Seattle Tours
Some notes on wandering around Seattle and environs.Thursday, May 31, 2007
Back to the 'ham
It was time to go to Bellingham again, to dance with my friend Jordan and look for some birch. I couldn't get a train out of Interbay -- the yard was almost empty. So I rode back downtown and caught the 3:30 PM bus from downtown. On the way there I saw some dalmatian toadflax (Linaria dalmatica) growing near the yard:
I was in Bellingham at 7 pm, and only five dollars poorer. On the way I swung through Mount Vernon, located above the delta of the Skagit River. The picture on the left is looking across the river at downtown. All the people I saw on the street were latino. Many mexicans come here to work on the farms of Skagit Valley. The main sign on the library in town says "biblioteca" right next to "library."
At night jordan, aka Yogoman, played DJ for almost 400 people at Boundary Bay brewery in Bellingham. The picture on the left is from early in the evening. Many people like to hula-hoop during the music, as the guy in red is demonstrating. Once the floor gets crowded, though, the hula-hoopers are relegated to the sidelines. After the party, jordan's daughter "married" us in an improvised ceremony.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sunday Lake attempt #1
Jonah and I went looking for Sunday Lake, which drains to the north fork of the Snoqualmie, but we were on the wrong side of the river and got lost amidst the clearcuts. We spent all day looking at young forests in the north fork valley and on its side slopes, all doug fir or western hemlock, in various stages of growth.
Found out later that this land, of course originally given to the railroad and then sold cheap to weyerhaeuser, is now owned by Hancock Timber, which is a global timber company with its HQ in Boston. Recently King County paid $22 million to Hancock Timber to keep the land from becoming subdivisions. The company still owns the land and can log it as it has been, but now it can not become a real estate company, as weyerhaeuser has done via its Quadrant subsidiary. From upvalley, looking downvalley:
Monday, May 28, 2007
Family and sport
My half-brother Matt and his family came to Seattle for memorial day weekend, because daughter/niece Courtney was playing in an enormous volleyball tournament at the university. The UW's indoor practice facility was transformed into an arena of 15-20 courts, 192 teams playing in all (about 2000 girls 18 and under, plus their parents). It was a cacaphony of ball slapping, whistle whistling, and shrieky screaming by hyper adolescent females. Not a moment of silence in that place, very exciting. My niece's team didn't win, and she didn't have a particularly good time of it, since her coach is an ass, but other than that, it was fun to see 'em all.
My niece is the one bumping in the picture on the left:
Friday, May 25, 2007
May Mass
The most fun I’ve had on Critical Mass has been when we’ve taken over Highway 99. I’ve gone north before, several years ago, but never south. This Friday was the first time: we jumped on the Columbia Street onramp, and, being several hundred deep, slowly moved onto the viaduct until we controlled all the lanes. We rode to Spokane Street and got off on Harbor Island, turned around and headed up surface streets to Seattle Center, where Folklife was beginning. From there we headed to Lakeview Avenue, which runs along the west side of Capitol Hill. I bailed and headed up the hill at that point, but what fun! If you don’t know about Critical Mass there is some information here.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Wandering in Whatcom County
Another random trip to Bellingham. Took public transit, about 2.5-3 hours travel time and $5 each way. Took a bus out to the County and walked around some small towns, really there wasn't much to see, but the river.
Here is the Community Hall in Van Zandt -- a small town on Highway 9, the Nooksack River and the BNSF Sumas branch. This is probably the most significant public building in the town, along with Everybody's Store, a small convenience/sandwich shop. Recently Van Zandt started their own radio station.
Nugent's Corner is at the intersection of Highways 9 and 542, and is the last place before heading up to the border crossing at Sumas. The IGA is, apparently, "where friends meet friends" in this part of the county.
The Nooksack River point bar had lots of cottonwood and alder, some cherry, but no birch (I was on a birch hunt). Here we look upstream towards Mount Baker from the river bend near Nugent's Corner. The river is big, about 4000 cfs on this day -- this is about 4 times the size of the Green River or 10 times the size of the Cedar on the same day.
