Two long-standing stewards of the overlook of the Leschi Natural Area at 36th and East Terrace Street have moved to a senior living community in Oregon. Fran and Bunny Wood are known by their neighbors as the stewards of the Leschi Natural Area. They have been stewards of the property owned by the Seattle Park Department since the property was purchased in 1993. Stewarding means pulling invasive plants like Himalayan blackberries, applying for grants, organizing work parties, planting new native vegetation, advocating to the city government, and inspiring others to chip in work and contributions along the way. Fran and Bunny have been sponsoring neighborhood work parties at the Natural Area once a month since 1995. That’s around 160 work parties and it shows. They met consistently on the first Saturday of the month and worked from 9am–1pm with a lunch prepared by Bunny thrown into the mix! No wonder they were successful in gathering volunteers! The Leschi Natural Area is a neighborhood jewel. Not only is there a 180-degree view of Lake Washington from Mount Rainier, north; but there is a wonderful grove of Madrona trees accessed by a circular trail. Please visit if you have not already to see how true this is. Our neighborhood will sorely miss the Woods’ leadership and consistency. In the coming months, we will need to re-build the volunteer cadre of stewards for the Natural Area. We will always remember the neighbors including the Woods who toiled so long to give this treasure to our community. ~John Barber

How did the Leschi area get its name? The Leschi neighborhood is named for Chief Leschi (1808–1858), a leader of the Nisqually people and a symbol of Native resistance to displacement from their homelands. Nisqually Life The Nisqually people lived for many thousands of years in the fertile, grassy valley west of Tacobet (Mount Rainier). They called the tall grasses in the valley “squally” and named the river that flowed from the mountain into the southern end of Whulge (Puget Sound) after the nearby grasses. They called themselves “squally-absch,” people of the grass country. The people—and the river they depended on for survival—eventually became known as the Nisqually. Leschi was born in 1808, in a village about 60 miles southeast of Seattle, near the present-day town of Eatonville. Leschi’s village was next to a prairie where the family’s horses grazed. They dug camas on that prairie, gathered berries and hunted deer and elk in the woods, and fished for salmon—the staple of the Nisqually diet and the center of their way of life—in the river. White Settlement During Leschi’s lifetime, many British and American people began to settle in Nisqually territory. As settlers fenced off land and began large-scale fishing, farming, and logging projects, they damaged the ecosystems in the region and depleted the natural resources the Nisqually depended on. In 1846, as part of a comprehensive settlement agreement (one that did not involve the Native nations whose homelands they were occupying), the United States and Britain decided that the land Leschi’s people had called home for thousands of years now belonged to the United States. Soon after, President Franklin Pierce appointed Isaac Stevens to be governor of the territory. Governor Stevens’ first assignment was to remove the Native people in Washington territory from their homes to make room for more white settlers. Nisqually Survival Threatened Governor Stevens met with representatives from all the tribes in Washington territory and pressured them to sign treaties that traded away their ancestral homelands for blankets and other “gifts.” In 1854, Governor Stevens met with the Nisqually people and their neighbors, the Puyallup and Squaxin Island tribes, at Medicine Creek. Stevens chose Leschi and his brother Quiemuth to represent the Nisqually. The Treaty of Medicine Creek required the Nisqually to relinquish their ancestral lands to settlers and move a small reservation on a rocky cliff. This small piece of land could not accommodate the Nisqually people and was not near the river that had sustained them since time immemorial. When Leschi resisted the terms of the treaty, Governor Stevens threatened that if the Nisqually people did not