SkyWatch Redux / Postcards / Critters / Ships

This morning the sky is partly cloudy but earlier this week clouds prevailed. So, for this week's SkyWatch we looked back into our archives. After all, we save all these photos and why? At least one reason is so we can go back and enjoy them again. Here are a few, all from 2005, or, another way to look at it, six years before we started John's Island.

February 17, 2005
Timeless icon of Seattle

June 28, 2005
Madison Valley Montana
aka "Rainbow Valley"

April 8, 2005
Bahia Esmeralda San Carlos Mexico
Taken on a road trip to Alamos, Sonora, Mexico.

March 24, 2005
Full Moon Rising above the Madison Mountains
Southwest Montana
(Fan Mountain on the left, Lone Mountain in center,
Cedar Mountain on the right)

July 8, 2005
This pic is my "Go-To-Mental-Picture" when stuck in Seattle traffic.
Taken along National Forest Road 290
aka "Gravelly Range Road"
a few miles from Black Butte, Montana

September 16, 2005
Sunrise Madison Valley Montana

September 30, 2005
Sunrise Madison Valley Montana

To enjoy more sky photos check out SkyWatch Friday and thanks to Yogi♪♪♪ for hosting!

Postcards

The theme this week for Postcards for the Weekend #26 is a card "from your home country."
I thought of several cards in the collection as possible, but none captures my feelings more than the one below. Although the whole country is there, my heart is in Washington!

I recently purchased this card at Pike Street Press in Seattle. They describe themselves on their website this way: "The Pike Street Press is Seattle’s trusted commercial craft letterpress printing company. We print locally and with customers worldwide, with a wide range of design & advertising firms, freelance graphic designers, individuals, and corporations." This particular card was placed into the mail yesterday and is enroute to Maria, host of Postcards for the Weekend. Maria, I hope you enjoy the card and thank you for hosting the meme! Do check out the link for more great postcards!

Saturday's Critters

Another of our favorite memes is Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen. Here's a favorite critter pic from our archive.

August 3, 2012
Taken while on a walk around Green Lake, Seattle, WA

If you like critter photos, as we do, be sure to check out Saturday's Critters and thanks to Eileen for hosting!

Ship Spotting

Several friends and followers have mentioned to us they enjoy our ship photos. The last couple of months have been challenging. It is hard, on some of the dark winter days, to get the right light for a reasonably good photo of ships coming and going here at the Port of Seattle. Here are a couple taken this morning, March 4, 2017.

Overview
ZIM Djibouti Departing Seattle 6:57 AM
March 4, 2017
ETA  Busan, South Korea, March 15th, 12 Noon GMT

Closer look at the Djibouti
ZIM Container Vessel

How it looked on VesselFinder.com 

Once we know the know the name of the vessel, thanks to VesselFinder.com, we like to do a little research on the owner and/or shipping company. ZIM has a neat website where they say this about themselves:  "ZIM Integrated Shipping Ltd was established in 1945, and has developed into one of the largest, leading carriers in the global container shipping industry."

Part of the fascination to us is the journey ahead for Djibouti's crew.
VesselFinder tells us their ETA is March 15
into Port of Busan, South Korea
About 5200 miles from Seattle
11 Days!

Closing Thought ...
We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.
     Anonymous

Serenity

Serenity is the theme for Postcards for the Weekend #26. From our collection we're sharing a card featuring Winter in Switzerland, art by Fritz Reiss. Not certain, but believe the postmark is January 6, 1913. Check out other Postcards for the Weekend and thanks to Maria for hosting.

We will be the first to say the picture of the little hummer is not photographically great. However, it does capture a moment of serenity for the little bird. We saw this hummer perched on a tree branch just yesterday (Feb 25th). It seems too early for hummers to return from their winter homes so this little one must have wintered-over here. We rushed to get the camera because it's unusual for hummers to stay in one spot long. Zoomed to the max, this is the best we could do. If only we had a camera on a scope standing by.

Matson SS Maui departing Port of Seattle early morning Feb 25, 6:57 AM. There must be some serenity for the crew knowing they've completed the loading process and setting out on their voyage to Hawaii.

Lastly, a serene sunset on Feb 24, 5:34 PM. Be sure not to miss the sailboat near the lower right corner, which helps give a little scale to the scene.

Closing thought ...
Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is.
Thomas Szasz

YNP / Gratitude / Ships / Skies

Historic - Scenic Route into Yellowstone - Season 1927

The New Gallatin Gateway
into Yellowstone Park
Published for Season 1927
Chicago Milwaukee and St Paul Railway

Interior Pages showing Regional Map

Back Cover

Enlargement -- What to Wear through the Park
"riding breeches and puttees"?

We just added the brochure above to our collection having found it, for a very reasonable price, on eBay. This travel publication was published to advertise one of five ways to enter the Park in 1927 when the primary mode for most tourists to get there was via train. Travelers from around the country could arrive at the Gallatin Gateway Inn, near Bozeman, Montana, and then take a motor coach into the Park to see all the "wonders" of Yellowstone.

