Wishing you a Jolly Halloween!

From John's old postcard collection ... Wishing you a Jolly Hallowe'en! How long has it been since someone wished you a "Jolly" Halloween?

Jolly Hallowe'en
Early 1900s postcard
[Click on any image for larger view]

Back of the unused card
Two cents postage!

Linking up today with Postcards for the Weekend. Thanks Maria for hosting!

More seasonal images ...

When the witch lady below flew by my window I thought she was someone I knew! Thank goodness she wasn't as she ended up smack on a utility pole in our neighborhood! It appears that she has a wine glass in her right hand ... could she have been FUI (flying under the influence)? Do you have these kind of happenings in your neighborhood?

Scene at intersection of 6th Ave W and  West McGraw St
October 22nd  11:43 AM

The picture below also seems fitting to the season. On October 24th, as the sun crept above the eastern horizon, there was enough of a break in the mostly overcast sky to allow the streaming sunlight to reflect off  waterfront homes to the west across Puget Sound. And the color of the sky seemed to enhance the color of those changing trees on Bainbridge Island.

Oct 24th  8:05 AM
Looking across Puget Sound to the west
Bainbridge Island and the foothills to the Olympics behind.

More (mostly) sky photos ...

Sunbeams
Looking across Puget Sound
October 25th  5:09 PM

Cosco container vessel departing Seattle
October 27th  5:29 PM

The picture below needs a bit of explanation. Wednesday, October 26th, was one of those days Northwesterners have nightmares about dream about! It rained almost all day, pretty heavy at times. We got a late start on our daily walk, but got it done, and got more than a little wet doing it. Back home, daylight nearly done, sitting by the fire, nice and dry, listening to a good book (The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins), we glanced out the window and ... wow, look at that sky. It was like nature wanted to give us one last comment on the day.

  

Looking across Puget Sound to the west.
October 26th  6:05 PM

Last one ... This morning's rainbow ... a fitting close to the week in the Emerald City!

Rainbow over the Marina
October 28th  8:58 AM
(Elliott Bay Marina, Seattle, WA)

Happy Halloween to you and yours.

Closing thought ...
When a dog runs at you, whistle for him.
     Henry David Thoreau

Respect

How about this old postcard from our collection ...

"All who know me ... respect me."
Signed by Charles M Russell
Copyright 1907 

Back of the card showing Dec 30 1907 Postmark
Published by W T Ridgley Co
One cent stamp!

Can we get a little respect?  :-)

More from the Island ...

We recently had a stormy day here in the Emerald City (aka Seattle, WA). We enjoy storms as long as we don't encounter any significant damage and that is exactly the way the day turned out. We had breaks in the clouds such as you see in the photo below.

Anyone out there have a digital barometer and enjoy watching a storm approach? Yes, we know ... we're way beyond the norm on this ... crazy?

Delighted to spot namesake, MS Seattle, a Hanjin Container Vessel, departing Seattle on Saturday, Oct 15th. (We included a pic of her arrival, the day before, in our Oct 14th post.)

There she goes ... last cruise ship to visit Seattle 2016 season ... Star Princess departing on Saturday, Oct 21st ...

Oct 21st  4:35 PM
Star Princess
Off to warmer climes for the winter.

We're back in the routine of daily walks. Noticed the scene below while walking by one of the branch libraries. Thumbs up for the crew of Engine 20. Now wondering if fire trucks seem fascinating after seeing something like this as a kid. Hmmmm ...

Green to gold ... it's all in this one ...

Do you ever, on a fall walk, see just one leaf that strikes you?

It seemed late in the season for this one, but maybe it's never too late if there hasn't been a frost ...

Couldn't stop looking at the sky ...

Oct 21st  5:56 PM

Is this a "photobomb" or ARE you OK with the Bird?

MS Africa, China Shipping Line Container Vessel
Oct 17th  8:43 AM
Vessel capacity 9,000 TEU
Departing Seattle

Maritime Lesson:  Container ships are rated by their capacity in TEUs. A TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) is the standard unit for describing a ship's cargo carrying capacity, or a shipping terminal's cargo handling capacity. The term orginated from the size of a standard shipping container - 20x8x8 feet. More commonly seen today is a larger container - 40x8x8 which equals two TEUs.

Here is an image from the web that compares the sizes of container ships over the years. The MS Africa in our photo is about a "mid-sized" container vessel ...

The pic below seemed fitting for closing this post ...

Fishing vessel leaving Elliott Bay at dusk
October 21, 2016  6:24 PM

Closing thought today comes from the Official Dictionary of Sarcasm ...

LIE:  Something politicians accuse each other of doing in an endless and laughably ironic cycle of the pot calling the kettle black.

Postcards for the Weekend - Reflections

The theme for this week's Postcards for the Weekend is "Reflections on Water."

Poster on a Postcard
Mt St Helens, Washington, USA
Poster art by Gustav Krollmann
Northern Pacific Railroad c. 1925

In our collection of vintage postcards it was challenging to find a reflection on water.

