Seattle Met Magazine

How Instagram Has Changed Outdoor Spaces

/ Sydney Parker / Leave a comment

Art: Dom Mckenzie

After a romantic photo of a couple embracing in front of a partially frozen waterfall in North Bend made the rounds on social media in December 2016, inexperienced hikers dead-set on capturing their own enchanting waterfall selfies wandered into the wilderness without proper footwear or flashlights. Finding themselves lost after dark, many suffered serious injuries. In a single month, the all-volunteer King County Search and Rescue team responded to 30 calls from Franklin Falls.

“People see beautiful photos on social media, but don’t do the additional research to find out it’s a difficult hike and bring what they need to be prepared,” says the Search and Rescue team’s detective Ed Christian. “They’re getting in way over their heads.” In other words, if you’re just doing it for the ’gram, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.

READ THE FULL STORY IN SEATTLE MET MAGAZINE 

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Meet the Trans JBLM Soldier Who’s Suing Trump

/ Sydney Parker / Leave a comment

Cathrine Schmid

“Staff sergeant Cathrine Schmid was prepping for physical training at Joint Base Lewis-McChord when Donald Trump sent the 6am tweets that would herald a drastic change in her career. 

The country “will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military,” read Schmid, 33, via Google alert on that morning in late July 2017. But it’s a run day, she thought. So she ran four miles.

“It’s not like I’m the kind of person to let fear get in the way of doing my job,” says Schmid, a signals intelligence analyst and transgender woman. A month later, she became a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed by Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN challenging the ban, which becomes effective March 23, 2018.” 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN SEATTLE MET MAGAZINE

Learn to Love Nature’s Slithery Beasts with the Seattle Reptile Guy

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2016-0714-ReptileGuy-Marc-Van-Steenis-SC-0105-420bfeca

Photo: Joshua Huston

“As a little boy growing up in Holland, Marc van Steenis loved to chase snakes and lizards around on family vacations. His fascination with animals evolved into a degree in zoology, and a collection of around 800 to 1,500 creatures, including reptiles, amphibians and large bugs. Luckily, his wife and two children don’t mind. 

“They grew up around these animals, so they are used to it now,” says van Steenis. “They love to pet the cute reptiles like baby geckos and tortoises, but they are less interested in the snakes. Snakes pretty much just eat, sleep and poop.”

When he’s not busy raising his kids, ages 8 and 10, he travels around the city as the Seattle Reptile Guy, presenting his menagerie in classrooms, at children’s birthday parties, and even for corporate team-building events. 

“In my experience,” says van Steenis, “when people see and touch animals at a young age, they are more likely to care about them for the rest of their lives.'”

READ THE REST IN SEATTLE’S CHILD HERE