Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Lunchtime in Seattle

A 75 degree September day of sun and clear skies above Seattle downtown--heaven. Lunch at hole-in-the-wall next to De Laurenti's, offering more beans and rice than I could manage for 2.00, soda for 85 cents.

Sat on a ledge by the Hammering Man watching this demonstration of alternative technology. Went into the lobby of Seattle Art Museum and viewed these moving self-portraits by kids who are 15 and enrolled in the teen program there.

All this entertainment made the 14.00 parking charge seem like a reasonable price for admission.





Saturday, September 19, 2009

September Song: Before and After


Our other house in Newport Hills is a vacation rental. We've tried this for a year and have learned so much in the process. Here's what it looked like when we first started renting it out:




And last week it got a makeover:




We went from wild abandon to low maintenance in two days:

















For over sixteen years (the longest I've lived anywhere)I attempted to mold my suburban garden into the Wallingford English cottage garden of my dreams which we couldn't afford in 1993. This house was affordable for us, and had the large yard in which I could allow full scope for my imagination. The neighbors looked on indulgently as my hard work began to take shape. And then my back went out in 1994 and I had to have the third of three back surgeries. Trying to keep up with a two year old AND what was becoming a fairly high maintenance garden was beginning to look impossibly difficult.

But I stuck with it and did what I could. We planted the fruits we loved, the flowers which would survive periodic summer droughts and the shrubs that I knew would provide scent and interest in the winter. We had parties in the backyard and robins set up housekeeping in the overgrown camellias that flourished outside our bedroom windows (although the rain never reached them under the eaves they seemed to love it there). Every spring the mama robins launched their fledglings out of their nests, sitting in the nearby sycamore tree, singing "come hither" songs and keeping a vigilant eye out for our cat.

One year it was roses. The next it was hardy geraniums. Then I wanted alliums. Lilies became my passion. We had a standing order with Cedar Grove compost. My husband graciously shovelled much gravel, compost and mulch. I became known in the neighborhood as "she who is never happiest than when she has a pile of dirt in her driveway." We began running out of room.



A dear friend built us a pergola where one could sit and watch the lilies and roses grow. Soon vines of kiwi, clematis and grape overtook the structure and a shady bower was born. We put in bird baths and fountains, patio, paths and a firepit.

Every birthday, Mother's Day, Christmas holiday, and anniversary usually brought forth something for the garden. Sticks in cardboard boxes arrived from Raintree Nursery and, when planted, became grapevines, cherry trees, fig, pear, apple and crabapple trees. Usually. I ordered roses from Old Heirlooms in Oregon with names like Jude the Obscure and Abraham Darby, planting each one in honor of a friend who was ill, infirm, moved on, and in one especially sad case, died. It was Mark, the builder of our pergola.

And then we moved. None of us really wanted to, but it was time. For a number of reasons. So we held on to the house for sentiment's sake (the best kind, in my book) and thought we'd rent to families here for weddings, reunions, work--by the week, by the month...and in summer they could enjoy fresh herbs for cooking as well as a bountiful harvest of plums, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries and grapes. Strawberries in the spring. Fresh-cut flowers. Maybe the odd fig, kiwi, apple or pear.

But trying to nurture everything through a disastrous drought between tenants during what proved to be a very busy summer season turned out to be too much.

So I let things go.



The bones of the garden remain. Most of the blossoms are gone, but they'll return as they always do. A blank slate for now.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

You Say Snohomish/I Say Snoqualmie!

Saturday we spent the sunny, hot afternoon at South 47 farm learning firsthand what it was like to bring in the harvest, or, in our case, what it was like to pick a few beans for dinner, admire a gorgeous, cat-sized squash the color of celadon, pluck a huge bag of red onions from a hook in a greenhouse, and cut healthy sideshoots of basil from a very long row. Aromatic bliss! All this and some darling alpacas (not for picking!) too. Of course, early valley farmers didn't get to follow up a hard day's harvest with a late lunch in air-conditioned comfort at Racha Thai restaurant in Woodinville either. God we're spoiled!

Everything but the squash was eaten later in a quickie pasta beefed up with ripe heirloom tomatoes from our own garden.






