Mukilteo Musings

Only In Seattle

Here we go again! Too many items were in the newspapers this morning to ignore so even though my yard needs weeds to be pulled and my floors are covered with Apolo fur, I can't resist an Only In Seattle list.

1. Only in Seattle do people get excited about wayward logs. Actually this was a front page article in the Everett Herald but still--not far from Seattle. A Granite Falls man who lives on the Pilchuk River lost part of his property to floods last November during our freaky winter storms. A big log was in his back yard that his family used to sit around a fire pit. He had carved seats into it with a chain saw. Lo and behold, 20 miles away in Snohomish where the Pilchuk runs into the Snohomish River and in the spot where he works, he found his log! Six months later! What are the chances of that? Not only did the story make the front page with a headline, the guy figured such luck should filter into lottery tickets.
http://www.heraldnet.com/

2. Only in Seattle where people claim to despise TV and particularly reality shows, do we rule when it comes to these things. As indicated below, Seattle's Apolo won the trophy on Dancing with the Stars. Simon Cowell came to Seattle to audition singers for American Idol and said everyone was atrocious and that he would never return. Well, Jordin Sparks, the winner, was picked from Seattle auditions though she is from Arizona. Blake Lewis who took second place is from Seattle. The final song they sang was written by a Seattle songwriter and who will ever forget Sanjaya? He boosted the ratings and became uber famous for whatever reason and he, too, is from Seattle.

In this metropolitan area, people will not admit to owning TV's but I discovered in a most unlikely place, that secretly, all of Seattle watched both DWTS and Idol. On Wednesday night, I was at a church meeting. The folks who attend my church are highly educated with many having post graduate degrees. Free time is usually spent reading. My priest is Oxford educated and his wife has a private school background with an Ivy League degree. One of my church friends during the meeting was checking her cell phone and she quietly announced she wanted to know who won American Idol. I, then, announced that Apolo winning DWTS was so cool and the entire room erupted. My priest said his wife could not get enough of Apolo dancing. My quiet friend who was checking her cell mumbled something.

"What did you say? You liked him in his jazz pants?" I asked politely.

"I enjoyed watching Apolo dance in his jazz pants. Ah, he was hot!"

"You thought he was hot? I thought he was hot!" I knew it; I was not the only one watching TV on Monday nights. I like the people at my church a lot more now---not that I didn't like them before.

3. Only in Seattle do we take geography seriously. My Lucas is and was a geography whiz winning his middle school geography bee three years in a row. He went to State three years in a row as well. He never did win a state competition because Washington is full of gifted geography kids. This year is no exception. A Seattle girl won the National Geography Bee. Washington has had more national winners of the geography bee than any other state. I think we need to look at maps constantly so as not to fall into a zillion bodies of water.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2003722202_geoed26.html

4. Only in Seattle do we not only build houses out of trees, but evidently we build houses in the trees. There is an entire construction company geared toward building dream homes up in the trees. I guess if we are fine with our homes being flooded or sliding into Puget Sound, we are equally fine with our houses tumbling down with the trees in our freaky winter storms.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/homegarden/2003721867_crafttreehouse260.html

5. Only in Seattle when we take out the binoculars to search for orcas or gray whales in Puget Sound, do we also have the chance to see bears. Yes! Bears swimming in Puget Sound. I am not kidding. A black bear jumped into Puget Sound and swam two miles across from Maury Island to Salt Water State Park. A lighthouse caretaker saw the whole thing and notified the Coast Guard. It took him two hours to complete his swim.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/317430_bearloose26.html

I keep asking myself why?

a) He didn't have map so he fell into one of our zillion bodies of water.
b) He missed the ferry.
c) He wanted to reach the other side.
d) He wanted a swim stroke named after him--the bear stroke instead of the butterfly.
e) The log he usually used to float across got washed away last winter.
f) Goldilocks moved into his tree house and threw him out.
g) Or most likely, he wanted a glimpse of either Sanjaya or Apolo who are both from Federal Way which is very near to Salt Water State Park. Yep! This is it. I'm certain.