Saturday Morning Sunrise

We get the most beautiful sunrises this time of year. There is a reward for beginning our walks in the dark.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day in Alki. Brilliant blue skies against the bright white snow. A cold, cold wind blowing. Everyone is still in a daze trying to cope with the snow that has now been on the ground for too long. After shoveling out a makeshift pathway, I escaped the house and went for a walk. Here is some of what I saw.

Looking west from near Constellation Park on Beach Drive.


Looking west on Admiral from 59th SW


I was a bit peeved to discover that one of our traffic cones was missing. I had arranged them in the snow in the back of our car to warn other drivers to stay clear. I could still see the footprints in the snow of the person who had taken it away. It gave me something to grumble about while I shoveled snow. After awhile I decided that if someone really needed it, I guess it was ok. Later in the day, while finishing up my walk, I noticed our traffic cone in the middle of the Admiral Way/ 59th SW intersection. It was helping people negotiate the difficult left hand turns there. Made my day! Fine with me if that is how it is used.


A great snowman!


Another good one!


An avant garde snowperson!


The setting sun was reflecting off house windows as I walked up the hill.


This gave me such a great laugh. All this snow around, for days, and all of a sudden I'm thinking of the beach in Maui. A wonderful break from all the focus on the cold even it I can't be there in person. If you can't read it, the license plate holder says, "Happiness is being in Maui." (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

More Snow

My two feet - Winter Style


Snow Lady

Wow, did we get hit with snow again here in Alki. I shoveled the walk early this am, but it has all filled in. Need to go out again. After that, I slogged along the beach, went over to Tully's for coffee, and then hiked around the Point. I stopped for more (hot) coffee and a chat at a friend's house. Then I hiked allllllll the waaayyyyy up the Orleans Street Hill. That's some good exercise. All in all I think I was out for about three hours. Had a wonderful time.




Orleans Street Hill




Alki Beach Shoreline

Snow Days

Snow Tyranosaurus

Even though the snow can be a pain, it is always exciting. It seems as if everyone's routine life is thrown up into the air and we all run around like chickens with our heads cut off. Fun!

How many times did we nag our teenage son to be careful on the roads last night? He made the smart move and didn't even drive home. Don't know if he will even be able to get home today. It's OUR car!

I got out for a walk around 8 this am. I bagged the 5 miler and did just a quick walk down the beach and back. I carried my Sunday New York Times in my backpack, snapped a few photos and headed for Tully's for a grande latte. I sat around and read the paper there for about an hour. Heading back, I didn't want to cross Admiral Way again (too dangerous for pedestrians); so I detoured around Alki Point and along the south beach toward home. The icy conditions really made for slow walking. It was frustrating to have to focus on my footing instead of the beautiful scenery.

Got home and shoveled the sidewalk. So proud of myself that we were prepared with a snow shovel and sidewalk salt.

Maybe I will get out for another walk later this afternoon. Fortunately, I don't feel like I have cabin fever.


We've had a beautiful full moon this week. It's on its way out now.


Snow Person (and friends)


Even the sea gulls were shivering.


I love to photograph storm grates. Always something interesting there.


Looking west toward Alki Point.


Snow Rose. Probably won't see good roses again until next year.


Elliott Bay looking toward Queen Anne Hill early this morning. We get such beautiful morning light this time of year.

Waiting for the Storm

"They" have been predicting stormy cold weather for a week now. I'm not looking forward to it only because I hate to drive in icy conditions. There was a bit of sun this afternoon. I tried to catch it on a quick walk but clouds were already moving in. Probably not THE storm. But a sign of things to come.

I wrapped up our outdoor faucets today. Have you done that yet?






This was our view of the sunrise last Saturday morning about 7:30.

Lookie-Loo's (sp?)

Everyone was looking at the full moon this morning. And the mountains. And the water. And the sunrise. It doesn't often get more breathtaking than this. Since I didn't have a great camera with me, I decided to take photos of the people taking photos. The good shots are up on the West Seattle Blog and the Beach Drive Blog.




Even the TV trucks were down here.

Happy New Year - 2008

Better late than never. These photos were taken during my walk on New Year's Day.


Imagine how excited these kids were as they watched the Harley's pass by. I bet they couldn't wait until they were old enough to trade those tricycles in for motorcycles.


I love to swim laps, but this is ridiculous. I thought the New Year's Day Polar Bears just ran into the Sound and then ran out. So who were these guys swimming from Duwamish Head down to Alki Beach? And there wasn't a "safety" rowboat in sight in case someone got a cramp. Way too macho in my humble opinion.

Tree Full of Robins

One thing I really miss during the winter months is the sound of exuberantly singing birds. I always note the coming of Spring when I hear the happy chirping of birds welcoming the sunrise.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered that this perfectly normal looking winter tree was actually full of noisy robins. I think they were having some kind of party and they didn't like me hanging around. So I left.

Winter is Upon Us!

Seen on the Avenue of the Stars on the Beach Drive beach south of Alki Point

The shortest day of the year is right around the corner. The Winter Solstice occurs this Friday, December 21st. Then we will begin the new cycle of lengthening days. On the one hand, there is relief that the worst of the dark days will be behind us. On the other is the knowledge that we still have a season of cold weather ahead.