Sunday we were back on the eastside hunting down farms in Carnation/Duvall by way of Snohomish (don't ask! but it was a lovely drive!) Again, bringing in the harvest at Fall City Farms this time--lacinato kale, Chioggia beets, lots of Bright Lights chard and broccoli. Perhaps early farmers of Snoqualmie Valley would have felt more at home dining in the friendly, goofy homestyle comfort surrounded by the kitsch collection at Armadillo BBQ in Duvall than in a suburban stripmall (like we did the day before). Next door at the antique store we picked up a bass and amp to add to the family's burgeoning collection of musical instruments.

I looked to Julia Child for inspiration in serving up the fresh-picked broccoli to the family. I made her hollandaise which was insanely easy and let's just say the kids ate all their veggies.

The chard and rest of the basil was eaten last night in a quinoa saute with onion and leftover hollandaise. Some ricotta and lot of parmesan. It was a little weird. It shoulda been pasta. But we'd eaten it all Saturday night!

Today I'm caramelizing all my onions for the freezer. I may roast the squash. The kale will be slowly simmered for a Tuscan stew. The trick is to get everything sorted out (frozen, eaten, etc.) before the next farm foray THIS weekend. Somebody's got to bring home the veggies!

Under the "gourdwalk" at Fall City Farm

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

We're Number 37!

This guy is extremely clever. Unfortunately, it's true. We're #37 in Health Care. And we pay 20% more than the other 36.

Where did my Spring Go? by the Kinks

What I'll be warming up to today, trying to keep up with the girls in the kilts! Thank you to the lovely and talented Megan for this!! Follow me over to my other (Red Apple Jukebox) blogfor more dance tunes.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Appelation Newport Hills



Tis the season for grapes in Newport Hills.

Neil and Yvette in Laos


Sometimes people we're lucky enough to call friends share something that puts into perspective the petty political bickering rife in our nation at the moment...Neil was my daughter's teacher for two years and we remained friends with him and his lovely wife Yvette. Together they've embarked on an incredible journey around the world. At the moment they're in Laos. The story Yvette sent via Facebook this week is one of the most heartbreaking and ultimately joyous stories I've ever had the pleasure to read, and she's kind enough to let me share it with you here. I apologize for getting some of the photos out of order--each one had to be cut and pasted individually. (Something I quickly lose patience with!)


A beautiful blessing ceremony in the little village of Ban Sai, at the corner of the Mekong River and Nam Soh River, looking west into Myanmar. The four big-men of the village including the chief—all apparently thoughtful, serious, considerate, careful, responsible, family men—each came around and tied little strings around our wrists while very respectfully chanting blessings about our good journey and good health, and then drank lots of lao lao (rice whiskey) on our behalf. The ceremony was in the home a very kind family where we slept, they were so careful and eager to make us comfortable, with many smiles, veggie food (bamboo shoot/chili soup, egg and rice nicely laid out in clean dishes on a banana-leaf-lined little bamboo table), and clean, comfy beds, and gentle massages for our exhausted bodies by beautifully dressed Tai-Lu young women from the village.


Bathing in the smaller river, including being joined by 5-6 young boy monks; though I still haven’t mastered bathing gracefully in a sarong. Feeling clean was awesome, woulda’ done it with the whole village watching if I had to. The river was fast, cool, perfectly-sized, with lots of rocks to make for non-muddy bathing.

· Though miserable, the fact that it rained on us much of the second day was also a blessing as it kept us from getting hot as we trudged up from the Mekong thru beautiful views, rice fields (lined with cucumber vines, pumpkin vines, sesame plants, etc.)—up a 1500-meter high mountain, then back down, then back up—finally reaching Ban Eurla (an Akha village) for our second night.

· Though not necessarily pleasant, we had many observations of how challenged this village is—school building run down, teacher “not yet arrived” (empty house also waiting for him/her). What seems dirtiness to us—the village itself, the homes (at least where we stayed), the dishes, the furniture, the children. Lucky for this village, their water at least seems pretty clean from a village stream. Chief was away on business, we were hosted by his family including his very-addicted father (we think?), and kid-brother (16 years old—and one of the very few in the village who speaks Lao). Are the challenges because of Akha culture? Poverty? A dysfunctional chief’s family? Bad air from Vientianne (300 miles south), as one family believes and shared with us? Or perhaps not enough sacrificed chickens, pigs, cows, water buffalo? Or the secret war that pillaged this country 30 years ago in the USA’s seemingly-ill-advised effort to combat the Red Threat? Or the opium that has been, in some way, a focus of political and economic attention in this region for centuries? Or just “fate”? Who knows . . . regardless of causal elements, depressing.
· Again—bathing at the stream, this time under the bamboo aqueduct (powerful force!!). Then dry clothes (woo-hoo!!) and warming up/drying off by the cozy fire in the Naiban’s house.


