a foggy morning, one day last week...

back to Lincoln Park...

I couldn't help myself. I drove back over to Lincoln Park yesterday morning, after I took Nate to school. Only 18 minutes going, and 15 coming back to the house later. The park, and Puget Sound is very different from my river trail walks...






mossy trees reaching out...

Lincoln Park

Super walk this morning with brother John (sounds like a Monk). We went to Lincoln Park in West Seattle, and we did a loop from the parking lot in the lower right hand corner of this photo, into the park going NW over to a path looking down on the water from above, and then down to the water and walked back along the beach to the ferry terminal and our car.
I'll be going back often I think. It's worth the 20-25? minute drive from my house, and I will take photos for sure...

Ultima Residences Fuente Tower 3

photo album from a "Cebu Investments" post on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=privacy&ref=mb#!/album.php?aid=2008593&id=1001810272

I'll be uploading some of our own photos soon...

from this morning's walk...

brown river




one eye tree

looking up through the tree branches

Take the brown colors of the Green River right now, add in a cold, crisp, sunny morning and some white clouds...

Sinulog 2011

Some day, I want to be there for the Sinulog festival, and I plan to take a thousand photos!! There were some wet days at this year's Sinulog. This photo is one of my favorites, by Leylander. I first saw the photo in one of the forums I follow:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1293081&page=29
His blog
http://mycebuphotoblog.wordpress.com/ is one of the top blogs about Cebu...

I wish I was a poet.
Extraordinary walk this morning. My eyes popped open at 2am, and instead of rolling over and getting frustrated about my lack of sleep, I got up and began my day.
I got out for my walk around 430, and although it's dark, it's magical. The river color is a dark silver, with a touch of blue and it's moving very fast with all the 'pineapple express' flooding. I can't capture it with my camera, but I might plug in a few shots and video anyway.
I did decide that I'm going to get some reflective tape and create a one-of-a-kind vest/bandolier thing, to add to my flashlight ensemble. My daughter who loves me gave me a short lecture yesterday when we were walking one of my routes later in the morning. She said "you walk along here in the dark?"

Hero Pilot Pulls Out the Stops to Help Grandpa Reach Funeral: 2011's Most Heartwarming Travel Story?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110116/us_time/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110113pilotwhocaresthemostheartwarmingairlinestoryof2011xidrssfullnationyahoo

so I decided to grow a beard...

Nate was looking at some old photos of me a few weeks ago, a few from when I was in the Army, and some from my "Artist" days, and he said both times "Is that you?!" So I decided to grow a beard.
I decided to try making a video, and I shot a progression of beard shots over a period of 8 days or so. If I chose to prolong this experiment, and if there was a little more pepper in my salt and pepper facial hair, it might even look good. But off it's coming... soon!
After I opened the Windows Movie Maker program, I decided to plug in some other stuff... I was watching the Seahawks game, and realized that this might be more fun. The Bears have an 18 point lead right now. This video stuff is sort of fun. A whole different process for sure, but I can see myself trying to do some more sometime...

I was walking a path north of here this morning that I haven't walked in awhile, along the river by some of the Boeing buildings, and surprise! They're doing some thinning out...






Some ugly ass old trees to be sure, but I've always (sort of) liked the patterns, textures and colors...

Soos Creek Trail

I still have to figure out some things with my Lumix. I did a few videos, and followed those with some regular still shots. The camera settings were off somehow then, but I'll upload a few of the shots here anyway. It was a beautiful walk, rain and all, because I walked a stretch of the Soos Creek Trail in Kent that I hadn't tried before. A wonderful, marshy area, with a curvy, winding pathway, almost a roadway, that goes on forever... Very nice, and I will definitely return on a nice sunny day.

rain gear, or an umbrella?

Decisions decisions. While walking in the pouring down rain this morning, and getting soaked (even with my little brown unbrella), I was trying to decide between a hoity toity REI caliber rain outfit, or a big, strong, transparent plastic (so I can still look up and see the trees) umbrella. Money, as it is more and more often lately, is a major factor. Decisions decisions.