move to the reservation, he would send soldiers to force them from their land. War Leschi chose to fight back. Many Native warriors joined Leschi and his brother in their fight to hold on to their homelands and their way of life. This series of battles, which lasted about a year, became known as the Puget Sound Indian War. The Native resisters were able to continue fighting for a long time because they understood the terrain much better than the settler soldiers. But as the fighting dragged on, they ran low on food and weapons. Near the end of the war, a group of Native fighters attacked the small village of Seattle to try to get more ammunition. They camped on the shores of Lake Washington. Though it is not known if Leschi was with them, white settlers believed that Leschi was their leader. The Native fighters lost the “Battle of Seattle” and, soon after, gave up their fight. Even though they didn’t win the war, Leschi and his followers won a victory for Native people. After the fighting ended, Governor Stevens offered better reservations to several tribes, including the Nisqually. The new Nisqually reservation was larger than the one that the governor had originally proposed, and, importantly, it was next to the Nisqually River. [To be continued…] ~Carla Saulter Further reading Framing Chief Leschi , by Lisa Blee Leschi, Last Chief of the Nisquallies , by Cecelia Carpenter Nisqually Indian Tribe , by Cecelia Carpenter Tears of Internment , by Cecelia Carpenter The Bitter Waters of Medicine Creek , by Richard Kluger Where the Waters Begin: The Traditional Nisqually History of Mount Rainier , by Cecelia Carpenter

Hello Leschi Neighbors, It’s hard to believe Thanksgiving and the holiday season is soon upon us. As I write this, the sun is out and it’s about 55 degrees. Last month we had a lively debate on issues with City Council Candidates for District 3; Kshama Sawant and Egan Orion. Trevor, our LCC Executive Vice President and Diane Ramsey, gathered questions and sorted by subject. While there was not time to address all questions, the questions asked covered most of the concerns we hear today. The pace was kept steady and guests had the opportunity to listen to both their views in a civilized setting. Personally, I was grateful for the respect that was shown to fellow audience members, the candidates and our crew. Be sure to vote November 5h! Who is Leschi? A question many people ask, particularly newcomers to our little village. I think we are one of the best kept secrets in the Seattle area. Please come to our November meeting, Wednesday the 6th at 7:30p at the Central Area Senior Center, located at 500 30th Ave. S. (Please note new time.) We have an exciting presentation from Leschi School that answers that question. Again, it is the time of year to be aware of our friends, family and neighbors. Please remember to check on those who may be alone and need some assistance or just a visit to say hello. Be generous with others and yourselves. Too often we forget to give time to ourselves. I personally wish all of you a lovely Thanksgiving—whether you celebrate with turkey, tofu turkey or Chinese food—enjoy! And don’t forget, our December meeting is our annual holiday meeting with music and appetizers. Respectfully, Janice Merrill Brown LCC Board President

Don’t know much about history? You will want to attend our November meeting! We will learn about Leschi from a presentation honoring Chief Leschi and local legacies of resistance, given by native and indigenous students from The Evergreen State College’s Native Pathways Program (NPP), Tacoma Site. We thank faculty, students and parents from Leschi School for this informative program. November 6 at 7:30pm (note new time) At the Central Area Senior Center 500 30th Ave. S, (one block south of Jackson)