· Baby dogs, baby pigs, baby cats, baby pigs, baby chickens, baby humans, exuberant children, lots of swings erected—seemingly one of the bigger past-times for kids and adults. And a way to be out of the collective mud/poop/garbage/run-off of the village. . .
· Hearing the story of the addicted man—despite his condition (which is how it seems to be viewed), he is seemingly an influential man in the village. A former soldier who was injured by a land mine with a long scar on his leg to prove it, he gets K400,000 ($50) /month, allowing him to support his habit and his large family of two wives and nine children in style in the village and also to have his opium without police interference (despite no school for his children). His two wives were among the most dignified beautiful grandmothers, with lots of smiles, laughter, tolerance for the children (including lots of pee puddles). Then having a very PAINFUL massage by the chief's bare-breasted daughter, a 20-year-old mother of two with quite a grip.

· That the mother of the sick baby trusted us enough and was able to comfortably decide to come with us even without her husband to consult with. Observing her beautiful smile for the baby, her tender care of him, and her uncomplaining perseverance as she carried the child 5 hours on foot, and held him for 5 hours in a tractor ride—including pre-chewing his rice, breast-feeding while hiking (!!), and giving him water out of the grubby-soda-bottle-turned-water-bottle cap.


· That the 16-year-old brother who also came with us survived the hike without incident despite his respiratory infection—causing difficulty breathing, lots of coughing and hawking (a farovite national past time even in normal times). Plus sore toes from his flip flops (eventually opting for barefoot and then Neil’s Teva’s—which he swam in but which protected his feet).


· Not a positive highlight, but we all were tasty to the leeches—I think only Neil and I were persistently grossed-out by them. We pulled off probably 20-30 of them from our shoes, socks, legs, feet, of which 5-6 had managed to connect to Neil (none to me). We’ve finally found the critter that likes Neil’s blood better than mine!!
· Imagining seeing the town thru the eyes of mom and brother, as we approached the Muang Sing valley at tractor-speed from high in the mountains, and increasingly saw bicycles, trucks, shops, lights, televisions in the shop fronts, and finally the very-bright-lights of the white-tiled hospital. With a television in the waiting room.

· On arrival at the hospital here in Muang Sing, quick attention by the medical team. Although a very scant exam, within an hour they’d given the baby oral antibiotics, and anti-allergenic/anti-itch/sedative, and multivitamins. And started an IV drip plus IV-push antibiotics on the boy. Our guide, Ko, pictured here in the hospital with Neil, helped us to ensure the family was well-settled. Most poignant moment was when the staff asked mom to remove the baby’s beautiful hat. I had noted that she carefully kept the baby’s head covered even the evening before in the village, so had a gut feeling that what was under the hat wasn’t good. Indeed. Lots of impressive scabs and sores on the baby’s head—leading both mother and brother to tears.

And yes, it was very good, finally around 8:30pm, to eat a large bowl of noodle/egg/tomato/peanut soup made by the lovely, gracious Chinese lady who gets that we’re vegetarian and lets us come into her kitchen and select our ingredients every time we eat there. Plus lots of cold Fanta and water. And then home to the guest house for long hot showers, clean clothes, and “our own” (well, sorta) bed.


Friday morning we’ll be taken to the bus station around 7am by some of the young people Neil’s been working with. Quite a send-off it’ll be, I think. Love to all, we’re getting a lot of it here.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

A Second Time Around!


And here's the good news!

Red Apple Elegy won it's second ever award--thanks Lora. It means so much coming from you and Philly is Phunny and the whole Urbanity Crew. I don't think I can have enough Honest Scraps awards. Honestly! Lora reminds me of the second honest thing about me--one of the rules of the award--I love cities. With her "stealthy cellphone camera" she makes me feel like I'm walking to work right alongside her. Creepy, I know, Lora, but hey! you've been stalking me, too! I need her shots of the city on a daily basis. I hope she doesn't mind if I share two from today's post with you: Find her
here and don't miss her list of 10 Honest Things.


A Sad Day for Newport Hills

This is going to be a very long post with no photos and some planning jargon. If you only read the next three paragraphs or so you'll get the gist without having to chew the grist, if you know what I mean. But the grist is important because it contains the basic facts gleaned from various plans and documents on public record that lay down for all to see the direction that Newport Hills residents have said they want to take in the coming years. First, the bad news:

On the City's Parks Department website listing meetings and agendas for the Parks Board it shows that they haven't met since June 10. In July they cancelled due to a lack of quorum and in August they simply cancelled. This month's meeting, it has just been announced, will be held Thursday of this week instead of tonight.

