December 21, 2012 - Seattle's Last Sunrise

The last sunrise in Seattle, or at least the last sunrise on the Mayan calendar, and the first sunrise of winter as viewed from Kerry Park.  The December solstice occurs at 3:21pm PST in Seattle.  The north pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun.  It is the day of the year in the northern hemisphere that has the fewest hours of sunlight.  Above  the Arctic Polar Circle there will be 24 hours of darkness. In Seattle while the might not be visible today, the daylight will last 8 hours and 25 minutes, with sunset setting at 4:21pm.   

The new design, "Trees" by Nicole Commins on the top of the Space Needle is visible.  The design features three colors of evergreens in a dark green background.  The design received the most votes in a recent "Top This!" contest by the Space Needle and is the first public submitted design to appear on the Space Needle.  It is scheduled to remain in place through the spring of 2013.

December 11, 2012 - Ready to Wrap

In gathering the supplies to wrap Christmas gifts more than a few tape dispensers of Scotch tape were found around the house.

In 1930, an engineer, Richard Drew, at Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, invented a clear adhesive tape that required no moisture for the adhesive.  At that time 3M made sandpaper and had only just gotten into the adhesive tape business.  The product was originally called Cellulose Tape, but was later renamed Cellophane Tape.  The brand name "Scotch" came from a customer who complained that there wasn't enough adhesive.  The company rep was told by the customer to take his cheap product back to his Scotch bosses and add more adhesive.

 The precursor to the handheld dispenser pictured above was originally made of stamped sheet metal in 1939.  A molded plastic model of the 'snail' design came out the next year.  The 3M product has so dominated the market that any clear adhesive tape is often referred to as "Scotch" tape.  Chances are pretty high that you will have a roll or two of this tape in your household too.

December 8, 2012 - Pathway of Lights

For the 36th year in a row the 2.8 mile pathway around Seattle's Green Lake is lit with thousands of luminarias.  The annual event, a Pathway of Lights, draws thousands of walkers, no matter the weather.  This year it was cool and dry.  The lights carried by some of the walkers only adds to the magic of the evening.

A view south towards downtown Seattle. The three TV towers atop Queen Anne Hill are visible.  The tree of light that adorns the top of the Space Needle is just barely visible to the left of the towers.

A view facing west towards Aurora Avenue.  

December 5, 2012 - A Room With a (Water) View

 

The cozy living room and dining room of this floating home on the eastern shores of Lake Union has a view of the Seattle skyline and all manner of vessels and wildlife.  In addition to the great view, this one has its very own totem pole and a dragonfly door. 

Living on the shores of Lake Union, Portage Bay or other nearby waterways has been commonplace since before 1900.  However, restrictions to shoreline living has limited the number of floating homes to just under 500.  Floating homes are permanently tied to utilities and have no means of propulsion.  Houseboats are navigable vessels.

December 5, 2012 - Christmas at Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market at Christmas time.

December 5, 2012 - Pike Place Porker

Pike Place Market's iconic piggy bank, Rachel, maintains a lonely, but colorful vigil after hours in the glow of the market's Christmas tree.  The 550 pound bronze sculpture by Georgia Gerber, named after its model, an Island County Fair award winning porker, has brought in over $200,000 in donations since she was installed in 1986.  The donations go to help the Market Foundation fund social services - low-income housing and social services - in downtown Seattle.  Over 10 million visitors come to Pike Place Market each year and a fair share of them take the opportunity to swarm Rachel for a photo op.

December 2, 2012 - Bridging the Cut

  

The designer of the 344 foot long Montlake Bridge, Carl Gould, was one of the original architects of the University of Washington.  He incorporated a Gothic style similar to that of many of the buildings at the nearby university into the towers and elements of the double-bascule bridge that provides 48 foot vertical clearance for the boats that ply the ship canal below.  Provided it isn't during rush hour, vessels needing greater clearance may request that it be opened.

The US Army Corps of Engineers completed the Lake Washington Ship Canal in 1917.  It joined Lake Washington with Lake Union and lowered the water level of Lake Washington nine feet.  Though piers and abutments for a bridge were put in place in 1914 as part of the construction of the canal, and plans for a bridge were drawn up in 1916, the bridge was not built until 1925.  The Montlake Bridge was the last of the four double-bascule bridges over ship canal to be built.  

In November of 1920, the University of Washington football team hosted a team from Dartmouth for the first game ever to be played at the newly built Husky Stadium.  A graduate manager for the team created a temporary bridge set on barges to allow football fans to attend without having to cross the University Bridge to the west.  Next September thousands of football fans will cross the 88 year old bridge on their way to the very first game of the newly renovated Husky Stadium.

Looking east down the ship canal to Lake Washington.

