Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
A 19th century church building is dwarfed by highrises in Seattle's downtown. The Columbia Tower reflects the Municipal Building. A skeleton of bare spring tree branches is superimposed on it all.
Have a lovely, relaxing spring weekend everyone! (I'll be doing my taxes. . .sigh.)
Seattle
Seattle Daily Photo
Downtown
buildings
architecture
reflection
urban
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
This is a "story pole" on the campus of Seattle Pacific University. Native peoples of the Canadian and American Pacific Northwest and Alaska have long carving traditions. Individuals and people groups have distinct styles and symbols with which they express themselves through the totem pole art form. I have found much to appreciate as I look at more and more of these, and am beginning to recognize which tribal tradition a pole has been carved in or influenced by. The link can give you more information about these beautiful, skillfully crafted, purely Pacific Northwest native wonders.
Seattle
Seattle Daily Photo
Seattle Pacific University
totem pole
carving
story pole
pacific northwest
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Mt. Rainier seen at sunset, dominating the skyline to the south of Seattle. Urban meets the nature, big time. Many of Mt. Rainier's developed areas and facilities were overrun and destroyed during the November 2006 rains and floods. The mountain will look different to visitors this summer, although it will continue to loom over the city, seemingly unchanged.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Where to hang out and get some work done on a rainy day? A clean, well lighted place for books, and scholars. The patterned carpets of the Central Library add another element of texture to the dominant grid of the glass walls. Unique seating configurations remind me of plus signs on typeface put together. The library features an in-house coffee spot, and computers galore, and is well patronized.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Seattle is awash right now in spring bloom. I thought I'd share with you a gift that keeps on giving (beauty, fragrance, metaphors to think about).
A sprouted bulb given to us as a Valentine's Day gift by friends, we planted it outdoors and are enjoying its fragrance at full bloom now. So many gifts to enjoy, just by opening our eyes or breathing it in.
Seattle is a gardener's paradise and boasts the lovely Washington Park Arboretum & Botanical Garden. I hope in the next couple of weeks to share with you shots of the magnificent cherry trees and blossoms that put on a spectacular April show there each year, and the cherry trees in the quad at the University of Washington,
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Let's start the week with an abstract. This downtown highrise building reflects differently every time I pass. I love the small stripe of glass that runs up the center of this side, adding a little iridescent glimmer between the matte surfaces on either side. The colors vary with the time of day.
Blogger is having some sort of bug difficulty. Please excuse the problems with the template. I hope it will be resolved very soon. Thanks for you patience.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
It may be a cold and rainy weekend here in Seattle, but these colorful papel picados blowing in the breeze add a touch of bright color to a wet and dreary Sunday. To see this colorful Capitol Hill storefront in full, click here to go to my More Seattle Stuff page. I love to walk through the various city neighborhoods' shopping streets. Each neighborhood commercial zone has its own flavor and charm, usually with fewer chain names than locally owned and individually operated small businesses.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
The plum trees all over Seattle are at their peak of bloom. Streets and sidewalks are strewn with pink and white petals to greet the start of spring. For a view of some trees go here. Have a relaxing Saturday everyone!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Best viewed large. You can see the light house at the point across Elliott Bay, as well as Alki Bakery (maroon canvas canopy along the shore if you know where to look). The ferry's lights are on so you can see the cars aboard, Bainbridge island in the distance. This was taken at dusk from the southern slope of Queen Anne Hill looking southwest.
Ferries are a favorite way to get around here in the Pacific Northwest. They have become increasingly costly over the years . This is a Washington State Ferry. British Columbia also has a large fleet. Riding them is relaxing. Have a great Friday everyone!
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
This interesting, charming, and vastly different grouping of smaller buildings looked absolutely dwarfed by the huge skyscrapers surrounding them. The Dutch-looking building is the Rainier Club, and the Chruch with the terra-cotta dome is First Methodist. I shot this from the observation deck of Smith Tower, 36 stories up.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Time for a double take, and some humor! I was surprised by this fun sign in the First Hill neighborhood. It was near the intersection of a street that crosses over the I-5 freeway and a street that runs parallel to the freeway. i SeattleSeattle+Daily+Photo sign freeway road street "street scene" traffic safety humor
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
I wasn't able to photograph the protests or candlelight vigil here in Seattle that marked the 4 year anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. This photo reflects my sadness and concern about the effects of the continuing occupation, and my thoughts of those who have lost their lives and their grieving loved ones. This shot was taken from the same corner as the shot two days ago, across the street from Kerry Park Viewpoint, but focusing on a tree's blossom in the rain. Seattle Seattle+Daily+Photo Kerry+Parkblossom flower limo rain
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
So, here is the unobstructed view all those photographers were snapping in yesterday's photo (best viewed large). The shot is so overdone, it's beyond cliché. Urban jumble and iconic tower meet the gigantic force of nature that is Mt. Rainier. The city's new motto (printed on colorful banners all over the downtown convention center area) is "METRONATURAL." No one seems to like it much, but I can see what it means here. Still the slogan is more than a little weird, since British Columbia, just a two hour drive north, already has as its motto "Super, Natural British Columbia."