America by Rail
Mt St Helens Poster
Back of the unused postcard.
Library of Congress

Part of a series of cards called America by Rail, this card features a classic travel poster published by the Northern Pacific Railroad about 1925 "Mt. St. Helens -- Northern Pacific North Coast Limited" The artist is Gustav Krollmann. The Railroad published this poster to encourage travel to the Pacific Northwest on their transcontinental passenger train, the North Coast Limited. Of course, the scene you see of Mt St Helens is well before her 1980 eruption. In the early 80s, after she erupted, we recall bumper stickers "Don't come to Mt St Helens ... She will come to You!"

We can't resist adding another reflection photo, albeit not a postcard ...

Sunrise at Green Lake, Seattle, WA
August 22, 2013, 8:31 AM

We called this "Paddleboarding at Sunrise" in our August 23, 2013, post. No, that's not John out there on Seattle's Green Lake!

One more ... This morning the Star Princess arrived in Seattle about 6:20 AM. This is the last cruise ship to visit Seattle this year, according to the schedule issued by the Port of Seattle. Our photo was snapped about 5 minutes before she was docked at Pier 91 Cruise Terminal. The tree in lower right has lost just enough leaves to let a little bit of the light come through.

Star Princess arriving Seattle
6:20 AM  October 21st

Thank you for stopping by John's Island. We're linking up with Postcards for the Weekend. Be sure to check out the other contributions, and thanks to Maria for hosting!

Closing thought ...
No one imagines that a symphony is supposed to improve in quality as it goes along, or that the whole object of playing it is to reach the finale. The point of music is discovered in every moment of playing and listening to it. It is the same, I feel, with the greater part of our lives, and if we are unduly absorbed in improving them we may forget altogether to live them.
     Alan Watts

Last Dahlias 2016

Those of you who have been keeping an eye on John's Island will probably remember our visits to the Dahlia Garden at Seattle's Volunteer Park. Our last visit for this year took place on Tuesday, October 11th, and here are some snaps showing how the dahlias looked on that day ...

[Click on image for larger view]

Previous posts this year on our visits to the Puget Sound Dahlia Garden … First look … second visit … third visit.

If you have a favorite please let us know in with a comment.

Beyond dahlias ...

Fall colors ...

These snaps are all within the last week.

Ships spotted ...

In our last post we shared the photo below of the CMA CGM Dalila arriving in the predawn darkness on Friday.

CMA CGM Dalila
Arriving in predawn darkness.
Friday, October 7th  5:30 AM

We got lucky and happened to have the camera at hand when we noticed the same ship departing with a new load of containers on Monday afternoon. Yes, yes, we know the name of the ship is close to the name of the flowers we featured above ... just a coincidence! :-) Anyway, we thought it was an unusually long time in port ... 4 days ... for this ship. It seems like the turn-around for most large container ships is closer to 2 or 3 days.

CMA CGM Dalila
Departing at sunset.
Monday, October 10th  6:30 PM

Coast Guard Cutter
October 11th  8:51 AM
Bainbridge Island in the distance.

Cap Jervis Container Vessel
Owned and operated by Hamburg Süd Liner Services
Flies the flag of Liberia
Arriving Seattle
October 12th  1:37 PM

October 14th  12:58 PM
Smaller container vessel arriving during our wind storm.
Note "white caps" on Puget Sound

Two for One
It's unusual to catch ships passing out in the Sound.
Hanjin northbound, Matson southbound.
October 13th  9:45  AM
  

Hanjin Seattle Container Vessel
Arriving Seattle October 14th
This vessel seemed unusually close to the Marina,
especially considering our significant wind storm!

Postcards for the Weekend ...

It's time to link up again with Maria's Connections to the World and Postcards for the Weekend. This week's theme:  children/child. Here's what we found in the collection ...

That's right:  Four happy babies!

Oh Willy!

Publication date for these postcards is probably around 1900 to 1910. The back of the cards indicate they were published in Germany and are part of a series 7662. These are embossed cards. Be sure to check out other Postcards for the Weekend from other bloggers.

While we are smiling, let us recommend a video ...

We would like to thank Bethany Carson, who publishes the blog Today Liberty or Death, and one of her followers, Martha, who publishes Plowing Through Life, for bringing to our attention the video below. Watch this for some smiles and truth! The Restaurant of Life ...

Skies ...

We can't close with a few sky photos ... hope you enjoy!

October 11th sunset   6:33 PM
Southern portion of Olympic Mtns in far distance.
Looking out over Puget Sound.

Our sky photos were taken earlier in the week. This morning, Friday, we are in the midst of the first significant storm of autumn. Lots of rain, heavy at times, last night. Our barometer dropped rapidly but is now on the rise at about 7 am. Wind gusts have created power outages around the metro area but we have been lucky so far. An even stronger storm, remnants of a typhoon, is forecast to come through on Saturday. Be sure to check out more sky photos on Skywatch Friday

Eye of the storm?
Friday afternoon, October 14th
Wow, it has been WINDY today!

Mountain Silhouette
October 11th  6:35 PM
Olympic Mountains from Seattle, Washington

Closing thought ...
There is no coming to heaven with dry eyes.
     Thomas Fuller