Johnny’s Dock has been a local institution since institutions were first instituted. New owners have recently introduced the now mandatory “50 Shades of Grey” look and replaced the old naugahyde chairs with new naugahyde chairs. The result has a pleasing “meet the new boss - same as the old boss” feel. On a recent visit, we enjoyed the now ubiquitous Ahi Tuna, accompanied by locally-sourced adjectives of the day: seared and blackened. We were also accompanied by a contingent of fellow-diners wearing Iron Maiden tee shirts. I wondered if this was a new designer skillet promotion, but was told they’re a heavy metal band who were playing at the nearby Dome. The blackberry cobbler was a credit to cobblers everywhere, particularly our neighbor Dave who tells me he runs the US’s largest remaining cobbler’s shop in Fremont. Dave says there’s a bigger cobbler in San Diego, but they ship their shoes to Mexico to get cobbled. Trump’s wall should fix this unfair competition once and for all and Make American Cobblers Great Again! Dave is expecting an influx of climbing boots any day soon. For those of you whose boots are not made for walking, Johnny’s is an enjoyable day sail: just head for the Montlake Cut, through the Ballard Locks, past Elliott Bay and Vashon, into Commencement Bay, down to the end of The Foss Waterway and there it is - Johnny’s Free Moorage! Johnny’s Dock Hours: Mon-Thurs 11-9; Fri 11-10; Sat. 9:30-10; Sun 9:30-9, Brunch served Sat and Sun 9:30-3:30 1900 E D St. Tacoma, 253-627-3186, johnnysdock.com ~Malcolm Harker

Save the Date & Thank You! The annual Leschi Market ~ Madrona Wine Tasting hits mid-month. If you are reading this BEFORE, please join friends and neighbors the evening of Saturday, October 12 to taste through dozens of carefully selected wines, available to order just in time for the upcoming holidays. Inquire about tickets at the Leschi Market! If you are reading this AFTER October 12th, then thank you for your support. This is always a highly anticipated and well attended event. New Leschi Cellars Release! Leschi Cellars proudly unveiled our eleventh unique wine at the beginning of the month. Leschi Cellars presents 2016 Shulman Estate Betty Lou Red. A fascinatingly beautiful Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon. The label features the parents and grandparents, respectively, of Steve Shulman and Yousef Shulman, as they posed during the 1951 Garfield Senior Prom. Retail is $39.99, with most proceeds being donated to City of Hope (cityofhope.org) in their memory. Thirteen Frightfully Good Buys I thought we could have some fun with Halloween at the end of the month. No tricks here, only treats! Red 2017 Lydian by Avennia GSM Columbia Valley ($23.39) Most of Avennia’s price points can get up in dollars pretty quick. However, if you’re familiar with those, then you’ll love this, their first release of a new, second label! "Fresh and lively on the palate, with strawberry, red cherry, and hints of savory earth, fresh mint, and lavender. A delicious wine. A blend of 53% Mourvèdre, 26% Syrah and 21% Grenache.” ~Chris Peterson, Winemaker. 2010 R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Cubillo Crianza ($20.59) Price and points don’t get much better! “The richness and depth of complex dried wood and spice here is seamlessly sewn into the dried red and dark cherries. The palate is pinned around a fresh-blackberry core that marries still sweet fruit to more savory style. Long and balanced. The tannins are fine yet assertive. It freshens into the finish nicely. Drink or hold.” ~James Suckling, 95-points. 2018 G.D. Vajra Nebbiolo Clare J.C. Langhe Piedmont ($17.99) This one guarantees to knock your socks off! “Bright red. Explosively fruity aromas and flavors of red cherry, raspberry nectar, sweet spices and violet. At once big, dense and juicy, but vibrant, with a hint of aromatic perfume that is extremely inviting as is the underlying sweet spice component. This is absolutely delicious. I literally couldn’t put my glass back down once I started tasting this. ~Vinous Media, 92-points. 2014 Campo Viejo Rioja Reserva ($14.99) Do not be scared off by inexpensive Spanish wines! We recently brought in the $10 version of this wine as well. Worth trying for sure! “An attractive, ripe red-cherry and plum style with plenty of background, woody influence. The palate is smooth-honed and has good depth and shape. Drink or hold. ~James Suckling, 92-points. 2017 Hand Work Red Tempranillo Castilla La Mancha Spain 1L ($12.99) The Tempranillo checks all the good boxes: It's organic, biodynamic, low sulfites, vegan and delicious! Juicy red fruit flavors are balanced with medium tannins to give it great structure. The gentle slope is covered in chalky clay and a fine layer of pebbles on the surface that capture and radiate the heat of the sun—a key benefit during the desert nights. 