As Monty Python used to say, “And now for something completely different…”

It’s an invite to the Death Café! As macabre as that may sound on the face of it, this is an earnest and well-intended effort sponsored by the Wallingford Community Senior Center (WCSC), at the Good Shepherd Center. The event flyer that was shared with Wallyhood describes it this way:

At a Death Cafe people, often strangers, gather to drink tea, have a snack and discuss death. Our objective is ‘to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives’.…

Some of you may have heard about the controversial cherry trees down by the Pike Place Market that stirred a larger conversation about the fate of trees in the city. Wallyhood was recently contacted by Sandy Shettler, a local resident with a strong interest in urban trees and preserving those that remain. She and Kersti Muul, an urban conservation specialist and arborist, sent us the following sad article on the demise of two venerable old oak trees that had shaded the western side of the Wallingford Post Office:

The two huge oaks that grace the entrance of Wallingford’s U.S. Post …

Forget the annual early season plunge of the Mariners into baseball mediocrity…THIS is the most reliable harbinger of spring: it’s time for the annual Seattle Tilth Alliance edible plant sale at Meridian Park! The main sale will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 6 and 7; there is also paid admission to a Friday evening (May 5) pre-sale. This is one of the biggest gardening events on the Seattle calendar, and attracts big crowds to the Wallingford neighborhood around Meridian Park and the Good Shepherd Center—so even if you don’t participate in the sale itself, be aware that it will …

In case you were wondering what’s up with the old Mejari Fusion place next door to Murphy’s…our friends at City Cellars shared this pic of the liquor license application for a Greek restaurant to be run by a familiar name in Seattle: Kostas Opa, Inc.  Old timers (as we fossilized relics from the Age of Dinosaurs like to call you youngsters) in the area might recall a restaurant that operated for 20 years in the heart of Fremont called Costas Opa, or the current longtime U District establishment, Costas on the Ave. The recently filed business license information lists the …

It’s happened. Long promised, routinely ignored, obfuscated and talked around—and tenaciously covered by KOMO—the dismantling and cleanup of the notorious Ship Canal encampment is well underway on the day that it commenced (Monday). KOMO, which must have a wholly-owned subsidiary dedicated to encampment reporting, had featured a story that said today would be the day. The State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), on whose property this camp has existed and persisted since sometime after the last Ice Age, had committed to removing the encampment by the end of the month in a letter to John Stanford International School (JSIS) parents.  This …

Ahhh, springtime in Seattle!  Ain’t it grand?  I went outside this morning to plant a few seeds, and wallowed in…the acrid smell of burnt plastic, fiberglass, and hydraulic fluid.  It is usually just exploded propane tanks and charred tents wafting in the morning air, so I knew something was up. Or more correctly, upwind, as I was downwind of the terrible fire at Seattle Boat Company (across Northlake from Voula’s Offshore Café, on the east side of the Ship Canal Bridge), which became engulfed in flames early this morning. The Seattle Times and other sources report a 32-year-old man was …

Just after the turn of the year to 2023, Seattle City Councilmember Alex Pedersen announced that he would not seek re-election to the District 4 seat that he has held since 2019. Like many other seats on the City Council, Pedersen’s is up for reconsideration in November. District 4 includes Wallingford and something of a mixed bag of other neighborhoods in north Seattle (e.g., Eastlake, Fremont, Laurelhurst, Maple Leaf, University District, View Ridge, Windermere). Pedersen, who distinguished himself on a left-leaning Council as a centrist, has weathered some particularly tumultuous times for the city during his tenure.

As Councilmember Pedersen …