Tag: lynnwood

Summer Is Coming for Edmonds Own Steel Magic Northwest

Carl Setzer
Steel Magic Northwest

This evening was Steel Magic Northwest’s “Here Comes Summer” concert, held at Edmonds Seventh Day Adventist church.  I’ve written about them before, after I saw their holiday concert. This steel drum ensemble is just amazing! Tonight’s concert was simply brilliant. An amazing amount of sound comes through these guys, and clear, crisp, wonderful sound! As a musician, I’m delighted after each performance. Gary Gibson, the director, excels at leading this group.

Steel Magic performs a wide array of styles, and very challenging repertoire with complex music. Check out their schedule and make it a point to lend them your lobes, my chums! You won’t be disappointed!

With that, they have some ambitious summer plans. In order to pull that off, and provide opportunities to both play, and to be heard, they need our help.

Check out their Kickstarter campaign. With a rather humble goal of $3,000, they can reach an amazing number of children, youth and adults. I can rattle off the details, but I’d rather let them do it (see the video below). And, of course, please help them out any way you can. If you can’t donate yourself, please share the campaign with your friends.

 

Walking this evening: A poem

Carl Setzer

An evening stroll

As I’m often want

To do. 

These sidewalks, older than me

My memories stretch back

Decades.  

Once, my dream,  

Distant travel. 

That has waned

My love for this area 

Grown to significant

Proportions. 

This path I’ve trudged

At least a thousand times

Changed for biredom 

Now is home 

American Girl Hotel Package In Lynnwood?

Carl Setzer

Poking around the internet I found this fun piece:

American Girl Hotel Stay Package at Homewood Suites Lynnwood, WA

Though I have a son, and wouldn’t have been much in a place to take part in such, the writers do point out that the hotel is pretty kid friendly.

I just love that the American Girl store at Alderwood Mall and Homewood Suites thought to build something like this. I think it’s actually quite brilliant.

Love my little town. Well, I guess Lynnwood isn’t that terribly “little” any more. But that’s another blog post.

 

The Story Of A Neighborhood Eyesore

Carl Setzer

A few blocks from my house in Lynnwood there’s this beat up home that screams bank-owned to me. The front window is broken out, there are two abandoned vehicles in the front yard with their windows broken out. However, this is a decent neighborhood, close to Daleway and Lynndale parks. The main drawback to the house: it sits on a busy street. Outside of the recession, though, this is quite an unusual state for houses around here.

The homeowner on this one, Marcos Santiago, struggled quite bit. Per county records, the house was in danger of foreclosure, but, if you review the court records, it looks like he managed to negotiate a loan modification back in 2010/2011. Now, though, they received a notice of trustees sale back on November 4 of 2013, which hasn’t been released.

Sadly, Mr. Santiago passed away just a few weeks later on November 20, 2013. The closeness of his death to the foreclosure made me wonder if his death was a suicide, but I don’t see any information supporting that. And I’m not feeling curious enough to pay for a copy of the death certificate.

Another tidbit about this home: Marcos’ son, Marcos Jr., a level three sex offender, actually had a community meeting to address concerns about him living at this home. Shortly after the meeting, he ended up in trouble with the law again. Clearly, a troubled young man. I’m not sure what happened to him after this. He didn’t appear in the sex offender database.

But back to house. It’s again in distress, with a sheriffs levy filled at the end of 2016. US Bank is the entity acting here. I wonder if this will come on the market as an REO (stands for Real Estate Owned, the accounting description for an asset owned by a bank). It was sold with a conventional loan, I don’t expect it to come on the market as a government held one, either. It could sell on the courthouse steps, too. Hard to gauge at this point.

I know how slow these processes can take. As the property is vacant, I expect the heirs don’t feel any great motivation to engage with the process. If so, it’ll be protracted. But, someday, it will be sold and someone else will take this home’s story and make it there own. I hope it will be a happier one.

An abandoned car at Snohomish County Park (Perrinville)

Carl Setzer

This beat up hulk of a car has been abandoned off Olympic View Drive at Snohomish County Park. I’m unsure how they decided this was a good idea. But I wish to expound on the likely outcomes of this decision. 

  1. The car has been ticketed 
  2. The city will track them down, and that will be paid. 
  3. The car will be towed
  4. The owners will get that bill…and the storage costs. 
  5. That, too, will be paid. By force if necessary. Civil judgements carry some weight and the possibility of wage garnishment. 

What could’ve been dealt with at a relatively low cost (wrecking yard…they had no problem towing it) or even free (all those vehicle donation programs) is going to end up costing a huge amount more. 

Short sided decision which will have long term negative repercussions. 

Sigh 

What a lovely day, thunderstorms and all 

Carl Setzer

Today’s weather was certainly quirky. Earlier in the afternoon, it was nice enough in Marysville to get a 20 minute walk in. 

Not too much later the thunderstorm rolled through. My son and I planned to hit the gym, but the weather knocked the power out there. So, we went out for a little ride. 

Now, it had cleared up as we were gearing up. But it started to pour as we headed out. We opted to keep going. It was my son’s first real rain ride. 

I’ve become a fair weathered cyclist over the years. So it was nice to get out and get wet on the road. I love riding so, and need to get back in the saddle more. 

I want to push my fitness higher again. Not get my fitness back. Rather, adapt and create a new life, with a solid center of fitness. 

Besides riding, I want to get into kayaking. I’ve a fair amount of experience…and I want more. 

Also, during the winter I want to get deeper into cross-country skiing. That’s one I really miss. 

What a lovely day!

Carl Setzer

Today was pretty delightful. First, got to sleep in…always a boon.

My wife and I hit the Brook’s Tent Sale. Though I’m no longer a runner, my wife and son are. And I’m something of an avid walker, so good shoes are valuable to me.

Next stop, a friend of ours, who makes killer cinnamon rolls, made some killer cinnamon rolls and shared some with us.

We then went and walked around the Edmonds waterfront. One of our favorite places. Calm, peaceful, and people who will actually politely greet each other.

On our way home, we stopped at Mel & Mias, a gem of a bakery/coffee shop in the Perrinville neighborhood of Edmonds/Lynnwood. Charming, delightful place. Light and inviting aura, and excellent treats. Oh, and coffee that’s quite unique. Today got to try a monsoon coffee from India. I’ve never had Indian coffee, so that was a delight in-and-of-itself. The processing for this is unique. They basically cage the coffee beans and let the rains clean away the husk and pulp of the cherry. It had mild citrus and berry notes which paired well with our cherry tart.

For dinner we went to help celebrate our favorite Mexican place’s (La Raza) 8th anniversary. Though we had to leave before the mariachi band arrived, it was great seeing the good folks there having a deserved good time.

Nothing monumental or life changing. Mostly, just life affirming and charming. The sun shone brightly, which was a pleasant change. All in all, no complaints.

Here’s wishing every one of you a blessed Easter, no matter which faith your practice. May we all find peace and joy…in the small things.