December 2, 2012 - Husky Holiday Spirit

"Husky Spirit", the 360 pound bronze statue of the University of Washington Husky mascot is sporting a little holiday spirit at the moment.  The sculpture by Georgia Gerber was unveiled in 1995 and is located on Mountlake Boulveard NE outside of Hec Edmunson Pavillion and in the shadows of Husky Stadium.   Other area works include Rachel, the Pike Place Market pig, a variety of the bronze sculptures located at the Woodland Park Zoo and the cows at the nearby University Village.

November 28, 2012 - Wheedle's Tree

As a postscript to the November 21st post "Weather Permitting", the tree topping the Space Needle was indeed completed on time and lit in a ceremony the day after Thanksgiving.

Stephen Cosgrove's children's book "Wheedle on the Needle", illustrated by Robin James, was published in 1974.  The main character is a big, furry fellow that prefers peace and quiet.  The story explains that the blinking red light atop the Space Needle is the sleeping Wheedle's nose.  For the next several weeks, he'll have his own tree!

There's a Wheedle

On the Needle

I know just what

You're thinking

But if you look up 

Late at night

You'll see 

His red nose blinking

November 23, 2012 - Seven Shades of Gray

On a gray day so rainy the gray Space Needle is barely visible across the gray waters of Elliot Bay from gray Alki, a gray cormorant, sits on a dark gray piling gazing at the gray skyline.

November 21, 2012 - Piano

No TV in sight.  No radio on.  A Thanksgiving spent in a cozy 'parlour' with friends and family and a Smith and Brown grand.

Piano

Sadly in the dark, a woman is singing to me:

Taking me down the vista of years, till I see

A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings

And pressing the small poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song

Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong

To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside

And hymns in the cozy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour

With the great piano appassionato.  The glamour 

Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast

Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

by DH Lawrence

November 21, 2012 - Weather Permitting



In a brief respite from a series of rainstorms that have slowed their progress, the decorations and new paint job for the Space Needle sit partially complete.  The strands of lights that will form Space Needle's Christmas tree is half formed.  It is due to be lit this Friday, November 30th, in conjunction with the Macy's star and the downtown lights. Weather calls for winds today gusting to 24 miles per hour and continued rain.  Thanksgiving Day the winds are expected to die down.

The paint job that will transform the top of the 605 foot Seattle landmark into green hued silhouettes of evergreens was the result of the first ever public contest to determine a personal design for the top.  The painting started in October, but is only partially comlete.  "Trees" by Nicole Commins was the top vote getter.  Her design will remain on the top of the observation into April of 2013....weather permitting completion!

November 5, 2012 - Election Eve

Vote.

At 8:30pm on the eve of the General Election, this ballot box outside of the City of Lynnwood's City Hall was far from lonely.  A steady stream of cars seemed to indicate that Washington's Secretary of State Sam Reed's prediction of an 81 percent voter turnout might just be right.  Since 1952, voter turnout in the state is typically about 79 percent.  In 2008 a record 84.6% of registered voters exercised their right to vote.

October 19, 2012 - October at Safeco

Gerard Tsutakawa's nine foot high bronze sculpture "The Mitt" maintains a lonely October vigil outside of the left field gates at Seattle'e Safeco Field.  

If you want the excitement of Major League Baseball playoff action in October.....just cross the street to Jimmy's on First!

October 15, 2012 - Arctic Building

In 1916 the Arctic Club, a fraternal men's club of successful veterans of the Alaska Gold Rush, (1897-1899) moved into a building commissioned by the club.  The nine-story Arctic Building was one of the first in the region to use terra cotta panels over a steel reinforced concrete frame.  Similar to the nearby Smith Tower, much of the terra cotta panels are off-white.  However, the building also utilized submarine blue and orange brown in the details of  the exterior.  One of the most distinctive exterior features of the Arctic Building are the walrus heads that adorn the third floor walls and the oyster shells that ring the top floor.

When it opened the building had commercial space, but most of the space was devoted to club, which included a bowling alley, private dining rooms, corridors of Alaskan marble, billiard and card rooms, a ladies tea room and a private rooftop garden.  The building currently serves as a hotel.  The Arctic Building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

October 15, 2012 - Smith Tower Topper

Seattle's 38 story Smith Tower opened July 3, 1914 and was the tallest office building west of the Mississippi until the early 1930s.  At 489 feet tall, it remained the tallest building on the west coast until 1962 when the 603 feet Space Needle was completed.  It is constructed of steel clad in ornamented terra cotta that has remained remarkably white over the years.  The only time it was cleaned was in the 1970s!  (Perhaps I should have taken this on a day that the sky had some contrasting color...)

One of the unique aspects of the Smith Tower are the elevators.  The brass and copper caged affairs by Otis Elevators are possibly the last manually operated elevators on the west coast.  They allow you to see into each floor lobby as you go up or down the building.

