When I moved to Ballard there was still a policeman who strolled the downtown streets and the police log in The Ballard News was called the Ballard Beat. Today a friend asked if she could walk my beat with me sometime. I love the idea that I have a "beat." It sounds like museum security making rounds by night, but in my case I travel mostly by day, looking for clues - as though Ballard is a mystery that can be solved. One day I came across four dead pigeons and launched an actual investigation.

Since I write about Ballard, people are starting to share observations with me and ask me about others. Where did the Market Street Barber go? Is Mrs. Hatley at the Scandinavian Gift Shop really retiring? Have I ever talked to the Hansens? Did I know the vet on Market Street offers animal hydrotherapy? Have I visited the new bead shop?

I get invitations to restaurant anniversary dinners, e-mails from Sustainable Ballard and updates on park design and neighborhood clean-ups. I hear from people who used to live here, or those who want to live here. I love having a Ballard Beat, but there are so many things to see, so many answers that I don't have.

When the sun shines on the weekends there is even more to observe as Golden Gardens Park becomes a huge multilingual party; drummers mingle with shoveling toddlers, couples with matching snakes cross paths with couples sporting matching birds. Add all of the rock gardens in bloom, the garage sales and fundraisers, the battles between crows, turtles sunning on the logs and there is too much activity to track. Don't ever think that Ballard lacks for wildlife, there are bold raccoons by day, possums by night and the coyotes that travel back to Carkeek Park along the railroad tracks are rumored to be suspiciously plump. There are far too many Missing Cat pictures on the telephone poles not to link the two.

With the skyline going higher, cranes practically touching on Leary, the long-time Ballard residents are amazingly resilient about the changes, wondering who will be able to afford the condominiums and where will everyone park? Those of us who have been here only 20 years lack the resilience for change. My daily watch includes looking for the Notice of Proposed Land Use signs that spring up as forcefully as dandelions, and are equally bright. The majority of what is being built is not carefully planned and designed like the award-winning new library - most of the new structures look like opportunistic weeds.

Perhaps I really do have a beat. I walk to the library, the post office, Sunset Hill overlook. I try to track the comings and goings, but am still caught unawares. The Glazed & Amazed: Paint Your Own Pottery Studio has disappeared. Trine Studio next door has a For Lease sign in the window. Sometimes businesses just vanish. I can tell you that Far Art & Beads has opened its doors in the Odd Fellows Building: except for some imported beads they will exclusively carry works by Ballard artists. The Market Street Barber lost her lease and is desperately missing Ballard while struggling for exposure at 21705 Aurora. An Italian restaurant is opening next to Epilogue Books, and yes, Mrs. Hatley is retiring and The Scandinavian Gift Shop will be closing.

Unfortunately walking the beat doesn't mean that I can influence what happens. I don't carry a billy club or even a nifty dandelion digger. I don't have nearly enough answers for traffic woes or incorporating the old and the new, usually just more questions. No, I don't know what will happen to the old library building in the long-term, or exactly when the QFC is going to close for business. But I do know that it's only 15 days until Norwegian Independence Day and that you can count on the Scandinavian Gift Shop with the troll in front to still be there to serve marzipan cake and coffee - the way they always do on the 17th of May.

Peggy's e-mail is atlargeinballard@yahoo.com. She writes additional pieces on her blog at At Large In Ballard at http://www.seattlepi.com