No Credible Threat

There were recent threats to our local schools posted on social media. Parents receive emails from the school principals stating threats of violence are taken seriously and handled by law enforcement.

We know from our history that school shootings often start with these early signs from troubled teens. The recent Apalachee High School shooting had the same early signs of gun violence posted online. School officials and law enforcement investigated at the time and concluded the student had no access to guns.

A year later, four innocent people are dead.

Not to say that Seattle Schools and law enforcement are doing the same thing, but, as parents, we don’t know. In America, mass shootings are like apple pie, so “No credible threat” does little to allay fears. Instead, students stay home, and parents oblige.

Today, my kids stay home. I feel helpless; keeping them home is my only sense of false security. Perhaps young people will refuse to go to school; then gun violence and legislation will be addressed.

***

I enjoyed the welcome rain this weekend, which soaked the dirt, earth’s forgotten natural sewers. The weather is still a divine act; humans can try to control, predict, and influence the sky with policy and drive-time weather magicians with blue screens and meteorologists' degrees, but the earth heals when we get out of the way.

Watching the country Cougs beat the downtown Dawgs at Lumen Field was refreshing.

An estate sale on our block creates unwanted traffic on the slim Seattle Streets. Young couples scoop up Silent Generation antiques that were supposed to be heirlooms, but their children didn’t want them. When leases end, those same antiques will be on corners -FREE-and as disposable as chipboard Allen wrench furniture.

I text STOP to endless political campaigns asking for my hard-earned money. You are on every political text list for years if you sign one petition or donate to one candidate.

STOP

UNSUBSCRIBE

BLOCK

REPORT AS SPAM

GET A DUMB PHONE

42,208.22USD

+83.57(0.20%) ⬆️

Zombie Pharmacy

The retail space on Market Street, which the former Bartells occupied for years, will become a Planet Fitness. The area around the former drugstore was deactivated as fewer people used the parking garage and connecting walkthrough to shopping. A vacancy signals that dead security cams will monitor the space. Corporate is not watching when the merch is gone.

It seems this pharmacy will not zombify with its giant, unrentable space for small businesses. The Target space across 15th is still vacant but protected from zombification because it's in a lobby office building. CVS across the Market would zombify if it closed. The old FedEx space, which is a few blocks up, has turned.

The roar of fighter jets above the clouds is practice for Seafair, or one of our many enemies attacking us. I walk with Ellie to the FedEx in Ballard Blocks. We take 11th Ave NW and cross at Market Street instead of 14th because we don't want to walk by people shooting up in their legs or wherever they have a usable vein.

Primary Day is Tuesday, and many moderate candidates are running on public safety and homelessness issues. Near the Blocks, posters on poles say, “Violence happened here,” in response to sweeps along 14th. Requiring people to move while providing resources and emergency housing is not “violence.” It’s an imperfect choice, but one that is working to support people towards long-term safety and stability, one slow case at a time.

The King County Coroner’s office has a public daily decedent list. Each day, it is noticeable how many deaths are drug-related. The fentanyl and drug epidemic is part of the problem. Addiction recovery takes many starts and stops and ongoing support, not one-off grants and interventions. You could make the argument that doing nothing is “violence” or more accurately “civic neglect.”

After FedEx, we eat lunch at Trail Bend, a local taproom and eatery. August days seem to keep people inside, and the industrial zone has fewer trees, so walking here is uncomfortable. We walk full-block stretches of cement buildings and razor wire perimeters protecting heavy equipment and stacks of wood pallets.

As we pass Urban Family and Stoup, more people are ordering from food trucks and sitting under pandemic-era outdoor seating.

We notice new parents trying to fit their newborn into a lifestyle that has passed but don't know it yet. Ellie and I talk about our kids growing older and the grief we feel. It took some time and denial, but we are starting to accept the transition of our family dynamic.

When our oldest is at college, our younger kids will also feel the change.

On an empty side street, a drug-addled man folds in half and clambers without a destination. Another man sleeps on a strip of grass roasting in the sun. His belongings scattered around him: crinkled dollar bills, a lighter, loose change, an Arizona iced tea can, an unknown piece of greasy machinery, and 7-11 nachos.

Crows hover and snatch nachos on the periphery of the wheezing, sun-burned human.

Behind Ballard Market, a couch cushion is next to a halved watermelon. A security guard walks around the store, locked and loaded, but talks to someone familiar on his cell phone with domesticated nonchalance.

38,703.27USD

-1,033.99(2.60%)🔽

∩

Someone unscrewed our neighbor's ∩ bike rack and stole their electric bike. The rack was found a few houses down. Ring cams are everywhere, but thieves know nothing will happen like coddled college protestors. The revolution will not be televised, but criminal activity will.

My ring cam mostly captures circadian domesticity, which is not engaging content for the app. 👍💬 Viewing shared footage of trespassing, vandalism, and theft might make us believe the community lacks civility.

Negative filtering is not only a cognitive distortion but a media distortion.

Some of the best moments of my day are the serendipitous greetings and short conversations with strangers I encounter. I learn so much about the community from these brief interactions. Conversations are often less defended, less performative, and more honest.

***

The fledgling Japanese Maple has grown. It started as a small rooted twig near the next-door plot where a house and trees once stood. Maple tree samaras travel by wind and propagate in other locations. Ellie pulled the twig and transplanted it to an area where it could thrive best.

The lot is fenced with discarded cinder blocks from an old foundation. When it rains, a declination and hollow collects water and looks like a tiny pond. Crows drink and forage during the day, then leave for the night to wooded areas to roost.

Sometimes, we find tin foil pieces in the same area outside our front door. According to the Audubon Society, “Curious crows will often fly off with an object, then lose interest and leave it behind. If the crow happened to leave an object where humans put out food, those humans might get excited and lay out even more food”.

Crows are food-motivated and intelligent, so the “gifts” are learned behavior that helps them obtain more food.

***

UPDATE: A Seattle Police officer knocked on my door; he found the neighbor's bike. Our neighbor was unavailable, so they told the police to drop it with me if the bike was found. While the culprit dropped the bike and ran, justice was served.. A big “thank you” to the Seattle Police Officer.

Meet The Supremes