3rd Place: Thanks to Metroblogging Seattle for including Seattle Daily Photo in the mix of 38 local blogs they chose for a best blog of Seattle poll they called Blarch Badness. And thanks to those of you who supported SDP by voting. The first and second place blogs are both baseball fan stat blogs for Seattle's great Mariners baseball team. SDP and West Seattle Blog were voted third and fourth place. Seattle Seattle+Daily+Photo Kerry+Park view Space+Needle downtownSeattle+Center Seattle+skyline Mt.+Rainier buildings architecture urban metronatural
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Happy St. Paddy's from Seattle (where it's a big deal!). Hey, there was a rainbow when I was out on a rainy day walk, so I followed it to the end and this is where it led. Gas hit over $3.00/gal in Seattle again this week (the high gas prices of last summer were lowered throughout the US before the November elections). These old pumps are not self-serve, but the gas/oil companies with record profits in the billions the last couple years sure seem to be ;^) . Here in the western US most gas stations are set up for customers to pump their own fuel, with the huge exception of Oregon where I got a weird look and a rude awakening, "You must be from out of state, miss. We're strictly full service in Oregon. It's against the law for you to pump your own." But here in Seattle, this full service station in the Capitol Hill neighborhood is the exception. I think the pumps are so vintage they don't have the required health safeguards of newer self-service pumps.
So, are prices going up again where you live, too? Seattle Seattle+Daily+Photo gas pumpsfuel gas+prices price+increase Capitol+Hill petrol
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Playing with the Space Needle again: I was walking downhill when this X of wires suddenly came in view across the Space Needle. It was a rainy, gray spring day, plum blossom spice on the breeze. Today is warm and sunny, the birds are singing, the bulbs in the garden are finally starting to bloom. Happy Friday, and have a wonderful weekend everyone! SeattleSeattle+Daily+Photo Space+Needle spring peek+a+boo Capitol+Hill flowers trees street+scene
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
The Alaskan Way Viaduct is a raised roadway that carries two decks of busy Highway 99 traffic around the perimeter of Seattle's waterfront. It was slightly damaged in an earthquake a few years ago and deciding the best way to address the need to repair or replace it has been, to say the very least, uh . . . controversial. So much so that when a decision was punted from the mayor and city council to the state's governor, she called a special election for an advisory vote of the people. The ballet gave the choice of a rebuild of a similar structure or a tunnel option. Voters on Tuesday voted No and No, rejecting both plans as submitted on the ballet. The democratic process continues to play out as public debate continues and differing factions attempt to regroup to work together on a solution that will meet long-range needs within budgetary constraints.
For those unfamiliar with the Seattle waterfront, this is what the discussion is about.. Looking from the waterfront toward the northeast, the Space Needle just visible through the Belltown jumble of condo high rises, the Public Market buildings are to the right.. The Seattle Aquarium and the Alaskan Way Viaduct are in the foreground. This shot was taken at sunset. I remember vividly the Loma Prieta quake that happened at about this time of day. I worked in San Francisco at the time. Several of my workmates lost their lives or were critically injured when their vanpool home, riding on the top deck of a similar structure in Oakland, CA, was caught in the pancaking action of that double deck freeway's collapse. This is the type of nightmare Seattle is seeking to avoid and to do it in the wisest possible way in environmental, economic, traffic safety, and aesthetic terms. Wish us luck! Seattle Seattle+Daily+PhotoAlaskan+Way+Viaduct Seattle+waterfront Seattle+Aquarium Belltown condos high+risescity+skyline Space+Needle Pike+Place+Public+Market sunset earthquake viaductHighway+99 controversy vote
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Two readers diverged near a yellow wood. . .
She with her I-Pod, notebook computer, and cell phone at the ready, is spending a working lunch here. He, on the other hand, is taking a break for coffee and reading.Seattle Seattle+Daily+Photo people coffee coffee+house reading wifi computer laptop work
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Facing the world outside, seeing only the screen inside. This could be almost anywhere in the world these days, but it is right here in Seattle's Pioneer Square area at the window counter of Zeitgeist. Free wifi has mad it possible to work in very pleasant surroundings . . . not that it seems to matter much.
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Zeitgeist's busy counter scene at noontime. This Pioneer Square coffee house features good healthy eats, fine coffee, art gallery, music, and wifi. . .lotsa working folk in this design-heavy business area love this place.
Metroblogging Seattle's voting is still open if you would care to support SDP in the blog poll. Thanks!
