It rained today, the first day of March, in Seattle. Shocker, I know. This morning’s precipitation felt more like a heavy mist than a moderate rain as I stepped outside to take a stroll. No breeze of any significance moved the droplets from their lazy drift downward. Too cool to call it warm, the courtyard air was comfortable and smelled like wet loam and earthworms.
Photo courtesy of Eva Ekeblad. Some rights reserved.
My first camera, one I still occasionally take out to shoot with, is the Pentax Spotmatic my father gave me many years ago. He invested in this model with the then brand-new, through-the-lens exposure metering to cover sports events when he was a college student. Dad taught me how to manage the manual adjustments of that old 35 millimeter SLR while taking cues from the needle of the TTL light meter.
Seattle Sounders fans in rival territory
Most citizens of Seattle associate the number 12 with a certain sport that involves kicking or throwing an oval-shaped ball made out of pigskin. Having heard the Twelfth Man in action from the field in 2011, I have no doubts the crowd gives the team an advantage when playing at home. Earlier this week, that number took on yet another meaning for one of our neighborhoods. The Pike-Pine corridor in Capitol Hill was named one of America’s 12 Top ArtPlaces of 2013.
Seattle Seahawk Sidney Rice runs onto the field with the 12th man flag.
Photo courtesy of Mike Russell.
Wine was always my drink of choice until a few years ago. That’s when I started doing double duty as sommelier and service bartender at Ray’s Boathouse on slow nights. It’s also when I began to associate the onset of the rainy season with trying new (to me) cocktails. As I developed my palate for booze, I struggled with gin. The strong flavor that juniper imbues to this base alcohol was usually too much for me. That is, until I put myself in the hands of Murray Stenson.
Photo courtesy of Scott Heimendinger. All rights reserved.
Increasingly, I am spending time doing research. Much of this takes place online and one of the best tools available, as a Seattle resident and library card holder, is using the Seattle Public Library website. What I didn’t realize until today was that being a member also gets me access to museums in the area.
Photo courtesy of Mike Russell All rights reserved.
The landscapes of my youth invaded my dreams last night. Having these images—of red brick buildings and expansive lawns, of the sepia of dawn or dusk, of the amber hues and shadows underneath the trees and shrubs—show up as the scenery for some moment of nighttime revery usually signals a shift. I woke up with Ohio on my mind.
Read MorePart 3 in this meme is long overdue. This part of the alphabet took me back to one of my honeymoon destinations, looking under the ocean’s surface at night, and riding the single-rail tram while playing tour guide at home.
Read MoreI was recently invited to write a short post for tourists about where to buy Pacific Northwest wines when visiting Seattle. Read it out over at Jennifer Blair’s Find Your Joy blog.
Photo courtesy of Mike Russell, all rights reserved.
