Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
In a city perched on many steep hills around several bodies of water, these bike racks on the front of Sound Transit and Metro buses are a welcome aid to cyclists trying to find solutions to getting past obstacles in their commutes. A nice backup for the occasional flat when you've left your pump home, too :-).
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Transportation via bus in Seattle is quick and reliable (this spoken from someone with years of commute time racked up on rapid transit, light rail, and bus in San Francisco and the East Bay). Considering the price of parking downtown, bus fares are a bargain and many people choose to visit their favorite shopping areas via Metro services.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Evening shoppers wait for traffic crossing University Ave. Many a student in many an era has walked through this scene. The U District was looking a little deserted this Thanksgiving weekend, but University of Washington students will be back in force Monday for the start of their last two weeks of classes and finals before the winter break. That route 30 Metro bus is taking riders south along the avenue which is decked with festive stars.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
On this Thanksgiving Day I'm thinking of my generous parents who made a wonderful life for me and my brother and shared so much of what they had with friends, family, and perfect strangers over the years. I'm thankful for churches, organizations and individuals who share their time and resources with the poor and take risks, leaving personal comfort zones to show friendship and care through personal and collective action. As the weather turns cold and economic worries have everyone wondering "will we have enough?", it's good to take stock of what is important in life and keep sharing with each other. Seattlites are such generous folks. Thanks to everyone who is making food donations, serving community meals, distributing warm clothing and sleeping bags, providing shelter and showers, caring for kids and the elderly, giving gifts to community organizations, and making life a little easier for someone who could use a lift to their spirits.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
A cold afternoon didn't deter runners and walkers around Greenlake from fitting in some activity before tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast and the start of a long weekend of fun and family gatherings. Hope your pies turned out well :-). Ours are cooling as I write this, and their fragrance is wafting through the house. We hit the road for Portland in the morning and a fun day with dear friends. Wishing all of you in the USA a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow! Will you be a host or guest, or have alternate plans for the day?
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
An end of the work day stream of traffic flows under the Washington Convention and Trade Center's goliath clear barrel arch that covers Pike Street for a full block. It has redefined the space for seven years now and unifies the two sides of the street. I notice some lovely spangles adorning the arch's interior right now.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Still sporting summer's cotton crop pants with her fall suede boots , this cycling lass is waiting for pedestrians to clear an intersection before she turns a corner in her downtown commuted home. The rain is just starting on this chill autumn evening. Two small cards adorn her front spokes, one has a great owl graphic advertising an event at Cal Anderson Park in Capitol Hill.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Where else but Seattle? :-)
I'm not sure of the properties of light that create this appearance in an overcast night sky, but I have gotten this coffee brown color in cloudy or rainy night shots before. These colors are straight out of the camera with no alteration, and that's the top of the old WaMu building. Maybe it's less cappuccino colored and more Theo chocolate colored? Or is it Market Spice cinnamon tea colored? ;^)
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
This is the rotunda entrance of the City Centre building at 5th and Pike with a view of the rainy streets and sidewalks outside. The street trees are alight and festive decorations already adorn much of downtown as Seattle readies itself for the holidays. Festivities kick off in a hometown sort of way the day after Thanksgiving with the Macy's parade in the morning, and that evening the 51st lighting of the Bon Marche/Macy's Star and the lighting of the Westlake Center Christmas tree at 5 PM, followed by a grand fireworks display. All that will take place about a block away from this building in the core of downtown's shopping district next Friday. Seattlites turn out in very large numbers to enjoy the long-held Thanksgiving weekend traditions together. Lights, festivals, feasting and holiday activites will flow on from there throughout the city and at Seattle Center's month long Winterfest, complete with ice skating, Nutcracker performances, and free Saturday night bonfires. The fun keeps on rolling right through Advent, Las Posadas, Hanuka, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Yuletide, Christmas, Shogatsu, and ending with the New Year's fireworks display at the Space Needle.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Here is the peak-filled view looking east across Lake Washington toward Stevens Pass in the Cascade range. A cormorant is sunning itself on a white piling after drying its wings, and a mother and daughter visit with the ducks.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Lots of small eateries and cafes are crammed into a popular stretch along Alki beach. Many offer enticing specials for lunch or dinner. Now that our Pacific Northwest early evenings are darker and chillier, the lighted signs make a cheerful welcome to come in from the beach and the wide bike and pedestrian path to enjoy a warm meal. Might you head upstairs or downstairs here?
