Hello September

 Cut Care Confirmation

In my last post I gave you 7 tips for keeping
cut flowers fresh. Most unusual was #7 ...
Add aspirin to the water. I purchased the flowers
above at the Farmer's Market last Saturday.
This is how they looked yesterday (Thursday).
Looking good to me for 5 days.

Walk snaps

Fall colors are underway.
Love this leaf!

Most of the plant was was looking done, 
but a couple of blooms were still brilliant.

Could this be true?
Google says this:  Urine has nitrogen and minerals
that will kill carnivorous plants. Golly, I thought
the neighbor was being mean. Guess not.

Critter Watch

Male Anna's Hummingbird at my feeder.
-- See lots more critters at Saturday's Critters --

Sky Watch

Looking over the Marina, across Puget
Sound, to the Olympic Mountains 
in the distance. Wildfire smoke colors
the sky.

Unusual ... the setting sun highlights wind-blown
rain falling from a cloud.

Strange photo of the sun setting behind the 
Olympic Mountains on this smoky day,
September 6, 2024.

Ship Watch

US Coast Guard Cutter POLAR STAR
returning to home port, Seattle.

Fully loaded CMA CGM Container ship
arriving Seattle

Sailboats on Puget Sound

Climate Watch

Washington Post, September 6, 2024
It was plenty hot in Seattle, for sure.

Closing thought ...

Confucius

Early December

 Alaska

From my collection ...
A booklet published by The Alaska Railroad in 1933
to attract tourists to the Territory of Alaska before it
became one of the United States.
The cover image is a favorite!

Inside the booklet is a shot of the Steamship Aleutian
at Columbia Glacier. I collect vintage travel memorabilia
and have decided to share some of the collection
here on John's Island.

Recent Snaps

The Transatlantic at Grain Terminal 86 and
another bulk carrier at anchor beyond.
It usually takes 3 or 4 days to load a grain ship.

An exceptionally colorful sunset
November 25, 2022

Great Blue Heron looks cold in the morning wind.

Double Crested Cormorant
If you can zoom in, notice the green eye.
For those of you who love critter photos,
check out Saturday's Critters.

Four birds of a different "feather?"

Reflections

Just after sunset November 27th

Unusual late start to my walk on December 1st
with lots of welcome sunshine.

Pan Flower is at the Grain Terminal on December 1st

I walk about 2 miles most days. I snap pictures along
the way and then share some of them here on
John's Island.

From my starting point I walk southeast about 1 mile
to this point, turn around, and head back.

I like the name Pan Flower. I often wonder who
selects the ship's name and what that person is like.

Coast Guard Icebreaker 20, the USCGC Healy, departing the Port on
December 2nd. Not the best photo, but I'm including it anyway. I'm
so impressed with the young crew who will be spending the
next couple of months in rough conditions to provide
help as needed in very remote locations.

The Ocean Rover, fishing vessel, is in Port for
maintenance over the winter months.

Looking up the path to the spot where the next
photo was taken.

Every walk I stop at this spot to snap a photo
to record sky conditions. December 3rd was a beauty.

Foss Tug Marshall Foss
I believe all of the company's vessels are named for 
members of the Foss family.
I'm guessing the Foss company is the largest
tug operator in the Port of Seattle.

Work on shoreline erosion is underway and
started about 2 weeks ago.

Along the Elliott Bay Trail where shoreline
erosion is being worked on.
The erosion is attributed to exceptionally high tides
and strong storm conditions. Another example of the
effects of climate change.

Very small amount of show overnight.
December 3rd.

Fresh snow on the foot hills of the Olympic Mountains.
This view is looking west across Puget Sound from
the Interbay/Smith Cove area of Seattle. Note: it's
easy to see the parts of the forest that have been logged.

Tempting but too cold (for me) to sit.

Seattle has lots of Canada Geese visiting this
time of year.

December 9th and the leaves are gone!
Best wishes to my blogging friends
for happy holidays ahead.
Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Closing thought ...

I used this one before. It is worth repeating.

Bye Bye July

Sorry for a super long post! 

Necessary because I've seen a lot worth remembering in July, 2021.

Feel free to scroll around, and, if you get bored, see ya next time!  