The building's namesake L.C. Smith, died before the building was completed. He and his brothers made their money with firms that manufactured guns, and beginning in 1893, typewriters.  The company that he helped form grew to become a name familiar to people of my generation and before - Smith Corona.

Atop the pyramid cap flies the symbol of the Seattle Seahawks fans- 12th Man Flag.  Below it, an 8 foot-wide dome is typically lit with a blue light.  Within the pyramid itself is a three story penthouse suite, the building's only residence.  At the base of the pyramid can be seen the railing of the observation deck on the 35th floor.  Also on the 35th floor is the Chinese Room with furniture and a hand carved ceiling given to Mrs. Smith by the Empress of China.

October 12, 2012 - Pink Urban Blight

The condemned Italia Motel on Seattle's Aurora Avenue was transformed overnight into a pink political message championing the rights of sex workers worldwide.  Messages in bright pink included "Human - Not Just a Ho", "Keep Sex Workers Safe", "You Are Grrrl Army" and "Respect Sex Work As Work". Advocates for sex worker rights argue that sex workers should have the same basic human and labor rights as others - assaulting a prostitute is still an assault on another human being.  The timing and location of the message were likely not a coincidence.

The Italia Motel was one of five properties in the area owned that were targeted by police for the criminal activity that took place.  In 2008 there were calls requiring a police response every 4.5 days.  The prostitution, drug use and robberies had been a significant issue for years.  In 2010 the City Attorney's Office eventually forced their closure by revoking their business license due to tax violations.  (You can still find the hotel on travel websites.  I'm tempted to write a review!)

Aurora Avenue, or State Route 99, was originally Pacific Highway 1 and was the precursor to Interstate 5.  The north-south route runs from north of Tacoma to Everett.  It has a well deserved reputation for prostitution.

October 11, 2012 was the Day of the Girl.  The mission of the Day of the Girl is to engage girls in civic leadership before the age of 18.  Girls worldwide face challenges that include discrimination, gender violence and early marriage.  While at first it may not seem appropriate to raise the cause of sex workers on the Day of the Girl, both are raising awareness of gender discrimination and basic human rights.

October 7, 2012 - Harvest Time

It's harvest time!  At Carlton Farms in Lake Stevens people coming for the corn maze, produce and pumpkins were in shorts and short sleeves.

September 29, 2012 - Harvest Moon

The 2012 Harvest Moon rises over, southwest Idaho's Treasure Valley.  The full moon closest to the autumnal equinox is that year's Harvest Moon and corresponds with the harvesting of many crops.  If you were on the roads in this neck of the woods, you'd see trucks filled with onions and sugar beets. The northern hemisphere's autumnal equinox, or first day of fall, was September 22nd. It is one of two days in the year, the other being the vernal, or spring, equinox, in which the sun rises due east and sets due west.

September 18, 2012 - Not Gritty Enough

Graffiti in an an alley at night.  Unfortunately, there isn't enough graffiti, the alley is too tidy and the whole scene is lit too well.  This just isn't gritty enough.

September 15, 2012 - Designated Pedaler

The Cycle Saloon, a pedal-powered pub crawl vehicle that seats up to 16, parked outside of Ballard's Maritime Pacific Brewing Company.  The one-ton pedal powered pub is manufactured in the Netherlands and can be rented for 2 to 3 hours.  City ordinance does not allow for drinking while on the vehicle, so if you're thirsty you'd better pedal faster to get to that next bar!  

August 28, 2012 - Duck Dodge II

Another Tuesday on Lake Union.  If its summer there must be another Duck Dodge.

From the August 17, 2010 blog post:
The Tuesday evening Duck Dodge is a summer tradition on Lake Union that began in the mid 70s. Dozens of boats “race” on a course for two hours, then proceed to converge for a themed party. The rules are pretty simple: Don’t make a duck change its course and don’t run into other boats. The winners get a duck decal for their mast.

The original handbill from that first summer in 1974, when the race was called the “Lake Union Beer Can Regatta or Tenas Chuck Duck Dodge”, proclaims that any skipper, any sailboat, any crew can participate and that same fun spirit survives. Every race has a theme – prom, Mardi Gras, pirates, pajamas – and every week there is a different host Committee Boat.

August 28, 2012 - Fly Me To The Moon

At dusk in Seattle's Gas Works Park a kite makes a run at a waxing gibbous moon.  On Friday, August 31st, the last blue moon until July of 2015 makes its appearance.  By some definitions, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month.

August 23, 2012 - Emerald City Icons

Two of Seattle's iconic images - the Space Needle and a passenger jet - share the sky with a waxing crescent moon.  (In this case I'm not sure the jet was made by the once local company that gave Seattle it's other name - Jet City!)