My possibly shaky understanding of the history of Alki Beach is that the settlers who chose the banks of Puget Sound as their new home envisioned this place as the New New York, that here a city would be built to rival any east coast capitol. Our own Lady Liberty, on the beautifully renovated plaza near the Alki Bathouse, references that optimism.
It didn’t quite happen, but a city was built that pushed out the people that were already here, the Duwamish tribe. It’s the same old story, you’ve heard it before. While the Duwamish do have a lovely new longhouse down on the slough, they’re still fighting with the US government to gain recognition. It must be quite maddening to have a bureaucracy tell you that you don’t exist.
I have just enough magic realism in me to imagine this crow as one of the Duwamish ancestors, checking out her land and daring anyone, everyone, to deny that she is very much here.
I believe in you, Crow. Not that it matters, but I believe in you.
Crows actually scare the crap out of me. They look so devious.
@Lola: I advise you to avoid heading up into British Columbia, then, where the crows turn into ravens and they are FREAKY HUGE.
I am so glad to hear a Seattleite talk about the crows, what a great way to see them. I often note how they sit atop the whale statues in the Seattle Center or on the light posts downtown. Maybe I will take a few pics and upload them to @amazinglyamara soon.