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Do you ever wonder how some of the traffic circles around the city are planted and maintained? It isn’t SDOT who construct the traffic barriers, nor do the flowers that bloom come from fairies who powder seeds during the twilight hours. Instead, the efforts are from neighborhood volunteers who want to spruce up these areas. One such volunteer is Eva Carey who has maintained three circles on her 30th Ave. South street and the two major circles at 31st Ave. South and S. Judkins. I met Eva and her husband Ron Dailey one day when they were weeding the traffic circle at S. Judkins. It was during the days of Covid and Eva told me they had taken on the gardens as something to do to get out of the house. Ron chuckled he was no gardener and was there in support of Eva’s vision. I offered my help and thus I became a part of the “Gardens of Eva” team. Thanks to Eva’s donation and planting of daffodil and tulip bulbs each fall, all the little gardens are a blast of color to tell you Spring is on its way. The areas also are filled with drought tolerant, low maintenance plants to simplify the gardening efforts and add a continuous bloom. The 31st Ave. traffic circles are located on a blurry neighborhood boundary. Some would say these circles are in Mt. Baker neighborhood while others think of them within the Leschi. Maybe they are a part of Mt. Leschi, where neighbors come together to create little gardens for everyone to enjoy as they travel along 31st Ave., South from the Leschi to Mt. Baker neighborhood. We need to say thank you and goodbye to Eva and Ron who will be moving soon to the East Coast to be closer to family. Hopefully some of the folks who have met Eva while she has been gardening will carry on maintaining these gardens. For me it was a pleasure to meet neighbors who live on the other side of the ridge and I always will remember them each time I pass these circles. If you are interested in helping maintain these little traffic circles and hopefully meeting new neighbors, contact me at mccreech@gmail.com . ~Mary-Carter Creech

Did you know that the Douglass-Truth Library at 23rd and Yesler houses “one of the largest collections of African American literature and history on the West Coast?” Per the Seattle Public Library website, the collection features more than 10,000 items, including biographies, magazines, literature, music and films. It has “a strong emphasis on Northwest materials and Seattle-area history with pamphlets, fliers and posters on local leaders and issues.” The library opened in 1914 and was originally named after Henry Yesler. The African American Collection was established in1965 by the sorority members of the Delta Upsilon Omega Chapter (Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc.) who, in addition to starting the African American collection, saved the branch from closure in the 1960s. Through the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, the collection “was entirely funded and supported by the sorority members and the Black community, who would hold annual library teas and arts-related programs to raise donations to grow the collection” (SPL website). According to HistoryLink, under head librarian James Welch what was then called the “Yesler Branch” became a “symbol of the culture and identity of the neighborhood.…The auditorium hosted meetings by various civil rights groups and youth groups as well as the Black Panthers, Radical Women, and the Students for a Democratic Society.” One of the most notable features of the library stands outside. What many passersby see as a totem pole, the Soul Pole was intended to capture 400 years of Black history. It was carved and named by a half-dozen high school students at what was then called the Rotary Boys Club. Fashioned from a 21-foot yellow cedar telephone pole in 1969 as part of a summer arts festival, it was installed at the building’s west corner in 1972. The project was led by the club’s director Wilson Gulley, Sr. and its art director Raqib Mu'ied, who carved the top piece, a head which “represents African American awakening and freedom.” Stephanie Johnson-Toliver, president of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State, has said the pole represents “a beacon of pride that anchors the history of Black people to Seattle's Central District.” The pole was refurbished in 2021. A ten-minute documentary on the Soul Pole can be seen at the Douglass-Truth Library’s website and provides wonderful close-ups of the carved faces and chains. In the 1970s, locals asked that the branch be renamed and reached out to the community for suggestions. “Abolitionist leaders Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) and Sojourner Truth (ca. 1797-1883) each received the same number of votes. On December 5, 1975, Mayor Wes Uhlman proclaimed the branch the Douglass-Truth Library” (HistoryLink). The library was expanded and remodeled in 2006. In addition to its Black literature collection, Douglass-Truth offers materials in Amharic, Oromo, Spanish and Tigrinya. ~Anne Depue

