A Prose Poem for my "Writing the City" Class

I recently took a writing class at the Richard Hugo House called "Writing the City" where we each produced a prose poem (journalism + poetry + prose).  This is mine, on a house in my neighborhood.  Perhaps light on the poetry, but I still like it.  The class was great and I recommend both the specific one and the Richard Hugo House in general.

We leave the bus together, my neighbor and I, making small talk.  I’ve gotten to know her over several similar mornings and she seems like a real nice lady.  We walk past some five houses and I veer off down my driveway.

“Goodbye, I’ll see you tomorrow!” I say.

“Oh you live here,” she replies.  Her voice is relieved.  “I thought you lived there. “  She points three houses down to another duplex. 

“No, no, I don’t live there!” I say with a too loud laugh.  Down the street another nice man with a pair of shih tzus glances over before continuing his walk. 

There is a house that people are relived to find out that you don’t live in.  At first it is dull but unremarkable, then it wilts.  Tan paint curls around chipped bricks and multiple defunct satellite dishes screwed in around the eaves.  There are too many things on the lawn – half-living plants in cheap plastic cups, fake stone wells, numerous flags of indeterminate symbolism.  There are too many cars, most of which seem unable to have arrived by the power of their own motors – windowless, spray painted, covered with tarps. There are too many silences until other neighbors lift the dirty veil and point out the mysteries.

She confides more about the house.  “Last year someone threw a Molotov cocktail through the front window and it nearly burned down!  It stayed that way for a long time before the owner rebuilt it.  If you call that rebuilt.  People come and go all the time.”

In sea of rentals, such turnover must indeed be high.  I begin to notice, too.  I begin to see the groups who seem disconnected.  Five young punks pacing.  Three sagging ladies smoking while half-assedly weeding.  An older man tinkering.  Now they are strange!

Similar relief repeatedly manifests.  “You can drop me off at my house.  It’s over here.”  “Oh, good – at first I thought we were going to say there!” 

Why do you persist, house?  This neighborhood is so nice!  Why does no one sell you to get rich, or take care of you like we deserve?  Wouldn’t we all be happy if you, too, were lovely?

When the time comes, I vote for the improvements to the city. The choices seem inclusive - a socialist, parks funding, infrastructure improvement, a livable minimum wage, marriage equality, legalized weed.  They mostly pass – see how we are a progressive model?  Everyone is welcome to help tow the line, to draw us closer to an ideal, so please remember to do your part, house.

Mornings, I walk my dog, going from there towards here.  An old dreadlocked white man in a tie-dye tee shirt works in its lawn area from time to time.  “How are you doing?” he always asks.

“Good.  And you?” I say.

He looks over both shoulders and leans towards me with a grin that at first made me nervous but now that I know him seems innocent.  There is never anyone around, but he does it anyway, laughing.  “Don’t tell anyone else, but I’m doing fantastic!”

Things to Do in Seattle with the visiting Fam

It’s been a cavalcade of family lately.  My parents, his parents, my parents again, all within a month.  What to do!  Literally – what to do?  Thats a lot of tourism.  Our families are great people - and, while definitely not picky, are not as interested in trying the thrill-seeking activities we might on our own, nor as interested in 'weird' food ('weird' in my dad's lingo is anything spicy, overly flavorful, vegetarian or 'emerging'.  This is a man who, in his mid-50's, has recently 'accidentally' discovered he likes asparagus.  Trust me, that was 'weird' enough for him.).   

A good thing about lived here for a little bit and having some idea of what people want to see, is that we haven't lived here so long that we've seen everything too many times yet.  So.  What did we do and eat?

Here's what we saw!::

Pike Place Market: You kind of have to, if you or someone visiting you hasn’t been here before.  I find it much more pleasant during the week, when it’s just a normal level of crowd, than on the weekend, when throngs of people are meander aimlessly and occasionally come to a traffic-stopping halt for no apparent reason.  If you have a choice, hit this up M-F instead of S-S.  It is pretty cool of a place, honestly - I shop here even as resident.  It’s got nice views of the water and the city skyline, and plenty of snacks (Peroshky Peroshky, The Crumpet Shop, and DeLaurenti come to mind, and the original Starbucks - just take care, as there are about 4 Starbucks in the Market, so that you identify the actual first one and not just ‘a’ Starbucks). 

