How Seattle looks to my morning eyes
Taken from Highway 99, by the tunnel work site (2014).
Right now, the tunnel project is stuck and engineers are scrambling how to fix a massive and still-broken machine trapped beneath Seattle’s mucky dirt. This is the closest the public can come to seeing the work yard, as seen from Highway 99 (2014).
A long line of trucks usually is found on the service road next to the port and visible from Highway 99 (2014).
There is something comforting to me about this factory, which continues to churn out cement year after year (2014).

A massive tunnel-boring project in Seattle, that is pegged to cost more than $3 billion, is now on hold. Th several-stories-tall tunnel boring machine, dubbed Bertha, is now broken and stuck beneath the viaduct I drive over every day (Highway 99), and theoretically the future tunnel will replace the aging structure that takes me and tens of thousands of other drivers daily. North of the port, crews are digging up things by the Gates Foundation headquarters, making this a landscape of cranes, heavy moving equipment, and grand ambitions that tower like the Space Needle close by. Looking at the cranes in these pictures, I imagine I am seeing the giant snow walking machines seen in The Empire Strikes Back. My favorite landmark, however, remains the massive Ash Cement Factory. Time has not seemed to change this place. It just seems to get more grey.

Biking on a spring day with an old bike

 

I have a 23-year-old road bike that, well, I just can’t seem to get rid of. Maybe I will this spring. For now, it works, and it is about as old as my bike pump too, which looks worse for wear. Today I experimented with mounting the GoPro on my handlebars to see what kind of angles would be generated and to see what kind of emotions are communicated when someone is caught in the middle of a very aerobic sport. Biking is one of the most aerobic sports I know, and that is one reason I love it so. As I often do, I adjusted the settings in Lightroom to accentuate the contrast, which is a look I am growing accustomed to. Here’s to spring days, the simple pleasures of riding an old bicycle, and seeing rows of blossoming trees along a lovely lake shore.

It is spring, and I am cathartically happy I did not ‘endure’ winter

 

A statue of Captain James Cook, who explored the waters known as Cook Inlet, stands on a bluff overlooking the waters where he set anchor (2010).
It was about 10 degrees below 0 (fahrenheit) when I snapped this picture at Kincaid Park’s beach, in January 2010.
In Anchorage I was amazed the ladies could still sport the heels with ice and snow, not to mention the skirts, when the mercury went south of zero. Northerners are hardy folk (2010).

I found these pictures among the many hundreds I took while living in Anchorage. These were all taken during a bitter cold spell in 2009-10, when temperatures plummeted  to about minus 10 fahrenheit and colder. It was great for taking images. I remember getting some skin damage on my extremities on one outing. Now that it is spring in Seattle, I shutter to think I lived through this year after year, even with the beauty. That is my feeling today. It is one of joyous happiness.

God’s home, at the edge of the world
North of Reykjavik sits a house of God, alone in the loneliness of the north Atlantic.

I visited Iceland in 1998 and did a drive around the island with an outrageously overpriced rental car. I enjoyed it, but was not overwhelmed by it. This location, about an hour north of the capital, Reykjavik, was among the most memorable spots. Here, at the edge of the world, sat an empty house of worship, battered by the wind and rain. I guess I have a fondness for remote sanctuaries. (Click on the photo for a larger image on a separate page.)

Port of Tacoma, the old and new economy
The Port of Tacoma hums with activity on a sunny winter’s morning (2014).

Every work day I drive past the bustling port of Tacoma, hub of global commerce and home to heavy industry. It is blue-collar to the core, and unashamedly so. (I always wonder what kinds of organized crime take place here–my bet is quite a lot.) I also find the port to be one of the most fascinating manmade landscapes in the Northwest. I have started a series of photographs that I am calling Manufactured Landscapes. Here is one in black and white that I published on my web site in color. I like it in both color and black and white. This was taken from downtown Tacoma, looking east upon the port, where you can get a visual sampling of some of the major industry players that call it home.

My favorite park in Seattle, Discovery
In a hidden corner of Discovery, you’ll find the Guardian of the Spirit statue and meeting place, by the Daybreak Start Native Cultural Center.
There are stairs all over the park that are hidden, seldom used, and relics from the time it was a major military base in Seattle.

I frequently go for walks in Seattle’s Discovery Park, one of the country’s best metropolitan parks. It is a true gem. Even knowing every corner of this place, I still discover new ways to see what is very familiar, and also beautiful.

Abdoulaye Sylla and company showcase Guinean drumming and dance
Guinean traditions take the main stage at the Seattle Center on April 5, at the World Rhythm Festival (2014).

I set up my GoPro at the floor level to videotape a performance by Guinean master dancer and drummer Abdoulaye Sylla and his troupe of fellow Guinean percussionists. I then caught a frame of the videotape and turned it into a still. I think the GoPro lends a style all its own music and dance recording. And, as usual, I enjoyed the show of the many fine West African artists who call the Seattle area home. This is just for fun.

Seattle to Tacoma commute grind, part two
A GoPro illuminates the commuting life on Highway 599 (2014).
A GoPro illuminates life inside the four-wheel box (2014).
A GoPro illuminates life inside the four-wheel box (2014).
A GoPro illuminates life inside the four-wheel box (2014).
A GoPro illuminates life inside the four-wheel box (2014).
A GoPro illuminates life inside the four-wheel box (2014).

The is my second in a series using a GoPro camera to document the commuting life between Seattle and Tacoma. Time inside a carbon-emitting box occupies a massive portion of the daily lives of hundreds thousands, if not more, residents in the region. The effects of stress, speed, and more primal emotions that surge during the hours on the road take a measurable toll, and few of us can stop to contemplate what the cumulative impacts are.

Monette Marino leads Guinean drumming classes in Seattle

I had the good fortune of stumbling on master drummer/percussionist/musician Monette Marino yesterday. She taught some amazing classes at the World Rhythm Festival in Seattle over the April 5-6 weekend. Jump to 1:40 to catch some of her riffs; all were smoking hot. Her enthusiasm was contagious and the energy in the room was pulsing. This was filmed with a GoPro (still experimenting with it for many settings), using a consumer-level and portable external mic. This low-tech set up does not do her musicality and energy justice. Her classes focussed on several rhythms from Guinea. Catch her in concert or get one of her classes if you can. Her web site is: www.monettemarino.com. She really honors the traditions she has absorbed.

There and back again: commuting Seattle style

The massive Port of Seattle provides an impressive backdrop for my there again and back again, and there again and back again commute. This is one of the country’s largest cargo container ports (eighth busiest, it claims), and most of it is blocked off to the public for miles. Highway 99 is one of the few places citizens can see where our nation unloads containers filled with consumer goods destined for Walmart and other retailers nationwide. In essence, I am penetrating the beating heart of our nation’s mostly consumer-driven economy everyday, enveloped by its brawn, by its scale, and by its relentless motion. For some stretches, this also happens to be one of the most scenic commutes in the country, too.