We were so grateful to find the brochure and our GRATITUDE provides a segway into our postcard section below.

Postcards for the Weekend #25

The theme this week for Postcards for the Weekend is "Gratitude." We're linking up and wish to thank Maria for hosting the meme. A search through our postcard collection came up two cards below. In the first card a young man has just been rescued at the beach by a young lady lifeguard. He has so much GRATITUDE for being saved that he asks her, "Will you save my life again tomorrow at the same time?" What do you think about that?

Rescue at the beach.
A postcard expressing Gratitude. :-)

Back of the Unused Card

Happy Old Folks showing their Gratitude
for their Old Age Pensions
on Old Age Pension Day!

Back of the Unused Card

Ships

A couple of recent ship spottings to share. First of all, APL Antwerp container vessel departing Seattle on February 16 under colorful skies.

APL Antwerp Container Vessel
Feb 16th  5:44 PM
"Red sky at night, sailor's delight."

How VesselFinder.com helps identify ships
like the Antwerp.

When curiosity strikes these days the world wide web usually has the answer. APL has an excellent website with a well done write up on company history. It's interesting that APL has evolved from a company, American President Lines, once owned and named by the US Government.

Screen shot from APL Website
About Us > History

CMA CGM  Dalila arriving Seattle
Feb 14th  2:47 PM
Plenty of freight aboard this ship!

First spotting of tug Montana
To appreciate the SCALE, note the two people on the rear deck.
Feb 17th  10:12 AM
The tug appeared to be in a "testing" routine near Pier 91.

Skies

Although Seattle is on track to set a new rainfall record for the month of February, we've still had several interesting sunsets and other sky conditions.

Feb 13th 5:23 PM
Looking Southwest over Puget Sound
to the foothills of the Oympics

Feb 12th  5:46 PM
After a mostly clear sky afternoon.

Early morning look across at Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge, Island
Elliott Bay Marina at bottom.
Fog across the way will burn off later in the morning.
Feb 12th  8:09 AM

Screen shot of an App called Living Earth
Note the stream of clouds from near the Equator
pointing, almost like an arrow, up to the Pacific Northwest.
This is called the "Pineapple Express" and gives
us large amounts of rain.
Feb 16th  8:31 AM

Feb 17th  5:45 PM
Sunset over the Olympic Mountains

Looking at them, looking at us.
Water front homes on Bainbridge Island reflect
the rising sun in the east.
Feb 17th  7:33 AM

Closing Thought ...
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.
      Marcus Tullius Cicero

Fireboat Leschi and Postcard Love

Seattle's Fireboat Leschi in drydock

Seattle Fireboat Leschi
in drydock
Fisherman's Terminal
Seattle, Washington

All of our Leschi photos in this post
taken on October 22, 2016

In case you are wondering, the fireboat got its name from Chief Leschi of the Nisqually tribe of Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest. The history surrounding Chief Leschi is quite interesting and involves political turmoil not unlike that we are experiencing today. Read more about him via Wikipedia here.

Water Cannons?

Overall view shows Leschi on drydock

Do we need to tell you that we love boats and ships?

Postcards for the Weekend #24 - Love

The theme for this week's Postcards for the Weekend is "Love".  With Valentines Day just a few days ahead we thought maybe this old card from our collection would fill the bill. How do you like it?

Postcard Love
To My Valentine
With you as the groom
     and I as the bride,
Forever through life
            let's ride side by side.

In very small print, lower center:  Copyright, 1907, by Raphael Tuck & Sons Co. Ltd. The card is signed by the artist, E. Curtis. Please check out other Postcards for the Weekend and thanks to Maria for hosting!

Other updates

Most photos in this post are taken from home looking out over Puget Sound,
Seattle, Washington, USA.

Stormy, windy look at our favorite flag across the valley.
Pouring rain, very windy, but sun breaks like spotlights.
Feb 9  4:17 PM

End of a stormy day.
Feb 7  5:07 PM

Linking up with the great SkyWatch Friday meme. Check it out and thanks to Yogi♪♪♪ for hosting!

Afternoon sun breaks out on the Sound.
Bainbridge Island in the distance.
Feb 6  4:39 PM

Clear sky overhead but the sunset into a bank of clouds
along the western horizon.
Feb 2  5:01 PM

Crew at work on Greenlake this morning.
Feb 11th  11:36 AM
Greenlake is a place popular for walking.
The walk around the lake is 2.8 miles.

Yes, we do have blue sky in February!
Looking up through our Birch tree.
Feb 10th  4:34 PM

We don't buy flowers at the market all that often,
but couldn't resist this little group.
Feb 11th

Colorful contrail at sunset.
Feb 10th  5:33 PM

Closing thought ...
Understand that there is NOT a magic bullet but, rather, the accumulation of small decisions and actions over a lifetime.
      Darish Mozaffarian, MD, Dean, Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science, in an article listing ways to stay healthy.