Something's Fishy

Did I mention Seattle was a fishy place?

They are mighty fond of their fish here, especially the salmon. The locals eat salmon burgers, salmon sausages, smoked, grilled, and poached salmon, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I haven't looked for salmon ice cream, but it wouldn't surprise me to find it here.

On one of our periodic explorations we visited the fish ladder. A very forward thinking member of the Army Corps of Engineers, Hiram Chittenden devised a watery staircase to help salmon return to their spawning grounds despite the locks in the Ship Canal. It's built into the side of the locks, with a viewing area so popular that tour busses stop here.  While we were down below watching the fish through the glass, a few locals were salivating at the thought of one of these big silvery beauties on their plates. One, a former fisherman said "I used to catch these, but now when I go to the supermarket, I can't bring myself to buy it except as an rare treat".  From the point of view of someone who spent a lot of time in the opposite corner of the country, salmon prices in the Pacific Northwest seem quite reasonable. But there are different types of salmon, and what we were watching was a  Chinook, one of the tastiest.

Above ground, the locks are especially entertaining on a sunny Sunday morning when it is full of pleasure boats wedging themselves in tightly for the ride down to Puget Sound. 

On the opposite bank from the fish ladder is a visitor's center and botanical garden, and some of the original poured-concrete architecture with fishy details (there are small bronze fish around the base of the globe). 

From there we continued along the Burke Gillman trail (it vanishes in Ballard and begins again closer to Puget Sound) to Golden Gardens park.  A beach within easy cycling distance from home, will wonders never cease? It's noting like the salty bathwater of Biscayne Bay from my childhood, but it's still a beach.

Along the way we spotted Ray's, a restaurant that features seafood (of course) and the diners have breathtaking views of the water and the Olympic mountain range in the background.

Out front is a colourful fish-shaped bike rack.  Some sculptural bike racks are next to useless, especially for odd sized bikes, but this one works pretty well. Our little Bromptons nestled in the slots perfectly.

It's time to sign off for now, I need to go fix dinner. . .  fish, of course!

Salmon Waves by Paul Sorey

"The Youth of the Middle East rise up for basic freedoms.The Youth of London rise up for a HD ready 42" Plasma TV"

As Dorothy says in the Wizard of Oz , "We're not in Kansas any more Toto".  Some day I will have to visit Kansas.  But right now Seattle is occupying our attention.  Not completely, because our beloved London is currently being ransacked by greedy, ignorant mobs of thugs bent on nothing but destruction and self gratification. The heading for this post is a tweet from Lulu Rose, who aptly sums up the sad situation in London. Our old neighbourhood is completely untouched so far, which only goes to show that living in an area with nothing but coffee shops and sandwich joints has some advantages after all. I worry about all my friends and colleagues, some living in the worst affected areas.  All reporting back safe, for now.

Back to Seattle, settling in and getting our bearings. We've hardly been in the central part of the city.  A brief foray on Friday to get my phone set up with a US number, and lunch in the International District with friends from Maryland.  The rest of the time has been spent within a couple miles radius of the Google office, trying to find a place to live that isn't on top of a hill, has enough of the right kind of space, but is not too big. Our London apartment was a marvel of spatial efficiency, as yet unmatched by anything we've seen.

 Yesterday I spent the afternoon running errands in Ballard and Fremont (flat, near the ship canal) on my little Brompton, amusing bank tellers, receptionists and shop keepers with the folding and unfolding.  I finished up at the vast emporium known as Fred Meyer. As the lad at the checkout said, 'we're like Wallmart only better because the employees here are well treated".  It was so big, I got lost, several times, and began to wonder if I would ever find my way back out.  Ironically, for a place the size of Rhode Island, right next to the Burke Gilman trail (now there's a real cycle super-highway), they only had one tiny cycle rack!

Last night we met some friendly local morris dancers, who take advantage of the beautiful summer's evenings to meet in Gasworks Park.  I ended up in the set as a place holder (I didn't run into anyone, but was generally on the wrong foot) and my feet and legs really missed those lovely sprung dance floors at Cecil Sharp House. We headed back to our encampment on the hill as the sun was setting over Puget Sound.  The ship canal looked especially lovely, reflecting the pink and salmon coloured clouds. The exercise must have done us some good, we slept through until six am this morning!