Ballard front yards are most often punctuated with Obama Os, and half the residents count Carlyle their man for 36th District state representative, and half back Burbank. Both Reuven Carlyle and John Burbank are Democrats, in case you missed that odd result of the top-two primary.
In this once working-class neighborhood centered around the maritime industry, this frequent butt of Seattleites' jokes, the old and the new commingle, sometimes caustically, but most often with the stoic quietude of the Scandinavians who settled this Seattle neighborhood. It was no different this morning as old Ballard announced its presence in the form of a battered Chevy truck's array of bumper stickers, "Ballard Native" and "Rossi" among them. Up the street, a young hipster on a bicycle took down her "Barack the vote" placard. And the retail sector broadcast its patriotic but commercially sensitive, neutral stance with its window display festooned with flags, red-and-white garments, and the admonishment to simply "VOTE."
The Ballard Native for Rossi lives and works in the neighborhood. As most residents exited Ballard by car and bus this morning after voting, he took to Market Street with a leaf-blower. He's the one who cleans up Ballard's downtown proper.
And then there's my hub, another Ballardite who will work with his hands today. After voting for Gregoire, he headed off to the Ballard ReStore for a day spent demolishing houses to reclaim the building materials for recycling. We hear the work might be tapering off soon.