Today is rainy and stormy - and that is all right. I love all that water in the air. The Wall Street Journal published an article about SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) yesterday. It said that walking by, in or around water is the latest therapy for the Winter Blues. Technically, the scientists call it "negative air ionization" therapy. Well, I could have told them that. I have been using that therapy all year and haven't been depressed one bit.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Carpe Diem

Well, the fact that there is now a new park bench installed right in front of my favorite sitting rock means I have lost a lot of my privacy. When there were only rocks to sit on, I didn't have much company. Now, however, I have often been forced to move on and find my solitude elsewhere.

In spite of that, I really like the plaque embedded in front of the bench. I'm not sure I understood the significance of "Carpe Diem" ("seize the day") until I saw the Dead Poets Society last night. Yes, I am behind in my movies.

Here is the quote by Henry David Thoreau read before each meeting of the Dead Poets Society: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived … I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms..." (Walden, 1854). Thank you to Wikipedia for the quote.

You now know the location of my rock. But there are so many similar rocks there, you will never know exactly which one I sit on.

Rainy Days

My little Alki neighborhood had over 5 inches of rain on Monday. I confess, I didn't go out for a walk. We got rain again today. Which is ok with me. I rather have this than a drought.


You know I love the winter Tangles that are exposed when the leaves fall off the tree branches. The rainy landscape was so dark this morning that I couldn't take this photo without the autmoatic flash on my camera activating.

Sunday Churchgoer

I still go to "church" on Sundays. It's just a different denomination than the one I attended when I was a kid.

What a Beautiful Day

It doesn't get much better than this around here. At least not in the winter. (I know, I know, we are in the middle of autumn. But anything past November 1 seems like winter to me.) I love these bright, sunny cold days. I'd be happy as a clam if we got sun all winter. It wouldn't matter to me how cold it got. Wasn't it author Tom Robbins who likened the Northwest winter cloud cover to a damp, dirty washcloth?

The only thing that would make me happier right now would be to get a good look at the orca whales.

Here is a patch of now dead frosted leaves lying in the shadows. I love their furry coat of ice crystals. Just a few weeks ago these leaves were bright as the bell of the ball. How quickly their fortunes fell.



I posted a photo of this feathered phone pole the day I first "saw" it. I had been walking by it for weeks before I noticed it. UGH! I'm posting it again not so much to highlight the phone pole itself as much as an example of how stunning the light was this morning. Light as subject matter? We artists understand what that is all about.

Have You Heard?

About Artist Shirley Scheier? She is the University of Washington art professor who was detained by police for taking photographs of electrical wires. She was planning to use the photos as reference material for her art prints. Unknown to her, the wires were attached to an electrical substation identified by the Department of Homelad Security as a "critical infrastructure" target. For more details about her story, click the linked Title above.

I know a lot of you out there probably have no idea why an artist would be interested in power lines. I for one love the intriguing negative shapes formed by the stark black lines when viewed against a light field of skyscape. I'm attracted in the same way to the black lines of tree branches that are exposed in autumn when the leaves fall from the trees.

So, I'm out there walking in a residential neighborhood early Sunday morning. And I start to see all these beautiful branches and twigs and pieces of sky that weren't there a few weeks ago. I just had to record them. I whipped out my camera and started snapping away. But I got this paranoid feeling that the neighbors wouldn't like it. That they would be suspicisous of some stranger in a sweatshirt and baseball cap taking random photos of their territory.

A part of me kept wondering (truly not seriously, but the thought did come up) if someone would call the "authorities" who would then come and take me "away." We are living in such a different world these days.

Singing By Water

This is one of my favorite "beach" photos. These women were singing and dancing together in the cold breeze out on the point this morning. One of them had taken off her shoes and was standing on the rocks in her bare feet. I blurred the photo because I felt as if I might be invading their privacy by posting a picture. I'm so curious about what they were up to. Was it a ritual of some sort? Or were they just having fun? Maybe they were singing to the newly arrived orca whales. Right after I took this photo they walked away and the moment was was gone.

______________________________________________________
More "Stars"?


Or are they Fall Leaves?


_____________________________________________
More Leaves
I can't remember the Autumn leaves ever being prettier than they have been this year. A friend thinks it is because of all the rain we got this summer.


_____________________________________________
No Orcas Yet
I'm so excited to hear that the orcas have arrived. I was disappointed that I didn't see any last year at all. Hopefully this season will be different and I will get lucky.

Starry Night

The sky was so pretty the other night. Crisp and clear. Twinkly stars against the black sky. This morning on my walk as I'm looking toward the ground, I see the starry skies repeated in the fallen autumn leaves. Nature does that, often.





On one phone pole there is bubble gum (see Installation Art on July 20, 2007). On another, feathers.


I have seen the graffiti in Alki and I too will not post it.

November Sunset

Now that the sun is setting an hour earlier, the winter darkness is closing in for real. For me, the antidote has always been to get outdoors. The more I can get outside, the better I always feel.

A New Leaf

Okay, this is Green Lake and not Alki............Sometimes I need a change. I had almost finished walking around the lake and enjoying the fall foliage, when my eye was snagged by this rather odd "leaf" perched among the branches. I didn't really think of it as litter. I think it was hoping to be retrieved by its owner. The juxtaposition of the natural with the unnatural made me laugh. I have a very odd sense of humor.

