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Elvis is exhausted after
a long walk through
Bothell history. |
I’ve been adding to this blog since 2008, but for the last
several years the posts have been pretty sparse. I try not to include a lot of personal
information in my posts, but today I feel compelled to explain and share. Back in 2013 my wife and I moved from Washington to California to care for my aging parents. It was there that I started teaching high school. The job and personal issues kept me both busy
and out of the frame of mind to write a whole lot. As it turns out, teaching
high school and I were not completely compatible (more about that at a later
date) and the pandemic only made things worse. My parents had both passed, so Sheila
and I asked, “What are we doing here?”
The answer to that question was basically just putting up
with a place we didn’t want to live in and a job that I didn’t really enjoy. Why
not live where we want to live and do what we want to do? So, as we are known
to do, we made a change. First, we moved back to the Puget Sound area which we consider
our home, having lived in the area off and on for over twenty years. We chose the
suburb of Bothell, just to the northeast of Seattle. We’ve been here three
weeks now and just love it.
The second part of the question is what will I do now that I’m
not teaching. That’s easy. I’m going to rededicate myself to a couple of
writing projects. It is exciting to see the positive reviews of our first
project, The Boldest Plan is the Best: The Combat History of the 509th
Parachute Infantry Battalion during WWII. Moreover, I can’t tell you how
honored I have been to be contacted by family members after the publication of
the book. With the 509th PIB being the first unit to parachute into
combat in the European Theater, I had started a project on the 503rd
Parachute Infantry, which was the first unit to jump into combat in the Pacific
Theater. Now I have the time and inspiration to complete it. Additionally, I
think I’ll try my hand at some historical fiction, inspired by the events
surrounding these two very special units.
All History is Local One of the benefits of our new home is the proximity of great
walking and biking paths. I have already fallen into a morning routine of walking
with
Elvis the Corgi in pursuit of another, more typical, New Year’s resolution.
Most mornings we are out at sunrise, easily seen behind the rain clouds,
walking on either the
Samammish River Trail toward Woodinville or on the
Burke-Gilman Trail in the direction of Kenmore.
This morning we were headed west toward Kenmore and we ran
into the “Red Brick Road” park.
(See a Video) Today SR-522 (Bothell Way) is a very busy
four-lane arterial that will take you into the north end of Seattle. But that
route basically started as a logging road which was first paved in 1913. (
This is where you should probably be listening to “Telegraph Road” by Dire Straits.)
The method of paving? You guessed it: red bricks! When Bothell Way was paved
with concrete and straightened, a part of the red brick road was left exposed
at a place called the Wayne Curve (Bothell Way at 96
th Avenue NE). Some
forward-thinking people created a “pocket park” and monument that includes
about two-tenths of a mile of red brick paving, from the four-mile
stretch running west from Bothell to the suburb of Lake Forest Park.
I really enjoy these kinds of surprises. I know most people
won’t be impressed by a few yards of red bricks. But it’s what it represents. First, it gives you a glimpse into what this area, mostly covered with modern houses
and high rise apartments, used to be. That is a small, fairly remote, logging
town. Second, it is just another example of the fact that all history is local
history.
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