unwinding is to hop on my bike and pedal somewhere I haven't. I'm not a distance rider, I favor cotton to lycra, and my pedals have strapless toe cages rather than clip-ins. I don't go for speed, but I also try not to shy away from a hill. I prefer small side streets to wide avenues, and my general strategy is that when I come to a cross-roads I've been to recently, I try to take whichever turn…

It was a strange day today: torrential rain in the morning battered the petals off the fruit blossoms in the morning, and then by mid-day, it was a clear blue sky. The wind came back for a visit, though, knocking down a tree at 40th and Eastern, which in turn took out power for most of Wallingford. The initial outage map covered most of Wallingford into Green Lake, but people began reporting power coming back on over the next few hours.…

The new building going up on the corner of 45th and 1st, across from Dick's, went up in flames early this morning, starting around 6 am. Jeff Garfield, owner of Bedrooms and More, shared  this photo of the blaze: Fire trucks were still on the scene as of late afternoon, and the interior was a dripping, soggy mess. According the Fire Department, the cause of the blaze is "still under investigation". The building has been under active construction during the lockdown,…

By now, I am sure all of you have heard about the revival of the Victory Garden. During WWI and WWII Victory Gardens were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens that were planted at homes and public parks all over the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany during both wars. From coast to coast, even public land was utilized, with gardens installed in both the Boston Commons and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.  People plowed front yards, lawns, back yards, flower gardens…

Amid the numerous events canceled and postponed due to the coronavirus, it will surprise no one to learn that the 2020 Fremont Solstice Parade has also been, in their words, “postponed.” Some may prefer to call it a cancellation as the new date will be June of next year. We received this from the Fremont Arts Council: It is with heavy hearts that we announce the postponement of the Fremont Solstice Parade and Celebration at Gas Works until June 2021.  After assessing…

Here's another from Deep Tote's drop of Wallingford historical photos. Again, I could use some help on the year. I'm not a vintage car expert (and I'm also not old enough to remember), but the cars on the right suggest early 1950's to me. Visible in the mid-ground is the Wallingford Police and Fire Station (now the Neighborcare Clinic), with the "Police" sign still visible. This little tidbit of memory adds some color to what that would have been like in…