John's Island

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Seattle's Waterfront Trail

Waterfront Trail along Elliott Bay, Seattle, Washington
Note - Click on images for enlarged, better view.

The long days of summer are here. The pandemic is fading. Masks are no longer needed on my daily walk along Seattle's Waterfront Trail. It's so nice to see someone share a smile in passing. Every day the steps are the same but the story is different. Most of the photos below are taken along the walk, some are from home.

Birds

Purple Martins

Check out more critter photos on blogs via Saturday's Critters and thanks to Eileen for hosting.

I believe this is a House Finch.
I happened to be sitting on my deck with camera
nearby when this little bird landed at the top of
a tree nearby. I am happy with this lucky catch.

One of my recent hummer visitors.
I've been feeding hummers for about a year now.
Some of them, I believe, are accustomed to me sitting
on my deck watching them. Occasionally, after feeding,
one will fly about an arm's length away from me and
just hover for a few seconds. I wonder if they
are saying Thank You. 😊

Blooms

Just one of the blooms in the Rose Garden along the Trail.

Rose Garden along the Trail

Wild Rose

Purple Lupine

California Poppy

Flowering Black Locust

Wild Flax ... delicate and pretty!

Iris

One day, while walking the Trail, I sat down at a bench for a
few minutes to enjoy the view of Elliott Bay. I glanced down
and was amazed at all the tiny daisy blooms.

Birds AND Blooms!

A very kind friend of mine gave me a subscription
to Birds and Blooms for this year and I just wanted
to say Thank You! This little magazine is loaded
with cool photos and information.

Ships

The Spar Vega Story

The Spar Vega bulk carrier arrived and anchored in Elliott Bay a few days ago. Instead of moving the ship into the commercial terminal area, a process began of unloading material onto barges, for the final miles to destination. After doing some research, I believe the material was a sand/gravel mix used in making concrete. Demand for concrete in the region currently exceeds supply and the concrete companies are going to unual lengths to obtain new supply.

The ship uses its own cranes to move the sand/gravel to barges.

At times barges were on both sides of the Spar Vega.

The unloading process is super dusty.

It surprised me that the Spar Vega carried its own
heavy machinery for moving the mix. See closer look below.

The ship's cranes seem to have no trouble picking up and
deploying the heavy machinery.

A port pilot boat arrives to check things out.
Note the stairs leading down to the boat for
visitor access.

When the work was complete the pilot boat did a
tour around the ship before the Spar Vega departed.
It took 3 days for the unloading process to be completed.

A container carrier arrives just before the
Spar Vega departed Elliott Bay.

Books

Books I'm enjoying and recommend ...

Ghost Rider by Neil Peart,
drummer and lyricist of the legendary rock band Rush.

Within a ten-month period, Neil Peart lost both his 19-year-old daughter, Selena, and his wife, Jackie. Faced with overwhelming sadness and isolated from the world in his home on the lake, Peart was left without direction. This memoir tells of the sense of personal devastation that led him on a 55,000-mile journey by motorcycle across much of North America, down through Mexico to Belize, and back again. Peart chronicles his personal odyssey and includes stories of reuniting with friends and family, grieving, and reminiscing. He recorded with dazzling artistry the enormous range of his travel adventures, from the mountains to the seas, from the deserts to the Arctic ice, and the memorable people who contributed to his healing. Ghost Rider is a brilliantly written and ultimately triumphant narrative memoir from a gifted writer and the drummer and lyricist of the legendary rock band Rush. I recommend the audio version on Audible.

The Hummingbird Handbook, by John Shewey

Just purchased yesterday at the Seattle Audubon Nature Shop, The Hummingbird Handbook, by John Shewey, is the best book I've found on hummingbirds. Highly recommended for hummingbird fans and available on Amazon.

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Alert ... ALONE, Season 8, premiered on The History Channel on June 3rd. It is also available without ads on Amazon Prime, all 10 episodes, for about $20. And if you're wondering why I mention this, check out my ALONE Season 7 post.

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Closing thought ...

"Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you."

Anne Lamott

Friday, May 21, 2021

Marine Fire and Spring Walks

Morning of May 18 ...
This scene sent me for the camera.

I happened to look out on Elliott Bay on the morning of May 18 to see the scene above. Putting the binoculars on this made it even more strange. Vietnam Coast Guard 8020 appeared to be on fire ... at least there was plenty of smoke. Checking on Seattle Fire Department dispatch revealed the following ...

If I counted correctly, 19 units were dispatched
for Marine Fire on Water.

About 15 minutes later the dispatch was cancelled. I do not know what happened but did find out that this ship had been the US Coast Guard Cutter John Midgett WHEC-726. Photo below ...