Outside Oasis / by Akira Ohiso

We are driving to the village of Magnolia for only the second time since moving to Seattle 8 years ago. At times, Magnolia feels like you are not in Seattle. To get to the village, you ascend Dravus, a steep neighborhood road that should never have been a road. The topography secludes Magnolia, so I can imagine residents staying put when they can and only leaving as needed.

The village feels like a small suburban town. West McGraw Street defies the trends of other Seattle shopping thoroughfares. Long-standing businesses like Gim Wah mix with coffee shops, gift shops, pubs, pizzerias, obligatory Starbucks, and Albertson’s in buildings with mid-century masonry.

Residents eat lunch or drink iced coffee under mature trees to avoid the midday heat. I noticed a bus stop sign with a zig-zag pole, a thoughtful resident-initiated project.

Camp kids play sports at the Magnolia Playfield. We stop at the Magnolia Garden Center for some florals. The staff member talks about the Mariners playing the Astros this weekend. He expects “like every year” for the M’s, currently clinging to a one-game lead in the West, to fade by October.

He talks about the historic 2000 team that almost beat the Yankees to go to their first World Series.

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We drop one of our kids off at the Bon Odori Festival at the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Church, park in the C-ID, and walk around. I fondly remember painting noodles in Maynard Alley. I stopped to view a six-story mural I helped design for Uncle Bob’s Place. The mural faces South Jackson and is visible from the I-5.

The streets are quiet. People in Sounders and Mariners jerseys kill time before evening games at T-Mobile and Lumen. Since the pandemic, many storefronts have remained boarded up. We shop at Kobo, a Japanese gift shop on South Jackson Street. I purchased a clay necklace and Ellie a lacquer-style display shelf.

Some businesses have not removed the plywood to protect against break-ins and vandalism. A cut-out in the plywood with a flashing “Open” sign is sometimes the only indication that the business is still operating.

We walk towards Hing Hay Park. Open drug use and behavior are conspicuous. Outside Oasis, a woman with open sores on her legs asks for money. Asian kids in fashionable street clothing -The Godfather logo across baggy shorts- order bubble tea. I get a brown sugar milk tea with boba, and we walk to Uwajimaya.

Older people sit on walkers outside International House, an affordable apartment building built in 1979 and renovated in 2018. It might be cooler outside than in apartments without A.C.

The atrium lobby and central glass facade were design features of their time, often seen in office buildings, industrial parks, and malls to elevate otherwise utilitarian architecture.

Growing up on Long Island, glass followed suburban sprawl into strip malls and shopping centers with an anchor store and neon trim.

I purchased Tokyo Style by Kyoichi Tsuzuki in Kinokuniya. First published in 1993, the photographs documented the city’s residents as they lived. The book continues to challenge the minimalist monastic aesthetic that Westerners fetishize.

Uwajimaya is always busy with locals and visitors eating in the food court or shopping for Asian ingredients. Ellie loves the household section that features beauty products, cooking utensils, Daruma, Kokeshi, Noren, rice bowls, chopsticks, and kawaii gifts.

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The M’s and Astros are tied for first place on Monday morning, losing two out of three games.