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.