Notes from April 2nd, 2025 LCC meeting with Seattle Parks & Recreation Members of the Seattle Parks and Recreation department attended the Leschi Community Council (LCC) monthly meeting on April 2nd. Olivia Reed, a Planner with Parks, provided an update on the Leschi South Marina project. While Reed described the benefits of the project - including removal of toxic creosote from the current pier and protection for boats from the new breakwater - attendees raised concerns about the lack of public involvement early on in the project. LCC’s John Barber explained that five years ago a public notice was posted but residents thought it would be a simple upgrade and not a major project. The new structure will include two walkways providing access to a fixed platform. The new piles will support floats in an L-shaped configuration. The width will decrease from the current 40 feet to 16 feet wide. This addresses the need to minimize the shadow on the water to make it harder for predators to eat young, migrating salmon. This also helps protect local tribes’ fishing rights. The new dock is connected to the breakwater and will be all one structure with unrestricted public access (no security gates). Reed confirmed that boats would be able to moor along the pier (on the outside of the L part of the structure). There will be lighting, drinking water, kayak racks, and a sewage pump which can be used by anyone. When asked about additional benches, Reed explained that there will be benches added to the floating structure but none are slated to be added to the shoreline part of the park. The shore will be enhanced with better ramping into the water including a pebble beach. In late Spring 2025, pending permits, new electrical services will be added through a vault near Leschi market and there will be excavation for sewer and water as well. This might be disruptive for a few days but there is a traffic control plan in place to prevent more than one lane being shut down at a time. In August of this year, the City will focus on cleaning up the debris in the water using barges and professional divers. Offshore barges will also be used for the construction to minimize the impact to the park. In late Summer of 2025, the City will focus on shoreline restoration with removal of blackberries and other invasive species. Thanks to LCC advocacy, the City will be planting shrubs and not trees in order to maintain the view. They will also install a barrier to protect the new plants. Demolition of the existing dock, float, and breakwater will start in Fall 2025. Because the project is still waiting on permits, there is no projected completion date. To follow progress on the project, go to: https://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/projects/leschi-south-marina-wave-attenuator-and-facility-improvements Sean Hermes, the Southeast/South Central Crew Chief for Parks, provided an update on Leschi park maintenance. Due to the lifting of the hiring freeze, the mowing and routine maintenance schedule will now include evening and weekend shifts. Parks has hired 10 employees for this region including laborers and a senior gardener to help bring Leschi parks up to pre-COVID standards. Now laborers will be able to maintain 3-4 parks a day rather than 6-7. The new employees are currently being trained so residents should start seeing an improvement very soon. Hermes explained the volunteer inspection program where community volunteers help inspect local parks and then Hermes conducts a walk-through with the volunteers.  He talked about the value of having volunteer eyes on the parks. Hermes also talked about how to organize work parties and other volunteer projects. Parks will bring supplies, equipment and provide safety training. To set up a work party or to learn about the park inspection program, go to https://www.seattle.gov/parks/volunteer . Questions were asked about the restrooms in the parks. Hermes acknowledged challenges last year without having a seasonal crew to help with maintaining the restrooms. They will now be locking problematic bathrooms at night. Some bathrooms are not winterized and can freeze in cold weather so they will not be reopened until later in the season. Parks is working to winterize 10 bathrooms a year to increase the number of restrooms available during the winter months. Concerned citizens raised safety issues related to irrigation sink holes, treacherous walking along the cable car bridge, and fallen leaves overwhelming trails. Hermes said he wants to know about these issues so he can address them. He recommended reporting issues with the Find It/Fix It app but to reach out to him if there are delays in getting help. If it’s an immediate safety issue, reach out to him directly ( sean.hermes@seattle.gov ) as well as to the District 3 Crew Chief, DeWright Brooks ( dewright.brooks@seattle.gov ). If loitering, drug use, theft, or criminal activities need to be reported, use the non-emergency Seattle Police number, 206.625.5011. If there is an encampment in a park that needs to be reported, go to the Seattle Customer Service Request Portal and search Unauthorized Encampment and then complete and submit the form. You can also submit a request through the Find It/Fix It app.

