It felt like summer today.
The high was near the record for this day on the calendar:
78°F (26°C) today, and the record is 81°F (27°C) recorded on May 6, 1957.
There will be cooler weather again for the rest of the week.
Tuesday/ felt like summer
Friday/ another week, done 
It was beautiful outside today (68°F/ 20°C).
I walked down to Capitol Hill library to return two books, where I found the latest issue of The Atlantic on the magazine rack, with some unsettling writing inside (see below).
In the upside-down place we find ourselves with the Trump administration, it’s almost a positive that his 42%-or-so approval rating after 100 days in office is the lowest of any modern US president.
P.S. The US stock market held up surprisingly well this week, and April’s jobs report showed a gain of 177,000 jobs, exceeding expectations. Unemployment remains steady at 4.2%, and average hourly earnings rose modestly.
I Should Have Seen This Coming
When I joined the conservative movement in the 1980s, there were two types of people: those who cared earnestly about ideas, and those who wanted only to shock the left. The reactionary fringe has won.
DAVID BROOKS
—-
The Hollow Men
It takes a special talent to betray an entire worldview without missing a beat.
GEORGE PACKER
—-
America’s Future Is Hungary
MAGA conservatives love Viktor Orbán. But he’s left his country corrupt, stagnant, and impoverished.
ANNE APPLEBAUM
—-
Watching the Rise of a Dual State
For most people, the courts will continue to operate as usual—until they don’t.
AZIZ HUQ
Sunday 
There was light rain this afternoon, but I took my umbrella and went for a walk around the neighborhood.
Friday/ a week of sun 
Happy Friday, and Happy Easter.
We had sunny weather all week here in the city, and today the temperatures touched 70°F (21°C).
It will be cooler with a little bit of rain over the weekend.
It is 6 o’clock, and sunset is still two hours away.
Sunday/ rain
We had showers this morning here in Rain City, and a steady rain was sifting down all afternoon and into the evening.
When I ventured out with my umbrella, it felt a little colder than the 57°F (14°C) shown on my weather app.
Wednesday/ stormy, but no hail 
The storm arrived on cue at 7 pm with some lightning and thunder, and with heavy winds and rain, but no hail.
Power outages for now seem to be limited to one or two areas, and some flight delays at Sea-Tac airport were reported.
It is 9.15 pm as I write this, and I think the worst of the storm activity is over.
[Photo by Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times]
Tuesday/ a stormy outlook 
It was a lovely day, just the way the weather prognosticators said it would be, with a high of 71°F (22°C).
I put on my shorts and walked down to the QFC grocery store on Broadway with my lily-white winter legs exposed to the bright sunlight.
There is a thunderstorm brewing off the coast, though, with some dire warnings in the forecast for Wednesday (see below).
(Lucky for us that we still have a National Weather Service— or is it about to be shut down with all the other government agencies?)
Monday/ a lot of gray 
Enduring sightings of the sun, since spring had started here in Seattle, are still hard to come by, but we had 57°F (14 °C) today. The high might bump up to 67°F (19°C) tomorrow.
Late afternoon, I walked all the way down to the edge of South Lake Union, and back up to Capitol Hill.
There it is, hiding behind the Onni South Lake Union apartment towers (completed May 2022) at 1120 Denny Way.
Saturday/ camelia petals 
There is wind and rain in the city this weekend, and snow in the mountains.
This camelia with its petals on the ground is by Aloha Street here on Capitol Hill.
Monday/ a new sunset 
Sunset is now at 7.10 pm, so a quick walk after dinner and before dark is possible.
Here’s looking east at downtown Bellevue and the Cascade Mountain Range in the distance at 5.50 pm.
And how are those snowpacks doing?
On average, Washington State’s snowpack is at 84% of normal. Central Puget Sound’s number is the lowest in the state, at 60% of normal.
[Graphic and information from a post on X by Todd Myers @WAPolicyGreen]
Wednesday/ sunset at 6
Hey! Spring is coming and the sun set at 6 p.m. today.
I’m at the corner of 12th Avenue East and Thomas Street on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
Friday/ more sun
Happy Friday.
The false spring here in the city continued today with temperatures reaching 58°F (14°C).
Late in the afternoon, I spotted sunseekers lounging on the lawn at Volunteer Park.
Nearby, stargazers by the Black Sun sculpture were already setting up their telescopes to observe the planets.
I hope the clouds at sunset didn’t thwart their efforts.
Wednesday/ feels like spring 
We had lots of sun and 57°F (14°C) here in the city today.
Monday/ a break in the bluster 
It was a blustery, rainy day here in the city (high 53°F/ 12°C), but there was a bit of quiet at 5 o’clock, which allowed me to go for a walk.
.. thought about it as I walked, feeling my mind reach for it, only to have it slip away. I refused to look it up, got home and sat at the kitchen counter, and doodled a few words on paper: water polo .. hockey .. fuss ball .. foley .. polo .. lacrosse! got it 
.
The French Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf saw Huron tribesmen play the game during 1637 in present-day Ontario. He called it la crosse, “the stick” in French. The name seems to be originated from the French term for field hockey, le jeu de la crosse.
[Source: Wikipedia. The picture is titled ‘Ball Players’ and the artist is George Catlin]
Saturday/ a rainy weekend
It’s a rainy weekend here in the city, with about 0.3 inches recorded as of 7 pm tonight. We may reach an inch or so by Monday morning.
“Does Elon Musk Still Care About Selling Cars?
Mr. Musk, one of President Trump’s main advisers, has not outlined a plan to reverse falling sales at the electric car company of which he is chief executive.
Tesla’s car sales fell 1 percent last year even as the global market for electric vehicles grew 25 percent. .. Tesla sales fell 12 percent last year in California, which accounts for nearly one-third of the electric cars sold in the United States.”
– Jack Ewing writing for the New York Times
Saturday/ scanning for the sun
I celebrated the end of the deep-freeze weather here in the city by walking down to the Melrose Avenue overlook of Interstate 5 late this afternoon.
The high today was 44°F (7 °C).
On the left is South Lake Union with Seattle’s downtown behind it; look for the Space Needle in the middle; and then Queen Anne hill with its broadcast antennas on the right.
Wednesday/ clear and cold
There is one more cold morning in store for us— 25°F/ −4°C expected here in the city.
There might be rain and snow on Thursday afternoon.
Sunset is now at 5.30 pm.
Monday/ rooibos tea 
I stocked up on a fresh pack of Freshpak rooibos tea* to keep me warm at night. I steep it for 5 minutes to get it really strong, and then I add milk and a little honey.
P.S. The cold weather has been relentless here. The temperature outside will drop down to 22 °F (-5°C) tonight, which is record-low territory for February here in the city.
*Not a true tea, but rather an herbal tea. It’s made from the leaves of the Aspalathus linearis plant, which is native to South Africa.
– from Google Search Labs | AI Overview
Thursday/ snow report 
There were 2 more inches of snow this morning (most of yesterday’s had melted by last night).
I know it’s not a lot of snow compared to the Midwest or the Northeast, but even so, I went out and took a few pictures. Snow on the ground is not something I ever had while living in South Africa!
Wednesday/ more snow 
There were 2 inches of snow on the ground by 8:30 a.m. here on Capitol Hill this morning—just enough to prompt the city to send out an alert that my garbage pickup has been rescheduled for tomorrow.