It appears that the astroturf installation at Newport Hills park will go on regardless.

The following documents, however, show that:
1. The City is actually in the business of acquiring new property, contrary to what they said at the June meeting, and there is a historic policy of partnering with the School District, also contrary to what was stated at the meeting.
2. In addition the Newport Hills commercial center (Red Apple) would be the obvious place to site expansion of programming, e.g.
• day care;
• teen and senior activities;
• indoor and outdoor recreation facilities;
• classroom, performance, and meeting space;
• a community information kiosk;
• a mini-library; and
• a small cafe.
3. Newport Hills Park is a neighborhood park, not a community park, by the City's own definition. Furthermore,
4. Newport Hills is already below the Level of Standard established by the Parks Department for our neighborhood, and finally,
5. The fact that there has been little to no response to the neighborhood's concerns about the installation of astroturf in our one small park, according to the City, brings into question the appearance of a fair public process.

The last is why, in a very large nutshell, we're talking astroturf and not all the other possibilities outlined and codified by the residents of Newport Hills for the past 15 years. It's unfortunate, but I have to say that this wouldn't be happening if more people showed up at meetings. I know they're boring, but they're important if you want a say in how this community's future is shaped. Lessons learned. Bygones, as they used to say on Ally McBeal. Let's move on.
If you follow this link at
Bellevue Parks

you will now find the following info:

"A synthetic-turf sports field will be installed at Newport Hills Park, replacing a grass field that has been unavailable during the wet months, from December to June. Installing synthetic turf, which can be used year-round, has been a high-priority park project for many years and is identified in the 2003 Parks and Open Space System Plan.

Newport Hills is also one of two synthetic sports field projects included in the 2008parks levy approved by Bellevue voters. The project will satisfy an identified need for more high-quality soccer fields, is located in an area especially lacking in quality fields, makes use of existing lighting to maximize program capacity and is located in a park with existing infrastructure such as parking and restroom facilities.

Scope of Work
The project scope includes converting the existing grass soccer field to synthetic turf and upgrading to a state-of-the-art lighting system. The new lighting system will improve the lighting quality for the teams and reduce spill light and glare for the neighbors. As budget allows, other improvements will be considered, including a pedestrian walkway connection along the east edge of the park, new ballfield fencing and backstop, restroom upgrades, baseball infield conversion to synthetic turf, and infield relocation to the east side of the park to help with traffic and pedestrian flow.

Timeline
The project is currently in the design and cost-estimating phase. Staff expect to submit for environmental review and apply for permits in August. Depending on permit review and weather conditions, construction could begin late this fall or winter 2010and be ready for use for the fall 2010 season."


PUBLIC PROCESS
They recap the public process involved in getting to this point:

"A community meeting was held on April 29, 2009 at Newport Hills Swim and Tennis Club. Meeting invitations were mailed to over 2,000 nearby residents, and the meeting was advertised on the city’s website. Approximately 12 park neighbors and three local sports representatives attended. This meeting served as a general introduction of the project and to field questions and concerns.

On May 12, a petition signed by 28 nearby residents was presented to the Park Board highlighting the concerns raised at the initial community meeting, and urging the city to partner with the Bellevue School District to improve an area school sports field instead of Newport Hills Park.

On June 17, Parks staff held a second community meeting at Newport Hills Swim and Tennis Club. Over 3,000 invitations were mailed to nearby residence, and the meeting was advertised on the city’s website. Approximately 18 neighbors attended. Parks staff presented the proposed Newport Hills field plan. Comments and concerns received from the community were similar to those heard at first community meeting.


Following are the basic facts of the case contained within background documents.

NEWPORT HILLS SUBAREA PLAN:

Although the Parks representatives dismissed this as being outdated (1994 or thereabouts) I was on the Citizens Advisory Committee that came up with the policies you see below. Not only was the plan dismissed but the representatives specifically said that "Bellevue was not in the business of acquiring property for parks."