Ai, Rebel  runs until September 7 at Seattle Art Museum; Water Lilies Lego  opens March 19 at Asian Art Museum; Circle of Animals: Zodiac Heads  opens May 17 at Olympic Sculpture Park. Tree, Wood, 2009-2010, with FOONG Ping, exhibition curator and SAM’s Foster Foundation Curator of Chinese Art( in blue jacket) introducing the exhibition. First we see a tree bolted together from different woods. A poem by Ai Weiwei’s poet father Ai Qing about trees: “One tree, another Tree, each standing alone and erect….”. Accused of “rightism” his father was exiled to Xinjiang province in 1958 when Ai Weiwei was a baby. After twenty years they were released in 1976 with the death of Mao and the end of the Cultural Revolution. In the 2022 Water Lilies,  Ai Weiwei makes a direct reference to that traumatic experience, with a large black area referring to the underground dug out where he lived with his family. The gnarled tree in this gallery symbolizes longevity and perseverance in adversity. Ai Weiwei joined an early avant garde group in Beijing, then moved to New York City in 1981 for 10 years. Amidst his black and white photos from the East Village is the artist with Allen Ginsburg, who lived near him. Ai WeiWei spent a lot of time listening to the poet. In the next gallery are his last large paintings of Chairman Mao and not far away Safe Sex , 1988, a Chinese Army raincoat with a condom coming out of the pocket. In New York he was impressed by Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol which is clearly seen in these works. Then we see Ai Weiwei destroying or modifying ancient artifacts and remaking them as contemporary art. One extreme example is pulverizing neolithic vases and showing the dust in square glass containers. His most famous act is dropping a Han pot, but here he has painted them with brightly colored industrial paint. I feel discomfort with this act, as a lover of ancient pottery. He rendered handcrafted wooden Qing dynasty stools nonfunctional by removing a leg for example. Other sculptures are transformations are bicycles and stools arranged in abstract forms or a sofa and chair made in marble. But these are gestures compared to his work after the earthquake in China in 2008 when he discovered that hundreds of children had died because of the poor construction of their schools. He traced them and honored them, with students’ backpacks formed into a huge snake and listing all their names on a huge sheet of white paper in the exhibition. Nearby is the rebar from the destroyed schools shaped into abstract sculpture. His own detention in 2011 probably is a result of this project in which he recorded parents of children heartbroken with how they were ignored by the government. Or it may have been his huge presence on the internet, where elitism gives way to populism. We can walk into the recreation of the spare room in which he was detained. But the scars of the 81 days stayed with him. Ai Weiwei moved to Europe in 2015, just as many hundreds of Middle Eastern migrants were trying to cross to Greece from Turkey. His long scroll depicts migrants walking or jammed on vehicles, negotiating ruins or crossing rivers. Called the Odyssey, the title does evoke the travel of Odysseus multiplied by many hundreds of people. As we approach the room at the end of the exhibition we see a giant Lego portrait of Ai Weiwei in a flash image, a photo he took as he was being taken into detention, here recreated. The exhibition has other Lego pieces, but the most important given our situation today is the Mueller Report, the cover page and the first page, heavily redacted. This report on Russian hacking during the 2016 election tells us what was happening, as we think about our cozy relationship developing today with Russia. A marble surveillance camera is positioned in front of the report. There is so much to see and experience in this exhibition! Don’t miss the wallpaper loaded with symbols. Then take a look at the small zodiac heads here and stay tuned for my May column on the Olympic Sculpture park installation opening May 17. The exhibition provokes us rather than allowing us to sink into admiration. Each phase of his work represents a challenge about the meaning of authenticity. Ai Weiwei defies us to think about that through his constantly changing media and subjects. After his traumatic childhood, it is not surprising that he is willing to strip away obvious meanings and challenging us to look deeper. ~Susan Platt, PhD www.artandpoliticsnow.com