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Two cyclists take a stretch at Matthews Beach. The Burke-Gilman trail offers splendid views across Lake Washington, here looking northeast across the northern finger of the lake to an area near Denny Park on the Eastside. Hope your day is as pleasant as ours here today, where the sun is shining in a hazy blue sky and the mountain is "out" :-) .
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Seattle is crisscrossed by creeks and watersheds. This is a photo of Thornton Creek near the entrance to Matthews Beach Park in the Wedgewood neighborhood. A family with three small children and a photographer were on the bridge snapping away on this idyllic autumn day. The creek meanders through this hilly neighborhood past homes whose backyards run along the creek bed, sometimes incorporating the creek through them with small foot bridges and overhanging decks. One home to the left of this shot actually had a tower of sandbags atop the concrete wall separating their yard from the creek side, perhaps a sign of high water from the rains last week.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Cooperatively created by neighbors in lieu of a raised traffic circle, this painted ladybug in a busy Wallingford neighborhood intersection catches people's attention in a big way, and that hopefully slows their speed. A neighbor told me it was an idea his former housemate suggested after seeing something similar in Portland. The neighbors organized and formed a plan, got Seattle Department of Transportation review, permits, and funding to create their whimsical reminder to slow down. They get together for a fun block party each year to refresh the paint. Fun coincidences happen when you are creating a blog entry: Bruce Cockburn's "Slow Down Fast" was streaming while I worked on this, suggesting the perfect title :-).
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
. . .that's what the banner on the apartment house reads. It predates the homeless encampment on the parking lot of University Christian Church. The church is being fined by the city for hosting the encampment, named "Nickelsville" (a la depression era "Hoovervilles") for mayor Greg Nickels, whose support for sweeps of homeless campers from parks, underpasses, and vacant lots last year and this prompted protest and an attempted but thwarted large encampment on city and county lands last month before relocating here. Several of the city's christian congregations have hosted a well organized rotating "tent city" in their parking lots over the past number of years and been similarly threatened with fines for doing so under former mayor Schell and current mayor Nickels. Many congregations have opened their indoor spaces to serve as evening shelters, but not all can. One wonders if the tents were those of a youth group, cancer walk or scouting event if the city would take notice or impose fines for camping on private property. According to reports, the city is suggesting that the church shelter all 80 campers inside their building rather than host an exposed encampment, but offers no financial assistance to do so.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
One more find of a cheerful, creative Seattle roofline for you. This scalloped portico's shape extends through to become the interior ceiling of this White Center neighborhood commercial building in West Seattle. Playing with geometry and repeats seems to have been a very popular commercial design feature in the 1950s and 1960s. Construction didn't seem to to be of superior quality, though, so if not well-maintained, they might rapidly deteriorate.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Like a rolling sea, 50s and 60s architectural details took curves and angles and worked them into almost everything. Of course, so did the deco period, but in a different, less "space age" way. This portico is at Seattle Center. Tomorrow, another related photo. Happy Friday everyone!
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
The 60's leaves its mark. The repeating design element of this roofline caught my eye in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. I'm calling this Googie, but I'm not sure if these geometric designs influenced by patterns in science and space age preoccupations might have another name. With a figure walking in the opposite direction of yesterday's shot, I thought I'd kick off a series of shots related to each other in some way or another.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
The Troy Laundry facility was the largest in the pacific northwest in 1948. Designed by prolific Seattle architect Victor Voorhees and built in 1927, it is now has landmark status. Thirteen years ago the Seattle Times whose old plant was next door, asked for permission to raze the adjoining laundry to expand and modernize its newspaper plant. The request was denied, appealed, and denied again. So, the Times moved a big part of its operation to Bothel in 2001 and uses part of this building to store newspaper vending machines. The rest lies vacant. This southern wall shows off some of the patterned masonry facade and white terracotta architectural elements. Click here for some other views.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Night ride home, but these cyclists paused to view the lights and reflections on a glassy Lake Union. Today is a day we all can pause and reflect on the sacrifice of lives since "the Great War" which ended in an armistice at the eleventh hour on 11-11. My mom was a Navy veteran during a later war. I'm missing her a lot and reflecting this Remembrance Day / Veterans Day about her years of service in the WAVES and the five other young women who became her life-long dear friends after meeting in training and serving together. Here is a salute to Stinky, Irene, Mary, Brownie, Sexy, and Inez. I'm thinkinboutcha all as I look out on the water.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
I know all you needle people out there will probably echo my sentiments when I say that sometimes it seems I need a needle's eye this large and a very fine thread in order to thread a needle quickly anymore. My favorites for hand quilting used to be #11, and even with a very fine wire threader, its tricky. Those utility lines up at the top seem to pull off the job effortlessly. This streetscape view of the Space Needle is from the Cascade neighborhood.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
The Uptown neighborhood is west of Seattle Center, bordered by Belltown and Queen Anne Hill. Many of its older business titles and city plot maps indicate this has been the area's name since the late 1800s. I also hear people call this area Lower Queen Anne, perhaps because one of its main commercial arteries, Queen Anne Ave N descends from atop the Hill down into its turf, or perhaps because some realtor adopted the practice of calling lower rent neighborhoods adjacent to upscale areas things like "Lower Pacific Heights" instead of the Filmore ;^). Maybe with the constantly changing residents of its apartments and condos the old name is just being forgotten. There is a thriving nightlife in the restaurants and bars on its commercial streets, and this cinema, the Uptown Theatre, bearing the neighborhood's name has been part of that scene since 1926 when its Wurlitzer accompanied silent films. This marquee dates from the 1940s. It's a little rusty and crusty with a bulb burnt out or neon tube missing or bent here and there, but it still lights up the night!
