Let’s get one thing out of the way right off the bat:  It’s NOT Mexican Independence Day.  That’s September 16^th.  Cinco de Mayo DOES celebrate the victory of the Mexican army over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.  The way I read the history of this unofficial* holiday, Cinco de Mayo had its beginnings, not in Puebla—or even Mexico—but rather in California.  There, it has been celebrated continuously since 1863.  And like many things spawned in California, Cinco de Mayo leaked out into the rest of the country and now has become a celebration of …

I was surprised and saddened to read of the passing of Scott Morrow in the Seattle Times.  If that name doesn’t ring a bell, Morrow was a longtime activist in Seattle’s struggles with the issue of homelessness and an early proponent of sanctioned encampments and tiny-house villages.  He died of pancreatic cancer on April 19.  His tribute/obituary on Legacy.com details a life of advocacy and service.

I never met Scott Morrow.  But when I signed on as a volunteer editor for Wallyhood last year, I thought an interesting transitional story between the “old” Wallyhood and the “new” version would be …

Wallingford resident Colleen sent Wallyhood a note about a local hands-on Earth Day activity in our neighborhood.  Although, please note:  this is scheduled for the day after the official Earth Day (which is Friday, April 22nd).

Come help clean up our local environment!  Join Wallingford residents in an Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 23rd from 10 AM to 2 PM to clean the streets of Wallingford between Interstate 5 and Stone Way N. and beyond. People will be meeting at the Wallingford Center.

Please bring food donations for Wallingford‘s Family Works food bank.  Fuel Coffee, one of our neighborhood …

As a long-time bumbling and small-scale Seattle gardener, I always looked forward to the annual edible plant sale sponsored by Seattle Tilth in Meridian Park.  For me and a few thousand of my close gardening friends, it signaled the true beginning of the growing season—right around the time when it is finally warm enough to leave the tomato starts outside to harden.  Like almost everything else that adds happiness (and way too many zucchinis) to the margins of life, the plant sale was taken away from us for the last two years.

But happily:  IT’S BACK!  Seattle Tilth Alliance has …

(Editor’s note:  Some of you—perhaps our one other regular reader besides the other editors—may recall that a few weeks ago, Wallyhood did a feature on Sound Goods and its co-owner, Jennifer Kline Shernoff.  In the interests of expanding our coverage as well as our stable of writers, we invited Jenn to begin writing about wine with a neighborhood focus.  She’s embraced that invitation, and her first article follows.  Stay tuned for more wine-focused musings from our Wallyhood vintner!)

By Jennifer Kline Shernoff

Imagining myself as a friendlier, more adventurous, and non-trespassing version of Goldilocks, I recently took a wander through …

This is one of those stories that is hard to write about, as it concerns a heartbreaking loss.  You may recall last summer that 15-year-old Mahamed Mohamud disappeared somewhere between Wallingford and the Green Lake Library.  Two days later, his body was found in Green Lake.  The Seattle Police determined his death was an accident and closed the case.

While not a lot is known about the circumstances, at least some of the details do not seem to add up.  Mahamed’s mother, who is a Wallingford community member, a FamilyWorks employee, and frequent Green Lake Library patron, hired a private …