Landslides in Leschi, Part 2 Early 20th century slides and the city’s prevention efforts In late November 1909, residents from 32nd and Dearborn to 33rd and Judkins petitioned the City Council to “take some action at once with a view to restraining the slide which is mucking our homes – such slide being caused by the recent grading of streets in that district.” In response, a month later, the council passed an emergency bill to authorize “the driving of piles and the construction of bulkheads to stop the slides on 31st Avenue South between Lane Street and Judkins Street.” That didn’t solve all the landslide problems, however. In April 1912, the council directed the Board of Public Works to remove slides on 31st from Dearborn to Norman and elsewhere in the area, and to construct rock drains in the same area. Sometime before 1926, the city built a drainage tunnel in the divided portion of Lake Washington Boulevard South (also known then as 34th Avenue South), between Charles and Judkins streets, from the top of South Parkland Place (then called Parkland Way) to the southwest and south for a total of 517 feet. In the fall of 1926, a slide happened near the northern end of the tunnel. That winter, a cave-in occurred nearby, near the median of the street. In the spring of 1933, a city engineer reported cleaning debris out of the collapsed tunnel. He inspected the tunnel to a distance of 289 feet but could not go further because it had caved in as far beyond as he could see. The tunnel had originally been built with lumber bracing, which by this time was badly decayed. The engineer was concerned that continued caving would damage the private properties above. He called for repairs and backfilling. Much of the repair work was funded by the state’s Washington Emergency Relief Administration, created in 1933 as the state’s response to the Depression, and used laborers consigned to such work in consideration of their relief benefits. The federal Works Progress Administration later joined the effort. To control subsurface water, the project, and others like it, used interceptor trenches, finger drains, tunnels, footing drains, and horizontal drains. The working conditions were described as miserable: “Working approximately 150 men who are inexperienced, underfed and unwilling, in trenches from 15 to 25 feet in depth where the saturated ground is moving and under unfavorable weather conditions, is a difficult construction project to handle. These crews are changing continuously, as the men are working off their relief payments. The work is done on a basis of six hours a day and five days a week.” Later documents refer to another slide, along the Norman Street stairway from 33rd to 34th near the tunnel described above. In response, the city drilled numerous test wells and created gravel-filled trench drains in 1935 and 1936. Seattle, though, has sometimes sabotaged its own efforts. In 2019, when well-known local jazz musician Ruby Bishop died, her property on 32nd near Norman, right in the middle of the 1898 slide area, was sold to developers. To build two new houses on the property, they illegally cut down a massive old cedar tree that had been sucking up the hillside drainage for decades; the destruction may well contribute to future flooding or earth movement. The city cited the perpetrators and issued a fine of over $90,000, but later reduced it to $20,000, as if to say that it wasn’t really that important. Meanwhile, the two houses sold for about $7 million, on land acquired for just over $1 million. In Leschi, this is what affordable housing looks like. Next month: landslides on Lake Dell ~Roger Lippman The author writes monthly about Leschi history and his experiences over his 49 years in the neighborhood.

