Seattle Daily Photo

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Tide's Out

It's always hard for me to comprehend that the Pacific Ocean is actually about 100 miles west of Seattle. Living on the Puget Sound in this large port city sure seems like a typical west coast location. The tides still work on us, and we've had some very low tides recently that sent lots of folks out looking for all the interesting critters and objects that had been left behind on the beach. Naturalists are frequently available to lead tide pool walks around the Sound. There can be a 15 foot difference between high and low tides this time of year, so an awesome number of tidal critters are on view! This is Alki beach in West Seattle. There were no naturalists present, but people were exploring on their own. In the distance you can see the south slope of Queen Anne Hill and Seattle Center's distinctive Key Arena roof and the Space Needle.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Pressing On

Going green can be an uphill effort on some of our steep streets :-). I'm seeing more cyclists out and about as the days tilt from rainier to sunnier. This guy, though, I'm sure is probably out there rain or shine.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Shadows & Upheaval

Since childhood I've had a love of trees and how they frame our world with a canopy of color, filter light, rustle in the breeze, cast shade in heat. It wasn't until I married my husband that I learned some people consider yard trees to be a major headache :-). The former owner of our Seattle home was an avid gardener and had planted many trees, one of which was towering between our house and our neighbor's. My husband had a tree company take it out, fearing it would crash into one house or the other in a wind storm. There were still 4 smaller trees left on that side of the house, so it wasn't as heartbreaking to me as it might have been. After our first windstorm here, I was glad he had been proactive about it. I have an arborist look after our remaining trees and get them trimmed and inspected every couple years.
At first sight I just loved seeing the shadow of this large old lovely along a Capitol Hill street, then I noticed the brick gutter (a common feature in Capitol Hill) was a victim of serious tree roots. One of the downsides of lovely tree-lined streets. The Department of Transportation recently started requiring certain new developments install blocks around the root systems of new tree plantings to prevent this kind of damage to sidewalks, curbs and streets.

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Garden Gate

I spied this garden gate while out on a morning walk in Capitol Hill. It was interesting to see two types of leaves on one tree, half oak, half elm, perhaps?

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Home After a Long Day

A car heads home at sunset on a gorgeous Seattle evening.

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

A Tale of Two Bridges: Part 2

Well, I lied. There are actually two bridges in this photo alone, so with the one in yesterday's that makes 3 bridges. The blue colored bridge below packed with waiting traffic is one of the busiest draw bridges in the world, the Fremont Bridge that opens for boat traffic along the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The upper-most bridge in this shot is the Aurora Bridge, officially named the George Washington Memorial Bridge. It is currently undergoing a seismic retrofit that should be completed next year. Unfortunately, this graceful span is associated with hundreds of tragic deaths since it was built in the 1930s, most from suicide. There have been over 50 in the past decade alone despite installation of prevention call boxes and compassionate signage. Governor Gregoire allotted 1.4 million dollars from the 2007 budget to install a suicide prevention barrier which was completed in February. Hopefully it will substantially reduce the likelihood of further jumping attempts. In 1998 an articulated metro bus like the one you see in the photo plunged off the side and onto an apartment house below after the bus driver was killed by a passenger. Such a horrific history for a bridge that seems here to top even the Olympic Mountains.

Monday, June 06, 2011

A Tale of Two Bridges: Part 1

The I-5 Ship Canal Bridge is busy with evening traffic. This view is from across the northern tip of Lake Union. Tomorrow I'll face the opposite direction and give you a glimpse of another high bridge to the west.

Sunday, June 05, 2011

Ghost Sign on the Roycroft Theatre

The Roycroft Theatre urged patrons to wait for pictures to leave the first run houses downtown and see them here on convenient Capitol Hill. The theater opened in 1925, complete with organ. After 40 years as a cinema, the building was converted to become the Russian Community Center. Although films haven't played here in 50 years, the ghost sign remains unchanged. Speaking of films, the Seattle International Film Festival is winding down to its last week. If you haven't heard of it or attended in the past, it is very much worth your attention. "Throughout its 34 years, SIFF has evolved into one of the leading independent and international film institutions in the United States and the world. With extensive local, national, and international media coverage, the Festival is one of Seattle’s most accessible and highly–publicized cultural events."

Saturday, June 04, 2011

iPhone Action Shot

I was standing by the duck pond in Denny Blaine Lake Park when a guy walking six dogs passed me, then doubled back and passed me several times more. He was encouraging the dogs to follow his directions and not let their temptation to chase the ducks override what they were doing. This photo turned out a little strange, as the iPhone doesn't capture movement like some other cameras will (thus the chocolate pooch in front has a crackled face and some bodies and tales are a blur. But, I liked the effect and the way it showed this Dogs Around the Block trainer and six dogs having a grand time.

Friday, June 03, 2011

Rain Gardens Not Draining

Photo & Text © 2011, Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved; no use, reproduction, alteration or republishing in any media.

I, and I suppose a lot of other Seattle residents, received a notice from Seattle Public Utilities this week announcing incentives to encourage residents to instal rain barrels or rain gardens on their property to reduce storm water and pollutant run off into our vital waterways. I've seen rain gardens properly and very attractively installed in a few places (the parking strip adjacent to Ballard Corners Park, the median on 14th Ave NW, and in private landscaping in a couple resident's front yards). I've also noticed while out walking that, on the main, the large pilot program the city attempted in parts of the Ballard neighborhood isn't working as expected. After walking past this rain garden, and noticing standing water when there had been no rain in days, I looked for information on how the pilot project was going (read about it here and here). Apparently, after meetings with concerned residents, hiring pumping trucks to siphon off standing water regularly, and further surveys in the field, SPU agreed in April to remove the rain gardens that aren't working and restore the grassy parking strips where they were built. I'm hoping the rain gardens promoted in this week's flyer are of significantly better design. We have a large cistern filled with rock and gravel under the top soil of our small back yard, into which the rain gutter downspouts of our roof and those of our two next door neighbors drain underground. I've never had soggy soil or standing water, but we are near the top of a hill. I'm wishing the city and affected residents well in successfully resolving these unforeseen drainage difficulties in what was a well-intentioned pilot program.

