Mukilteo Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

I fell in love with movies as a child, almost certainly because they were a treat. My parents had three little kids and pennies were definitely being pinched, so movies were... — Updated 3/3/2021

J. Kenji López-Alt is a chef and food writer, the author of the best-selling “The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science,” which was a New York Times bestseller and... — Updated 2/24/2021

Edward Murphy was an aeronautical engineer and an Air Force captain in 1949, stationed at Muroc Air Field in the high desert of Southern California. Two years before, the late... — Updated 2/17/2021

I’ve been getting reminders for a week now, digital nudges from different apps and websites, letting me know that I took a lot of pictures seven years ago. This is in contrast to... — Updated 2/10/2021

I was teasing my wife about getting packages every day, just because she’s been on a bit of a roll. It felt like I was constantly bringing her a box or two from the mailbox, or... — Updated 2/3/2021

I’ve concluded that over the past year, I’ve deleted far more words than I’ve published or posted. This might make me sound like a very careful writer, someone who measures... — Updated 1/27/2021

Apparently I want comfort so badly I’m willing to crawl inside a cliché and pull the covers up, which is to say I started watching “The West Wing” the other night. “TWW... — Updated 1/20/2021

My grandson has been calling me spontaneously lately, something new. We talk once a day regularly, but he doesn’t just call me out of the blue. Although a grandpa can wish. But... — Updated 1/13/2021

The crazy is so strong right now – I don’t really want to add to it. I become frustrated, annoyed, irritated, and angry just like any other person, but I’d like to avoid... — Updated 1/6/2021

It feels absurd and a little silly to mark the end of a bad year, as if we’re getting ready to walk out of a lousy movie or head home early from a boring party. Not that we’re... — Updated 12/30/2020

I was standing in a parking lot last week, a dreary December afternoon, cold and wet, when I got the text message from my wife. I felt the phone buzz in my coat pocket as I chatted... — Updated 12/23/2020

I’ve been doing a few minor home repairs lately, which is an obvious sign of the apocalypse. I’m surprised the roads aren’t jammed with people leaving the city. There will be... — Updated 12/16/2020

I’ve determined that I’m not good at this, whatever this is. That’s part of the problem – being aware that I’m not great at navigating this particular situation isn’t... — Updated 12/9/2020

“I have good news and bad news,” the young woman said, and I had to smile at that alone. I think I’ve found the perfect 2020 line. I don’t know if there’s an original... — Updated 12/2/2020

After a long, chatty call with my daughter the other night, she mentioned that it was time for her nightly routine. She and my son-in-law apparently do the New York Times crossword... — Updated 11/25/2020

The first noise was the worst, although I was asleep. This raises a sort of empirical question: If a horrific, tearing, crashing sound occurs outside your window and you’re uncons... — Updated 11/18/2020

I have unremarkable taste in everything, which should come as a surprise to no one. And when it comes to culture, I only pretend to march to a different drummer. It’s usually the... — Updated 11/11/2020

To be completely clear, I am uninterested in most things. I don’t have passionate feelings one way or the other. I don’t often talk or write about these things. This is because... — Updated 11/4/2020

I want to tell you about a fun experiment I pulled off the other day, but first I have to explain why I’m a hypocrite. I don’t care for social media. Or, to make it simpler, I... — Updated 10/28/2020

I am a keeper of irrelevant anniversaries, which strikes me as a talent not unlike being able to raise one eyebrow or dislocate your little finger, mostly because I can also do... — Updated 10/19/2020

My father-in-law was visiting one summer when my kids were little, and he came across one of those parenting magazines that were always hanging around the coffee table. He laughed,... — Updated 10/14/2020

I have never read “Anna Karenina,” and I feel confident that this will always be the case. Never say never, of course, but I’m going to say it anyway. I haven’t seen all of... — Updated 10/6/2020

I’m old enough to remember when nostalgia was new. That’s how old. The word has a Greek derivation, meaning “painful return,” which suggests that an evolution of the... — Updated 9/28/2020

Toward the beginning of COVID time, I made a half-serious joke. A half-joke. It was along the lines of, “I’m eating plain flour tortillas, watching cat videos, and shopping... — Updated 9/23/2020

All of us will occasionally find ourselves standing in the kitchen, wondering why we went in there. In the age of COVID, I’m pretty sure this happens a lot. This has led me to... — Updated 9/14/2020