The Rain Shadow

185 Stories

Heart and sole — the legend of the Mariner rally shoe

Improbable? Yes. Impossible? Not for the 2022 Seattle Mariners professional baseball team. On Saturday, the M’s turned an 8-1 deficit in Toronto into a 10-9 victory for the history books. In Seattle, at T-Mobile Park, Mariners fans who gathered for the team’s official watch party were asking for a miracle. And that's when a Birkenstock appeared on a man’s head.
- Alec Cowan
This Seattle arts space provides sustenance to the Black community

When you think of an arts space, you think of pictures, paintings, or other kinds of visual art; they’re the main course. But also on the menu at Wa Na Wari in Seattle’s Central District is food. Three days a week, this center for Black art gives out free meals to anyone who drops by.
- Ruby de Luna
Swinomish Tribe builds US’s first modern ‘clam garden,' reviving ancient practice

By the time you read this story, what it describes will probably have disappeared beneath the waves. That’s how it was meant to be -- and how it used to be.
- John Ryan
Hot air balloon crew takes hobby to new heights

Carolanne Walter grew up in Indianola, Iowa, home of the National Balloon Classic - a nine day hot air balloon festival held every summer. She's now the pilot of the "Happyanunoit," and along with her crew, has found a new passion in competing in national hot air balloon events. The team, known as the "Ballooney Tunes Crew," just took FIFTH PLACE at the US Women’s National Hot Air Balloon Championship out of a field of 14 pilots. That competition took place in conjunction with the National Balloon Classic in Indianola, where 115 balloons and their pilots took to the skies earlier this month.
- Jason Burrows
What it takes to 'make it' in Seattle's hip-hop scene

Carving out a music career in any city is tough, and there are going to be highs and lows. But being a hip hop artist in Seattle comes with its own set of challenges.
- Mike Davis
Trying all 5 shared e-scooters in Seattle, plus a unicycle

It’s summertime in Seattle and this is prime e-scooter weather. This year the city’s Department of Transportation approved three more companies to drop thousands of shared, electric scooters around Seattle. But who’s out there actually riding them?
- Casey Martin
This Tacoma gardener turned his zucchini problem into a community-building effort

David Thompson had a problem that many gardeners can relate to: he had too many vegetables. Even after sharing with neighbors, there was still plenty to go around. But Thompson found a way to spread the bounty. And he hopes it’ll inspire other gardeners to do the same.
- Ruby de Luna
The books that bind us -- your favorite Washington books and authors

Summer is a great time to curl up in the park with a good book. It's also a time when we start to thaw a bit from our Seattle freeze and head out to explore everything Washington has to offer. From the Palouse to the Peninsula, we have a lot of landscapes to explore. Those landscapes -- and their histories -- have inspired many of our local authors. Today Soundside speaks with some of your favorite authors about what makes Washington a literary wonderland.
- Alex Rochester
The chili dynasty that's lasted a century

Ballard is a neighborhood in transition. There’s always a new townhouse going up, a restaurant calling it quits, a new, hyper-local apothecary moving in next door. But, among all that change, one establishment has remained for the last century.
- Sarah Leibovitz
These artists climb mountains to help document climate change

In order to study our local glaciers, researchers hike back into some of the most remote outreaches of our wilderness. But they're rarely going alone. Aside from research teams, these expeditions frequently include artists, and through painting, sketching and other mediums, these artists are working with scientists to communicate science in a way that isn't reliant on numbers or heady scientific explanations.
- Alec Cowan

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