Wallingford, Seattle

You know them by the distinctive orange flags peeping over the top; you've probably used them a few times yourself, and your neighbors have been raving about them. I'm talking about the crosswalk buckets and flag stations that are installed in a few troublesome intersections throughout Wallingford; and it looks like we'll be getting some more stations soon. Hurrah! Wallingford Community Council vice president Jon deLeeuw let us know that the WCC has funds to install and maintain 17 new crosswalk…

Happy solstice, Wallingford! Want to know the best place to enjoy it? Sure, sure, you're an old Wallingford hand, you know all about the sundial on top of Kite Hill at Gas Works, right? Well, unless you're a sundial nerd, you guarantee you we've got something new to impress your friends with. The sundial was created in 1978 by local artists Chuck Greening and Kim Lazare and features beautiful wrought natural imagery as well as embedded rocks, shells, marbles and other…

There's about two to three months every year where everyone in Seattle turns their neighbor and says "this is why I live here". You wouldn't know it from this past weekend, but it's getting to be that time. The days are long, flowers are in bloom, the air is warm, and everybody is just dying to get out and enjoy it. We think of it as "front stoop weather": the time of year when you can pass a day just sitting out…

Good morning folks and happy Solstice Parade day! Throw on your tie-dye, your clown costume or your leather bustier, whatever your pleasure, and get yourself on down to Fremont for the parade. Parade officially begins at noon! We noted with interest that, unlike past years, in which the painted cyclists were treated with, depending on the year, annoyance, incarceration, tolerance, and amusement, they've now got an official spot in the program: the Fremont Arts Council web site has them on the…

We recently received a reader tip from our buddy Holly (heh, "buddy Holly") over at Sock Monster.  She's worried about the squirrels on Burke Ave N., between 44th & 45th.  She refers to that block as "squirrel row." Holly's concern?  Rat bait boxes in the squirrels' habitat on the east side of Wallingford Center, near the sidewalk.  Here's what Holly had to say about the bait boxes: "They are right along the fence on Burke right by where all the squirrels…