December 30, 2015 - Hometown Tourist

The holiday break is the perfect time to play home town tourist.  Often the only occasion to go to the observation deck for people that live in Seattle is if they are entertaining someone from out of town.   From the observation deck of the Space Needle, 520' above the city, you can see plenty of things.  On a clear day you can see....

...maintenance staff replacing the colored gels on the exterior lights of the Needle....

...downtown Seattle and Mount Rainier...

...the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) on the shores of Lake Union....

...plenty of construction cranes...

...10,778 foot Mount Baker, ten miles from the Canadian border...

...ferries pulling into Bainbridge Island 10 miles across Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains...

...the Olympic Sculpture Park...

...a view of Kerry Park, site of the iconic view of the Space Needle and the Seattle skyline...

...the broadcast towers, the former Queen Anne High School and in the distance, Whidbey Island...

...and of course, other folks playing tourists!

December 20, 2015 - Pike Place Holiday

On the final Sunday before Christmas downtown Seattle was busy with holiday shoppers.  With the shops at Pike Place Market closed up for the evening, the lack of the usual hustle and bustle of crowds made for a peaceful viewing of the festive lights.  High above the market in lights, on a construction crane being used in the expansion of the market, a red nosed version of Rachel the Pig, the mascot of market, oversees it all.

December 19, 2015 - Admiral View Two

Looking across Elliott Bay, the Seattle skyline, including the Great Wheel, Pike Place Market, the Alaskan Way viaduct, ferries, the Space Needle and a USCG HH-65 Dolphin based in Port Angeles were visible this morning from the Admiral Way viewpoint in West Seattle.

A service technician was visiting the  viewpoint's lone telescope.  The frequency of his visits depends on the time of the year.  During the winter months when fewer eyeballs are using the 50 cent view he'll visit every few weeks or so to ensure it is working and to collect the quarters.

December 19. 2015 - Constructing Skyline

From Capitol Hill's Melrose Avenue, looking between the REI flagship store and PEMCO's soon to be vacated headquarters, the ubiquitous decorated constructions cranes of Seattle displace the Space Needle as the iconic feature of the skyline.  The lighting on the numerous tower cranes throughout Seattle are brightly lit and include purple W's, Christmas trees and, in the case of the crane above Pike Place Market, a pig!

December 14, 2015 - Waxing Crescent Trace

A waxing crescent moon and the tree atop the Space Needle briefly made for a fun pair on this clear winter night as it traced its way across the Seattle sky.

November 15, 2015 - Space Needle Solidarity

The French Tricolour flies at half staff atop the Space Needle as Seattle joins cities around the world in honoring the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris late Friday. The 25' x 35' flag was specially made after a rush order was placed from a local company on Saturday.  It was raised later that afternoon.

The Space Needle, a private corporation, receives requests from numerous organizations to fly different flags.  Aside from the US flag and the 12th Man flag, rarely have flags flown multiple times. The French Tricolour may be the first foreign standard to fly above Seattle's most recognizable landmark.

The French flag was adopted in 1794 and the color scheme has its origins in the colors worn by the Paris militia, red and blue, and the ancient color of France, white.

November 8, 2015 - Terminal 18 Cranes

Four of the ten ZPMC quayside cranes on the Port of Seattle's Terminal 18 intermodal yard on Harbor Island as seen from West Seattle.

Terminal 18 has four berths on its 4400 foot length in which container ships can anchor, load and unload cargo.  With a depth of 50 feet, there is plenty of draft for most of the world's container ships, many of whom are over a 1000 feet long.  The standard measurement for intermodal shipping is the TEU, or twenty foot equivalent.  It represents the cargo that can be stored in a 20 foot long shipping container.  Through Terminal 18, and the other port terminals, over 2 million containers are handled each year.  This is enough to rank Seattle's port as the 57th largest in the world.  The cranes in the foreground are 210 feet high, have a capacity of over 65 long tons and can delicately hoist loads at 600 feet per minute.

In the background can be seen Century Link and Safeco Fields and Harborview hospital and the south end of the downtown skyline.

Below, Queen Anne Hill, the Space Needle and the north end of downtown Seattle are visible across Elliott Bay as one looks down the West Seattle Bridge.

October 25, 2015 - Kubota Garden

In the south Seattle neighborhood of Rainier Beach is a beautiful 20 acre garden.  On the small acreage are hills and valleys, streams and waterfalls, bridges and ponds, winding paths and an abundance of plants, native and otherwise, arranged in the style of a Japanese garden.  The garden is the legacy of 60 years of work by Fujitaru Kubota.  A Japanese emigrant, Mr. Kubota founded a successful gardening company in Seattle in 1927.  Entirely self-taught as a gardener, his business thrived and the property that would become a Seattle park was the home, office, design and display center.  The gardens at Seattle University are an example of his public work. 

During World War II, the Kubota family was interned at Camp Minidoka in Idaho.  They were able to return at the end of the war and restart the family business.  Mr. Kubota died in 1972 at the age of 94.  

In 1981 the garden was declared a Historical Landmark of the City of Seattle. In 1987 the city acquired the property.  It is maintained by the Seattle Parks and Recreation and supported by volunteers and the Kubota Garden Foundation.  

October 17, 2015 - Sailgate at Half

A quick walk to your boat takes a little sting off of a ten point halftime deficit at this University of Washington football game, located on the shores of Lake Washington.  An estimated 8,000 fans arrive by boat for a home game tying up to the docks at the foot of Husky Stadium or anchoring in the just offshore.  Several water taxis ferry fans to and from their boats.  If you don't own a boat, no problem!  There are several large charter vessels that bring fans to the games from Lake Union or Fisherman's Terminal.  The 'sail gating' that occurs on the docks adjacent to Husky Stadium definitely lend a unique flavor to this school's home football games.

October 11, 2015 - Fauntleroy Promenade

At West Seattle's Lincoln Park, a young father works hard to get the attention of his little one, held in the embrace of mother and grandmother.  In the background the 79,000 ton Singapore-flagged MOH Promise makes its way to the Port of Tacoma.

It was a pleasant autumn day, not just for family photos, but for a stroll, a jog, a nap, or to take in a view of the 37 foot high Alki Point Light three miles to the north, or the boats or the ferries.

October 11, 2015 - The Hunting Grounds

In Seattle's Lincoln Park, winged insects don't stand a chance if they venture near this maze of arachnid mesh.

October 3, 2015 - View From Gasworks

A pair of cyclists pause from their ride on the Burke-Gilman Trail to take in the view at Gasworks Park on the shores of Lake Union.  The 19 acre park on the north shore of Lake Union was opened to the public in 1975.  The park was created from polluted grounds of the last coal gasification plants in the US.  Many parts of the original plant remain on the ground.  The park was originally to be named after the Seattle Council person Myrtle Edwards who spearheaded the city's acquisition of the property.  Her family asked that her name be removed from the park after the decision to leave parts of the plant on the park.  A park on Elliott Bay has since been named in her honor.