Along my walks ...

In this long post this is actually my favorite photo.
I was walking the waterfront trail when I heard the
Canadian Geese calling. I still can't believe I was able
to turn on the camera and capture this scene.
They flew right over my head, calling out, as they do, all the way.

Looking south on the trail from near my starting point.

No, it's not me ... but someone painting the scene.
I didn't look at what he was painting, but have a hunch it
was something like the next photo.

Mount Rainier on a clear day.
If you look closely in the lower right corner, you will
see a building flying a flag. That is global
headquarters of Starbucks.

More snaps along the walk ...

A pedestrian bridge brings people across these busy rail lines
to the waterfront trail.
On July 22 I used the bridge access to snap this photo of
Seattle's commuter train which operates between Everett and
Lakewood, and is known as the Sounder.

A tree I like.
It has seen better days ...
but it has seen a lot.

Botanical

I visited the garden of the
 Puget Sound Dahlia Association located
 in Volunteer Park, Seattle.

Dahlias are one of my favorite flowers.

Lots of these pretty little "berries" along the walk.
But, I'm afraid this is one to leave alone. Deadly Nightshade is
 one of the more poisonous plants found in the Pacific Northwest.

Spear Thistle is a robust, prickly, perennial herb,
growing up to about 5 ft. (1.5m).

This rose, in the Rose Garden, seemed perfect.
AND, it smelled great! 😊

Critters

Great Blue Heron

For those of you who enjoy critter photos like I do, take a look over at Saturday's Critters. Eileen has posted some excellent photos she took at Great Falls National Park near Potomac, Maryland. And, you can check out other blogs that link up with her.

The lighting was not good and I only had a second to snap
this hummer before he/she was gone. The brown neck feathers attracted
my attention. It might be a Rufus, but I'm not sure. If it is a 
Rufus, it's the only one I've seen here in Seattle.

Great Blue Heron

One of the bunnies!
When I zoomed in on the full resolution of this photo
I could almost see my reflection in the bunnies' eye.

The Ultimate Book for Hummer Lovers

I've been studying everything I can find about hummingbirds. I've read several articles written by scientists who study the little birds. Several of the scientists agree that the ultimate publication about hummingbirds is The Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 5, Barn Owls to Hummingbirds. I had to order this from the publisher in Europe.

Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 5

Everything you've ever wanted to know about ...
Class AVES
Order APODIFORMES
Suborder TROCHILI
Family TROCHILIDAE (HUMMINGBIRDS)

Every species of hummer is covered.
There are more than 300 different hummingbird
 species in the world, though the exact number
 of species is often debated based on subspecies
and accepted divisions between closely related birds.

The illustrations are superb.

Collection

By way of explanation ... I have a collection of travel memorabilia ... postcards, brochures, etc. As renowned organizational expert, Marie Kondo, will tell you ... if you're going to keep something it has to spark joy. This stuff does and I like to relish it. I'm slowly moving things, form wise, from physical to digital. For example, the first item below is a scan of the cover of a rare 1920s Great Northern Railroad brochure, The Call of the Mountains, which features the highlights of visiting Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park. Some of the items I especially like will be added here in the blog.

Published by Great Northern Railroad in 1927
to attract visitors to Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks

In Apache Land - Arizona
Postcard sold at Fred Harvey's Lunchroom along the line
of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway.
Fred Harvey's was the FIRST restaurant chain in the USA

Typical postcard featuring the Dining Car on Great Northern's
Oriental Limited, early transcontinental passenger train.

Interesting art on this Oriental Limited brochure
published by Great Northern Railway, early 1900s.

Sky Watch

Late afternoon clouds created a dramatic sky.
July 12

July Full Moon
July 23, 2021, 3:58 AM

Maritime

By way of explanation ... I am fascinated by trains and big ships. My current home location allows me to watch a lot of maritime activity here in Seattle, Washington. Our Port is one of the largest on the US West Coast. 

Port of Seattle Overwhelmed

Headline from the Washington Post:  From ports to rail yards, global supply lines struggle amid virus outbreaks in the developing world. The full article explains how the supply chain is currently broken.

From the July 26, Washington Post article, by David J Lynch ...

