Memorial Day Greetings

From our collection of old postcards ...

Memorial Day Greetings
Published ?
Probably early 1900s

Back of the unused card.
Domestic postage One Cent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ...

"Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces. The holiday, which is observed every year on the last Monday of May, originated as Decoration Day after the American Civil War in 1868, when the Grand Army of the Republic [GAR], an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois, established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. By the 20th century, competing Union and Confederate holiday traditions, celebrated on different days, had merged, and Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service."

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Jasper National Park [1948]

From our collection ...

Jasper National Park
Canadian Rockies

Back on May 13th, in our post about Mount Rainier National Park, we asked if you had a favorite National Park. Blogger Red, from Hiawatha House, commented:  How about Banff and Jasper? So, this one is for you, Red!

Jasper is known as the "Showplace of the Canadian Rockies" ... and it is a spectacular Park!

Note: The size of these images may not be big enough for you to read the text, but they should give you the flavor of the brochure and we hope you enjoy the photos.

Printed in Canada in 1948
and published by Canadian National Railway

Have you ever visited one of Canada's National Parks?

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Celebrity Solstice and More

Our photos of ships are taken from Seattle looking over Elliott Bay, Puget Sound, Washington, USA.

Spotted the last few days ...

Celebrity Solstice
Early Morning Arrival
May 21, 2016

CMA CGM La Scala
May 21, 2016
Elliott Bay Marina in lower right
Cruise Terminal 91 at bottom

Holland America Westerdam
Full "Flower" Moon setting in background
May 21, 2016

R. M. Thorstensen
Icicle Seafoods
Pier 90, May 20, 2016

Fireboat Leschi
Seattle Fire Department
Pier 90, May 20, 2016

Full Flower Moon setting in the west
May 21, 2016
05:39

Norwegian Jewel
Colorful Painted Hull
May 21, 2016
Alki Point and Vashon Island in the distance

Crown Princess
May 21, 2016

Spruce Galaxy
Chemical/Oil Products Tanker
May 21, 2016

Amis Wisdom I
Wisdom Line Bulk Cargo
May 20, 2016

If you are curious about any of these vessels you can usually find lots more info on the web by Googling the name of the ship. To us, ship names are one of the most interesting parts of the maritime world. Would you ever have thought of calling your shipping company Wisdom Line?

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Gate With A View - Diamond D

Diamond D Ranch
Near Henry's Lake, Idaho, USA

Snapped this photo on May 14, 2016 during a little road trip. The Diamond D Ranch has quite an interesting history. Their website is here.  Those are the Centennial Mountains in the distance. Linking up with Good Fences today ... Thanks Tex for hosting!

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Gunde Maersk

Recent snaps from John's Island ...

Maritime ...

Our photos of ships are taken from Seattle looking over Elliott Bay, Puget Sound, Washington, USA.

Gunde Maersk departing Seattle
May 17, 2016

Vessel Details:  Maersk Line Gunde Maersk Info

Road trip last week ...

Potato Fields with a view.
Grand Teton Mountains in the distance.
We snapped this last week near Ashton, Idaho.
You are looking at the western side of the Tetons.

Although Idaho is the top potato producing State, Grant County, Washington, is the top producing county. :-)

For our birding friends ...

Little visitor stopped by neighbor's roof and stayed
for a portrait.
May 11, 2016

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Mount Rainier National Park [1938]

Motoring Guide to Mount Rainier National Park in 1938 ...

"A 40-page illustrated booklet -- telling of glaciers, flowers, history, animals, and what to do and see in Mount Rainier National Park -- will be presented to each party of visitors at the following localitites:  Longmire -- Park Museum and Administration Building; Paradise Valley - Community House and Ranger Station; Yakima Park, Ohanapecosh Hot Springs, and Carbon River Entrance -- Ranger Stations." Until you could pick up that 40-page booklet this little foldout would have to do. Published in 1938 by the National Park Service. Our favorite part is the map.

If you've followed us for a while you know we love the National Parks. Our favorite is Yellowstone but Mount Rainier is closest to home. How about you ... Do you have a favorite National Park?