Happy Halloween

I was so shocked the other morning when I spotted this evidence of frost on the leaves. I remember in New England by Halloween there was usually "frost on the pumpkins." So we get frost here this year as well.


Here is a shot of one of my sitting rocks. I guess it is totally frivolous and self indulgent to spend time just sitting on a rock doing nothing but looking out at the water. Oh well. That's what I like to do. Especially when it is cold and windy and there isn't another soul around. I was a bit miffed the other day, however, to discover that a park bench has been installed just a few feet away. So do I sit on my rock or on the bench? I will admit that this rock is not on Alki Beach. I've been expanding my walking routes.

Big Wind Party/ Photo Shoot

I have always loved the wind. Whenever we have a big wind storm, I am one of the first people to get down to the beach. I love to sit by the water and let the wind blow in my face.

Wow, were there a lot of people at the beach doing the same thing yesterday. And so many cameras!

It looked like there were lots of nice SLR digital cameras as well as "snapshot cameras," video cameras and cell phone cameras. Of course there was a KOMO TV camera. The TV stations always send someone out to cover the wind storms.

One guy had a HUGE telephoto lens on a tripod. The tripod was supposed to stabilize the camera. But I was wondering how he was going to stabilize the tripod. The whole setup seemed to be blowing all over the place. He must have been using a really fast shutter speed.

I had brought my "old style" Kool Pix digital - the kind that has a lag time between when you press the button and when the shutter opens. I still haven't figured out when, during that time, the photo is actually "taken." The camera was pretty useless since no matter what I did I couldn't stop it from moving for the amount of time that seemed necessary to shoot the photo. I finally decided to just point and shoot and hope for the best.

Then I took out my cell phone camera and decided I couldn't do any worse with that.

See the video posted on the West Seattle blog and the great photos at the Beach Drive blog - linked to this site.

A Different Kind of Walk

Alki Beach from the Ferry


Augusta Asberry

I got to see a different perspective today - both of Alki Beach and life. I took the ferry to Bremerton early this morning to attend the funeral of my friend Augusta Asberry. Augusta was a nationally renowned artist who specialized in paintings of dancing African American women in their traditional native clothing. Her figures were colorful and dynamic.

Augusta was the oldest of 10 children from a family living in Louisiana. Most of her childhood was spent taking care of her brothers and sisters. Later on she had three children of her own and helped raise three step sons. The chapel today was full of relatives and friends. The City of Bremerton declared today "Augusta Asberry Day."

Among the things Augusta's family said about her during the service was that she was an artist who worked for 35 years as a nurse. During that time in the Bay Area, a painting of hers had won first prize in a prestigious art competition. But when the organizers discovered she was black, they refused to give her the award.

At the time of her death, Augusta was the President of Women Painters of Washington, the oldest art organization of its kind in the nation. I am so proud that the group was able to give her the validation she deserved. Hopefully it made up for some of the unfairness she had encountered during her life.

RIP

Memorials set up for the victims of last year's spectacular car crash off the Duwamish Head sea wall. That explains yesterday's bouquet of flowers as well.

Pieces of Summer

Now that summer is gone I have a few leftover photos that I never got around to posting. So I guess you would say this is a "clean up" post.
_________________________________________
Blind Runner
I've seen this blind runner being guided by his friend a number of times.

Does anyone out there remember Norm Bright? He was another blind runner who used to stand in the middle of the Green Lake running path yelling for help until someone, anyone, would volunteer to guide him around the lake. Someone always did.


_____________________________________
Wild Roses

Although evidence of the changing seasons is everywhere, there is a particular clump of wild roses that acts as my "season barometer." In the winter the plants are nothing more than bare brown sticks. In the spring, after the sticks sprout bright green foliage, I celebrate the unfolding of the bright pink flowers. Slowly, as the summer passes, the petals fall away leaving huge, red rose hips. And the seasonal cycle starts again.

Every time I walk by that clump of flowers I am reminded of the wild roses of Martha's Vineyard that I used to pass while I bicycled along the Atlantic shore. I was 16 years old then and the world made sense.

____________________________________
Wild Ninja
One morning I spotted this Ninja star lying in the sand. It was only about two inches across and made of cardboard. It couldn't have hurt anyone. But I found it during the time when Alki Beach was having all that supposed gang activity during the long summer evenings.


_________________________________
Magnolia
During one week this summer my son was working in Magnolia and I had to forego my morning Alki Beach walks and drive him to his job. It was a great opportunity for me to walk the dog in Discovery Park. Years ago when my husband and I first moved to Seattle, we rented a house in Magnolia just a few blocks from the Park. I don't get over there often anymore and it was nice to get back. I hiked along the cliffs and out to the Lighthouse where I sat on a rock for a while - one of my favorite activities.