Thursday, June 02, 2011

PATH Cloudscape Reflection

I loved the cloudscape adorning the glass exterior of this building that houses PATH, a non profit global health advocate headquartered here in Seattle. PATH works on diverse international health issues and does a world of good, working on research, medicine, social and financial factors to improve health for people around the globe. This new building stands at the corner of Westlake and Denny Way and was part of the giant reshaping of the neighborhood into a vital core for biotechnology, medical research, and high tech businesses.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Theme Day: Under Construction

It is the first of the month City Daily Photo Bloggers' theme day: Under Construction. This huge and colorful mural adorns 135 feet of the eastern side of the 24 foot high bright red wall that surrounds the Capitol Hill Light Rail station construction site (also seen in yesterday's photo). Note the ginormous red crane swinging its weight around in the blue sky above! This mural was designed by Baso Fibonacci (that's his spray-painted likeness on the right) and painted in record time by Zach Rockstad and Japhy Witte (check out this video of the guys at work). They started by painting over the red with a pink, green, and gray camouflage pattern, then painted the fantasy figures over that. Street artists gone muralists with gallery cred :-). The mural is one in a series curated by performance artist DK Pan for Sound Transit's STart Capitol Hill Wall Project (you can see many of the other works here). This wall will be up for five years while the station takes shape within. To see how the construction theme was interpreted in cities around the globe, click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Bright On A Gray Day Strata

A yellow cab drove past the bright red construction fence that surrounds the work site for the Capitol Hill station of Link Lightrail. I nicked this one with the iPhone.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Decoration Day

Today is Memorial Day, the American holiday commemorating members of the armed services who lost their lives in war. It is observed on the last Monday of May and had its roots in America's Civil War days. It began officially as Decoration Day at Arlington National Cemetery in 1868 and was observed by the decoration of graves by families and civic groups. I found these stone hearts and vase of fresh Peonies adorning a headstone while walking in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. However, it is Seattle's Washeli Cemetery that is home to The Veterans Memorial Cemetery the resting place of hundreds who were buried with military honors. Known as "The Arlington of the West," it will be awash in the national colors today. (Photo of Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Washeli below © 2009 by Ben Benschnieder, used here under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.)

Sunday, May 29, 2011

1st Ave & Pike Place Footscape

Imitating Bob from Barcelona (we still miss you!) and my fave Parisian photoblogger who often shares street level shots (Hi Eric!), I took a low perspective while watching folks cross 1st Avenue at Pike Place. I liked the way this pedestrian's stride framed people in the background.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Two Walkers Were Approaching

Two guys coming towards me downhill on a path at Gas Works Park in the Wallingford neighborhood are silhouetted in the last light of day. The wind did not begin to howl as they approached, however :-).

Friday, May 27, 2011

Down in the Alley

Most of the shots from Post Alley I've shared with you in the past five years have been from ground level, so I thought you might like a peek up the alley from a loftier viewpoint. A couple walks their dog down the alley and under the familiar green and red neon Post Alley sign. The alley actually runs continuously for far more blocks than visitors to Seattle may realize, starting from Virginia Street and heading south through Pike Place Market and down to Seneca Street, after which its path broadens and it becomes Post Avenue through to Yesler Way in the Pioneer Square area. After it crosses Yesler it appears to become an alley again, although unnamed on maps, ending at Jackson Street.

Sunday, May 08, 2011

NoMa

This is the entrance sign of a condominium complex in the Ballard neighborhood. The name stands for North of Market Street (the main shopping street in Ballard is NW Market St). On this Mother's Day, though it kind of reminded me of what a lot of us moms hear from our children from time to time :-). Hope all the moms who read SDP didn't hear too many no-nos from their little ones and had a lovely day.

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

For All the World To See

I was walking past a telephone pole on an arterial street on Queen Anne Hill and did a double take when I spied this colorful art glass display some residents have apparently added to the streetscape in front of their home. There always seems to be some artistic or whimsical surprise to share in most Seattle neighborhoods.

Monday, May 02, 2011

Seattle Photographer & His Cute Pooch

I often run into photographers as I'm out and about around town. Yesterday I got to meet Robby, a photographer with a power chair that he has mounted with a terrific sturdy metal mono pod, fabricated by Glaser's Cameras, atop which rides his new Canon Power Shot camera and grip (his old camera took a spill recently and broke). Robby's dog was busy posing for a cute mug shot taken by one of the store clerks at All the Best Pet Shop on Queen Anne Ave North. I saw this scene unfolding when I entered the shop and quickly took this shot. I walked over and showed the shot to Robby, upon which I got a knowing smile and he surprised me by retrieving his own photo portfolio from his backpack. Ah, someone like me! I hadn't noticed his camera, I had been so focused on his little dog and the clerk trying to take its picture. I had a treat seeing Robby's shots and learned of his successful one man show and sale held at a local coffee house. It was fun to run into a fellow enthusiast and see his work. For info on his matted and framed prints of Seattle scenes and beautiful nature shots contact him here.

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