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Hey, you know that face in the center! I passed on your many greetings to Meead of Portland Daily Photos (formerly of Mashhad Daily Photo). He was in Seattle today for a conference at UW with fellow Portland State engineering grad students from the Itelligent Transportation Systems Lab, Wei (left) and Ping (right). We drove and walked around in a light rain last night seeing some of the sites. When we stopped by Seattle Center, Meead was telling me about the beautiful new Milad Tower In Tehran (the world's fourth tallest) and how Seattle's Space Needle reminded him of some of its design aspects. Congratulations are in order: Meead won the prize for the outstanding presentation given at their conference yesterday. Many of us in the CDPB family love reading Meead's blog and sharing his adventures as an international student from far sunnier climbs who is spreading his own kind of friendly sunshine throughout the blogosphere. I'm wishing this big city guy from Mashhad well this first winter under Portland's gray skies. It was fun to finally meet and to get to meet his new friends as well.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
It's raining cats and dogs and will be for the next couple days.The "Pineapple Express," a common moist weather system that comes in from Hawaii, is chugging through. I got a flat tire and had to hobble to the tire center to get a fix. It was about time to get new tires on the back , anyway. The lines were very long with people having their storm and snow tires installed before those Thanksgiving road trips through snowy passes to be with kith and kin. I wasn't wearing shoes I could walk home in the rain in, so I waited for the work to be completed. I wasn't prepared like this fellow. He could go out in whatever hits the street and be just fine :-). Happy Friday everyone. Tonight I will be meeting our CDPBlogging friend Meead who is in Seattle with a group from his university attending a conference at UW.
SDP on CNN: CNN International interviewed me a few weeks back for the "Local View" feature of their webpage for their program "My City-My Life" featuring Seattle native Quincy Jones. They chose eight photos for a linked gallery and really put together a wonderful site to find out about all things Seattle. (Thanks to Chuck of Almost One a Day who punted to me because he was out of town and knew I love music). The program is airing several times over the next few days. It was fun to learn of Scott, a neighborhood news blogger in the Central District where "Q" grew up, who was also interviewed for the feature.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
I took this photo I called "Tuba Dude" as a candid on August 17, 2007 while out photowalking along the Magnolia bluffs, so if it looks familiar, it's because you saw it here (original post). I saw this lone figure playing his tuba. After a time I walked around to his other side to see if I might get a shot from the front, and he noticed me at a distance and acknowledged my presence with a very warm smile and a nod "Hi!" and resumed playing to the Puget Sound. I had no idea who he was, but on hearing his very able chops thought he was possibly a local orchestra musician. Seemed a very normal and charming thing to play one's horn to the Puget Sound. My husband often took his sax to the marina near our house in Berkeley after work and played to the bay and the sunset in the open air like this. Maybe its just a musician thing. I didn't want to disturb him further, so didn't take that second shot. A photo friend seeing this shot shortly after I took it commented that wasn't this Seattle's "Tuba Man" that he often saw busking outside of sporting events? Ah, yes, that's him, someone else confirmed. A beloved Seattle character familiar to thousands (except me). Several months later I was at my mom's when she was watching a television program in which his story was featured. His name is Ed McMichael. I learned that he's sort of a Seattle legend: everyone knows and loves him. After just one beautiful smile and "Hi!" from him, I could see why. Yesterday I learned that this gentle, sweet musician had been beaten and robbed by 5 youths on Mercer Street on October 25. He was treated at Harborview Hospital and released two days later to go home under the care of his brother. He passed away in his sleep early November 4th due to his injuries. He is remembered fondly by a city to which he gave so many happy moments and years of musical joy and friendliness.