This is Bellingham's old city hall, now the Whatcom County Museum.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Tent City on Cherry Hill
Tent City 3 has moved to the skinny lot behind the AM/PM at 22nd and Cherry in the Central District. The lot used to belong to the petrol corporation ARCO but they sold it to the Cherry Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) in the mid-90s for $50,000. The CHBC is located across the street and was using the lot for parking, and now have turned it over for use by tent city.
The rumor is that the CHBC will be destroying their circa-1900 blue church and building a new one. Of course as a viewer I like the old building and think it should stay.
The rumor is that the CHBC will be destroying their circa-1900 blue church and building a new one. Of course as a viewer I like the old building and think it should stay.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Getting the rust out
Down by Broad Street on the waterfront, I happened to see some classic steam engines puff past, pulling old-school Union Pacific passenger cars. Twas the Union Pacific #844 and Southern Pacific #4449 steam locomotives double-headed on a public excursion roundtrip between Tacoma and Everett. These engines were built in 1944 and 1941, respectively. Rail fans paid $300-$400 to ride. I was happy just to watch it go past. Info on the event and insider photos are here. My pictures are below.
Friday, May 18, 2007
The locust
Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) trees grow out of the crack in the ground next to the Garfield Street (aka Magnolia) bridge. This is a very weedy tree, and, like Gorse and Broom, a woody member of the pea family (see entry of May 4). We don't have any woody pea natives, which has been very apparent to me since my recent trip to central america, where big-seeded fabaceous trees are ubiquitous.
The thorny black locust is native to the southeast US. Trees forming groves are often all connected by runners sent out by a central mother-tree (at Golden Gardens is a great example). The specimens shown here likely won't last long: recently crews have been drilling soil cores nearby to prepare for a rehabilitation of the Depression-era bridge.
The thorny black locust is native to the southeast US. Trees forming groves are often all connected by runners sent out by a central mother-tree (at Golden Gardens is a great example). The specimens shown here likely won't last long: recently crews have been drilling soil cores nearby to prepare for a rehabilitation of the Depression-era bridge.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Takk for sist
My friend Stephen was in town from NYC. Our friend Lance's wife live and grew up in Ballard. We went to see the May 17 Norwegian Constitution Day parade in old Scandy town. This is a celebration that has taken place in the Seattle area annually since 1889. It commemorates the signing of the 1814 Norwegian constitution.
Flags and funny get-ups:
Viking ship: I was hoping to see more of these.
This guy has a big Norway flag and is driving some sort of vehicle used to move stuff around down at the waterfront. It has three wheels and can do some cool circly stuff.
Flags and funny get-ups:
Viking ship: I was hoping to see more of these.
This guy has a big Norway flag and is driving some sort of vehicle used to move stuff around down at the waterfront. It has three wheels and can do some cool circly stuff.
Probably the most popular parade presentation was made by the librarians, who did choreographed-yet-chaotic maneuvers with their book carts. Not nordic in theme, i dont know, do librarians tend to be from Scandinavia? It would explain some things...
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Tidying up Ballard Avenue
Vendors at the hebdomadal Ballard Farmers' Market packed up their wares and left the city for their fields and barns.
My friend Charlie, who works for a farm on Vashon Island, totes sand bags that were used to hold his tent poles in place.
Kaylin, Charlie's co-worker, rolls a barrel back to the big blue pick-up that brings Vashon-originated milk, eggs and meats to Ballard every week.
Flower farmers, probably SE Asian immigrants, make some last-minute sales.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Stone pit, poodle bit
The scoop: on Stone Way, south of 40th, the site of the old safeway still lies empty, empty -- a gaping noplace. QFC bought the site and said they would build a store there, apparently to complement their store ten blocks away at 45th and Wallingford. The hole has been there for around two years. But now QFC is saying they might not build it. Rising construction costs. The neighbors are upset, they really wanted that new QFC and now they are like pouty children. But really, no one likes a big concrete hole. It's dumb.