The Leschi PTA’s Annual Giving Campaign is currently underway and as always we rely upon and greatly appreciate support from the Leschi community. At the same time, many members of the parent and family community are engaged in advocacy to push the Washington state legislature to support increased funding for all public schools including SPS. Please go to leschipta.org/donate  to see how you can support our students, teachers and families. On May 1 starting at 5.30pm, please join us in the school cafeteria for the annual Golden Grads Jazz Concert, featuring Butch Harrison and Good Company, to contribute to our family support fund and help improve housing stability and food security for Leschi families. Will you be buying flowers for a special someone on Mother’s Day? Please consider doing so through the SESEC Mother’s Day flower sale. A portion of your purchase of beautiful flowers locally grown by Hmong farmers in the Skagit Valley will support Title I schools including Leschi in South and Central Seattle. You can pre-order at sesecwa.org/mothers-day-flower-sale-2/  and pick up flowers at Leschi Elementary on Mother’s Day weekend. THANK YOU to BluWater Bistro and its patrons in the community for their tremendous support to our school. For the fourth year in a row, BluWater Bistro's fundraiser has raised $10,000 in donations! The plan is to put these funds toward the cost of essential hourly staff and tutors at the school. ~Benson Wilder

Earth Day is a great time to help clean up our neighborhood and restore our green spaces! Join us for our Earth Day Clean-Up event on Saturday, April 26 from 11:30am-1:30pm at Leschi South Moorage (150 Lakeside Ave. South). We’ll provide food and refreshments to keep you fueled. One group of volunteers will pick up trash along Lakeside and Leschi Park. The other group will focus on removing invasive blackberries along the shoreline and replacing them with wood chips. We’ll also provide tools and supplies (although feel free to bring your own gloves and tools if you prefer). This particular piece of shoreline is part of the pier project (also known as the shore landscaping project) that Seattle Parks and Recreation will be providing updates on during the April 2 Leschi Community Council meeting. Seattle Parks has made progress with blackberry removal in this area but there is more to do, including removing the plants' roots to prevent them from coming back this summer. This clean-up event is a joint venture with the Seattle SAKE Paddling Club, Friends of Street Ends, and Washington Water Trails Association. Support, tools, and supplies are being provided by Seattle Parks, Seattle Department of Transportation, and Seattle Public Utilities Adopt-a-Street program. If you have questions or need more information, reach out to nikola.davidson@gmail.com . To sign up, go to clubsake.com/events/272827 . ~Nikola Davidson

Seattle District 3 City Council Member Joy Hollingsworth spoke to a capacity crowd of 55 community members at the Leschi Community Council (LCC) meeting on March 5. Federal Impacts When asked about federal issues and their potential impact on City residents, Joy explained she would be attending the Federal Select Committee meeting on March 6th to explore how potential federal cuts could impact the City. The Mayor is working with City department heads to determine how much of their budget is impacted by federal funding. The plan is to be proactive and try to insulate the City from the federal cuts as much as possible. Joy discussed the fear raised by the trans community about feeling targeted and how City school kids are scared about immigration enforcement. The City of Seattle has joined the lawsuit representing fellow sanctuary cities. She shared that the Seattle Police Department is not complying with ICE. The Federal Select Committee will hear from immigrant and trans groups to find out how the City can better support them. She reminded everyone the Mayor supports reproductive rights and gender affirming care. She shared that the City, County, and State will work together to protect the City. Housing A number of community members raised concerns regarding the City’s Comprehensive Plan. Joy shared there are currently six appeals to the Plan being reviewed by the City Attorney’s Office which means it’s in a holding pattern and can’t be actioned by City Council until those appeals are addressed. Joy’s focus is on Washington State House Bill 1110 (known as the Middle Housing Bill) since that requires action now. This bill requires cities to allow a broader range of housing types in areas traditionally zoned for single-family homes. The City needs to amend the bill (customize it so it works for the City) which will be followed by a public comment period for 30 days. For those on Joy’s newsletter list, she will send out a memo with key points explaining the amendments once they’re finalized. Joy was questioned on why she said no to the maker’s zone housing plan in SoDo. She felt the process was rushed and that it didn’t address the impact to the Port and the maritime industry. She explained that 80% of the goods transported from the Port of Seattle are by truck. She also noted that the Port makes up 12% of