Here we go again

January 2025

Books

Bob King's Magnificent Aurora is one of the most 
beautiful and informative books I've seen in a long time.
I purchased my copy direct from the publisher: Sky and Telscope
As far as I know, the book is not available in a digital version.
Link for more info or to order.

A new Coloring Book

On my recent West Coast Adventure, described in my 3 blog posts last October, my BIL (Brother-In-Law) was along and introduced me to a delightful adult drawing book printed in Japan. The book consists of postcards and gives an example of a completed drawing on one card, with another of the same image that needs to be colored in. Link for more info about Daiso Products.

Cover

Example of inside page.
The left side is a completed image
on a postcard size of paper.
The right side is for you to 
color in! And send!

All you need  ... Color pencils and time.
This is fun!

History - Postcard Folder

As most of you will know, I collect old railroad memorabilia. Some of my favorite things are the postcards published by the railroads in the early 1900s to entice travelers to take the train on their next adventure. What you see below is an unused folder featuring scenes on the Great Northern Railway which provided service from Chicago to Seattle and is referred to as one of the first transcontinental lines.

Scenes on Great Northern Railway
From the Oriental Limited
Chicago - Seattle early 1900s

Combine Harvester in the Grain Fields
Big Bend Country, Washington

Harvesting Grain in the Red River Valley

Passenger Train in the Cascade Mountains
of Washington

Oriental Limited Emerging from
Cascade Tunnel on Great Northern Railway

Oriental Limited through the Cascades, Wash.

Trout Fishing on the Skykomish River,
Washington. On line of the G. N. Railway

Washington Log and Loggers.

Totem Pole, Pioneer Square,
Seattle, Washington

Mount Tacoma and Part of City of Tacoma, Wash.
(Printed BEFORE renamed Mt Rainier!)

27 Wenatchee, Washington Apples

Power Station, Tumwater Canyon, Wash.

Wenatchee, Wash. fruit orchard in bloom.

Kootenai Falls, Montana

Falls, Spokane River, Spokane, Wash.

Wheat raised by Irrigation in Montana

Hotel at Belton, Montana
Entrance to Glacier National Park

Steam Breaking in Montana

Back Cover of the Folder
The Great Northern Oriental Limited
on Sea Wall between Everett and Seattle, Wash.

Swindoll Quote

I happened to find this on another blog where the person used it as their profile statement. Although it doesn't say anything about the blogger, it sure is a powerful statement and one I thought worth sharing.

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our Attitudes." Charles R. Swindoll

Ships

As usual, I have a few pics of ships to share. I love watching the ships come and go in the Port of Seattle.

The early morning fog had just lifted and the sun
was lighting up this container ship nicely.

A Foss Tug on a windy/rough afternoon.
Wonder what the Captain thinks on a day like this.

Skies

Waxing crescent moon with Venus bright below
and to the right.

Clearing sky overhead but clouds to the west
created an unusally colorful sunset.

Birds

Thanks to my SIL (Sister-in-Law 😊) I just discovered SWANRISE which is an event north of Seattle. A company called Skagit Land Trust puts together tours to see Trumpter Swans who spend the winter in our area. The tours go out in the morning to watch the birds wake up and take off for the day. In the evening tours watch the birds return to Barney Lake where they spend the night. All of this year's tours are sold out, but I plan to get on the list early next fall. 

Link for more information.

A good source of info is Cornell Lab

Love birds? Check out 
Saturday's Critters!

Range Map for Trumpter Swans
provided by Birds of the World
at Cornell Lab

My first picture of one of my hummers
visiting the feeder. I never get tired of
these little birds.

Progress

This is what progress sounds like ... click the video below. The activity is going on at Pier 90 right along the Waterfront Trail I've posted about. What they are doing is driving piles into the ground to provide for new construction at the Pier. City leaders tell us this may take the better part of a year. We will see. The video is probably longer than you'll want to listen. The first two images show you the scene. The large crane is one of the largest marine cranes I've ever seen.

Pile Driving at Pier 90

The whole process for the crane to pick up a pile and
drive it deep into the soil takes almost 2 hours.

Thanks for stopping by and have a good rest of January!

Glacier Park 1925

A Souvenir Folder

Glacier National Park

on the Great Northern Railway

- Postmarked May 22, 1925 -

Thanks for stopping by. Take a moment from your busy summer to enjoy a look at Glacier National Park. Record heat has been the issue in Seattle lately and that set me looking through my collection to find something that might put some cooler thoughts in mind. Glacier Park seems to hit the spot. I wonder if the original recipient of this little folder, in 1925, made it to the Park in that year. We'll never know who that was, as it turns out, since someone, somewhere, along the line, decided to erase the addressee. Irregardless, I can say this:  The 2-cent postage was a deal!

Here are the images, which were also published individually as postcards ...

Trick Falls, on Two Medicine River

Click on the images to view a larger version.  Please feel free to download the images for your personal use. The copyright on all these images has expired and the images are now in the Public Domain.

Ice Berg Lake

Maybe you are wondering if Ice Berg is correct, or should it be Iceberg? I thought this would be a good opportunity to ask AI (Artificial Intelligence).  Here is the way that went ...

Me: Was it ever proper to write the word "iceberg" as two words "ice berg"?

AI: No, it has never been standard practice to write the word "iceberg" as two separate words ("ice berg"). The term "iceberg," referring to a large floating mass of ice detached from a glacier or ice sheet and carried out to sea, has consistently been written as a single word since it entered the English language in the early 19th century. The word originates from the Dutch word "ijsberg," which is also written as a single word.

Of course, AI is only as smart as what it has been taught. (True for humans, as well. 😊) I did a little research on my own and could not find this postcard on Google. However, I found plenty of others with the spelling “Iceberg”.  So, my guess is, the one who produced this postcard took a little “artistic liberty.”

Josephine Lake

I especially like the reflections in the card above and one below.

Two Medicine Lake

McDermott and Josephine Lakes

Many Glacier Hotel
Known today as Glacier Park Lodge.

St. Mary's Lake from Baring Creek

Forest Lobby, Glacier Park Hotel

When you see images, like the one above, of the hotel lobby, as it appeared about 100 years ago, you may wonder what it looks like today ... if it's still there. Well, it is still there, and it is now called Glacier Park Lodge lobby. Thanks to Wikipedia and the Internet we can see a 2010 image ...

"Forest Lobby" via Wikipedia
Image by Acroterion

If you download the 2010 image (using the Acroterion link above) and zoom in, there's lots of detail to enjoy. I can see that the dining room, at the end of the lobby, is still called the Great Northern.

Belton Chalets, Western Entrance to Park

1. Chief White Antelope
2. Chief Three Bears
3. Chief Gambler
4. Chief Medicine Owl
5. Chief Lazy Boy
6. Chief Two Guns White Calf
7. Chief Fish Wolf Robe

Lastly, the 7 Chiefs ... Since I am one who loves trains, and a fan of railroad history, I would like to think that the images of Native Americans were included as a way to honor them. However, some research revealed images often depicted Native Americans to evoke a sense of adventure and the exotic. This romanticized view of the West was intended to attract settlers, tourists, and investors by portraying the region as a land of opportunity and excitement.

Things at John's Island have been busy and I haven't put much time on the blog. I decided that the USA Birthday cake had been up long enough, so I hope you enjoy this post.

For all of you out there in the Northern Hemisphere, I hope you're having a good summer. (And those in the Southern, winter 😊) Thanks for stopping by.