2016 Domaine Allégret Laudun Rouge Côtes du Rhône Villages ($12.19) “The terroir is pebbly soil and red earth. Stainless steel. Aromas of bright cherries and violets. On the palate summer cherries with lingering hillside herbs, rose petals and white pepper undertones. Soft tannins. Highly structured, it has an excellent balance of alcohol and tannins. A blend of 52% Syrah and 48% Grenache.” ~Importer notes. 2016 Cune Rioja Crianza Spain ($11.19) Another inexpensive Spanish red- remember- no tricks, only treats! “Black cherry, red plum, licorice and smoke flavors mingle in this round red. Shows good density, while orange peel acidity and light tannins keep this focused. Drink now through 2028. Best Value.” ~Wine Spectator, 90-points. White 2017 Suertes Del Marqués Listán Blanco Canary Islands ($27.99) If you’ve never seen how grape vines grow in the Canary Islands, google it. Look at those, taste this, and thank us later! “Aromas and flavors included ripe pear, honeydew melon, kiwi, soft lemon and minerality notes of flint and stone. This is definitely a ‘Somm Wine,’ meaning it may not capture the hearts of the masses but rather those who seek wines that offer a bit of fabulous funk, surprise. Yes, this wine is a funk-aroonie, and I simply treasured it.” ~Marilee Bostic; Wine Advocate, 93-points. 2017 Château de Brézé Clos Midi Saumur Blanc ($16.99) If it’s been awhile since you’ve tried Chenin Blanc, throw your preconceived notions out the window and try this one! “This offers a juicy mouthful of yellow apple, white peach and honeysuckle notes. Vibrant and detailed, featuring a lively finish laced with quinine and lemon peel accents.” ~Wine Spectator, 92-points. 2017 Pra Otto Soave Classico Veneto Italy ($14.99) A Top-100 wine available for $15? What more do you need to know? “A lively, lithe white, with lovely lime blossom, pink grapefruit sorbet, stone and spice notes that linger on the mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2022. #73 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2018.” ~Wine Spectator, 90-points. 2017 Black Stallion Winery Chardonnay Napa Valley ($13.99) “This is a full-bodied and richly layered white that dazzles in aromas of apple blossom and matchstick. The midpalate is creamy in feel, with strong flavors of pear and fig. Editors' Choice.” ~Wine Enthusiast, 92-points. Rosé 2018 Evening Land Rosé of Pinot Noir Seven Springs Iola-Amity Oregon ($27.99) Rosé you say? In October? Yes! Rosé is a perfect fit heading into Fall. Especially the nicer ones out there. “Beautiful, brilliant and intense purple in color with a violet edge, the nose has typical red fruit Gamay character of strawberry and cherry with a hint of fresh cracked pepper. It opens up to darker tones of elderberry, and gooseberry. The palate is silky and long with a supple texture that carries the elegant cranberry flavors to a lengthy finish” ~Winemaker notes. 2018 Domaine Andre Néveu Rosé Sancerre ($25.99) “This bottle in particular demonstrates a minerality, strawberry, and vanilla ice cream in a nose that feels a bit more austere than some other free spirited Rosés. It tastes much creamier than it smells, with a little peach and sweet orange in a palate that is surprisingly not acidic at all, and quite floral in the middle. ~Winemaker notes. Kenneth Benner, a Seattle area native, is a trained chef and has worked in such restaurants as Barbacoa, B.O.K.A. Kitchen + Bar, and Dahlia Lounge. Ken is the wine buyer at Leschi Market. He has a passion for learning, a meticulous palate, and a tenacity for searching out the best for his customers while offering some of the most highly coveted wines in the area. His wine column is intended to inspire and explore new choices in wine, learn about wine with his readers, and share his knowledge and experiences in the wine world. Check out the latest at www.LeschiMarket.com or request to be added to email updates or send questions, comments, or suggestions to ken@leschimarket.com and follow the wine department directly on twitter at twitter.com/leschimarket .

