Friday, September 26, 2008

2 Good 2 Be 4 Gotten

This is a sad story, involving balls.

You heard me.

When I first moved to Seattle many years ago, Nordic Boy had a job out in the boonies. On the weekends, I would get my ass on a bus and travel out to suburbia to visit him. I know that bus route like the back of my hand. Being in suburbia was like a whole new world to me, and we had a blast discovering things like breakfast at Shari's (where we once saw Ruthanne from Northern Exposure right at the next table) and shopping at a football-field sized Albertson's and going to this winery and pretending like we knew anything about wine.

Since those days, that particular part of our state (Woodinville, Washington) has boomed. Whereas before it was a sort of wannabe suburb, now it's gone full tilt, with its own Target and everything. So if we ever make the drive up there now, it all looks different.

Except for the Balls.

On the way out to Woodinville from Seattle, you pass through a bunch of suburbs. There's Lake Forest Park, and Kenmore, and Bothell, and then Woodinville. I know the succession well, as that dang bus ride I used to take has pounded each of them into my skull.

During this drive, there was one highlight. A place that I would crane my neck to see. As you round the bend and enter the hamlet of Bothell, there is a house, right on the bend. And in front of this house is a quaint little sign. A wooden sign with gold curly lettering.

The sign announces:
"THE BALLS OF BOTHELL"

What the heck does THAT mean, you are probably wondering. Yes, indeed it is a fine question. If you look at the sign, underneath its proclamation it says in smaller letters two names...I can't remember what they are. "John and Mary," let's say. So, there is a family that lives there, and their last name is Balls. And they want to have a quaint sign at the end of their driveway. So what? Why is that funny?

Because I'm me, that's why.

The balls! Of Bothell! What I love so much about it is that geographically, it's actually true. Because Bothell has a main street north of there, which would clearly be the heart of Bothell. And what would be south of the heart of Bothell? The balls! Of course. It's like geographic poetry, really. It's just so fitting that as you drive in from the south, you would have to pass the balls of Bothell to get to the heart of Bothell.

I can't tell you how much I adored that sign. Loved it like an old friend. Looked forward to seeing it any time I had cause to drive by there. There have been many times in the past few years where I thought that I needed to take a photo of that sign, just so I could share the joy with you, my blog friends.

A couple of weekends ago, Nordic Boy and I were meeting friends in Bothell for dinner. We hadn't been by the Balls of Bothell for a while. I was prepared to give it a hearty wave.

Except, sweet friends, the sign. It was GONE.

The Balls! They up and moved! The house is empty, the sign is gone. My sign! My favorite sign! Like Benjy in The Sound and the Fury, I blinked, turned a page, and the balls were missing!

So I thought I would post in honor of the Balls. Wherever they went, they will be missed. Bothell won't be the same without you.

Sigh.

I'm out,
Librarian Girl

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

cadiz12 said...

that IS sad.

i wonder if the really high but really small yellow/black sign that just said "ADULT" over a shack in the middle of bufu on the way to my college is still there. i always sort of waved to it on the way past.

TrevorFSmith said...

Well, if we're going to talk about our relationships with things by the side of the road then I should mention that South of San Francisco on highway 280 there is a huge statue of Father Junipero Serra and for several years my carpool riders and I would point to him and say "Who's your buddy?"

Like so: http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2001/02/the_highlight_o_1.html

It seems weird now that I see it in text form, but I know for a fact that we weren't the only carpool with this habit.

Anonymous said...

Somebody else thinks the Balls were worth noting, LG!

See: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/hahn/24735_hahn29.shtml

Jen

Anonymous said...

the last time i drove through the neighborhood that is the most gay-friendly in my city, i noticed a sign for a business called The Sausage King. on the bottom of the sign it said "park in rear". i truly do not think these people understand how dirty minds will find that sign hilarious.

Melinda said...

"This is a sad story, involving balls."

yeah. she went there.

Maddie said...

Best use of Faulkner. EVER.

Anonymous said...

hee hee hee hee.

The only sign that I've seen on the side of the road that could possibly compare was in Australia. It said "No Dumping Chooks!" (Chook means chicken in Australian.) I was all, um, well what exactly am I supposed to do with my chickens, then?

azoresdog said...

Totally off topic from balls and whatnot, but I have a library-related question for you. Have you ever witnessed library romance with the patrons? Like, does anyone go to libraries for the purpose of picking someone up and, if so, does it ever succeed?

I ask because in my library (in southern Spain) I notice there are droves of 20-somethings hanging around chatting in the common areas, a scene which is quite different from my (perhaps antiquated) experiences in libraries in the States. It's perplexing.

Matt said...

LG,
I was just about to blog about this sign and I did a search and found that you have already honored the Balls of Bothell. By the way, it was Darl and Jeanine. We loved them too.
-Matt

Charnell Morud said...

The Ball's of Bothell were my mom and stepdad! You got Darl's sense of humor spot on. He had some issues from time to time with the City of Bothell and always joked about hanging a sign that said that so my mom had it made for him for Christmas one year.
The City of Bothell purchased the property in 2008 for the road project. Jeannine Ball passed away in September 2010 and Darl passed away March 2013.

seattlepolyguy said...

Love. This.

Yes, it's 5 years old. Who cares?

Anonymous said...

We lived in Bothell for several years- loved knowing where the balls of Bothell were. Back in the day you needed big ones. There were no guard rails along that stretch of Lake city Way- after 1 ice storm I saw a car caught in the trees- saved it from going waaaay down to the Slough. Speaking of the Slough- they had hydroplane races on it…until the Mayors’ son tragically died- that’s another story…