the City’s land and 30% of its tax revenue. While she is committed to affordable housing, she was concerned the housing plan would negatively impact the City’s economy. Transportation/Traffic Calming The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) released the first draft of its Transportation Plan including which projects it will focus on in the first year. She noted that SDOT’s biggest priority in year one is maintenance and street repair. Joy said she would advocate for the Leschi traffic calming project to be included in the first year, but it might get pushed to year two. Joy offered to connect the LCC with SDOT to figure out next steps. Community members are encouraged to review the 2025 Transportation Levy Projects Delivery Plan for more information. Focus for 2025 In the past, City Council was focused more on legislation but now is concentrating on constituent services. She is pushing for better front-facing interactions with Parks, SDOT, and the Department of Construction and Inspections. She is urging departments to provide phone support rather than just email. She is pushing departments to stay in communication with the public and explain what’s going on when concerns are raised. She encouraged those in attendance to use the Find It, Fix It app but to also send her office a picture of the issue so that they can help escalate it if needed. She noted that the City filled 25,000 potholes last year. She invited community members to reach out to her office if they are not getting the support they need. Joy is focused on cleaning up the City including sidewalks, bike lanes, and parks. For help with Leschi parks and green spaces, she encouraged community members to email concerns to pks_info@seattle.gov  which has a track record of being responsive. She committed to sending a member from her team to LCC’s April 2nd meeting when Parks will be providing updates. Joy encouraged the Leschi community to reach out to her office for support at d3help@seattle.gov or 206.684.8803. To receive her newsletter, go to: seattle.gov/council/hollingsworth . ~Nikola Davidson

We are excited to host Seattle Council Member Joy Hollingsworth at our March community meeting on Wed March 5th at 7pm. CM Hollingsworth represents our district on the City Council. The City Council is currently made up of seven members who represent different districts throughout Seattle and two “at large” members whose role it is to represent all of Seattle. District 3 includes Capitol Hill, Madison Valley and the Central District, including Leschi and Madrona. See meeting details and RSVP here. CM Hollingsworth is a 4th generation Seattleite. She has worked as an educator, community organizer and small business owner in our district. During her campaign in 2023, she promised to focus on addressing basic needs around housing, public safety, transportation and helping local businesses thrive, but also on bringing transparency and accessibility to city government. While you may agree or disagree with certain initiatives the City Council has promoted, all can agree that CM Hollingsworth has been more available to our community than any council member in recent history. Her office publishes a newsletter, which contains updates on initiatives, a calendar of hearings, and opportunities for citizens to provide feedback and get involved. She regularly holds town hall-style meetings in our communities and is engaging with the community on solutions during crisis moments. Her dialogue with the community is real and mostly free of political platitudes. As such, we are looking forward to our own town hall event! There are plenty of hot topics to discuss. CM Hollingsworth is leading the committee to finalize the Seattle Comprehensive Plan. The plan provides guidelines for how Seattle will accommodate and manage growth over the coming 20 years. The plan must balance accommodating growth with limiting displacement and giving everyone who works in the city an opportunity to live in the city. It also has to be integrated with a vision for how Seattleites will move around the city and the need for ample green spaces and a healthy tree canopy. Besides the Comprehensive Plan, we are also hoping to hear about how we can advance traffic calming on Lakeside Avenue, an update on public safety initiatives, and the approach to funding park upkeep and enhancements. This meeting is your opportunity to engage on these topics—whether you are just coming to listen and learn or have specific questions or concerns that you would like to voice. We hope to see you there! Time and place: Wednesday, March 5, 7pm, at Grace United Methodist Church, 722 30th Avenue. Doors open at 6:45 pm. If possible, please send your questions beforehand via this form or email them to leschicouncil@gmail.com . ~Matthias Linnenkamp

