Dear Diary,
I first heard of Elif Shafak in the mid-2010s. I'd been making a list, for a friend, of women writers of speculative fiction who had female protagonists. I'd detoured into nationality-based appendices about women writers in general, and one appendix, based on the presence in the original list of Persian writer Shahrnush Parsipur, covered the Near East. Well, it was easy to cover the Turkish writers, because there was a society of speculative writers, with a website that, at that time, pictured all the members. I don't remember whether Shafak was a member, but everyone named her and Orhan Pamuk as writers of spec-fic.
Only I shouldn't have included her in that appendix at all, because turns out she was born in France.
Anyway, although she writes magical realism, she seems to be a pretty serious person, and is the current president of the Royal Society of Literature.
The first book of hers I've come across is her 2024 novel There Are Rivers in the Sky, which I found in a Little Free Library earlier this year, and soon after read. In this novel various people of the faith called in English "Yezidi" are important characters, and this is how Shafak begins her account of the 2014 Yezidi genocide:
They kill the water first. In this land where rivers are sacred and every drop of rain is a blessing, they creep in at dead of night and poison all the wells, shafts and fountains in the village.
I am sickened to have to compare people my sales taxes and my landlord's property taxes support to the Islamic State, but they've willingly weaponised water, so what else can I do?
Let me show you, dear Diary, what I found in the northwest University District yesterday. This is not in hiking order. All the photos are from yesterday. (Edit 9/19:) Here's the main map:
Let's take the charities, which I don't blame at all, first.
Blessed Sacrament (A on map)
On page 50 of The Emerald City Resource Guide, in the chapter "Food Assistance", it reads:
Sunday meal has limited indoor seating or pick-up and take to go. All are welcome to the Friday Food Pantry (modified in-person shopping). No proof of ID required and no fees. Grocery delivery is available for residents that are physically unable to visit the Food Pantry and must reside within our Parish boundaries. Visit in-person or call for delivery requirements.
The page lists a "Helpline" but not what that's about: Both times I've gotten rent help from St. Vincent de Paul, Blessed Sacrament volunteers have been the local-to-me agents. Most of my preoccupations 2023 to present have been driven by SVdP case managers, one of whom suggested I might be disabled, and the other of whom urged me to return to school.
For either purpose, food or larger help, the address is 5050 8th Ave NE.
Blessed Sacrament is also by far the most photogenic of these three charities.
The University District Food Bank (B on map)
On page 60 in the same chapter of The Emerald City Resource Guide, 8th edition not the 9th coming in a few weeks, we read:
Food pantry, baby cupboard and home delivery. Offers fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, frozen meat, canned and dry goods, toiletries, baby formula, diapers, and pet food plus connections to important community resources. Visit once a week. Serves primarily the unhoused and any residents and ZIP codes 98102, 98103, 98105, 98112, 98115 and 98125. Visit in person. Call for home delivery. Documents required: photo ID and proof of address. No fees.
They're at 5017 Roosevelt Way NE, and again the book leaves something important out. They get the University branch Library's cast-offs. I visited most weeks for books alone, before the pandemic.
Planned Parenthood (C on map)
On page 41 of The Emerald City Resource Guide, 8th ed., in the chapter "Family and Parental Services", we read:
High-quality, affordable health care with or without insurance. Services include men's health care, pregnancy testing and services, sexually transmitted Disease (STD) testing, treatment and vaccines, women's health care, HIV services, and LGBTQ+ services. Language interpretation by telephone available by request.
They're at 5020 Roosevelt Way NE, and I don't have a history with them. Again, two photos:
OK, that's the charities. There's no news about two of my stops, and I took no photos: Fire Station 17 (D on map) still puts out fires, and University Child Development School (E on map) is still completely fenced in, as in "Four or More Hikes in University Heights" from my previous everything hike in this area.
This isn't the case for the remaining six locations.
Land east of I-5
There are four substantial areas of vacant land created by paired entrances to and exits from I-5, at 7th Ave NE and respectively NE 50th St and NE 45th St. The Washington Department of Transportation has had plenty of time to repair and/or strengthen its fences since those areas were inhabited during the pandemic.
Last time (same enormous page as above) I tried to write about the potential of each area as a whole. Evidently WSDOT didn't listen to me. So this time, surprised to find that each fence leaves a fair amount of land at the corner unfenced, I've tried to confine my photos and comments to those corners.
Past the 50th St entrance (F on map)
This corner is very hilly, and WSDOT has discouraged use of it by planting thorny plants pretty much all over it. It's possible to ascend the hill more or less painlessly, but I sure wouldn't want to try to do that every day. I see that in 2022 (where this is area L) I found that the slope leads to a nice, flat, habitable hill, and if Seattle homelessness gets much worse, I expect the brambles will be removed and the hilltop rediscovered. Until then, though, WSDOT is probably doing the only practical thing doable with this corner, except that if Seattle ever gets serious snow again, this corner could be great for sledding.
Past the 50th St exit (G on map)
The corner here is flat, as is much of the land beyond as seen through the fence; this was area H in 2022. The corner is also paved, and WSDOT should really rent that corner out for small events, such as minor press conferences.
Past the 45th St entrance (H on smaller map)
These two don't appear on the map above. Here's another map on the same scale:
Past the 45th St Exit (I on smaller map)
This corner leads to area C in "Six Hikes in Brooklyn, part I: Northwest". I see I was too interested in the fences to say anything useful about area C; sorry, dear Diary. This time the corner is paved, as at the parallel spot at 50th, except where a rather attractive small tree suggests use for press conferences about the arts, or use by an actual art class.
And now, dear Diary, I'm sorry to make you the bearer of bad news. Because I'm pretty sure I know why University Playground's restrooms, officially open 24 hours, are actually locked.
The reason is this:
So make careful plans for the solution to University Playground's homeless problem. There'd been a "sanican" there, behind the restroom building, for years (remember, dear Diary, I slept around the corner, but only until 2017). Cancel the contract.
The library's behind a fence already; once we lock the restroom doors, the homeless will have nowhere to go, and will be gone! Victory!
Well, no. The parks maintenance guy who was friendliest with me and with homeless people in general once told me why camping in University Playground was such a problem. Apparently a whole bunch of small schools in that area liked to use the park as their actual playground, but were discouraged by campers. Well, if I were in charge of thirty kids, I'd be about as discouraged by no restrooms.
So I think, dear Diary, with regret, that the open women's room door on Saturday, September 12, probably attests a trial run, and it didn't go well. And not some park employee who read my sad story and felt bad about it.
In other words, Parks advertises these restrooms as not only open but 24 hours to boot, and then keeps them locked (as they soon will be by winter anyway) for no other reason than to punish the homeless for existing, and too bad for any innocent bystander who trusts what they say.
Not only all that, but once the University branch Library re-opens, even if not in 2026, what's to stop the homeless from coming back? People do adapt.
People in Parks have weaponised water, and in doing so are like ISIS. That can't be good company to be in, and I feel sorry for them.
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