Edmonds Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

I wrote my first “Home Again” column for the Beacon nearly 15 years ago. Al Hooper was editor then, steeped in journalism. He became my mentor and friend, and I still miss him.... — Updated 10/1/2020

It’s been 15 years or so since I returned to my childhood home of Edmonds, pleased to find hints of the same small-town flavor my parents, my brother, my maternal grandparents and... — Updated 9/3/2020

Most people who rent apartments move on at some point, for one reason or another. A one-year or two-year lease ends, and the rent becomes month-to-month, little thought given to... — Updated 8/5/2020

Everything’s just totally out of balance these days, isn’t it? When I think of writing my column, the first week of each month, it’s hard to put words to my feelings. The... — Updated 7/2/2020

Sometimes words in print come easily. For example, I can easily write about being the new girl in Mrs. Hall’s second grade class, in the old field house on Sixth Avenue. I can... — Updated 6/4/2020

I remember dozens of Edmonds destinations I favored when I was a child. We moved to Edmonds when I was 7. That’s when my Edmonds memories began. What place in town did I love near... — Updated 5/7/2020

I suppose my fears and anxieties pretty much mirror yours. No one has dealt with such a menace as the coronavirus, a rampant, widespread disease for which no cure exists – yet.... — Updated 4/7/2020 Full story

Two weeks ago, Chuck Sigars began his Beacon column “Chuck’s World” with a two-sentence paragraph guaranteed to get my attention. Use the word “cat” and I’m there. I’m... — Updated 3/26/2020

Dorothy Thompson Bradbury, my mother, was a warm and devoted wife and mom – clever, dependable, thoughtful, smart, and sweet-natured. The daughter of Methodist parents, as a... — Updated 3/5/2020

Late this morning, the temperature hovering in the mid-40s, I wrapped a furry blanket around my shoulders and carried coffee and a book out to the deck, where I settled in for an... — Updated 2/20/2020

“Shrek Jr: The Musical” took a couple of chunks out of my Friday and Saturday last week, when Alki Elementary students performed the show at West Seattle High School. You’d... — Updated 2/6/2020

’m writing this the night of Martin Luther King Jr, Day, Jan. 20. This evening, I attended the powerful program called “Be the Light,” a tribute to King presented at the Edmon... — Updated 1/23/2020

Two weeks ago, I wrote about Change, which I approached as the proper noun my mother made of it. She impressed upon me from childhood that not many things in life are certain. No ma... — Updated 1/9/2020

My mother was fond of saying, “There’s nothing as certain as change.” Probably some famous person first said that. As far as I’m concerned, it was original with my mother.... — Updated 12/24/2019

December fills my heart with memories of long-ago Christmases during my childhood in Edmonds. Helping carry boxes of decorations down from the attic. Cutting and pasting red paper... — Updated 12/12/2019

I own a few of my beloved grandmother’s treasures from her childhood and early adulthood. A tiny blue purse, trimmed with clear glass beads. A formal photograph of her at age 8,... — Updated 11/26/2019

I’m writing this a few hours after the joyful conclusion of the Seattle Sounders championship soccer game at Century Link Field – a game in which the Sounders triumphed over... — Updated 11/14/2019

“Austen’s Pride,” billed as “A New Musical of Pride and Prejudice,” ended a nearly month-long run last weekend at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in Seattle. On Thursday, I atten... — Updated 10/31/2019

My favorite cookbook, without a doubt, is the oldest one in my collection. It’s my maternal grandmother’s “revised and enlarged” copy of "The Household Searchlight Recipe... — Updated 10/17/2019

The recent Edmonds Rotary Club Oktoberfest proved to be a good choice for a first-time Edmonds community event and fundraiser to further Rotary support of local projects. The range... — Updated 10/3/2019

As the season winds down for county and state fairs, I’m reflecting on past visits to fairs I’ve enjoyed, from Cashmere to Phoenix. My favorites are the smaller ones, where... — Updated 9/20/2019

Last weekend, two classmates and I took the ferry to Kingston to attend a celebration of the life of an Edmonds High School classmate, Dave Martin, who died a month ago. We last... — Updated 9/5/2019

It’s been four months since a truck rear-ended my car in a Seattle tunnel, totaling the car, injuring my neck, and rattling my brain to the extent that PTSD continues to plague... — Updated 7/31/2019

Memorial weekend touches my heart, and this year was no exception. Sunday evening, I tuned in to the 30th annual “National Memorial Day Concert” from Washington, D.C. I watched... — Updated 5/31/2019

My daughter-in-law Debbie, in northern Idaho, seems to be managing many regular activities three weeks past her knee replacement surgery. I have never known an individual more... — Updated 5/9/2019