The beach was great but I was rather disappointed at the state of the outbuildings. At one time they had been occupied and well maintained with fresh paint. Presently, they appear abandoned and in disrepair. Truly, it was disheartening for me to wonder about a country that now seems to take no pride in the state of its commons. Obviously our priorities are elsewhere and we just aren't willing to put the effort into keeping up what we once cared about. Sure enough, as I was standing there in disappointment, one of the doors fell off its hinges with a bang. You can see the door lying on the ground in the second photograph. It was as if the building was actually talking to me saying, "Do something, will you?" I guess these buildings are so far out of the public eye that the people making these decisions figure no one notices or cares. Well, I do.






_____________________________________
The Painting Twins
On my way out of the park I ran into these two men who had set up their painting easels. Being a painter myself, I couldn't just walk by them without a conversation. Turns out they were painting landscapes of Puget Sound with Alki Beach in the distance. So I asked them, "Where are you from?" And their answer was, "West Seattle." I said, "I live in Alki." "So do we," they replied. We had a good laugh. Three artists from Alki randomly meeting across Elliott Bay in Discovery Park. My Magnolia hiking trip had an Alki connection after all.


__________________________________
Bird With a View
Sometimes I think it would be great to live life as a bird. Well, if there is such a thing as reincarnation, maybe there is still a chance for me.

__________________________________
More Mystery Flowers
I found these flowers left on a spot near Duwamish Head this morning.

Shades of Gray

It's really stating the obvious that most of us in Seattle become sensitized to the many nuances of the color gray - whether we are artists or not. I'm always inspired by the varieties of gray I notice when I walk the beach on a cloudy Sunday morning in September.

A view of the beach just about 7am as I started my walk. Although the fall and winter can be dreary, there are often spectacular natural views early in the morning which are created courtesy of the distant edges of the cloud cover. The gaps of clear sky visible off toward the Cascades or Olympic Mountains allow the sun to shoot across the horizon, bouncing off anything in its path. (This is why artist Mike Burns would get up at 4:00 am during the summer months to capture images for his paintings.)
_______________________________________
And if the edges of the cloud cover close up, there is also the possibility of "sky holes." This morning the sun made a direct hit on one of them.




_______________________________________
I got to thinking about why the tide seemed especially low just about the time I rounded Duwamish Head on my way back to Alki. (Sure enough my tide table said low tide was at 8:44 this morning.)

One clue might be that the Autumnal Equinox was at 2:51 this morning.(Autumnal Equinox Info) So, summer is officially over. Apparently one man hasn't gotten the message because I spotted him at 8:30 am in his shorts actually wading in one of the tide pools. Brrrrr........

I started wondering if the equinoxes really have any impact on the tides since they only mark the point where the sun crosses the equator. Since I really don't know much about this tide business, I did a bit of online investigation.

I found a hint from this website: tide info which states: "During the time of the Vernal Equinox and Autumnal Equinox, around March 21 and September 23, when the Sun crosses the equator, very high tides will occur. These high tides will occur during either the Full or New Moon nearest to the Vernal Equinox and Autumnal Equinox."

Hmmmmmmmm, which means I needed to find out when the next full moon is. See Moon Info. Apparently the closest full moon will occur this Friday night. Sure enough, according to my tide table we will see a 12 foot high tide on Friday evening at 6:17 pm.

Makes sense to me, I guess, but the truth is that I really don't know what I am talking about here. Most of my nature knowledge is experiential. The tide comes in and the tide goes out. And I notice that.
________________________________________
Not everything around here is idyllic. I passed one gentleman, still asleep, who appeared to have spent the night on a park bench using a knapsack as a pillow. Another was eating his breakfast out of a garbage can. Shades of gray to be sure.............

______________________________________
The title of this gray painting is "Don't Hold Your Breath." For many reasons. It will be on display at the Alexis Hotel from October through December.

Found on the Promenade

Glad She's Back

"With the faith and courage of
their forefathers who made
possible the freedom of these
United States

THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

dedicate this copy of
the Statue of Liberty as a pledge
of everlasting fidelity and loyalty."

Alki Beach Walking Club

I have started walking earlier in the morning and am being paced by a few other regulars who have walked the beach for years. You can barely see the Bald Eagle sitting on top of the light pole.

At one time this morning we had a total of ten walkers in our group! We have started joking that we are members of the Alki Beach Walking Club. It's sort of a defensive move. A number of the walkers enjoy coffee and chit chat after the walk. At one point last week they were "told" to move by another local social group which had decided that they "owned" those particular tables. Notice that I am intentionally leaving out lots and lots of details. So, the suggestion was made that maybe we needed to be an offical "club" in order to get tables for coffee time.

In actuality of course, anybody who walks Alki is a member of the club. We're all in this together.

The Advantages of Insomnia............

Sorry I don't have a photo of tonight's spectacular lunar eclipse. Believe me, I have tried taking a photo of the moon before and it just never works for me.

I spent over an hour in our backyard tonight (from about 3 to 4 am) drinking hot tea and bundled up in my hoodie patiently watching the Earth's shadow cross over the moon's surface. I set up a deck chair out on the lawn in order to get a good view and just sat. What a show! And no clouds anywhere to obscure the view.

I'm never outside at this time of night, although I'm often awake. The eclipse gave me a good reason to get out and reexperience the notion of "peace and quiet." Perfect conditions for contemplation. About how no matter how much we might screw up our environment, there's no way for us to screw up eclipses. They will still be happening long after we are gone.