Monday, Sept. 9, 2019 —In attendance Janet Oliver, Tracy Bier, Janice Brown, John Barber. Absent: Diane and Trevor. Call to order at 6:10. Central Area Center closed, so meeting moved to Janet Oliver’s home. Janet Oliver presented Treasurer’s report. Janet needs help depositing funds October and November. Janice agreed to take that responsibility. John Barber Work party for September 21, 2019 at end of Dearborn. Arthur Lee Jacobsen’s Tree tour was highly informative and interesting Frink Park Homeless Fire John reported. There are several encampments in Frink Park. This fire was in a difficult to reach location. Art Walk Discussed table coverage. October Meeting Egan Orion is confirmed for our candidate panel for October 2, 2019. There was a discussion about the FloWare event and who will be involved in the future. Continue discussion at next Board meeting. Advertising We lost the 1/2-page ad from the Leavitt Lake Center as management changed and they only contribute to United Way. Discussed the need for more advertisers. Continue conversation in October’s Board meeting. ~Submitted by Janice Brown

Saturday, Sept. 14th was our 8th Annual Leschi Art Walk. This year featured new artists with exciting offerings including a new author autographing her children’s book. The LCC is requesting volunteers to help with next year’s Art Walk to make it happen. This is a volunteer project to draw attention to and support our commercial core in Leschi and requires work, albeit for just a brief 5-month period with only one meeting a month until the last month. We invite those of you who love the arts and love our little community to reach out to us. Many hands make for lighter work. Some tasks are simple and only involve being there on the day of the event. There is no heavy lifting; Seattle Parks does the physical work bringing in the equipment and setting it up. We do have some canopies and the most we might need to set up one or two of those. Leschi is an inclusive community that is unique in our area. We want to continue with this annual event and are asking now for people who would like to contribute a little time for a great outcome. Please contact janicemb@comcast.net or leschinews@comcast.net for further information or to volunteer to help us next year.

Despite impending rain (which didn’t develop) and a skeleton crew of planners, we did put on the ArtWalk again this year. thanks to all those who came out to help Saturday morning: Dr. Bilikas, our dentist, came early, Cara Ross, Ann Conroy was back from years past and Jason Snell helped Yousef Shulman to number the booths and settle the artists into their respective spaces. Lines had been drawn earlier but a few last-minute issues caused a small shuffle. Mostly, returning artists got what they wanted. So, the day seemed to go without a hitch and without the dreaded rain. The Opepo Band was fun with a range of songs, including a Beatles’ number. Eli Meissner and friend played jazz guitar and we ended up with the favorite from years past, The Rio Thing and their repertoire of Brazilian Jazz. The Washington Diamond Drill team was a showstopper as they seemed to materialize from nowhere and were strutting their precision moves down the street. Cars slowed and drivers filmed with their cell phones! Two performers did the splits at the end of their performance to boisterous applause. We thank the 37th District Democrats for staffing the voter registration table again this year. They registered 17 people, many of them new voters. Board members at the Leschi Community Council (helped out by Diane Morris and Dianne Ramsey) showed off the Suzzallo Library photos from 1899 which depicted a very different Leschi Park from today with the large dance and casino pavilion, the zoo and dramatic photos of the cable car structure that brought the cable car from downtown Seattle up and down hills to the final plummet to the ferry dock. We also kept energy levels up by supplying M&M’s. We hope there is a 9th ArtWalk next year but that will depend on volunteers coming forward. We can use folks on the planning committee (one meeting per month from April through early September), with ideas and contacts. Your task would be as simple as contacting available artists or musicians. We need someone to help Yousef outline the booth for assigning (a one-hour task) a few days before the event and we especially need volunteers the morning of the event for about 2 hours. The monthly meetings are fun and tasty as BluWater sends some of their wonderful appetizers to our meeting table. ~Diane Snell