Information Side

Map Side

Mount Rainier near dawn
March 11, 2009
from our archives.

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

May 9th Heavy Loader TERN

First spotting of Heavy Loader vessel Tern
Early arrival in port about 06:10 today.

Our photos of ships are taken from Seattle looking over Elliott Bay, Puget Sound, Washington, USA.

Closer look at the Tern
This vessel is owned by Dockwise.
Our first thought was ... That ship looks strange!

Screen Capture from Dockwise website
showing Tern Info

Screen Capture from Dockwise website
showing pretty amazing load on the Tern
Curious: How do they load & unload something this big?

China Shipping Line CSCL America
Container Ship
Arrived in port Sunday, May 8th, about 2:50 PM

Screen Capture from VesselFinder.com
showing CSCL America info

Fuel vessel Shauna Kay, registered in Portland Oregon

From Sunday's walk ...

Definition of "wallflowers"?
Now, IF YOU WANTED those poppies to grow there ...
would they? :-)

Raindrops on Blue Iris

Dark Purple Iris
How do you like the almost iridescent parts of the bloom?

Pink Rhododendron
Gotta do a "Rhody Special" post one of these days.
The Rhododendron is the State Flower of Washington.

This Iris is growing right over the sidewalk.
Loved the colors on this one!

Awesome Aurora in Seattle early Sunday morning ...

The two images below are Screen Captures from Twitter. The photos were taken and posted by the National Weather Service in Seattle. The auroral display, early Sunday morning, May 8th, was called one of the best in recent years. Seeing the aurora in Seattle is rare! Sadly, we slept right through it. Many thanks to those folks at NWS for sharing their photos!

Photo by @NSWSeattle

Photo by @NSWSeattle

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

National Nurses Week 2016

I just discovered that May 6 through 12th is National Nurses Week. The photo above is the entry way to one of the Units at Swedish Hospital, in Seattle, where little babies, mostly preemies, are cared for by nurses, doctors, and other staff, until they can go home with their parents. Most commonly, nurses have multiple babies in their care which makes it difficult to spend as much time as they would like with each baby. Research has shown the importance of human touch to little ones but often nurses cannot spare the time to simply hold a baby, to give them that human touch, for more than a few minutes. Often parents cannot be in the NICU simply because they have other children at home that must be taken care of, or even due to work or health issues. As a volunteer I am in the NICU to help by holding a little baby in my arms. I mention all this, because, over the last year or so, while I've been volunteering, I've met so many wonderful people who work in the NICU. You probably won't hear from them about National Nurses Week because, simply, they are not the kind of people who like to toot thier own horn. So, if you know any nurses, please give them a word of appreciation this week. I can't even imagine getting along in this world without them! To any nurses I know ... Thank You!

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Early May in Seattle

Our photos from the first week of May ...

Hyundai Mars arrived evening May 6th
Alki Point in the background

Do a Google for "1912 Pike Place"
The "original" Starbucks
This is how it looked afternoon of May 6th
Yes, there is almost always a line to get inside!

Working side of one of the flower stalls at Pike Market
Gorgeous flowers at rock bottom prices!

Our newest Streetcar in front of
Intrigue Chocolate Company
Pioneer Square Historic District

Elliott Bay Marina
Clear, Sunny, May 6th, 2016
Lower portion of photo is future site of
Expedia Headquarters by 2019

Had to show you this one just because of the name ...
Double Prosperity
Bulk Carrier -- Flag of Panama

The Brothers ... Olympic Mountain Range
Approximately 35 miles as the crow flies.
May 6th, 2016

Nature does this so easily!
For just a moment ... Try to imagine
wrapping up an Iris. :-)

Northbound Commuter Train
4:05 Departure from King Street Station
nears Mile Marker 6.0
May 1, 2016

The Power stays on the south end
so #110 is being pushed northward.
Speed limit sign on left
Talgo = 45
Passenger = 40
Freight = 35
(Talgo has unique capabilities.)

In this photo, Engineer is on the left
Conductor is on the right.

A RARE wave from the Engineer.
Thank you, Sir.

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.