If you follow this link you'll find the
Newport Hills Subarea Plan:

on page 208 it states:

Much of the Newport Hills Subarea was developed with insufficient
provisions for public parks and open space, according to current standards. The Newport Hills Community Park at S.E. 60th Street and 120th Avenue S.E. is the only public park in the Subarea. It is heavily used and should be expanded, with adequate facilities and connections to neighborhoods.
New neighborhood-scale parks and miniparks should be acquired and developed throughout the Subarea, especially in association with new subdivisions.

and on page 217:
A high priority is to acquire and develop small parcels of land throughout the Subarea for mini-parks and neighborhood parks. These parks would provide recreation opportunities close to where people live and should be linked with the local parks system and with the system of pedestrian and bicycle transportation.
The City of Bellevue is working with the Bellevue School District to coordinate services and facilities. Schools sites are generally available for public use after school hours but some facilities may need to be upgraded to better serve the community as a whole. City/School District partnerships reduce the need for separate facilities to accommodate Parks and Community Services programs.

Because it is the social and economic center of the community, a location in the Newport Hills commercial district should be evaluated if the City of Bellevue considers developing a community center to meet the needs of the larger community south of I-90. The same location should be considered for a neighborhood center which would meet community needs.


I especially liked this, in light of the Newport Hills' ailing commercial center:


These needs for the Newport Hills Subarea as identified by the Newport Hills CAC
include such features as:
• day care;
• teen and senior activities;
• indoor and outdoor recreation facilities;
• classroom, performance, and meeting space;
• a community information kiosk;
• a mini-library; and
• a small cafe.


Policies
POLICY S-NH-36. Acquire land for park purposes, especially adjacent to existing parks, public facilities, and trailheads.



Although the CITY PARKS AND OPEN SPACE SYSTEM PLAN of 2003, mentioned above:

did call for the installation of synthetic turf at Newport Hills Park it specifically states that the park is a neighborhood, or mini-park, as opposed to a community park, which is how the Parks representatives at our neighborhood meeting this summer continuously referred to it. BIG difference, in fact. Community parks serve the REGION. Read on.

Click here to view
Parks & Open Space System Plan 2003
The policies key to Newport Hills are as follows:

FOCUS AREAS
Introduction
Neighborhood sites are designed to meet active and passive recreation
needs of their immediate neighborhood. These sites are identified as
either mini-parks or neighborhood parks. Both are important in the
overall park system. Mini-parks are characterized by their focus on a
limited number of activities in a small neighborhood space. They are
generally less than two acres in size and serve an area within about
one-quarter mile radius. Neighborhood parks are larger and have multiple
recreational facilities, both active and passive. They can range up
to 15 acres in size and serve roughly a one-half mile radius.
Neighborhood
and mini-parks are intended mainly as walk-to or bike-to facilities;
therefore, they either have no or very limited off-street parking facilities.
These neighborhood parks should not create parking or traffic impacts
to the neighborhoods in which they are located.

In some instances, neighborhood sites may be acquired, developed,
or maintained in partnership with a school district, a community
association, or business. In other instances, it is appropriate to require
neighborhood sites or facilities in conjunction with private development,
such as a subdivision or planned unit development.

Since being identified in the 1993 Park Plan as the community’s highest
priority, the City has concentrated significant efforts on offsetting
the identified deficits of neighborhood and mini-parks in virtually all of
Bellevue’s subareas. Substantial progress has been made. Sixteen neighborhood
and mini-parks have been completed since 1993, including
Lattawood, Lakemont Highlands, Ivanhoe, and Robinsglen. The City
has also developed or improved playgrounds and sportsfields at most of
Bellevue’s 16 elementary schools.
Unfortunately, no changes or noticeable improvements have been made in the Newport Hills neighborhood, while many acres of pastureland and green spaces have been displaced by new developments in the last ten years. None of the new developments have provided public open space

The document continues,

Work still remains, as evidenced by the 2001 Park Plan phone survey
that rated acquisition and development of neighborhood sites as the
community’s second highest park priority. The 2002 phone surveys done for the park bond also reflect the community’s high level of interest in neighborhood sites. Survey respondents with children placed neighborhood parks as their highest priority, reflecting the fact that children most frequently use neighborhood and mini-parks. Therefore, this Plan continues to emphasize the need to acquire and
develop neighborhood facilities. However, because of the past emphasis on neighborhood facilities, the City can now target its efforts on selected subareas
that continue to reflect level of service deficits in neighborhood sites.

Each subarea was evaluated to determine current and future park needs
based on the established level of service standards, which includes acreage
as well as service area standards.

Based on this analysis, six of the 14 subareas continue to show deficits in neighborhood level of service standards.

