Seeing Green in the Emerald City

Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.

Seattle loves St. Patrick's day and paints 4th Avenue green for a parade on the weekend, and lots of green beer specials can be enjoyed in all corners of town. Green is a predominant color in the pillars and lamps of the Emerald city's Pike Place Market (I think it's actually Nile Green, popular in the 30s, 40s, and 50s). And that's a genuine Irishman there in the background. He's a photo enthusiast and construction business manager named Derry that I met by chance when he was staying at a hostel on holiday here last July and and exploring Seattle with his camera. Here he was taking some shots of West Seattle through the window in a PPM day stall gallery after hours. He and I and a guy named John from California ended up on a photowalk together after all three of us arrived late for a Thomas Hawk walkabout with Seattle Flickerites. We never did catch up with the large TH group who had boarded a water taxi and gone to West Seattle, but we did our own exploring downtown and on the waterfront and talked photos and gear. John departed at about 8:00 PM to drive to Mt. Rainier so he could get some sunrise shots next morning before heading back to Cali. Derry and I caught a late dinner at Kells in Post Alley (sure to be crowded tonight!) and had fun talking current events and international politics with a couple recently back from the Middle East. Afterward we were walking back through Belltown when a group of slightly inebriated 20 somethings saw our cameras and stopped us to ask Derry to take a photo of them in front of a particular shop window. He gladly agreed thinking it was a typical tourist photo request. Then all six of the men and women proceeded to drop their pants and moon the shop (apparently they were expressing a grievance of some kind). I don't know how Derry held their little point and shoot still enough to get the shot, cuz we were cracking up while this brief impromptu "shoot the moon" went on. The group calmly zipped up, took back their camera, thanked us and walked away down the sidewalk. We laughed so hard. Something about hanging out with the Irish while they're traveling seems to bring about uncommon adventures! So, happy St. Patrick's Day to those celebrating today. Hope it's a lucky day for you!