Here's a web site with more info and pictures.
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/27/335236.aspx

Beach Sculpture

Some really cool sculptures down on the beach this morning. Someone spent a lot of time and effort on these. Our mystery beach artist..............

Keep Your Dogs off the Beach!

I haven't been tracking the baby seals too closely, but I do know they are around and are having a hard time finding peaceful places to rest.

I did spot one this morning, but I won't tell you where. He was sleeping on an outcropping which was completely surrounded by water. It should have protected him from most of the beach walkers. As I was watching from afar, he was chased off the rocks by two huge golden retrievers - off leash. Their owner just looked up at me and said, "Sorry."

I could see the baby's head bobbing in the water. Occasionally he looked back toward the dogs. I never did see the mother show up.

I'll just leave it at that. I'm not going to get all preachy. I will say that I have a dog. I walk it every day. And I follow the rules. He's always on a leash and never on the beach.

My friend Casey. (Not my dog.)

A Second Baby Seal

A huge scene down at the beach this morning at about 7 as a second baby seal appeared. He was sleeping just about 50 yards away from the first one who was there again as well. Someone has named this baby seal "Spot" and the first one "Spud."

Good samaritans have been posting warning signs, arranging traffic cones and setting up "crime tape." Some people have been keeping round-the-clock watch to make sure the seals aren't touched by people or attacked by dogs. But the Parks Dept. came and took down some of the cones and told everybody just to leave the seals alone.

This is a good time to remind people to ALWAYS keep their dogs off the beach - whether leashed or not. The beach rule is not just to keep the beach clean, but also to protect wildlife. There is a $500 fine if you let your dog on the beach and a $2,000 fine if you touch or harass a seal.

Baby Seal

Please be on the lookout for a baby seal that has been lying on the beach this week across the street from the Cactus Restaurant near 63rd SW. Most of you already know that the baby seals are left on the beach while their mothers fish for salmon in the Sound. And that the moms won't retrieve the babies if they have been touched by humans.

Installation Art..........

Well, I have been walking, although I haven't been posting much.

I've been trying to walk a few more hills for aerobic exercise. And since there aren't a lot of hills at the beach, I have had to go "inland" a bit. One morning this week I was slogging through a downpour in some nondescript residentical area and came face to face with this. Yes, it is a phone pole decorated with wads of chewed up gum. And it looks as if at one time the pieces of gum were arranged in the shape of a heart.

Oh, the speculations that came up with this one. It does seem as if there are so many pieces of gum, of so many different types, that this project must be ongoing, rather than a one shot deal. Who could chew all this gum at one time? I'm wondering if there is a group of neighborhood kids who are collaborating on this. Or if there is one person who "drops their gum off" daily as they walk home from work. Or maybe two different people are carrying on a romantic conversation from a distance - each one making an equal contribution.

Don't I have a quirky mind. I'm probably the only one in West Seattle who is at all intrigued by this.

Sorry, this probably doesn't qualify as "beach walk" material. But I did get to Alki Beach later in my route, if that counts. Anyway, I'm getting too many blogs and don't need another category...........

Sitting by Magnolia's Water

In all this heat I've been trying to stay close to the water. Of course I've spent a lot of time down at Alki sitting in the comfotable breeze. But while running errands yesterday I found myself near one of my favorite fish & chips spots: Little Chinook's at Fishermen's Terminal. It was fun to sit by THEIR water (Magnolia's) for a change of pace.

A Breath of Fresh Air

It really surprised me this morning when I got down to the beach and discovered that we had a stiff North wind blowing in off the water. For some reason the water always turns navy blue when the wind is from the North. It's a Monday and the energy of summer weekend activities has dissipated.

Tai Chi at "Anchor Park"


Buddhist Monks

Small World Syndrome

So, I was out of state visiting my good friend Carol who I have known for more than 35 years (more about that trip later when I have time). We got to talking about her cousin who is also an artist. Who is a sculptor in Seattle. Who was fascinated by Cowboys and Indians when he was a kid. Who makes outdoor re-creations of famous Western cowboy and indian battle scenes. And is making one to install on the beach near San Francisco.

Got it yet? That's right. Her cousin is none other than Thom Ross, the artist whose work was seen briefly on Alki Beach this spring. More info about him can be seen in the May 27th post below.

The moral to the story is to always mind your P's and Q's because you never know who knows who.

Beach Glitter, etc.

Beach Glitter


Pirate Flag at Blue Bottle Park


Checkerboard Shell on the Bulkhead


Grayscale Evening


Dancing on the Beach. This was the first time I had seen this. Someone had taped together a large number of cardboard sheets and laid them on the sand as a dance floor. These dancers were really good and seemed to be having fabulous fun as well.

JOHNSTONS' FLAG

Happy Fourth of July. It's good to be back in town. We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I've really missed walking the beach.

Jack Kornfield

I attended a workshop with Jack Kornfield in June. I was hoping to get some information about the relationship between creativity and meditation. He didn't say too much about that. But toward the end of the afternoon he advised, "Walk By Water." Well, I could have told him that. I walk by water every day - almost. But it was nice to hear someone like him validate what I do. Too bad this is such a bad photo. It's a phone photo. I didn't want to start taking photos of him like I was some kind of a groupie.