Seattle Aquarium and Argosy Harbor Tour: While you’re at the market, head on down to the waterfront.  It’ll get you away from overwhelming crowds to more reasonable crowds.  You can buy a special combo ticket for these two attractions, which is what we did and why I lumped them together.

The Aquarium is lovely, and the docents/volunteers are really friendly and really into marine life.  The sea life ranges from bright and beautiful to weird and lurking.  I get sad around mammals in aquariums and zoos, but the ones here were all rescued, so I feel a little less bad about it.  Special bonus unique Seattle Aquarium tidbit: you an learn a lot (a LOT) about salmon, which in my experience every good Washingtonian knows by heart already.

The Argosy Harbor Tour has plusses and minuses.  I could do without the hard sell on drinks, both on the dock and on the boat.  While you’re in line on the dock for the boat, someone is literally constantly blathering on a mic about the drinks on the ship, which gets old fast.  However, once the boat takes off and after they do one last push for your boozin’ on the water, they stop all that and focus on the tour.  The boat goes (sails?) around and a guide points out interesting things out and tells you about them.  Example: you learn that the Puget Sound is so deep the top of the tallest building on the skyline, if set on the floor of the Sound, would still be below the surface.  You learn about buildings you can see, ships, animals, history.  I won’t spoil you with too many tidbits, because that's most of the fun of the tour, so if you pay attention its trivia-tastic.

Ballard Farmers Market: This is a less touristy, more local version of Pike Place Market, so if you’ve already gotten your fill of food-tourism maybe skip this.  But if haven’t, or you just want to check out another section of town and mix with the locals going about their days, it doesn’t get much better than this.  The location is lined with shops and restaurants, so it doubles as a great spot for breakfast/lunch/brunch/coffee and getting some unique gifts.  If you've got or know some kids, there is a great toy store called Clover with adorable, European toys that are mostly pretty far removed from the overly plastic, pink-and-blue shock of a commercial toys.  A superb, simple coffee can be got at Anchored Ship Coffee Bar, and a more elaborate coffee with pastries is available at Fresh Flours.  If you want to eat market-faire, there’s a quesidialla stand with veggie quesidillas that are delicious, and a little pop-up donut manufacturer.

Fremont Market: This is not a farmers’ market (there’s little produce to buy, although there are plenty of prepared-food vendors, including some very tasty Indian and some very tasty tacos).  Rather it is a combination art and antique market.  You can get artisan marshmallows, cute old jars, paintings, hand-made tee shirts, lawn furniture, tchotskys, trinkets, jewelry, pottery… stuff.  Good stuff.  It’s in yet another fun part of town (lower Fremont), with access to the Troll, the Lenin statue, a grand bike path, and Fremont’s shops and eateries.  And it’s close to Theo Chocolate.

Theo Chocolate: A chocolate factory!  They have a tour theoretically, although I have yet to figure out how to actually get on the tour (and I’ve tried calling, signing up online, and just showing up, none of which have worked).  So… good luck with that and tell me how you did it because yes, I do want to go on a chocolate tour.  The shop is enough of a joy, with samples of nearly every kind of chocolate bar available for the tasting.  Chocolate like ‘Ghost Chili Pepper’ and ‘Fig, Fennel and Almond’ and ‘Coconut Curry’ and I could go on, but you’re either with me or against me regarding sweets, and your mind is probably made up either way.

Ballard Locks: See how ships get from a higher water level to a lower water level using nothing but gravity and hydraulics!  Watch ships go not only back and forth but up and down!  I’m no engineer.  Engineers probably love the technicalities.  I like being by the water in the sun.  There’s also something called a “fish ladder’ which was closed while I was there, but is doubtless probably pretty great to see when operational (I mean - a fish ladder?!).  The grounds of the locks are a lovely garden, and volunteers quite knowledgeable about the whole system and grounds staff the shop/information center.  Trust me, they are a hoot.  Talk to them.  They love that.