Part I: WaNaWari’s Ongoing Success WaNaWari held a dynamic and entertaining fashion show on Sunday Sept 1 in their back yard. The original designs by Malcolm Procter of Wolf Delux were strutted for more than 45 minutes by children, youth, and elders, skinny, mature, buff and not so buff. The audience was as fashionable as the models. They had all clearly been instructed on how to model clothes and took great attitudes, but we all enjoyed the children the most. A warm feeling permeated the whole event fulfilled the WaNaWari promise as a center for Afro Centered culture and life as a counter to the gentrification of the Central District. The exhibition filling the rooms in August featured Henry Jackson-Spieker’s “Points of View,”[reviewed by Lisa Edge in Real Change August 21–27], Natassja Swift “Remembering Her Homecoming,” [reviewed by Jasmyn Keimig in The Stranger August 28], along with Xenobia Bailey “Vibration and Frequency Experiment,” Marita Dingus “Selected Works” and Martine Syms “Some What?” Marita Dingus, untitled, 2019, mixed media, image courtesy Susan Platt. I am going to focus here on Marita Dingus. This installation felt liberated from the constraints of white owned gallery spaces, in which the artist has shown successfully for many years. Here she let loose the frightening energies of oppression, conveyed through black metal junk put together into figures. The blackness of the metal became a force of its own. Knowing that Marita’s work can be light hearted (see the floating copper babies in Douglass Truth Library), historical (the works owned by the Seattle Art Museum), metaphorical (in her many cork and wire figures), here I saw heaviness, and darkness. Marita always adds painted faces to her figural assemblages: these faces seemed weighed down by their dark metal bodies. Part II: Mary Ann Peters “traveler” A stunning exhibition by Mary Ann Peters (until October 26 at the James Harris Gallery) addresses migration by combining the detritus of the nomadic experience with the artist’s exquisite drawing in the unusual medium of watercolor and gouache on clayboard. “traveler” (small t to suggest every person) has three sections. The first gallery is anchored by a drawing centered on the figure of a traveler carrying an enormous rolled blanket. He/she stands amidst ruins of vaguely classical architecture, the inverse of a tourist sight. Three other works in the gallery suggest a field, a courtyard, and a “way station.” In a fourth “nightingale” (that bird brings luck in folk tales) several nightingales hover over a disturbed landscape. The works sharply contrast in texture and mood through Peters’ virtuoso drawing, representing what the artist refers to as “dismissed moments in unknown territory.” In the middle room stands “impossible monument (the gatekeeper’s shadow).” As with the drawings, we need to look closely: the opaque column has jewelry encased inside, a reference to the portable wealth that migrants must trade for survival. Mary Ann Peters “traveler,” 2019, watercolor, gouache on clayboard, 24 x 36, photograph by Rafael Soldi, Image courtesy of the artist. Finally, in the back room “this trembling turf” includes three large intricately detailed drawings in white ink on black clay board. They surge across large surfaces evoking magnetic fields that move through solid ground, referring to the sound waves used by forensic archeologists to find buried bodies. Peter’s virtually “old master” command of drawing requires close looking as we imagine the layers of metaphors. The overall theme of the exhibition is to displace the obvious mainstream narratives of migration with the “under the radar” experience of living (or dying) as a migrant. As I left the gallery, I was overwhelmed by the presence of the detritus of the homeless who gather near Pioneer Square. Our narratives of homelessness and migration share the same misconceptions and obliviousness. Peter offers an alternative to that “subjugating discourse” in her subtle work (604 Second Avenue, Wednesday to Saturday, 11am–5pm). Other exhibitions include Jean Bradbury’s “On My Head. In My Heart” until October 18, at the M. Rosetta Hunter Gallery at Seattle Central College. It is “part of an ongoing exploration of clothing as a language that expresses the apparently opposing values of tradition and individuality.” (Monday through Thursday, 9am–3pm, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 5–7pm). June Sekiguchi “The Pulse of Water,” opens at ArtXchange Gallery opens October 3 from 5–8pm until November 30. “Using intricate scroll-cut wood constructions, Sekiguchi takes the audience on a journey to Laos, using pattern, light and projection to create an immersive installation.” More on this next month. ARTS at King Street Station will host the workshop production of “Tagalog sa King Street,” a collection of one-act plays written and performed in the national language of the Philippines. Thursday, October 3, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, October 5, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. (303 S. Jackson St. Top Floor, Seattle, WA 98104). RSVP online! Upcoming at WaNaWari: “The Deeps & Unknown Senders” September 28 to October 12, by C. Davida Ingram, a multi-sensory journey about healing. Thurs 5–8pm, Fri 2–8pm, Sat & Sun 11am–5pm. 911 24th Ave, 98122; 206-321-2711 www.wanawari.org ~Susan Platt www.artandpolitics.com

