Results tagged “spring”

Asparagus, known to many by its alternate monikers; green trees, "No Mom, I'm not going to eat those," a food superhero, and the vegetable that makes your pee smell (eww) will start showing up in local farmers markets so fresh--and so clean--as the harvest gets underway. The Washington Asparagus Commission (yes, we have one of those) says asparagus fields make up over 8,000 acres in the state and can produce 30-50 million pounds worth of those little green trees. For some Friday fun, how many smaller words can you create from "asparagus"? Game on.

  

These are a few of the things going on outside right now. Our current temperature reading is 62, but that's a Seattle 62, so it's like it's 75 in terms of the need for shorts and flip-flops.

Some eager plant is bursting through our gravel driveway, we see hummingbirds out the window, and we're thinking about having a BBQ tonight. It's 48 degrees right now, and ought to inch above 50 before sunset.

Yes, there's snow on the ground, but on Sunday, April 5, the most-awaited emblem of spring in Seattle finally arrives: the Elliott Bay Water Taxi begins its run, wrapping up in fall on October 31. (As you know, residents of West Seattle begin their winter hibernation about then, and have no need of transportation across the perilously stormy Elliott Bay.)

Pioneer Square's Megan Mary Olander Florist wants to turn your recession frown upside down.

• Capitol Hill Seattle has a retrospective on the Kyle Huff murders from three years ago.
• Seattle 911 reports on a guy who shot at toll booths down in Gig Harbor...with a slingshot. That's so mature, man.
• Spring is here, on Beacon Hill at least! Beacon Hill Blog has photos to prove it.

If your soul yearns for spring, which is literally coming in fits and starts this year, take matters into your own hands. Feed yourself a hearty salad of delicate spring greens without even making a trip to the local grocery or farmer's market.

We knew it was coming, but it still stings: Boeing has announced it will lay off 900 employees today of the 10,000 expected over the course of 2009. 700 of those employees will be from our area. Ouch....On the first day of spring, too. At least it's not sunny or anything, because that would really be unfair.

We were just reading the Weekly's conversation with Cliff Mass about global warming's effects on the Northwest: in the coming years, "late springs and early summers may actually be cooler--at least in the Western part of the state." Compare that with today's Seattle Times story on spring coming earlier around here: "Dozens of studies concur that the onset of spring--as measured by the response of plants, animals and ecosystems--is about a week earlier than it was 50 years ago," and Lake Washington's "spring cycle of warming and algae growth now start three weeks earlier than it used to." Spring comes earlier and gets colder. FAIL.

Cliff Mass says: "The latest prediction by the National Weather Service's Climatic Prediction Center is for cooler and wetter than normal conditions over the next month. Sounds like a La Nina forecast to me." Sweet. Cold and wet. If we were a mushroom, we'd be looking forward to that. In any event, you are now required to skip out of work any time there's sun over the next few days. Seattlest says so. Let us know if you need a permission slip.

WSDOT has announced they will be re-opening I-5 this afternoon after flooding and debris forced the state to close the highway by Chehalis on Wednesday. The road crews are hard at work making sure the stretch is safe, and will be letting trucks and then regular traffic through at some point later today. That's great news for commerce in general, commuters, and all the weekend shows who were looking at cancellation. Won't it be nice when spring is here and the weather stops wreaking havoc on our city?

The weather, it just gets worse.

As noted here earlier, area rivers are still surging with the long-delayed spring melt from last weekend’s heat. Although it's a little harder to tell right now, the dependably blueish-grey cocktail that is Elliott Bay has been diluted with a somewhat murkier brown finish.

Or sunburns, more likely. We doubt any of of you have actually thought to pack sunscreen on your person, given the state of our weather lately.

A group of Hare Krishna devotees stopped right across the street from Seattlest's house on Capitol Hill to drum and chant and, as their business card told us, "easily awaken our dormant God-consciousness." "That was fantastic, guys," one of the leaders said as the group climbed into a minivan. We think they were headed to 12th and Thomas.

This is what the sun looks like, and that blue stuff behind it, that is called the sky.

Ahh spring. So wonderful and yet so fickle. Thankfully for us, spring was fully sprung Saturday when we took the wife up to Lopez Island to celebrate her birthday by riding in the annual Tour de Lopez.

It's an absolutely gorgeous day outside, and Seattlest put in some good hours at the park. The sunshine has coaxed our shriveled, hardened, wintry walnut of a soul to begin expanding and warming up in preparation for bona fide Springtime. So forgive us if we're a little over-emotional when it comes to directing your attention to a story in this morning's about a Massive Monkees crew member named Phanna Nam (Peanut, to friends and fans) who is moving to Cambodia to teach kids break-dancing.

If you thought snow in late March was strange, just wait till you try snow in late April! The National Weather Service says Western Washington should expect a cold weekend, with high temperatures venturing into the low 40s. They've forecasted 1 to 2 feet of snow in the Cascades over the weekend and lowland snow showers at elevations as low as 1,000 feet. So last Saturday it was pushing 80 degrees, and this Saturday we should expect snow showers? Great news for skiers who don't want to let go of an epic season. Not so great for the rest of us who are clamoring for a little springtime sunshine.

Is the weather getting stranger here by the day or is it just us?

Another day, another great (sadly season-appropriate) photo from our Flick pool (care of bella.redux).

On this, the 26th day of March, it was snowing at 8pm on Capitol Hill--and it was even sticking to cars, to the grass, to the trees. WTF? It is nearly April, right?

If you weren't lucky enough to nab a pair of tickets to an April Eddie Vedder show via Pearl Jam's fan club presale or Ticketmaster's sale last Friday, you're only screwed if you aren't extremely wealthy—and charitable.

Mariner fans spent last night drinking champagne, and toasting Dave Niehaus’ selection to the Hall of Fame.

Today there is an extra skip in our step, and song in our whistle. All across Arizona pitchers and catchers are reporting to work, which means Spring Training is underway.