Jury Duty

I spent the end of May and beginning of June in downtown Seattle on jury duty in King County Superior Court. We were hearing a civil case. Washington State's Department of Social and Health Services was being sued by four siblings - foster children who had been abused for five and a half years in two separate foster care homes. I've linked a news web site about the case to the title "Jury Duty" above. It made me very sad to think that while those kids were living in terror, I was blithely walking my dog at the beach.

For a while I thought maybe I would write a longer account of the trial and post it over on my Personal Blog. But I've decided that I need to move on and you don't need to hear the gory details.

The afternoon I finally got home, I grabbed my stuff and went out for a two hour walk. Needless to say, after nearly four weeks of not walking much, I got some pretty bad blisters.

Below are some of the photos I took during my low tide, Sunday afternoon walk in early June. I have finally had some time to edit and post them.

People










Places








And Things

Glorious Day!

I have lived in the Alki neighborhood for a long time. I hate to admit that for many years I never took the time to walk the beach during the June low tides. And before I knew it, summer was gone and so was the opportunity to walk the beach. I always had one excuse or another: babies, yardwork, artwork, pet care, housework, exercise. Taking a couple of hours off to enjoy the sand, water and sun seemed irresponsibly frivolous. Finally a couple of years ago, I decided that I was going to take advantage of the low tides no matter what.

So today, despite ten loads of laundry piled in the basement, no food in the house, a dog that hasn't been properly walked in three weeks (I don't take him on the beach with me), and a house and yard that could use A LOT of attention, I decided to give myself a break.

I took my "good" camera and went out to walk about noon. Low tide was scheduled for a little after one pm. When I walk the beach at low tide, I have to time it just right. I start at the Alki Bathhouse and head out to Duwamish Point. By the time I get there I hope it is just about low tide. I hang out on the beach below Luna Park for a while and then turn around and head back toward Alki.

If I'm not mistaken, low tide lasts about twenty minutes. Then the tide starts to roll back in. I want to be careful that I don't get caught in some of the really deep pools between the exposed sandbars. I'm not really afraid of being trapped, since I'm a good swimmer and the shore is so close. But I don't want to get totally wet either.

During my walk today, I got a pile of really good photos. But I don't have time to edit them now and won't for a few days at least. It's back to downtown tomorrow morning. Later in the week I hope to be able to reveal the mystery of my disappearance from Alki for the last three weeks.


These are Rachel and Alex's sandals. As soon as they saw me snapping this photo, they ran up to me to make sure I got their names. These kids sure know how to start marketing themselves early. Sorry, I'm not the PI or the Seattle Times.

Spotted by Jerry Whiting

Jerry says, "I snapped this photo at the foot of California Ave just where it hits the beach."

For those of you who might not be in on it, the face peeking out of the photo is the work of a local guerilla artist. For the story behind the art go to West Seattle Blog

I have linked Jerry's photography web site to the Post Title above.

"Alki Beach" poem by Richard Hugo

Here is a Richard Hugo poem about Alki Beach submitted by Kreg - a student librarian at the West Seattle Library. Thank you Kreg! More information about local writer, the late Richard Hugo, can be found by clicking on the Title Link above.

Alki Beach - by Richard Hugo
Clams and barnacles clatter
black and white in the first feet
of a new tide. By old piles
perch gleam, slide by flexing
men o’war. Bathers urge
the summer to their skins
and water climbs in air
to hurt their eyes. Gulls
echo in two-note screams to the south
of pioneering winds, the moment
a ferry spawns waste.

Where whites first landed
is forgotten. Spray,
abandoned, falls from the statue
by the marked-off, unused picnic grounds.

A love begins: a beer can, tossed,
stops rolling where waves
can barely reach. And a love is ended
or it never started: one man,
his coat too dark for the day,
where waves will never reach, remembers
what descended where the bubbles are.

from A Run of Jacks (1961)

Incidentally, the West Seattle Library will be hosting a conversation about Hugo’s work next Sunday (June 3) at 2pm. More info at:
Richard Hugo Library Talk

Thom Ross' Art on the Beach

Some pretty fabulous art on the beach this Sunday morning. I'll try to get more specifics to post later. Each figure looks to be at least 10 feet tall and there are 20 of them. When the art is finished there will be 120 figures and it will be exhibited near San Francisco.

More info about the story behind the art work can be seen at West Seattle Blog

View from Lowell's

Unfortunately, this is as close to the beach as I got last week. And next week will be pretty much the same. No beach walks for me.


I have walked over these tiles in the Market for years and never saw this grouping before. Funny what my eyes pick out when I least expect it. The tiles are prominently located near the "Pig" and the Fish Sellers. Anyone who knows anything about Seattle history knows what is behind the names. It's too sad for me to relate here.

Happy Birthday to Me

A Cold South Wind

It is very odd. My experience is that our cold winds usually come from the North. The past two mornings the cold wind has come from the South.

I was thinking yesterday how difficult it is for me to put into words what I sense when I am outdoors: the smell of the air, the angle of the sun, the nature of the wind, the rhythm of the waves, the brightness of the light. Every day when I walk I am able to sense a different combination of these variables. I'm not convinced I could ever articulate those experiences.