If you are a skier, fisher or weather geek, you remember the Blob of late 2013–mid-2015. The Blob was an extensive area of sterile and much warmer-than-average water in Northeast Pacific, and the Blob wreaked havoc on our marine ecosystem and mountain snowpack. I remember how skinny the Coho salmon we caught in Puget Sound were during autumn 2014, and I still get nightmares about how bare the mountains were during the dreadful 2014–2015 ski season. With only 104” inches of the white stuff for the entire year and well-above-average temperatures, the Summit at Snoqualmie even had trouble keeping their tubing center open! Unfortunately, the Blob is back. Blob 2.0 began building in June and now extends throughout much of Northeast Pacific, though it has weakened in recent weeks. Like the last one, Blob 2.0 was caused by a persistent ridge of high pressure over the Eastern Pacific. With no storms to churn the water column and above-average sunshine, the water column became stratified, with warm, nutrient-poor water near the surface and cooler and more nutrient-rich water at depth. Despite the Blob being less than 50 meters deep in most spots, sea-surface temperatures are as much as 3–4 degrees above-normal, and this has huge implications for our weather and the marine life off our coast. The albacore tuna fishing has been top-notch this year, but the salmon fishing hasn’t been great. And although 2019 didn’t feature the brutal heat waves and fires of the past two summers, Blob 2.0 caused our nighttime temperatures to be much warmer-than-normal, even during the few cool periods during the summer when highs were well-below average. In fact, Sea-Tac experienced 79 consecutive days with low of 55 or higher (6/28–9/15), shattering the record of 52 days set during 2013. The Blob warmed our temperatures in two ways: the onshore flow from the Pacific was warmer than normal, and our airmass was more humid since warmer air can hold more water vapor. Water vapor is a powerful greenhouse gas and helps prevent heat from escaping to space, and its effects are most noticeable at night when there is no incoming radiation from the sun. That’s why the Gulf Coast states have such hot, sticky nights, while high-elevation deserts cool dramatically after the sun sets. Because these Blobs are so shallow, it only takes a few weeks of active weather over the Blob to mix the ocean and bring temperatures and nutrients closer to normal. September was an extremely wet month with lots of troughing over the NE Pacific, and thus, the Blob has decreased in strength. For skiers and salmon alike, let’s hope it continues to dissipate throughout October! ~Charlie Phillips Charlie Phillips, a Madrona resident, received his B.S. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington and works in Portland as a meteorologist. Check out his weather website at to charlie.weathertogether.net .

If you will be eighteen by November 5, 2019, you should be registered to vote, and you should vote. You should not hesitate to encourage friends and family to vote. Regularly during “voting season,” the media ask us to vote. We’ve been told repeatedly how important our votes are. I am adding my voice to the get-out-to-vote campaign. In 2016, many persons did not vote for many reasons: They don’t listen to us; The polls said Hillary would win; I don’t like Hillary; I liked neither the Democrat nor the Republican candidate. I think Bernie was mistreated. Fact: if we have the electoral college—we will forever, say some folks—the winner will need all the votes she or he can get in every election. My guess is that many persons who did not vote would have voted had they known the results. Not voting for one candidate—even the lesser of what you consider two evils—is a vote for the winner despite the degree of your disapproval. Every concerned citizen should know the statement, “Of the more than 120 million votes cast in the 2016 election, 107,000 votes in three states effectively decided the election: Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.” The Supreme Court decision concerning the 1964 Civil Rights Bill gave states permission to change laws as they saw fit minus any oversight from the federal government. For some states, this meant voter suppression via purging the rolls, requiring photo identification, and reducing the number of polling places and times to vote. All these states are not in the South! Voter suppression took a heavy toll. Mother Jones and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study supply details of the number of persons who did not vote because of suppression. Exactly how large the impact of the Russian influence on the election will be argued for years. However, gerrymandering might have been the largest culprit in the election. Apart from the variety of rules on provisional votes, each vote counts. The Internet has countless articles pointing out the closeness of the contest between Clinton and Trump. Trump is the fifth president who lost the popular vote. If we do not vote, we should not be surprised if the same acts cause the same problems for this election and then the 2020 election. Any time we can vote, each of us should vow to be counted in the number of persons voted! ~Georgia McDade