Happy Wednesday! It's midweek, but we're aiming for better than mid.

⛅ Today's weather: Partly sunny, high 78.

Today's newsletter is 951 words, a 3.5-minute read.

I really didn't want to get rabies shots, but five days after waking up with a bat in my bedroom, I rolled up my sleeve and dropped my drawers.

Why it matters: Rabies is almost 100% fatal once symptoms emerge, which can take weeks to months.

• It's been detected in at least 14 bats in Washington state this year, including three in King County.
• Bats are the state's only known rabies reservoir, and rabid bats have been found in almost every county, per the Department of Health.

What happened: I woke up to a bat that had come in through an unscreened bedroom window last week.

• Several readers told me I should be evaluated.
• Marcia Merryman, a veterinarian who studied public health, said she'd learned about cases of people who didn't realize they'd been bitten by bats and "at least one of those people died of rabies."

That got my attention.

Threat level: Bat bites can be nearly impossible to detect because their teeth are tiny and may leave no visible marks.

• "If you awake to find a bat in your room, assume you've been bitten," per the Mayo Clinic.
• I called the state's communicable disease hotline over the weekend and was encouraged to call my local public health department and doctor's office.
• Both urged me to go to an urgent care or emergency clinic.

State of play: On Monday, I went to a clinic near my home and got the first of four rabies shots in my arm and human rabies immune globulin in my glute.

• The shots weren't the painful ordeal I'd imagined, with 20 or more injections in the stomach, as rabies treatment once required.

Yes, but: If you can safely capture the bat, public health officials can test it for rabies. If it tests negative, you can avoid the shots.

• However, you're also supposed to avoid contact with a bat because that's how you could be exposed in the first place.
• King County recommends waiting until the bat lands, then using heavy gloves and a container to trap it.

The bottom line: If I'd known then what I know now, I would have tried to safely capture the bat instead of feeling relieved when it flew out the window.

• Once it was gone, there was no way to know whether it had bitten me — or whether it had rabies. So I got the shots.

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Artificial turf is back at Lumen Field, even though the athletes who play there generally prefer grass, the Seattle Times reports.

Catch up quick: As part of its transformation for this summer's World Cup, Lumen was briefly outfitted with a grass pitch to comply with FIFA regulations.

• That grass was removed and replaced with artificial FieldTurf after the soccer tournament ended.

The big picture: Seattle's wet, cold winters are part of what makes maintaining grass difficult at Lumen, the Times reports.

• So does the stadium's busy schedule: It hosts three professional sports teams, in addition to concerts and other events.

Yes, but: A grass field could be possible in Seattle with careful installation — and possibly a sod farm nearby to help replace damaged areas, Michael Neff, professor of crop biotechnology at WSU, told the Times.

Case in point: T-Mobile Park next door uses grass, relying on an underground heating system to combat our winter chill.

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🏘️ New data shows growth in Seattle and Bellevue is slowing, with the fastest population gains shifting to the region's outer suburbs and exurbs — places like Stanwood and Carnation. (Seattle Times)

🍎 With two weeks until school is scheduled to start, Seattle Public Schools and its teachers union are still negotiating a contract.

• If they don't reach a deal in time, the school year could start late. (KING 5)

⛴️ Washington state ferries are set to receive nearly $30 million in federal funding to support rural routes and system improvements. (KOMO)

🎭 A Broadway version of "10 Things I Hate About You" — the 1999 rom-com filmed largely in Seattle and Tacoma — is in the works. (KIRO 7)

⚾️ The Mariners suffered their worst loss in franchise history last night, falling 22-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers. (MLB.com)

Google searches for "solo travel" hit a record high in 2026, including in the Seattle area, where searches peaked between June and July.

Why it matters: Solo travel is booming as more people embrace the freedom of going wherever they want, whenever they want — without waiting for someone else's PTO to line up.

By the numbers: In Hostelworld's recently released 2025 survey of more than 3,300 solo travelers, 64% said freedom and spontaneity were among the best parts of traveling alone.

• But solo doesn't necessarily mean lonely: 58% said they wanted to meet new people, up from 43% in 2024.
• And 63% of first-time solo travelers said they planned to do it again.

Zoom out: The trend isn't just for 20-something backpackers, either.

• While younger travelers are driving much of the boom, tour operators like Collette are also seeing a growing demand from older travelers — particularly among women 50 and over.
• Some couples are even increasingly comfortable vacationing separately, per the New York Times, which profiled spouses who happily take trips without each other.

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🏝️ Melissa would like to take her whole family to an Italian island sometime soon. They'd be bummed to be left behind!

💡Clarridge is over the idea of building a bat box.

This newsletter was edited by Meira Gebel.