It’s amazing to me how you can spend your whole life in a place and still know so little about it.
It’s true for a lot of people, but I never knew it was true about me until a few weeks ago, when I met my new neighbor. This guy is a new immigrant, just moved here from overseas, and he knew more about Seattle than I did, and I have lived here for over forty years! I guess you just are accustomed to your surroundings, and don’t tend to ask too many questions, at least I never did. I sat down with Dahmesh for an hour, and learned more about my hometown of Seattle, Washington than ever before. In 1926, Seattle elected Bertha Knight Landes as the mayor, making her the first female mayor in American history! I guess that shows how Seattle has always been a very progressive place to live. In 1889 the Great Seattle Fire was started by a pot of hot glue overturning, and destroying almost all of the wooden-framed business district. The craziest part is that the Seattle town leaders decided not to rebuild on the old spot, but on top of the new spot. This means that current day Seattle is 22 feet higher than the original settlement. One other thing I learned was about the giant pig out in front of Pike Place Market. I had seen the bronze beast a hundred times before, but never knew that the name of the famous Seattle landmark was Rachel. I had to thank my neighbor for the history lesson.