"Fresh coronavirus outbreaks are forcing factory shutdowns in countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, aggravating supply chain disruptions that could leave some U.S. retailers with empty shelves as consumers begin their back-to-school shopping.

The overseas work stoppages are just the latest twist in almost 18 months of pandemic-related manufacturing and transportation woes. The new infections come as two of the largest U.S. railroads last week restricted shipments from West Coast seaports to Chicago, where a surge of shipping containers has clogged rail yards."

A screen capture from the Washington Post article.

Unusual situation.
It is rare to see a Container Freighter at anchor in
this part of Elliott Bay. They are waiting to unload because the
commercial Terminals are clogged with shipping containers.

Close up of the Container Ship at anchor out front.
It's the RDO CONCERT (IMO: 9415844), a Container Ship
 that was built in 2009 and is sailing under the flag of Liberia. 
There may be something you are waiting for in those containers.

The largest container vessel I've seen in the last 5 years.
MSC Eva
This ship is giant.
Just the letters MSC on the hull are (appx.) 40 feet high.
Eva's TEU capacity = 13,798.
See below for explanation of TEU

Here are the dimensions of one single shipping container.
Today, the largest ships, like MSC Eva, can hold thousands of containers.
These containers are called TEU for Twenty-foot Equlivalent Unit

The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity. It is based on the volume of a 20-foot-long (6.1m) intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation.

Foss Maritime Company has an operation base at Pier 90.
This is the Garth Foss.
July 12th ... First time to see her.

Harley Marine Services operates the Eagle.

Harley Marine also operates A. J.

Morning walk, July 28, spotted the Foss Lynn Marie heading my way.

As she got closer it was easy to see the Captain and one deck hand.

Close up as the Lynn Marie passed by.

At anchor ...

This July was unlike any previous July I've seen as far as maritime activity is concerned. Cruise ships were anchored in strange locations for days awaiting the beginning of the delayed Alaska Cruise Season.

Silver Seas' Silver Muse way across the harbor.
Warm air turbulence prevents a sharp photo.

Saga Odyssey
Container ship operated by Saga Welco of Norway.

Container ships are waiting for positions to unload.
The Port is currently overwhelmed with containers awaiting
transportation to eastern cities.

Dartya Shanti loading with grain at Pier 86.
I especially like the way the flags are illuminated in the
early morning sunshine.

Interesting emblem on the bow.

Ovation of the Seas docked at Pier 91
Container ship anchored beyond.
Currently the Port is overloaded with containers and ships
are holding for a position at the unloading Terminals.

With binocs I could watch the dog show on the Jumbotron.

Carnival Miracle needs a little work on its sign.

This cruise ship is registered in the Bahamas.
Ships fly the flag of the country where they are registered.
By registering in Bahama the ship/cruise line doesn't pay US taxes but,
on the other hand, during a pandemic,
they don't get support from the US Government.
Maybe they will rethink which flag to fly?

Small USCG Cutter, northbound, Puget Sound

Silver Seas' Silver Muse arriving in Port.

New Richard Proenneke DVDs

In my Saturday, December 26, 2020, post, I described how I have become fascinated with the story of Richard L Proenneke. Richard lived alone for nearly thirty years (1969–1999) in the mountains of Alaska in a log cabin that he constructed by hand near the shore of Twin Lakes. I've put all of his journals (5 Books) and several DVDs into my library. Recently the Proenneke Museum released two new DVDs including Richard's early photography that had not been previously published. I was on the waiting list for these two DVDs and they have arrived. They are excellently produced. Of course, one needs to be aware that Richard's films have been around for many years. The Museum did a fine job of getting the film over to video. More info at Richard Proenneke Store or Richard L Proenneke Museum, PO Box 290, Donnellson, IA 523625. By the way, the audio commentary accompanying the video is wonderful all by itself.

Two new DVDs presenting Richard Proenneke's films.
From the Heartland to the Great Northwest - Vol I
The Living Wildnerness - Vol II

Available from The Richard Proenneke Museum

Closing Thought ...

Mark Twain said it best:  Never argue with an idiot. You'll never convince the idiot you're correct, and bystanders won't be able to tell who's who.