Golden Gardens: A little down the road from the Locks is Golden Gardens park.  It’s one of the only real beaches in Seattle, as far as I know which is not super far so if you know of any more please let me know.  So.  It’s a beach and across the Sound you can see the Olympics, and in the evening you can see the sun set behind them, and if that’s not one of the most magnificent things you’ve ever seen you can start taking me on vacation with you to these so-called more-wonderful places.   Boats bobbing around in the water, kids and dogs and whales and dolphins splashing around in the waves, and fires in fire pits on the sand, and sunsets over mountains.  It’s a heck of a picnic spot. Technically there are no dogs allowed, but I have yet to see any fewer than 5 dogs there at any given time.  Booze seems to be okay too, although I don’t know if that’s official or not and I certainly wouldn't bring glass.  Definitely no fires out of fire pits, though – I’ve seen firemen wandering around kicking sand on them.  Even if you just stop by and it isn’t sunset, it’s still a gorgeous spot. Note: there is no actual garden.  Ironic.

Volunteer Park: This city is drenched in parks and plants.  Plants are growing everywhere a plant can grow, which is most places - even cracks in the concerete.  Plants are coming out of mailboxes, sprouting out of hats, appearing in your shadow when you turn around.  Volunteer Park is high up on a hill in the Capital Hill neighborhood.  It’s huge and there are gardens, trees, playgrounds, museums, and the Conservatory.  You can wander around and get a great view of the Space Needle with the sun setting behind it (I would also say that this city is lousy with sunset-gazing viewpoints).  It’s also next to the graveyard where Bruce Lee is buried if you’re into grave visiting. 

Conservatory: Inside the Pacific Northwest, one of the most beautiful landscapes in America, is Seattle, one of the most garden-friendly cities in America, which houses Volunteer Park, one of the most picturesque parks in America.  In this park there lies a special place where even more special plants are specially cultivated.  It’s the Conservatory.  Here you can actually learn what plants you’re looking at, through signs and, again, well-informed docents/volunteers.  The upside to the Conservatory, as opposed to simply being in Seattle in general which is pretty great, is that its wings house an even larger diversity of plants than the outside itself (which has an amazing array).  I learned that air plants need to anchor onto something to grow, instead of just sitting in a dish, where they can survive but not bloom.  Who knew?  The succulents wing made me pine a little for Austin.

Asian Art Museum: Also located in Volunteer Park, the Asian Art Museum is… well, it’s pretty self-explanatory.  It’s free the first and of the month.  In the 8 months I’ve lived here I’ve seen three different special exhibitions here and they were all really stunning, so I’d anecdotally say they get new stuff often and have a rad curator.  The permanent collection contains a delightful, beautiful statue called “Monk at the Moment of Enlightenment” that is so perfectly named, you’ll know it as soon as you see it.

Chihuly Garden and Glass: I was skeptical, I admit.  Glass museum sounds boring, like I’m going to be looking at a bunch of vases and some chandeliers and fall asleep while my mom examines them thoroughly.  Boy was I wrong.  This stuff is epic in scale and color and is about as artistic as glass can get.  There is a boat so big I could lie down in it twice, and it’s filled with glass balls and pillars and organic sculptures.  The glass pieces are part indoors and part outdoors (I’m partial to the indoor displays myself, although I like the way the outdoor sculptures are integrated with the landscaping (you perhaps thought a glass museum would remove you from the garden scene but oh no, friend. No.)).  

Washington Park Arboretum: Guess what?  A park!  It’s big!  It’s got trees!  There’s a Japanese garden (which is the only part that has an admission fee).  You can walk on a trail to Elliot Bay to marvel at those boats, and the University of Washington campus across the way.  Maybe you live here and you want to check out something new.  The grounds are a great for biking or jogging, too.  You can bring a dog on a leash!  I love that.

Here's what we ate!::

Bizzarro Italian Café: My parents really love Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and this place was featured on that show, so they were really excited to eat here.  I don't see how it's a diner, a drive in, or a dive, but based on Bizzarro, I’m guessing that title is purely for alliteration and not a true descriptor of all the places they feature.  Bizzarro looks like a cheesy place, with ‘cool stuff’ all over the walls and floors and tables and surface, but the food is the real deal.  It’s some great Italian food.  It will please foodies without being intimidating to sensitive tasters.  It is magically good for both families and dates.  