But this morning I came upon an article that successfully put into words the elusive feelings I am trying to describe. The article is on today's NY Times Opinion Page and titled, "The Scent of Lilacs" by Verlyn Klinkenborg. It is copyrighted so I can't post it here. But it reminds me that good writers can indeed conjure up the ineffable experience of nature using only squiggly lines on a piece of paper.

I will be out of commission for the next four or five days.

Please Pack Out Your Garbage

Robins are allowed to litter


Thank You to whoever did this good deed!

Pet Plaque

"To Herbert Barsy
From His Family
Hooray for the Circle of Love
Created by People and Their Pets"

Luna Park

"In 1907 a saltwater natatorium which occupied this space in the complex was built for the Luna Park 'seaside pleasure resort.' Housed in a large airy building, the swimming pool remained in operation until it was burned down in 1931. In the 1950's its cement walls were filled to create the park in front of you. In the 1990's cracks in the walls were repaired. Deemed unsafe in 2004, the seawalls that once enclosed the swimming pool were then demolished. As they were hauled away, so was the last vestige of the original natatorium."

Our Anchor



Gives Me the Shivers:

Historical Point of Interest
"On the evening of November 18, 1906, approximately two miles due west of this site, the steamer, Dix, while traversing from Seattle to Port Blakely, collided with the Alaska Steamer, Jeanie. Forty-two persons were carried to an early watery grave. That tragic collision culminated grief unsurpassed to date, within Puget Sound residents and seamen alike.
Erected National Maritime Week - 1973"
Memorial Located at Luna Park

Spring at its Best

Someone's Coming Back

What a Good Dad!

I was so tickled to see this "Dad" (I assume) with his three young children setting up their spot for the day. It was only 9am on Friday and they were already out getting ready for a day of sun.
I never had a "castle" like that when I was a kid.

Walking Withdrawal

I'm starting to get behind on my walking reports. I have had to catch the bus out of West Seattle early in the morning for daylong sessions in Downtown Seattle. By the time I get home I have so many chores that I don't have time for a beach walk. Unfortuantely this is going to last for a while. But I will try to keep up somehow.............

Here's an early morning view of the water before I got on the bus to head out of town. Sort of a longing backwards look at what I will be missing for the day...


Everyone in Alki knows our crossing guard Marianne. She monitors the crosswalk at 59th and Admiral Way. She does her best to keep us from being hit by the speeding cars that often don't stop for the red lights.


Where is our giant driftwood tree that has been sitting on the beach for the last two years (I think)? Well lookie here...........It has magically turned up. It is now lying in dirt just west of the Alki Bathhouse. Its beautiful tendrils of roots have been sawed off.


Below is the tree a few days later when it had been decorated with plantings and protected by a little fence. At first I thought this was pretty sad - a once great tree of the Northwest Forest ending up as nothing more than a planting prop. But I did take a closer look and decided that in fact it is ok. The City did a nice job saving it. The other option was probably to just saw the whole thing up and drag it away. But I think people would have been upset.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the tree when it was sitting on the beach. If anyone out there does I'd love to post it. I will give you photo credit.

The Old Man of the Mountain

So I was sitting there on the beach minding my own business and suddenly a face with barnacles for eyes appears out of the rocks. It's really not a very good face, but my artist eyes seem to find faces even when they aren't there. I guess it is similar to finding faces in paintings. Once you see the face smiling back at you, the painting is never the same. I always have to paint it out and start over.

Have you ever seen "The Old Man in the Mountain?" It's the New Hampshire state symbol. So I'm not the only one who sees faces in rocks. Well actually, the Old Man lost most of his face to gravity in 2003. I guess gravity catches up with everybody's face after awhile.


And the whole time while I was staring at the face staring back at me, I was being observed by a huge bald eagle sitting on a rock about 80 feet away. Talk about being startled. I mean me, not the bird. It was clear from his demeanor that he was so comfortable that he wasn't about to leave. So I did.


There was a beautiful sky hole directly above the mountains this morning. The only blue in an otherwise gray skyscape. It's easy for me not to notice that the mountain snow has disappeared for the summer. It's a bad sign that I'm not really paying attention to what I am looking at. This spring I will try to keep track of how long it lasts.

Where are the Geese?

This is the flock of brant geese that was recently misidentified in the West Seattle Herald. The writer thought they were Canada geese.

So I have been wondering lately, where in fact ARE the Canada geese? The last several years there have been large flocks of Canada geese that congregate near the Water Taxi dock and all the way on down past Salty's. Usually I enjoy watching the baby goslings grow as the weather warms. This year the wide expanse of lawns around the Boat Launch are strangely quiet. Not a Canada goose to be seen. No goslings at all. It does seem very, very odd to me. And I suspect that SOMEONE has taken them away. There is no other explanation for their sudden and complete disappearance.

I'm not sure I miss them though. The goose poop was a major problem, but not enough to convince me that the geese needed to be gotten rid of. But last year in particular, the birds were extremely aggressive. They would spread their wings and charge me. It got so bad that I started detouring around them. Have you ever been bitten by a goose? It really, really hurts.

"RESIST"

I wonder how long this has been here and I just never saw it before.


My favorite flowers - especially on a hot, sunny day when they explode into fragrance.