This column highlights the many restaurants lining Jackson Street beginning in Leschi at Jackson and 31st Ave. S. and down to Rainier Ave. Jackson Street offers a wide selection of food choices from pizza, international, barbeque, sushi, pub food, soul food, before hitting the mecca of great Asian restaurants in the ID. Join me as we take a short drive, walk, bike or hop the 14 bus to check out nearby spots. Standard Brewing 2504 S. Jackson, open every day 11 am to Midnight, Kitchen closes at 10:30pm.Happy Hour: Sunday to Thursday from 11am to 3pm and 9:00pm to Midnight. Children and pets by law are not allowed. You can order on-line. Standard Brewing opened its doors in 2013 when few restaurants or bars existed along the eastern stretch of Jackson. With a few tables made of wine barrels set up in the space where the beer was being made, they began offering tastes and pours of the beers they were developing. A few years later when the space next door became vacant, they expanded to become a public house offering an extensive list of beer, standard and creative cocktails, and an innovative menu of small dishes, sandwiches, and specials of the week. Standard has been one of my go-to places for lunch and one I recommend to friends and family who are visiting. Their motto says it all “No hype, just great beer and cocktails—and food.” On a very cold, week night, neighbors joined my husband and me to have an early dinner at Standard to see how the same menu at lunch translates into a dinner. We were received with the buzz of friends gathering and a friendly hello shout from the bar. We laughed at how we felt like we had entered the world of Cheers, the popular TV show of years past. It wasn’t long before we too were having a lively conservation at our table. The beer list is overwhelming with many choices of lagers, IPAs, and stouts, etc. but thanks to the help from the bar we were steered to good choices. You don’t have to commit to a pint or a beer, instead for $3 you can have a 5 oz sample. Our friend chose a specialty cocktail called Forget-Me-Not which was a beautiful ruby color and delicious. I was disappointed to see the Cod Roll the week’s Specials had sold out. However, the Fat Hen taco which is Indian-style Hariyali chicken with a mint yogurt sauce and cotija cheese ($5) and a veggie taco with a chickpea fritter ($5) took away the letdown. My husband enjoyed the hardy Italian slow-roasted beef sandwich served on a Chicago style crispy Turano roll ($17). He declared it to have the kind of kick in spiciness he likes. He shared with me a delicious fried potato wedge. From the snack listings, we ordered the house tortilla chips with salsa roja ($5) to have a taste of a common bar snack. One friend had two fish tacos ($5 each). Although small each had a nice portion of masa fried catfish covered in a spicy sauce and cotija. Our other friend rounded out the variety of dishes by having a Quesadilla ($12) with house refried beans, cheese and other toppings. What made it special was the crispness of the tortilla. We also ordered the special Chickpea Salad ($14) to share which was red quinoa with an array of vegetables. Standard’s indoor space is small and can get noisy. In nicer weather, there is more seating outdoors which is pleasant. They do not take reservations but if you are planning a special occasion, give them a call to see if they can accommodate. ~Mary Carter McCreech

Slip Gallery, 2301 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98121; Hours: Thurs 12-6pm, Fri 12-7pm, Sat 12-6pm, Sun 12-7pm; First Thursday 3/6 until 8pm. Photo by Joe Freeman, Jr. At the entrance is a photo of “purge” written in chalk and seemingly hanging in midair. Nearby is a glass bell with bronze clappers. “Town and Country Crier” is embodied in these works, purge referring to cleaning toxins out of water, and the bell suggesting an announcement is coming. But if you actually ring this bell it will shatter. That takes our imaginations to where we are today. Emergency bells that can’t be heard. Purge is one theme of Buster Simpson’s work. Many of his actions over the years have focused on detoxifying rivers. In this small exhibition one room has a documentation of a major action repeated in many places: he arranges square pieces of limestone in the abstract shape of a frog on the floor. In boxes arranged in a pile we see photographs of some of the places he has placed the limestone frog. The frog is what Simpson refers to as an indicator species, it can indicate the health of an ecosystem. The limestone actually absorbs toxins and cleans the water where it is placed. ( He mentioned that it was a special limestone found only in Texas, which I found amusing). Another reference to toxins, in this case deadly, is a rusted oil barrel with a reference to the smallpox ridden rags that were passed on to Indians. In this room there is also a complex and amusing multimedia piece referring to changing coastlines and climate change with a giant depth measure as well as a crucified haloed “figure” made from branches holding dipsticks. Across the front is a large level with monopoly pieces inside. Simpson’s specialty is multiple overlaid references to what he cares deeply about laced with humor. Another room of the exhibition presents his long work with trees, much of it in the same neighborhood as the gallery and where he lived soon after his arrival in Seattle. Here we see some documentation of various projects, such as planting trees on First Avenue and protecting them with iron bed posts salvaged from SROs. In the center of the gallery is a blackened stump with its bed post