The Crossroads, Downtown, Factoria, Newport Hills and Wilburton
Subareas have deficits in acres of neighborhood facilities. The
Factoria, North Bellevue and Newport Hills Subareas show deficiencies
in meeting neighborhood park service area standards, meaning that
large portions of these subareas are geographically isolated and not well
served with neighborhood facilities.

Deficits in the North Bellevue and Wilburton Subareas can be offset by developing existing sites. The remaining subareas will require the acquisition and development of strategically located neighborhood sites to serve the neighborhoods. The City must aggressively seek opportunities to provide additional neighborhood sites and facilities in these subareas.

Partnerships and Schools
Partnerships are seen as an increasingly important approach to providing
these neighborhood facilities in the community. Partnership opportunities
with the Bellevue School District, community associations, other jurisdictions,
and private businesses should be encouraged wherever possible. These
partnerships could help defray the expense of mini and neighborhood park
acquisition, development, maintenance, and/or site security.


(And elsewhere in the document)
As noted in the Park and Recreation Facility Standards, public school
sites and facilities have traditionally been an integral part of Bellevue’s
park system. The City’s long-standing partnership with the Bellevue
School District should be continued, and if possible, strengthened.

Strong consideration should be given to acquiring surplus school sites
for park-related purposes. These sites can often offset park or facility
deficits. Priority should be given to sites that meet the following criteria:
• Distribution: Priority is given to sites in areas showing deficits in
available parks or open space, or if deficits would be created if these
public properties were sold.
• Adjacency: Priority is given to sites that are adjacent to existing
parks, because they represent opportunities to expand or increase
available recreational space.

In addition, the development review process should address the needs for
new mini and neighborhood parks in residential and urban areas. This will
allow for site dedication and development planning early in the process in
locations where growth is creating additional demands for park-related facilities.
In some cases, the inclusion of private recreational facilities within a
development may help offset the need for nearby public facilities.


TO RECAP THE PARKS PLAN:
Because the community places a high priority on neighborhood facilities,
continued acquisition and development of these amenities should
occur based on level of service standards and geographic need. Major
neighborhood facility initiatives include:
• Acquire and develop neighborhood sites in the geographically underserved
areas of Crossroads, Factoria, Newport Hills, Bridle Trails
and Downtown Subareas.
Develop existing neighborhood sites in North Bellevue (Chapin
Property), Wilburton (Highland-Glendale property), Downtown
(Ashwood), Factoria (Meadow Wood), and Eastgate/Newcastle
(Norelius/Sunrise).
• Acquire surplus school sites consistent with the acquisition criteria.
• Redevelop Enatai Neighborhood Park
• Continue an active partnership with the Bellevue School District to
improve neighborhood facilities at elementary school sites.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Honest Scrap Award and a birthday




Hey, I won an award!!
It comes by way of Premium T
and it's called the Honest Scrap Award.

Here's what she said about me:
(One of the conditions of accepting this award is you have to brag about it! No problem!)

Robin, urban-planner/architect/
visionary, writes with conviction and passion
about the need for sustainable communities.
A resident of suburbia, she acknowledges both
the beauty and bane of our 21st century landscape,
and approaches it all with an optimism
to be admired and emulated.


And listen to what they say about T:

Premium T.'s blog is filled with the beauty with which she
walks through her beautiful world...However, she's never
sticky sweet, cloying or in lalala land. She sees what is
there...It is my conviction that if there were more
T's in the world, there would be less need
for other kinds of scrappers.


It's all true, too. Just check out yesterday's nonsense-fairy-tale which brought a little sunshine to a very rainy day...

Now one of the really difficult award rules to follow is number 3, in which you must choose a minimum of seven blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. I'm guessing that it'll be ok if I do this over the course of seven days, or seven weeks, depending on how organized I am.

I will also attempt over the next week or month to comply with rule 5, which tells me to list ten honest things about myself. Wow. I don't know if I can list one. Or if I'll be able to stop at ten. And really, does anybody really care? We'll see. (below)

Without any hesitation my first choice for the Honest Scrap Award is Sean at eff-stop local.

His photos are brilliant recordings of the ordinary and the everyday in a place not usually associated with artistic inspiration: Bellevue, a suburb of Seattle, and specifically the neighborhood of Newport Hills. Full disclosure here: he's my husband and partner in the crime of committing to posterity loving observations of our neighborhood. He's also very good at photographing the world outside our neighborhood, as his other blog eff stop international proves. In both design and content, his blogs expand the idea of community involvement through the artistic process with understated humor and originality. Here are a few samples of his work from this year. Bravo!