Elliot's Oyster House: Down on the water, downtown, near Pike Place, the Aquarium, the Argosy, and a bunch of other sites not listed here, is Elliot's Oyster House.  It’s huge so I can't imagine there's ever an extremely long wait, its on the water so that pleases visitors, and it’s nice to have seafood when you’re in Seattle.   I would describe Elliot's as a more traditional nice seafood place, where you can get seared tuna sliders, raw oysters, fried fish sandwiches, salmon salad, etc. 

Ballard Annex Oyster House: Near the Ballard Market, this is a newer spot that has more modern-type fare in a restaurant that looks like a boat.  It partially looks like you’re looking at a boat and partially feels like you’re on a boat, which sounds more confusing than it is.  Perhaps just imagine ‘generally nautical’ but without imagining ‘theme-y’.   This is the type of place that instead of fried calamari, there’s steamed calamari in a delicious broth.  You might get a whole trout here with the head and tail on, but you can still get fish and chips, too. 

Citizen: A great small coffee-shop/restaurant a short walk from the Seattle Center (which houses the glass museum, Space Needle, and EMP Museum, among other things).  They have sandwiches, tacos, breakfast all day, truly delicious chai, and an accommodating happy hour.  They have an extensive crepe menu, too.  I have a soft spot for this place that is not purely because they have breakfast tacos, but is at least partially related to that.

So, these are some things visitors can do that I would recommend.  They proved to be a solid overview of the city for our visitors (SEATTLE = PARKS + FOOD).  What are some of your favorite places to visit or take visitors to in Seattle?  Do you know of any off-the-beaten-path places worth exploring?

Chickens: An Overview

In early April, my boyfriend and I decided to act on our dream of raising their own chickens.  Well... mostly it was my dream, but he is very supportive of it, and I think he's pretty excited about it now. To get ready for chickens, we spent the last two months building our chicken coop and run from scratch, using tools from the Phinney Neighborhood Association.  

Rewind a little.

A lot of people in Austin had backyard chickens, and I was delighted that the same was true of Seattle. I'd seen them while I was walking my dog, poking their little beaks around houses and trees as we passed. Wouldn't it be nice to have some as pets, and get delicious fresh eggs to boot? It sounded ideal, but I didn't really know much about the practicalities of raising them. I had all kinds of questions like - How do you hold a chicken? How long do they live? How fast do they grow? What do they like to do for fun? What do I have to buy for them?

Turns out, the Seattle Tilth Association has a couple of chicken-rearing classes, including "City Chickens 101", which I decided to take to get myself some answers, and thankfully, the answers were mostly "It's not too hard!"

Daily requirements are to check to ensure food and water are available, to let the hens out of the coop in the morning, and to lock them the coop in night.  That... sounded do-able.

During the daylight hours, most chickens in the city are kept within or have access to a ‘run’.  A run is a simple wood frame with walls and a roof of chicken wire, and a bottom open to the ground.  Runs usually attach to the coop, but don't have to be. Some runs are even mobile, so the chickens can peck different parts of the yard (getting more worms, and fertilizing more area). Some people let their chickens roam a little wider on the property (but if you're considering this, keep in mind that chickens are ‘nature’s bulldozer’ and will eat anything in their path, including neighboring gardens, so unless the chicken yard is well-fenced or the chickens are reasonably attended by humans, they may need to stay in the run for the safety of fowl and flora). I look forward to letting them roam in the summer evenings, while I relax after work with a beer and a book...

Their coop should be secure, capable of keeping chickens in and predators out at night, as well offering protection from the various elements.  They should be well-ventilated, and cleaned of droppings at least once per week (probably the least exciting part... of any pet ownership. But not impossible).  The better the ventilation, and more often the coops are cleaned and their bedding refreshed or replaced, the less they will give off odors and attract rodents.  Since chickens can carry salmonella on their bodies, it is advised to avoid contacting the chicken with the face, and to wash hands carefully after handling the birds, their nests, and their eggs.  So, don't rub your chicken on your nose, and if you do, wash it shortly after.

