ᕯ Welcome to John's Island ᕯ
Sky Watch
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| Last "mostly clear sky" sunset of 2017 December 20th 4:17 PM Almost Winter Solstice and the sun is setting as far south on the western horizon as it gets in its annual journey. |
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| Last sunset of 2017 Looking southwest from Seattle over Puget Sound December 31, 2017, 4:39 PM |
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| First colorful sunset of 2018 January 3rd 4:24 PM |
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| Early morning light on the Olympic Mountains January 3rd 8:40 AM Looking over the entrance to Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge Island |
For the two pictures below ... the first is an early morning shot looking west over Elliott Bay Marina to the Olympic Mountains in the distance. Notice all the sailboats in the Marina. The second shot shows how some of the sailboat owners decorated with lights for the holiday season.
For more sky photos, check out Skywatch Friday. Thanks, Yogi, for hosting!
Ship Watch
The first photo below might just as well have gone in the Sky Watch category. Well, we happened to be walking along the edge of Elliott Bay, on January 11th, when we saw the giant Hapag-Lloyd Leverkusen Express arriving. The sun was back there behind the clouds so the only possiblity was a shadow shot but we kind of like the way it turned out. More info on Leverkusen Express
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| Hapag-Lloyd Leverkusen Express Arriving Port of Seattle January 11th 3:15 PM |
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| Goodtime II Argosy Cruises, Seattle |
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| Cosco Shipping, Cosco Asia Arriving Port of Seattle December 16, 2017 1:44 PM |
Postcards
It's time once again to join up with Maria's Postcards for the Weekend. The theme this week is "aerial views." It did take a while, looking through our collection, to find the card below. We sure don't have many aerial views. You won't be surprised our find features Seattle in the early 1960s. The card has a glossy surface which has deteriorated in the top corners over the years. The main feature of the card is, according to the description on the back, U. S. Highway 5. Wow, that's before it was called "Interstate 5"! The view is looking from the North, over Lake Union, the Space Needle (completed in 1962), and Puget Sound in the distance. The body of water that snakes around the bottom of the view is the "ship canal" between Lake Union and Lake Washington, which is off to the left of the view. Today, Interstate 5 is one of the busiest roads in the state and goes from border to border on the West Coast. The full description on the back of the card: "A magnificent aerial view of Seattle from the North. From the two-level Freeway Bridge (U. S. Highway 5) which crosses over the University Bridge and leads the traffic toward downtown, one sees Lake Union in the foreground and Elliott Bay in the distance. In the upper center stands the 640-foot Space Needle with its eye looking toward West Seattle."
For more postcards with aerial views check out Postcards for the Weekend. Thanks to Maria for hosting.
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| "Seattle Freeway" Aerial view postcard. |
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| Description: A magnificent aerial view of Seattle from the North Color photo by Max R Jensen Published by C P Johnston Company, Seattle ca. 1963 |
Snow Watch
While the USA has been hammered recently with cold, snow, and ice, here in Seattle we've had only one major snowfall and it happened, of all things, on Christmas Day. We could show you a lot of snow pics, but this one, of the tree in our front yard, kind of tells the story of how much snow we got. Guessing it was somewhere between 2 and 3 inches. Lots of snow people were constructed. Notice we were not gender specific ... thank you.
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| Christmas Day 2017 |
Flu Watch
While we were looking through the collection for a postcard today we happened to see the ink blotter below. For younger folks out there who've never heard of an "ink blotter" they were handed out in the first half of the last century by merchants as a form of advertising. The one below is from the Cole Chemical Company, St. Louis, Missouri. The code at bottom right is "3-44-85M" which probably means 85,000 copies were printed in March, 1944. The "flu" is a big story in the USA this winter and several people, seemingly in good shape, have died as a result of the sickness. The Cole Company offered coated capsules in bottles of 100, and of all things, included a bit of opium! Notice the warning -- "may be habit-forming." By the way, when did we quit calling them "chemical companies" and start calling them "pharmaceuticals"?
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| Derfule by Cole Chemical Company |
Our closing thought comes from the Circling Year Calendar for 1917, which we posted January 15th (our previous post) and is titled, Contentment. "The happy state of mind so rarely possessed in which we can say, “I have enough,” is the highest attainment of philosophy. Happiness consists not in possessing much but in being content with what we possess. He who wants little always has enough." Zimmerman
Thanks for stopping by John's Island. Wishing you all a good week ahead!
This younger reader had to look up "grippe", never heard of it. It is another word for influenza.
ReplyDeleteHello John, your sky shots are beautiful! The Olympic Mountains are gorgeous, was of my favorite places was seeing the mountains from Sequim. Neat postcard of the Seattle Freeway. I hope you do not get the flu, I heard it is awful. Take care and have a happy week!
ReplyDeleteI love your sky watches
ReplyDeleteMore beautiful skies. Since out boats are all in dry dock for the winter, it's interesting to see that these ones are decorated with Christmas lights!
ReplyDeleteAnd a postcard celebrating a freeway (which are not so much celebrated these days).
Happy week to you too, John!
ReplyDeleteAm I imagining things, or did we go from knowing opiates were habit forming and therefore warning people on labels, to not even prescribing them, to now giving them out for every.thing? It seems like it to me. I never heard about them until celebrities were struggling in the 90's to now when they are in the news all over. When I had my kids (naturally, not any surgery involved) they gave me Vicodin. Oy vey. I was so scared of that stuff I threw it all in the trash and out other garbage on top of it.
Oh, look...I wrote a novel. :)
Lovely sunrises, I meant to say! :)
DeleteThat picture of Seattle in the 1960s shows a very different place than today. Love your sunset pictures, and yes, let's NOT get the flu. It's strange to have someone that doesn't even show up on Google, John. That's a first for me! :-)
ReplyDeleteHello John, I'm so delighted seeing this aerial view of Seattle. I wonder if I took Interstate 5 at all when I was in the city ... Thank you for taking the time to dig in your collection for a contribution to our theme. I wonder ... will you have a Mt. Rainier for our theme next weekend. No pressure though! Have a great week ahead.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing post. If I were to pick a favourite photo it would be the early morning light on the Olympic Mountains. Looks like you had just enough snow for some lovely pictures.
ReplyDeleteThe last two "watch" paragraphs are interesting. We can run into some nasty situations if we're not watching.
ReplyDeleteWhat gorgeous sky shots!
ReplyDeleteWow such interesting images and info. I-5 early 60s--funny to call it Hwy 5---my father in law was in construction in the 60s and was a concrete foreman on a huge freeway pour in downtown Seattle. And did you notice not much traffic back then.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog too.
I grew up in Seattle but in the Wallingfor area---50th and Meridan
MB
Really a magnificent aerial view on that postcard, thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning John, Thank you for another lovely and interesting post. I truly enjoyed the photos and the closing comment.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day!
Connie :)
John, so good to hear from you. I adore your sky photos. Great colors!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, John, beautiful sky views, lovely the aerial view postcard (I like so much your postcard collection) and the snow image.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Turin!
Contentment yes and beautiful sunsets. Here much snow and cold and I need a nap from snow shoveling...:)
ReplyDeleteMesmerizing sunsets and sunrises John!!!
ReplyDeleteyou have amazing command over your perfect capturing whether it is sunshot or sky shot!
sky shots are breathtaking !
the first ship capture i agree can be count in sky shot either
what lovely closing thought ,so close to my soul and my heart
take great care my friend and in such heavy snow please stay warm and safe!