I’m always bragging about how East Ballard is such a great neighborhood, but I haven’t taken the time to actually explore my ‘hood and really take notice of the little things. I’ve decided to change that and have embarked on a quest to walk along every street in East Ballard from NW 72nd to Leary, 15th Ave NW to 3rd Ave NW. I’ll be taking pics along the way and sharing them on the blog, along with some of my observations. I’d love for this to be an interactive adventure. So if you know some interesting details about some of the pics I post, I’d love your comments. It’ll help me learn more about my neighborhood and I hope it will encourage you to take pleasure in the little things that make our neighborhood so great.

I started with a short street, NW 72nd from 6th Ave NW to 3rd NW. Little known fact, NW 72nd only exists between these 2 streets in East Ballard, and there’s no 71st within these boundaries either. I wish I had looked at the map before starting out my adventure from 15th Ave NW!

I love foggy mornings in Ballard and the way it plays with the light. Here, the fog makes these birch trees look a bit mystical. I love the look of birch trees and never saw them before moving to Seattle. I wondered why they’re so ubiquitous in our neighborhood and found that they’re on the City of Seattle recommended street tree planting list. Can you guess the most planted street tree in Seattle? Walk down 14th Ave NW and you’ll be able to figure it out. If you can’t wait, check out the city’s Street Tree Inventory.

I traveled to Indonesia this past Spring, so this little buddha struck my fancy. It’s in such a peaceful grassy setting, that it made me want to stop in my tracks, take a seat, and meditate. After I took the pic, and looked in the background, I had to smirk, because this pic was so Ballard, complete with a contractor’s pickup truck with PVC pipe hanging from the rack. It reminds me of the delicate balance of East Ballard with its mix of industrial and residential living which makes this neighborhood very special to me.