The Red Apple in January



From his homage to garage doors





Painterly close-ups of car paint

Whether it's mailboxes, loading docks or car shows, eff-stop proves that to survive as an artist in the burbs you need an artist's eye, a keen sense of the absurd, and the wit to know the difference!








And thank-you T. You and Citizen K have been loyal midwives throughout the 9-month "labor" of love that has been this blog. Hey, it's Labor Day!

How absolutely perfect that these awards arrive on the day of an important milestone, a sort of birth-day. If my blog were a baby, conceived on January 7 of this year, and if my math is correct, today would be her due date. She'd be born on or around today. September 7.

Here's a look back at the day of little Elegy's conception:

The Red Apple is No More




After two or three weeks of daily walks to collect groceries, gossip and a little break from our snowbound existence we saw that our beloved Red Apple grocery store is up for sale. Everything 25 percent off. Business is booming.

So what will things look like a year from now? Newport Hills has sustained not one but two boxy grocery stores in its center for decades. Right across the street from each other. The original Albertsons became Stod's Batting Cages, and the Red Apple has shrunk in square footage, repurposing itself over the years. It used to have more foot traffic, a more diverse identity: featuring video rentals, popcorn and a US Post office. Now it still serves a function for gathering--the deli was remodeled to accomodate seating. It's where I always knew I could find my house contractor on his lunch break.

Part of this is sentimentality: my children entered the coloring contests at Christmas and Halloween all their lives. This is where mothers oversaw their daughters sale of Girl Scout cookies, and dads wandered the parking lot with their sons at the annual Classic Cars show. I never actually witnessed it myself, but I'm sure the semi-annual lobster drop was something.

I'll have to find my CAP (Consumer Advantage Pricing) elsewhere. My husband will especially miss those cryptic messages displayed in the parking lot entrance:
chk brst 4.99
H20melon 79/lb
grnd rnd 3.99

Yesterday at Whole Foods an ex-Apple checker looked for a dry cart for me, after a hurried walk across the parking lot in driving rain. He still doesn't recognize me, after ten years! That gave me pause. I realize I have some mixed emotion, and perhaps a little cautious optimism for the future of our neighborhood's center.

So the future: will a smaller grocery store come in? Will it sit empty and abandoned for a year or two? Is there a developer out there who may be interested? Maybe not now, but after the economy picks up? What works in this kind of demographic? Do we have any say at all in the process which is probably dominated by men in suits who live in California?

I plan to watch and learn.


It's meant so much to me to produce a blog. It's a complete joy. For one thing, I get the chance to record any time I want, anything I want. I can play with photos, paintings, music in a totally unique way. For another thing, I have watched people grow artistically in the last nine months to an incredible degree. I can interact with others who produce wonderful blogs, much better than mine, and engage in a dialogue with anyone who cares to comment. It's not going to change the world, but it has certainly changed me.

And the third thing is this: as far as I can tell I'm the only person blogging about Seattle's suburb to the east, Bellevue. My goal is to prove myself wrong and find others who care about building a sense of community that only the people who live there can achieve. I hope I'm wrong and that the coming months will show that there are others here who care too.

I've found that my interests go beyond design and planning, neighborhood and third places, parks, community gardens and, yes, even astroturf!

On this "birthday" I hope to introduce a second blog, a spin-off as it were, of my Red Apple Jukebox entries. I've discovered something new I'd like to explore and share, and feel it's time to add a new member to the Red Apple family. Red Apple Elegy will stay and focus on issues of planning, neighborhoods, and design. And grocery stores (or the lack thereof), first and foremost!

Red Apple Jukebox will focus on dance music. Because it can. And because everybody needs an outlet. And it's also my number 1 honest thing I can say about myself: I love to dance. Stay tuned.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

The Modern Workout

Received bad news today regarding astroturf and Newport Hills Park: the City's meeting on the matter was cancelled last month due to lack of a quorum. The result is that they've already put the installation of turf out for bids. So the meeting I referred to earlier is actually not going to happen. I was mad for a bit but then I found this little gem and felt better.

From Hello Beautiful
something fun and artsy to throw in to your next workout.