So. Sounded easy enough. Which brings me back to the beginning of April, when it was time to start the hardest part - constructing their living quarters.  Local libraries and stores carry many books on the ever-popular hobby, including the book we used, “Chicken Coops: 45 Building Ideas for Housing Your Flock.” It contains rough outlines of coops to house as few as 3 to as many as several dozen chickens.  A residence in Seattle city limits is permitted to have up to 8 hens per lot (no roosters) in addition to the other animals allowed, and each chicken requires a minimum of four square feet of indoor space and eight square feet of outdoor space (plus 12” of roost space per bird, and one nest box for every 3-4 ladies).  Chickens are social creatures who require the company of other chickens, but do not appreciate having members added to their flock later.  A good minimum number of hens to start is three, allowing a buffer of social company in case something happened to one of the chickens. So, that's what we decided on. Three chickens. And I picked a coop design that would be comfortable for them (as well as tall enough for us to stand up in, to facilitate the aforementioned cleaning).

We moved to Seattle from Austin in 2012 and didn't bring that many tools with us. The tools we had weren't the 'power' variety. Also, neither of us had built anything like this - or anything that needed to even be nominally structurally sound beyond a bookshelf.  The coop design in the book is good and clear, but general. It provided a design, but not a schematic, tool lists, or wood supply lists. I set out to translate the coop photos into a more specific plot. It was... interesting. Then I had to obtain the appropriate wood, and the appropriate tools.

Fortunately, ‪residents of north-central Seattle have access to the resources available at the Phinney Neighborhood Association Tool Library. Located in the Phinney Neighborhood Center’s brick building, it has hundreds of tools that members may borrow for a small suggested weekly maintenance fee.  Joining the PNA is a simple process and the fee to joining is on a sliding scale.  The Tool Library is open Wednesdays 3-6:30pm and Fridays 5-7pm. The volunteers who staff the Tool Library provide a weatlh of personal experience to help novices figure out how to achieve their projects. There is also a great lumber store nearby, called Dunn Lumber, whose employees were able to help me price supplies and determine which ones I'd need.  Do you know how many types of 2x4's there are?  Lots.  I did not know.  I could not have built the coop without the help of the people at these two places.

The other big bonus of the PNA and Dunne is economic.  Coop building isn't really expensive, but its not like coops grow on trees.  I mean, other than the wood, which does grow on trees, but you still have to buy.  Unless you're the type of person who can use Craig's List or found wood to fill your needs (which... I'm jealous of your skills).  Dunn helped us chose wood and screws that would last, but weren't overly fancy for the purpose.  We borrowed the ‪Tool Library’s cordless drill, circular saw, chop saw and jig saw, which saved anywhere from $200-$500 on tools that I then didn't have to go buy for a single project.  We were even able to check out saw horses and C clamps.

Here's the thing: Chickens are cool and you can learn a lot from the Tilth Association Classes, which I highly recommend.  I also recommend the book, the lumber store, and the tool library, especially if you don't have a garage to store a bunch of tools in or if you're the kind of person who does maybe (maybe) one project per year and doesn't really want to invest in their own tool supply.

Here's the other thing: it was an interesting challenge to build this coop, and I want to translate how I did it into this blog, so you can figure out how you can too.  You can buy a pre-fab coop if you want, or buy some schematics.  And those are great.  But I believe in you, and if you want a fun experience that's tailored to your space and design aesthetic, I'll help you avoid the mistakes I made as you go about your way.  So keep your eyes peeled on this site and I'll provide updates leading to one master  coop DIY.  I think the next posts will be how I did these things and how you can do them too: drawing a schematic from a concept, choosing supplies and tools, cutting pieces, construction, details.  And lastly, chicken ordering and arrival. 

Epiphanies Not Guaranteed

I went camping with some people this weekend.  We stayed at Sul Doc campground, in Olympic National Park, on the peninsula, during an unseasonably warm and sunny three days.  Even Mount Rainier was out (as pictured above)! We drove out on a Friday, taking our car across the Puget Sound on a ferry, stopping in Bainbridge for rhubarb pastries, and set camp before dusk.