'Found' photos

I found some photos that I thought I had deleted way back on Thanksgiving day. After I pushed the key for deleting the latest ones from my camera SD card that morning, I realized that they hadn't been copied to my regular Pictures folder. Damn! I was fairly sure I had some interesting shots, and I was curious about a telephoto shot I took. I thought it might be an owl, which would have been cool.
Anyway, I was updating my 'Picasa' pictures folder yesterday, and I went "what's that?" There they were. Picasa had copied them. Cool! It was a cold, snowy morning, and I had gone on a short walk before picking up Andrea at her Lake Union apt. We were headed to a Thanksgiving day get-together at my sister's place. Here are a few of those shots, including a tad blurry one of what I'm sure is an owl on a chimney.

http://www.muckleshootcasino.com/en_US/frontsite/performance_calendar.action
They're coming to the Muckleshoot Casino again. A super show, with seasoned, amazing performers!! Check it out if you can...

boggles my mind...

It still boggles my mind how so many people evidently take Sarah Palin seriously! Still. It's like they're speaking a foreign language.
I just don't understand...

home-field advantage

From this morning's Sideline Chatter by Dwight Perry

Home Bleep Home - "What home-field advantage?" asked Len Berman of ThatsSports.com. "The road teams won three of the four NFL playoff games this weekend. The only home winner: the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks. Go figure."

Matt Tiffany of the San Diego Union-Tribune, after LeBron James said his comments about NBA contraction were misunderstood because he used the word without knowing what it meant: "ESPN quickly picked up on the story in a one-hour special it called 'The Definition.' "

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sidelinechatter/2013908568_chat12.html

"I prefer this to the alternative."

Danny Westneat, Seattle Times staff columnist:
"Words don't kill, killers do -
There are scores of reasons to demand that Sarah Palin and other politicians tone down their overheated rhetoric. The vain hope that it might allay a crazed killer is not one of them."
..."I'm with the father of the 9-year-old girl who was shot and killed in Tucson. He was asked about all this — the killer, his motivations and the debate now swirling about whether our politics is too heated — and he said, no, this is just the price we sometimes pay.
"This shouldn't happen in this country, or anywhere else," he said. "But in a free society, we're going to be subject to people like this."
He added, beautifully considering what he had lost: "I prefer this to the alternative."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2013909114_danny12.html

early morning sun

I love walking along the Green River Trail. Nothing beats the early morning colors on a crisp Winter day...

In this morning's Seattle Times Sports section:

"The Seahawks and Bears will settle the question of who has the better football team on Sunday. In the meantime, we'll compare the cities in other ways.

Today's topic: The World's Fair

Seattle ...
Prepared for the 1962 World's Fair by building lots of cool stuff like the Space Needle, the fountain, the monorail and the Washington State Pavilion (which precocious 2-year-old Clay Bennett reportedly claimed was "not a viable arena.") The fair, and Seattle Center, co-starred with Elvis Presley (as a crop-dusting pilot!) in the 1963 film "It Happened at the World's Fair."

Chicago ...
Hosted the successful and influential World's Fair in 1893, featuring the first Ferris wheel, wonderful music and cultural events, and the introduction of several iconic American products. On the down side ... Dr. H.H. Holmes rented rooms to fairgoers in his hotel, which he had outfitted with gas chambers, trap doors and acid vats. Then he tortured and killed many of the visitors.

The edge goes to: Gotta go with Seattle here."

Some thoughts while I was walking this morning:

With Inday gone this past month, this time for more 'art' and other luxuries has reminded me about my years up on Lopez Island. With one big similarity: loneliness. It will be nice to get her back home...

Thinking back to Lopez again, I love being outside in the elements, as long as I am relatively comfortable - no frozen fingers, cold body...

I can see myself taking both cameras on my walks when Inday gets home. I was experimenting with the battery life of my new Lumix, and of course, when I saw a good shot at one point, and several more later in my walk, there were short sighs... That reminds me. I have to put it in the charger.

smart

David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, on quarterback Andrew Luck saying he'll return for his junior year rather than get drafted by the 2-14 Carolina Panthers: "See, they are smart at Stanford."

Also, from this morning's Times: "Three members of the Washington football team have received official invitations to postseason senior all-star games, as the Senior Bowl officially announced its invitations to quarterback Jake Locker and linebacker Mason Foster on Sunday.
Earlier, safety Nate Williams accepted an invitation to play in the East-West Shrine Game."

This morning I went back to a route I walked last week, where I thought I saw some photo possibilities. It was too early/dark then for my camera, and even though it was overcast today, I think I got some good shots.

'Jackson Pollack' winter branches...





Over time, the moss covered blacktop has eroded away





a few more tree reflections





ps - I figured out a way to keep my fingers from freezing when I take pictures out in this cold. I bought one of those HotCold gel packs from Bartells, and after 1-2 minutes in the microwave, it stays warm long enough for one of my walks. I can stick it my coat pocket, and when my fingers need a warm-up, voila!