So here we are, three weeks after our nations tragedy, trying to get back to normal and not flip on the TV every couple hours to listen for a new report. Hearing the sounds of the neighborhood, the cars, the people, the construction makes it all seem like maybe it didn’t really happen and that everything is just as it was. But we all know that is not true. Our ears are alert, our minds are trying to figure out how this could have happened and our sense of community has been enhanced. People are flying flags and talking to their neighbors more. We are being friendlier to strangers on the street. "Could they have lost someone in this tragedy?" We are feeling sorrow for people we have never met, wanting to help ease their pain and to reach out and stand together to try to make things better. Sincerity is in the air.

This is a time of reflection and reevaluation and yet at the same time a fire has been lit under us. This fire has given us a renewed strength. We are wanting to rally behind what we think needs to be done and find ourselves willing to do things that we may have not been willing to do in the past. We as individuals will reevaluate and contemplate our own personal lives as well. Along with wanting to feel like we are doing something in the spirit of things, and connecting with our loved ones, we will feel the urge to reevaluate were we are in our personal journey through life, just as our nation is contemplating it’s place and role in the world. Change has come for us as a nation and it may have also come for us as individuals as well.

New tenants have not yet been picked for the Pace Chemical building but Max Gurvich, owner, has assured us that he will keep our neighborhood concerns in mind when choosing them. He said he would we would be the first to know who he chooses and that he would personally introduce us. Things have been changing as far as possible solutions for the truck traffic but we will keep working away until a mutually agreeable solution is found. More information on this will be available at out next meeting and hopefully by then, we will have some resolutions to report.

Our annual neighborhood Picnic was Sunday, September 16^th, at Peter Kirk Park. Despite the cold temperatures that day we had a great time listening to wonderful music, eating burgers and hotdogs and getting a kick out of the one man show "Alleyoop." We got to meet some new neighbors and chit-chat about the goings on around town. The band that played was Sam’nElla, a musical duo which includes one of own talented neighbors Givhan Williams. Thanks to all the neighbors who brought pot-luck food, it was all very delicious and really helped make the picnic extra special, and to those who helped to put on the picnic, we couldn’t have done with out you! Thanks also go to Jim Lauinger, owner of Woods Lakeshore Pharmacy, for donating all of the paper goods and for helping us with the physical set up and to QFC for letting us use their electricity.

Out next Moss Bay Neighborhood will be Thursday, October 11th, 7 to 8:45pm in the Kirkland Library meeting room. We would like to extend a personal invitation to the Portsmith, Shumway and any other condominium dwellers in the downtown area. The Moss Bay Neighborhood Association represents you, along with all the other residences of our neighborhood, and we would love to get acquainted and hear your input. Agenda items include the Downtown Comprehensive Plan, an update on the PACE building and information on the neighborhood traffic study. Please bring any ideas you have about any traffic issues to the meeting. If you can’t make it to the meeting, our web site, www.mossbay.org , is full of neighborhood information and current events. If you would like to be on our active e-mail list please e-mail Don Winters, our web master, at winters58@hotmail.com  For any other inquires please e-mail me, neighborhood co-chair, at lauraleepritt@hotmail.com .

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