Thursday, September 3, 2009

Newport Hills Park Astroturf update

This just in thanks to Carolyn Pastoriza:

A meeting is planned for next Tuesday, September 8 at 6pm to discuss astroturf at Newport Hills park. As far as I can tell there has been no formal announcement or publicity from City of Bellevue Parks Dept regarding this.
Keep reading for a synopsis of earlier posts on this subject, or scroll to the bottom for links to some of the many articles available on the subject of synthetic turf's health concerns
.


The dark green is synthetic turf; the lighter green is the baseball outfield which will be natural grass. Currently the park is all natural grass. The usefully flexible but frequently muddy nature of natural grass is what has the organized soccer community in Bellevue circling our neighborhood park like bald eagles above Lake Washington.










These photos taken at the annual 4th of July picnic are a gentle reminder that none of these activities will be allowed at Newport Hills Park next summer. See below and click on the Robinswood signboard for the rules there. They will apply here as well.

We have a little park with a tiny playground and a lot of grassy space. In the summer that grassy space is filled with kids doing soccer camp. Dogs are walked, kites are flown and frisbees are thrown. Families picnic and babies take their first wobbly steps.

The younger kids have always been in the majority. It's what you call a "pocket park" with a baseball diamond. Definitely a neighborhood attraction. At this point it is the only public place where people can gather outside in this neighborhood. Always immaculately clean and wholesome. The neighbors love it and have never thought it needed changing, as far as I know.





As I wrote back in July after the City Parks Department mailed the following postcard to Newport Hills residents:

"Join us as we share sportsfield improvements plans for Newport Hills Community Park as part of the voter approved Parks levy."

Seems innocuous, but the important words here are Community Park. Not a neighborhood park but a community park. A definition is in order here: a community park serves the needs of the community at large; in this case, the eastside soccer community. By any definition, this is a neighborhood park. It's tiny--just big enough for a grassy field and a cramped little playground.

What is missing in this invitation are the words "synthetic turf." Because that is all that got talked about at the ensuing meeting.

The thing is that the City, with 1.8 million dollars in their pocket to spend on Newport Hills park improvements, chose to spend it on the installation of synthetic turf. This was presented as a "done deal" because the City has no other options for siting a community soccer field in existing neighborhoods. Guess why not. People don't want them in their neighborhood.

Now at Surrey Downs and Eastgate neighborhoods, when this levy was approved, expansions at Surrey Downs include open lawns, picnic spots and a skateboarding area. A "development zone" has been reserved to allow for a community center. The process takes about 18 months, according to "Bellevue: It's Your City June 2009". Over at Eastgate, an off-leash dog area, picnic facilities and trails will be on offer in addition to the possibility of lighted sportsfields and an indoor recreation building. The City purchased properties from the Boeing Co and the BSD, which is interesting because we were told at the meeting that The City isn't in the business of land acquisition.

Understandably, the meeting was heated. After all, Newport Hills is practically dying on the vine and all the City can offer for their 1.8 mil is some astroturf and a guarantee of late bedtimes for the neighborhood kids who can't get to sleep because of the year-round usage of the park til 10:30 at night, fully lit and noisy.

Apparently you can't walk your dog on the stuff, eat on it, put stakes in it for fairs, etc., and, according to recent studies, it's not good for your kids' health (see below).

When will the City Parks Department involve neighbors in a meaningful way? When will the Park Department talk to the Bellevue City Manager and Neighborhood Planner as well as the Economic Development Director and/or Bellevue School District, not to mention retail property owners sitting on empty buildings to come up with a plan for Newport Hills' survival? Astroturf is not the answer.

Aesthetically, it smells like the inside of Les Schwab's and looks terribly unnatural. Like painted asphalt. Leaves lie on top of it in a very surreal way. There's no way they could be raked off--of course they're blown--I can only imagine what a McFlurry looks like spilled on this stuff. Click on the photo to identify litter: mainly leaves and an orange peel.


And then there are the rules. At Robinswood, the public can be asked to take their dogs to the dogpark, their children to the playground, the frisbee players and kiteflyers to the grassy field, and for anything else you do besides soccer there seems to be ample room. This is not the case with Newport Hills park. To ask us to compare Newport Hills' tiny but well-used neighborhood park with the massive expanse that is Robinswood's is ludicrous, to put it mildly.


Come on City of Bellevue--you know we're underserved in this department. You've said so yourselves. It's time to ask the people of our community what they want.

A ten-minute google survey reveals there is a lot to be concerned about from a health standpoint:
Center for Environmental Health here
and LATimes here
and SF Gate here
and USA Today here
and NPR here
and here
and Consumer Reports here
and NYTimes here