the Urban Archivist

Repost courtesy of Kate, the original author:

March 23rd, 2006 05:05 pm

Today while I was waiting for the bus, I noticed a girl walking down the other side of the street. She turned out to be one of the most fascinating people I’ve observed in a long time, and strangely enough, it wasn’t about her clothes. Well, I admit that her bright red silk camisole was what first drew my eye as she walked south on 3rd Ave towards University, but her attitude quickly overcame her clothes. She crossed University and came strutting up to my busstop, and leaned against the bus schedule post. When she walked, she seemed to launch herself forward without any effort, as if she was floating. She had her ipod nano on, and she was mouthing the words along with her song, shaking her head and shaking her skinny hips a bit, completely unconscious of the world around her, completely confident in herself.

She stood there at the stop, wearing her black slacks and suit jacket, with pantyhose and black pointy-toed slingback heels, looking eighteen years old but oh-so mature. I can’t really describe why I couldn’t stop staring. Perhaps it was the dusting of freckles on her nose, or the long wavy dark hair she had up in a ponytail that clearly hadn’t been touched up since the morning. I think it might just have been how happy she looked.

My bus came then, and she got on it as well, and sat kitty-corner from me, confidently singing along silently to her obviously upbeat song. She pulled out the Stranger, and started reading the classifieds. Every now and then she’d make a funny noise and curl her lip, or laugh out loud quietly and smile at something she’d read. She didn’t notice that fact that we had a manic bus driver; she just slid around on her seat without seeming to be affected by the mad swerving and braking that had the rest of us holding on tight.

I stared shamelessly all the way to 75th and 35th, where I got off to drop off an envelope in the mailbox and then walk home. She sat reading the Stranger, still singing along to her song as the bus lurched up 35th and I stood on the corner, watching her disappear.

This disturbing notice floated across my virtual transom the other day:

THE NATL WEATHER SVC IN SEATTLE
HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR.

  NORTHWESTERN KING COUNTY IN WEST CNTL WA
  SOUTHWESTERN SNOHOMISH COUNTY IN WEST CNTL WA

* UNTIL 545 PM PST

* AT 515 PM PST .NATL WEATHER SVC SPOTTER REPORTED
ONE INCH HAIL NEAR REDMOND.MOVING NW AT 10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR.
  KIRKLAND BY 525 PM PST
  WOODINVILLE BY 530 PM PST
  BOTHELL.KENMORE.LAKE FOREST PARK & BRIARCREST BY 545 PM PST.

LAT.LON 4755 12215 4766 12194 4790 12220 4775 12245

$$

GS

Good ness! A warning means that there is actually a storm in progress!

Actually, my first thought having seen this and heard some nascent rumbling of thunder was excitement. I do miss Midwestern thunderstorms. However, we Washingtites are not entirely prepared for them. Fortunately, there are not too many trailer parks here. Trailer parks are notorious magnets for severe thunderstorms and their resultant tornados.

The lesser known fact is that in second place behind trailer parks are malls with stores like Walmart, Home Depot, anc Costco — the warehouse stores. For some reason, tornados don’t seem to strike actual warehouses as much as they seem to like toying with warehouse-type stores. Perhaps Nature abhors a bargain. In any case, their high, flimsy ceilings and unreinforced masonry walls offer little protection against violent atmospheric whirlwinds. One is almost better off standing naked in a field with a parachute than trying to take refuge at Home Depot. Once the wind rips through the roof, after all, there are lots of sharp and deadly tools that it can send flying into one’s tender flesh.

Needless to say, the areas covered in the above warning contain lots of warehouse stores. It is the Eas’side, after all. And, if I’m not mistaken, Costco’s omniversal headquarters is located in Kirkland (hence the brand name?). Thankfully, I was nowhere near the Eas’side when this storm came rumbling through.

Fortunately for CostDepotMart, the thunderstorm passed through without incident. The sanctity of our bulk savings has been preserved.

WAC033-061-110147-
/O.CAN.KSEW.SV.W.0001.000000T0000Z-060311T0145Z/
KING-SNOHOMISH-
537 PM PST FRI MAR 10 2006

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING CANCELLED FOR SOUTHWESTERN
SNOHOMISH & NORTHWESTERN KING COUNTIES.

RADAR INDICATES THE THUNDERSTORM OVER BELLEVUE & KIRKLAND HAS
WEAKENED & THE THREAT OF LARGE HAIL IS OVER.THUS THE WARNING WAS
CANCELLED.

LAT.LON 4755 12215 4766 12194 4790 12220 4775 12245