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

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)

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.

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More "Stars"?


Or are they Fall Leaves?


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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.


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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.