I've seen three herons in two days - many more than usual.

Totem Pole

Totem Pole Face - behind the Log House Museum


It says "The Birthplace of Seattle - Log House Museum."


Graffiti


I usually walk in the mornings so this particular evening walk
was an exception.


Another penny


Someone is practicing stacking rocks. Occasionally I come across
unfathomable stacks of 7 or 8 large rocks. They look like they must
be stuck together with super glue. Usually the stacks are located
on the beach in a spot destined to be covered by the high tide. Sometimes it is interesting to sit and watch the waves devour the rocks as the water level gets higher and higher. Sort of like Wendy when she was tied to the stake in Peter Pan - which was terrifying - not fun. And I think she was rescued before she drowned.


Another mini-stack of rocks.


Who said birds aren't smart?


I will let you guess what this is.


A very small pond.


Beach Art


"Blue Bottles Park"


In "Blue Bottles Park"



Find the Blue Heron.


CEPHEUS - Winter
"Live without Fear and Love just as Bravely! For Love is a Decision,
a Choice. It Must be Nurtured and Practiced Even in Our Darkest
Moment! So that we May Heal a Fractured World and become
Masters of Our Hearts and Kings of Our World."


Stars in Constellation Park


I think this is "chaff" blown down from the poplar trees along the
promenade but I could be wrong.


This tire was gone when I went by the next day. It must have floated out to sea. It looked to me as if those rocks and driftwood were intentionally arranged and not randomly placed there by the waves.


An Andy Goldsworthy type of shot - but a little too sweet.


More Andy Goldsworthy


Every clematis I have ever planted in my yard has died, so I
am resigned to just appreciating the neighbors'.

Sunday Mornings

Weekend mornings around here are very busy. Used to be that I could walk on a Sunday morning and not see anyone. Now it is like a highway: joggers, baby carriages, dogs and scuba divers.Lots to see though.

Memorial Plaque.



Before and after photos.



It is difficult to convey eerie silence through a photo. Usually I am at least accompanied by the sound of gently lapping wavelets, if not smashing waves. Almost never is the Sound as smooth as a mountain lake in late afternoon. Turns out it was what is called "the calm before the storm." By the time I came back around, the clouds had rolled in, the wind had picked up and it had started to rain.


Breakfast. Before I could take another photo - DOWN THE HATCH!


I have no idea what this is. A type of Stonehenge I guess. A friend of mind thought it might be an Alki Beach "crop circle."


Lucky Penny. Well, I picked up the dollar bill. Do you think I picked up the penny? When I was little, finding a penny meant it was my lucky day. Nowadays, a penny isn't quite as valuable. But I think it is bad luck not to pick it up. Not picking it up feels ungrateful. So I did.


A better photo of the Bird Man of Alki.


A sidewalk plaque near Whale's Tail Park.

I remember this Christmas day a few years ago as well. It was one you could never forget. First of all, the weather was totally out of character for the end of December. The sun was out, the air was warm as spring and the water sparkled like it was made of crinkled tin foil.

Then the orcas appeared. A huge pod of them. They danced across the Sound for over an hour. They jumped completely out of the water, as if to revel in the beautiful afternoon. Then they moved south, past Alki Point and down to Vashon. Word got out and everyone came down to the beach to see the orcas.

I've been looking for the orcas this year but haven't seen any at all. I have heard that the gray whales are here. Gray whales are nice, but they just don't do it for me the way the orcas do.

Another One

Another one of many beach constructions I will see this summer. Might as well keep a record of them.

Scavenger Hunt

I'd be interested to hear if people know what these things are or where they are located.

Sea Gull Warning

For those of you who haven't yet experienced "sea gulls doing what sea gulls do," they really do sit on top of the lamp standards waiting for us to walk under them. The birds have very good aim. I always walk around the post when I see this.

Sand Castle

This sand castle is difficult to see but it is so unusual that I just had to post it.

Water Bottles

From a distance this bunch of water bottles looked like garbage left over from someone's Friday night party. Often when I come across something like this early in the morning I clean it all up and dump it in the trash.



But when I got closer, I discovered that one of the water bottles had someone's keys draped over it. And it occurred to me that these bottles had been left intentionally for the later return of some of Alki Beach's regular Saturday morning runners. However, I couldn't imagine that the keys were left there intentionally.



I have heard that there is a group of runners who have been meeting at the Beach at 7am on Saturday mornings for years for an early morning run.

Anyway, when I came back around about an hour later, everything was gone.

Sidewalk Cracks

Memorial

For Mary McCaughan Barnes - An Irish Lass
"May the Road rise up to meet you
The Wind be always at your back
The Sun shine warm upon your path
The Rain fall soft upon your field
And until we meet again, may God
Hold You in the Palm of his hand."
--From Marge and George Miller

This is one of my favorite memorial plaques. You will find it looking eastward toward downtown Seattle, across Elliott Bay, from Anchor Park.

After the Buds, Before the Leaves

There are usually only one or two days all year when I can observe the new leaves emerging from their buds. Sort of like the butterflies leaving their cocoons. One sunny day and - POOF! - we have full blown leaves.






Entries made before April 15, 2007, can be seen at:
Cathy Woo Personal Blog