At 21st and Marion in the central district, some lady was swarmed by five large poodles, and one bit her arm. Apparently poodle bites are ticklish.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Derrumbe de nuevo
In the winter of 96-97, a series of storms caused a piece of bluff in Magnolia to peel off towards the sea. Many houses on wealthy Perkins Lane ended up on the beach. The clean up afterwards was a bit half-assed, and as a result you can still find refrigerators, clothes, and driveway slabs scattered around the scarp. It's beautiful, in a post-industrial collapse kind of way, on the other hand, why didn't they just clean up their mess!? So, so typical.
(Left) landslide ruins, with the bluff in the background
(Right) the seattle skyline and mount rainier in the distance
Monday, May 07, 2007
Melissa in the driveway
More plants...
Today in the alley behind Fremont Coffee, I snapped this picture of Lemonbalm (Melissa officinalis) and Bedstraw (Galium sp.) hanging out together in the cracks. The owner of the coffeeshop told me that they were left from an herb garden he used to have there; the coffee shop used to be an herbal remedies shop. Now this area has been mostly covered with gravel, to serve as parking for the cafe.
Galium was flowering where I saw it yesterday, near the RR crossing on Shilshole, but today no such luck.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Following the Ballard Terminal RR
From the houseboat where i am currently dwelling, i can hear the horn of the Ballard Terminal RR as it pulls out off its little storage track on NW 45th in Ballard. The Ballard Terminal is the only shortline RR operating in Seattle; it works on old Great Northern trackage. Today i followed it down to where it interchanges with the BNSF, then followed it back and took some pix. Here you go:
Poison hemlock (foreground) overlooks the BTRR tracks near Leary Way.
Ballard's L'il Beaver (named after the Ballard High School mascot) works at the interchange with BNSF, near Shilshole. Now that Western Pioneer Shipping (frozen fish company) is out of business, all that the beaver does is move cement hoppers to and from Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel. BNSF drops off loaded cement cars at the interchange and BTRR picks them up, and leaves empty cars for BNSF at the same time. I suspect the cement comes from Canada, but I'm not sure...
(Left) Some dude rushes to get his van out of the way as the beaver bears down on him near The Canal restaurant in Ballard. He escaped to safety, but shortly after this, the beaver ripped off the side-view mirror of a Toyota Camry parked too close to the tracks (Right). No, these tracks aren't dead yet, buddy!
Friday, May 04, 2007
Enflorecimiento
I really only make a posting when i get out with my camera. This is mostly a photo-blog. I’m not try to narrate my life or create a text that elucidates my world view. Just some photos, really.
The last week or so i have been house sitting at my friends’ (Jonah and Sarah) house boat, which is moored just east of the Ballard Bridge at the edge of Salmon Bay. The “house” boat is shown in the lower left of the photo, set against a threatening/promising sky to the west.
Went back to the Perkins Lane landslide area; you will see plenty of photos from there in the coming weeks. It’s a very photogenic place. Here are some of the plants I saw flowering today at this site:
(left) Scot's Broom (Cytisus scoparius)
(right) Common gorse (Ulex europaeus)
Both of these are native to Europe, introduced here. Both are leguminaceous shrubs.
The last week or so i have been house sitting at my friends’ (Jonah and Sarah) house boat, which is moored just east of the Ballard Bridge at the edge of Salmon Bay. The “house” boat is shown in the lower left of the photo, set against a threatening/promising sky to the west.
Went back to the Perkins Lane landslide area; you will see plenty of photos from there in the coming weeks. It’s a very photogenic place. Here are some of the plants I saw flowering today at this site:
(left) Scot's Broom (Cytisus scoparius)
(right) Common gorse (Ulex europaeus)
Both of these are native to Europe, introduced here. Both are leguminaceous shrubs.
(left) Himalayan blackberry (Rubus discolor, Rosaceae): Present bane, future bounty
(right) Fringecup (Tellima grandiflora, Saxifragaceae): Started flowering in last 10 days. Present throughout Seattle in slide and seep areas.
(left) Thyme-leaved speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia, Scrophulariaceae) : This flower is so tiny, only about two millimeters across, that i couldnt get a good picture with my camera. But it was flowering today in the landslide area, so here 'tis -- i've borrowed a pic off the web.
(right) Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans, Labiatae): I keyed this one out -- it's not native, but not a problem weed either. It has the look of Prunella, and apparently its healing properties are similar as well.
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