There will be an informal gathering outside of McCaw Hall this Saturday morning at 11 AM at which all musicians who would like to play in memory of Ed may join in the playing of Taps, Tequila and the University of Washington Fight Song. I have a feeling it will be quite a tribute orchestra.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
We were having a late supper when the President Elect of the United States and his family took the stage in Chicago and we looked on from the TV screen at the 5 Spot restaurant on Queen Anne. The restaurant went to a hush and patrons left far tables to draw closer and listen to the memorable and inspiring speech. There was spontaneous applause at several points and moist eyes at others, and a feeling in the air of sharing a special moment. I had heard Senator McCain's gracious concession speech earlier on the radio while in transit. Before that, just after 8:00 PM when the polls here closed and the announcement went out, the streets I drove were nearly empty. There were fire crackers and whoops here and there, but hardly a soul on the street. I heard from a classmate that the streets in parts of Capitol Hill were filled with celebrants and nearly impassable. For the most part, versions of this scene were taking place indoors all over the city in private homes and neighborhood gathering places. We were part of the larger American family gathered around TVs and radios, sharing this moment, in victory or defeat, as one people.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
We came across these cool presidential candidate likenesses on stenciled iced cookies while at the market last night. Who could resist the urge to celebrate the culmination of two long years of campaigning after laying eyes on these spangled shortbread cookies! Little Rae's Bakery in south Seattle creates and markets some of the most fun and really tasty holiday cookies imaginable (and I think they ship to anywhere). In this "Patriot Pack" complete with a label that urges us to VOTE were red, white, and blue stars and the airbrushed icing portraits of Barack Obama and John McCain in appropriate colors and on the appropriate sides of the box. When I set the box down on the kitchen table where our map of Paris is under glass, McCain was residing on the Right Bank and Obama on the Left ;^). Here is a shot I took while we were sampling them with some milk after dinner. We voted YES, they ARE that good. Happy Election Day to those in the USA!
Thank you to US Elaine, Jilly, and Chuck for feedback on the difficulty with the new embedded comment form not functioning properly. Blogger reports that it sometimes won't work if one has added code to customized the template. I've switched back to the pop up comment dialog box and anticipate no further problems.
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
That houseboat on the left seems lit up like a cheerful lantern next to all those darkened liveaboards near it. These floating abodes are on the northernmost edge of the Westlake area of Lake Union. The cozy lamplight made me want to curl up on its deck in my jammies and slippers with a warm cup of Theo sipping chocolate and absorb the late night autumn reflections in the water. I was stopped on the Burke-Gilman Trail, just under the Aurora Bridge in Fremont gazing across the water when I took this. Full view of the scene here.
One frequent reader reports trouble posting via the new comments format. If you are also having your comments not show up, please let me know at seattledailyphoto@earthlink.net .
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
This was the relatively deserted late evening scene in downtown Ballard where we were heading to see a film at the Majestic Bay Theater, a purposefully small venue completely rebuilt about ten years ago on the site of the old Bay Theater which operated from 1915 to the 1990s. It is a popular draw for the nearby coffee houses and restaurants, but even those open looked three quarters empty. Still some folks out on a mild night, but not in the numbers we have usually seen there on a weekend night. We thought there would be more folks in the theater, too. Maybe a sign of the economic pinch?
Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
My friend Dan is a voracious reader. He often mentions what he is currently enjoying and how it is affecting him. I love it when he's so into it he just starts reading aloud. It's kind of infectious and more than once I've noted something he's mentioned and picked up a copy and dived in myself. Well, I was photowalking in the neighborhood where his office is and as I passed by, I looked up at the window where I know his desk is. I had to laugh wondering if those are his stacks to read or the ones he's already finished! Seattle is noted as being America's most literate city, at least it was until last year when Minneapolis deposed us after two years at the top of the heap. Apparently someone has done the math and given us the distinction of actually reading the books we check out of the library and purchase. Well, I think Dan's keeping up HIS end of it! Here's a shot of my current stack ;^).
Want to see what's a good read around the rest of the globe? It's City Daily Photo Bloggers first of the month theme day today, and you can start your book tour by clicking here to view thumbnails for all participants.
