24 hours to go until the big parade.

With a theme like this, I anticipate wearing a CAPE! [in addition to the Red Nose Brigade Band uniforms]

Meet other regional people who are interested in sustainability and/or Permaculture design.

Permaculture Gathering ~ Olympia

Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 6:30PM

Let's get together and talk plants, people & possibilities! We aim to share ideas and resources, discover connections, and improve community.

Casual meet and greet on the lawn ~ we'll start with a very brief introduction to permaculture, then discuss participant generated topics of interest; - local resources - harvest opportunities - workshops - sites - plant trades - potential tours - so much more!

We invite you to join us in growing sustainable futures...

6:30 - 8:30ish pm July 21 2009

On a bbblanket at Capital Lake Park; near the corner of 7th & Water Streets, Olympia 

Questions? Thoughts? Ideas?! Check out http://tinyurl.com/oly-permie or email yardfood-at-gmail.com

The Seattle Mariners pushed their current road trip record to 3-3 after beating the New York Yankees in the Bronx on Thursday night.  Playing in the costliest yard in all of baseball, an estimated 1.5B theater, the visitors avoided the series sweep with win an 8-4 win.

The new Yankee Stadium is truly a hitters park.  Wind problems have plagued, if you're a fan of pitching, the inaugural season.  Giving up almost 3 home runs per game the teams continued that trend hitting 9 home runs in 3 evening affairs.

Franklin Gutierrez and Russell Branyan both went yard for Seattle while Ichiro Suzuki continued his hot hitting streak with a 2 for 4 night, pushing his league leading average to .370.  Branyan stroked his 4 bagger on a first pitch in the top of the 9th with a 2-run blast to deep center for his 20th at midyear.  It also placed him in a tie for 2nd in the AL with Yankee Mark Teixeira.  Carlos Pena of the Rays leads the league with 23 jacks.

Finally getting a chance to hit left handed pitching, the newly acquired Branyan, a lefty himself, is on pace for his best season since the 2002 campaign when he hit 24 home runs playing for the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds.

Hideki Matsui was the only bright spot for the home team (45-33) with a double, home run, and 3 runs batted in.

The search for Lindsey Baum, a 10 year old girl from McCleary Washington, missing since Friday night June 26th, is now national, you can find quite a few articles and news videos online. I just want to pass on a few items.

There is now a dedicated hotline 1-866-915-8299. We are asked to watch for the following signs:

Scott suggested that one or more of the following warning signs might raise a red flag and should result in a call to police:

• Someone suddenly changing his or her physical appearance, such as cutting or dyeing hair or shaving a mustache or beard.

• Someone suddenly getting rid of a car.

• An unexplained or out-of-character absence from work.

• Unexplained cuts or bruises to the face or arms.

• Someone picking up or resuming bad habits such as smoking or drinking, or changes in mood, such as being depressed or irritable for no apparent reason.

"We're certainly not looking for a witch hunt or anything of that sort, but the bottom line is we have a missing girl. And so anyone who is in this area is going to be someone we want to talk to," said Ron Twersky, FBI assistant special agent in charge.

I recently read through Thurston County Place Names : A Heritage Guide / edited by Gayle Palmer, Shanna Stevenson. Olympia, Wash. : Thurston County Historic Commission, [1992]

This is a well documented encyclopedia that if read cover to cover is like viewing a fun collage of local history. A very nice resource compiled by real pros.

Some of the more interesting selections of this work have been extracted, with OlyBlog enhancements. Historians, grab your silverware and get ready to eat!

Athens Beach Section 22, T19N, R2W, W.M. The beach is at the north end of Cooper Point on the west shore of Budd Inlet. Athens was a name given by J.R. Chaplin to a utopian community he envisioned at Athens Beach in 1900 where he platted the site for a college to be called the People's University. The college operated for a few years, 1902-1904. The community of Athens Beach now consists of a housing area on Cooper Point in northwest Thurston County.
The Third Time's a Charm

Black Hills Sections 19, 31, 34, T18N, R2W, W.M. This series of hills begins three miles southwest of Olympia. The highest peak, Big Larch Mountain rises 2,659 feet. The hills comprise all of the Capitol State Forest. The hills are named for the Black River.

These hills are mentioned in the Treaty with the S'klallam Indians, January 26, 1855, and they are shown on the Map of the Surveyor General of Washington Territory, 1857. (Meany, Origin of Washington Geographic Names, page 20.)

J.C. Rathbun notes, "In May, 1857 a party of four men started out with a pack horse to explore the Black Hills in the western part of the county." (Rathbun, History of Thurston County, page 37.)
Not Unattended With Danger

Global Wisdom MV seen from Percival Landing, at dusk, Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Global Wisdom; that's an interesting name for an ocean going vessel. It begs me to question the wisdom of shipping logs, the carcasses of clear-cut trees, to overseas markets. Is clearcutting sound ecological practice? Does clearcutting harm wilderness? Does the practice of clearcutting fit in with sustainability? Does clearcutting constitute correct stewardship practices?

More recent photos from around Olympia below:

To take Hal Spencer's old job as the Governor's speechwriter. There's a brief story at PubliCola. (He says the paper plans to hire somebody to replace him.)

OlyBlogger Peter Stroble was appointed to The Olympian's editorial board, too. He's one of the two current community representatives to the board; the job lasts six months.

As the story says: "Stroble and Bierdeman will serve the July through December term which includes the all-important fall election season. They will join other members of the editorial board interviewing candidates for city council, county commission, port district and school board races. They will have an equal voice in The Olympian’s candidate endorsements."

Best,
Thad