protection. It seemed like a sad reference to fire and its destructive capabilities, much on our mind at the moment. A handwritten document from the First Avenue Project identifies the larger issue at stake: working from and with community rather than top down through government mandates. The archival documents fill a wall. They reveal Simpson’s roots in conceptual art, artists who didn’t believe in making objects for sale-instead they make gestures or draw plans for anyone to execute. Simpson stands out because he continues to work with the real world and physical things, but always in a subversive way. But Simpson also works often with large committees and successfully completes projects such as the Brightwater Treatment Plan (with many other artists) and the waterfront “Anthropocene Migration Stage” on the beach near Yesler. Simpson conceived it as a place to sit temporarily until the sea level requires it to migrate away from the waters. As we leave the gallery three bags filled with sand say “Searise Trumps Denial.” ~Susan Platt, PhD www.artandpoliticsnow.com

Early in the 20th century, the Massachusetts-based Olmsted Brothers landscape design firm, designer of New York City’s Central Park and the US Capitol grounds, was commissioned by the City of Seattle to set out a comprehensive plan for Seattle’s parks and scenic boulevards. John C. Olmsted, in surveying the terrain along the ridge from the future Frink Park and southward, saw evidence of a historic propensity for landslides along the area then known as Rainier Heights. He recommended that the entire hillside, from Frink Park southward to what is now Colman Park, become undeveloped parkland. He was concerned that continual landslides would make it difficult for the city to maintain roads and utilities. Olmsted was certainly influenced by the large landslide of 1898. Settlement in the area was new and sparse, and the clearcut hillside had about 16 houses scattered around, plus a lumbermill on the waterfront. A vast slide from the ridgetop, between Charles and Judkins streets, swept the houses downhill and washed the mill into Lake Washington. Olmsted estimated that the land near the top of the ridge “sank from twenty to thirty feet, while the shore line was pushed out into the lake correspondingly.” He predicted that “houses will probably continue to be moved gradually on to adjoining land owned by someone else, and there will be no end to the trouble, expense, and inconvenience due to the continuation of the slide if it is allowed to become occupied by houses.” Olmsted overreacted a bit, he conceded. In 1907 in Frink Park, he noted sudden depressions that he thought were the result of earlier landslides. After a city engineer told him that these markings were remnants from the footings of a former cable-car trestle (removed by 1900), Olmsted retracted his concern about that location. What must not have been known to settlers at the time was the long history of slides in the area. Recent studies have confirmed a years-ago slide sequence not only in this neighborhood, but in various locations around Lake Washington and beyond. At that time, an earthquake along the Seattle Fault lifted parts of West Seattle and Bainbridge Island more than 20 feet. Dated by scientists, these events occurred in the year 923 or 924. The one in Leschi could well be the basis for the Native American cultural memory and oral history of Leschi as slide prone. (Ground movement here was attributed to the resident earth-shaking spirit known as A’yahos, which was bad-vibed away by white settlers.) How were those ancient slides dated so closely? Researchers examined growth rings from several trees salvaged from Lake Washington; they had fallen into the lake as a result of the slide a millennium ago. Those trees were selected based on radiocarbon dating, which is accurate to within a few hundred years. All trees of the same type in the same area have the same ring widths for a given year, correlating to weather patterns. In each case examined, the selected trees’ outer ring was fully developed, without indication of the coming year’s growth, so the trees must have died in the fall, winter, or early spring. To more closely specify the time, a study referenced an unusual burst of solar radiation that occurred between the years 774 and 775. According that report, “this rapid, large magnitude (~10%) radiocarbon excursion … is recorded globally in tree cellulose and can therefore be used as an exact geochronological anchor point.” For any tree alive at that time, rings can be counted forward to pinpoint its season of death. This was done in the case of the trees discussed here. * The city, for its part, did not accept Olmsted’s advice to avoid settlement on the ridge. As a result, Seattle has engaged in major efforts to stabilize the hillside. A 1935 report to the City Council said, “Earth slides have been, and always will be, a major problem in this city. … great slide [areas] extend around … the slopes leading up from Lake Washington.” Next month: Early 20th century slides and the city’s prevention work ~Roger Lippman The author writes monthly about Leschi history and his experiences over his 49 years in the neighborhood.