Seattle Seattle+Daily+Photo coffee people interior urban artwifi Pioneer+Square cafe business
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
We had an excellent lunch in this downstairs cafe at Pike Place Market. There was an interesting view of Belltown buildings, the bay and Olympics beyond, but what caught my eye above the cafe's dish stacks and service counter was this cheerful old print and a sprinkler head ring that has slipped a bit. Have a restful Sunday! And HAPPY 2nd ANNIVERSARY to Eric at Paris Daily Photo!
Metroblogging Seattle's voting is still open if you would care to support SDP in the blog poll. Thanks! Seattle Seattle+Daily+Photo Pike+Place+Market cafe nostalgia interior
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Best viewed Large- (click photo, click All Sizes, click Large). These three guys came gunning up the hill in this absolutely bomb green car. . . it was like watching some retro episode of "The Streets of San Francisco," except that's not the Trans America Pyramid behind all those plum blossoms. . . I shot this yesterday just before another rain shower. The sky was dark with clouds, but hey, these guys had the windows down.
Have a great weekend! Hey, don't forget to "spring ahead" your clock tonight at midnight if you are in a daylight savings time area. Do you do that in Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, etc?
Voting is still open if you would care to support SDP. Thanks
Seattle Seattl+Daily+Photo car retro spring Capitol Hill street+scene Space+Needle
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
(Best Viewed Large: click photo, click All Sizes, click large.) Across a large parking lot to the south of King Street Station is Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks (American-style) football team. I took this photo from the top of the Smith Tower. Just beyond this stadium you can glimpse Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners baseball team. It is a noted architectural wonder with its silent retractable roof that moves into place if foul weather threatens games and opens for sun breaks.
Thanks to everyone who supported Seattle Daily Photo through four rounds to the semifinals in Metroblogging Seattle's "Blarch Badness" poll of best blogs of Seattle. It was very kind of you to vote through all those rounds, and fun to be included at all. The two finalists after all that are baseball-related blogs. How appropo for a city that loves its great sports teams. Congrats.
This just in, 12:45 PM: Well folks, "It ain't over 'til it's over." ~ Yogi Berra. Metroblogging Seattle has put us back in a run-off vote for esteemed third place against the other semi-final candidate that got slammed by one of the baseball blogs, West Seattle Blog, one of my faves that made it through to the end (see its sidebar link and those of some of the other wonderful local blogs I've come to love). . .but, go ahead and vote for Seattle Daily Photo by clicking here if you would care to ;-) "It's deja vu all over again!" ~YB
Seattle Seattle+Daily+Photo Qwest+Field Safeco+Field Mariners SeahawksMetroblogging+Seattle Blarch+Badness vote blogs baseball football stadium sports SODO
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
If you were to go out the King Street Station doors that say "departures," you might glimpse The Coast Starlight conductor getting ready to roll. Far too cool to ask, "Good morning Mr. Railroad Man. When will your train roll by? 9:15? 2:44? 25 minutes 'til 5:00?" Looks more like we should be cuing up the music for "Mission Impossible," cuz he's looking Tom Cruise-ish.. All aboard! Seattle Seattle+Daily+Photo train King+Street+Station Coast+Starlightconductor Mr.+Railroad+Man Amtrack Seattle+train+station transportation people
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Taxis wait for fares at curbside along King Street at the train station. This is the view looking north toward downtown. Columbia Center Tower and the Seattle Municipal Building rise in the distance, and two cranes (our new city bird, ;^) , can be seen to the right. You needn't take a taxi to find interesting places and things to do. Qwest Field with it's exhibitions and ball games is right next door, and Pioneer Square and the waterfront are an easy walk away, as is the International District (old Chinatown). Seattle Seattle+Daily+Photo King+Street+Station taxidowntown Pioneer+Square cranes people street+scene train+station
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
These beautiful oak doors with brass hardware lead to the exterior of the station. Each exit of the newly restored section of King Street Station has clear and elegant signage. As indicated in yesterday's shot, it's this way to the Taxi's on King Street.
If you would care to support SDP in the semi-final round of Metroblogging Seattle's best blogs of Seattle poll, please vote here. Seattle Seattle+Daily+PhotoKing+Street+Train+Station+ Seattle+Train+Station remodeling remodel architecture ornimentdetail transportation Amtrack train
Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
The King Street Train Station lobby has been transformed to reveal lovely ornamentation long hidden by a false ceiling. Above each doorway or archway there is large bronze signage to direct people confidently in the right direction. Plaster relief panels abundant with cornucopias of fruit surround portals which bleed light from one room into another. Seattle Seattle+Daily+PhotoKing+Street+Train+Station+ Seattle+Train+Station remodeling remodel architecture ornimentdetail transportation Amtrack train