We had beans and rice and beer for dinner under a shockingly clear, star-laden sky.  Saturday we made breakfast tacos and hiked to Sul Doc Falls and back, soaked in the Sul Doc hot springs with dozens of Russians on holiday, and read books while roasting weenies and s’mores around a fire. Sunday we broke camp after skillet eggs and bacon, drove back to the ferry with a stop by a Bainbridge deli, and went home.  Everyone more than got along.  It was a storybook weekend, told in idyllic images of sitting, walking, eating, and drinking in various combinations too perfect to have planned for.

It was the kind of weekend that justifies a reticence to make too many plans and supports the idea that if you balance preparation with openness, you will come out on top (more often than not).  It was the kind of weekend it’s hard to come back from because your life seems too rushed, with too many goals, and too many requirements to stay inside and buckle down.  The things you wanted to do have grown a little more looming, and a little less exciting.

I can keep that state of mind for weeks, gleefully refusing to get caught up in the formerly important stuffs, while sadly aware that they’re still there, gaining on me.  I have this vague idea of a weekly early-evening dinner I make, where people stop by and bring something or not, and hang out, and there’s a progression of eating and drinking with leisure where there’s always another plate of pickles or bottle of wine.  It’s that weird nostalgia for something that was never actually had, perpetuated no doubt by an insatiable appetite for shows like Giada at Home and Jamie’s Dinners, and the writing of Alice Waters, Tamar Adler, and Julia Child.  The closest approximation of what I want was an Italian next-door neighbor’s house that always had open doors, always had food cooking or lying around, and had a massive side porch and yard that constantly teemed with people.  The next closest thing to my imaginary-European-epicurean-joie-de-vivre lifestyle was at some neighborhood restaurants in the Cherrywood neighborhood of Austin which, while not in homes, always had someone I knew sitting around doing something, so that I could start eating alone and be joined by three people then leave four hours later from the same table but parting from five different people than I started with.  The third closest thing is, inevitably, camping, where activities are minimal and nature-filled and eating is sensually drawn out.

It is appropriately ironic that I should resolve a goal to have a leisure day each week with an open invitation to friends to drop by.  It’s the very essence of the post-camping creep into the camping-mentality.  And yet.

Oh yeah.  I recommend this campground for some good gettin’ away time.  Dogs are allowed on leashes on the campsite and some, but not all, trails.  I cannot guarantee you good weather or personal epiphanies. 

What I Would Do for Three Days in Austin

If they let me.  If it were possible to schedule it all (especially the performances... hahaha).  If I can eat all the food I'd like to eat.

Day 1: Thursday

Go to Maria’s and have two migas tacos

Run around Town Lake

Swim in Barton Springs

Have a Farmer’s Breakfast at Bouldin Creek Café with scrambled tofu, spinach, and rye bread

Get a pedicure at Embellish (pink)

Get drinks with J. at Parkside (also eat fries and oysters)

Do a reading at the Encyclopedia Show (assume they have space for me.  be really funny)

See a late show at ColdTowne

Have cocktails with J.2 somewhere

Day 2: Friday

Have an early vegan breakfast at Casa de Luz

Do some yoga at Black Swan Yoga

Shop at that little store by Blue Dahlia, Strut, Stitch Lab and CoCoCoquette

See a movie with R. at the Drafthouse (eat a spicey blue burger and Guiness shake, if still on menu)

Go to inGredients and have a beer outside

Do a False Matters show.  Hang out at Contigo with cast (drink and eat more)

Day 3: Saturday

Got to El Chilito and eat a potato, egg and cheese taco and a potato, bacon and black bean taco.  .

Go do yoga at East Side Yoga (to balance out the breakfast)

Go to the farmers markets at Springdale Farm, Boggy Creek Farm, and Green Gate (play with the farm animals)

Go to Cherrywood and have lunch with C., A., C., B., and B. (assuming I can eat again) (my initializing is confusing me)

Take a dog to Redbud Island (would need to borrow a dog)

Go to Justine’s and have a burger

See a show at the Hideout

Drink at Easy Tiger (possibly eat pretzel if have not yet exploded)