The West Seattle farmers market is in full swing now.

They're building the overlook park.

Saturday at the Aquarium

After a rough Friday night of Elliott crying and Zoë waking up to share her thoughts at 3, 4, 5, and 6am, we stumbled downtown to the Seattle Aquarium at opening time. I like the early part of the day there: not too crowded, and the guys cleaning the giant fish tank put on a little show.
They talk to the kids with their cool underwater radios, they give high-fives through one foot of glass, and finish up with the "Underwater Somersault of Death." Today was migratory bird celebration day, so they had activities and face painting (Zoë got a pink, migratory [?] crab on her cheek). Elliott toddled around, unpainted. We saw everything once, then had lunch at the upstairs cafe. I just got coffee and ate everything the girls rejected, which was a lot.

It's amazing how half a day can disappear like that.

Grandmommy's Here!

Grandmommy Chapman arrived intact this morning from St. Louis. We had lunch, then picked up Zoë & Elliott for a trip to Galaxie for hot chocolate. Not pictured here is Elliott, who threw a FIT all the way home, followed by another FIT. A belly full of mac & cheese was the cure.

As I type, Zoë is throwing her very own FIT to avoid going up to bed. The big stall: water, cereal, helping make dinner...she is not a good negotiator. Unmotivated to compromise.

Sunday, West Seattle Farmers Market

This week was the celebration of market opening. Since West Seattle is open year-around, I suppose the celebration was for other markets opening soon (Columbia City is this week). Zoë met a fine young(er) man (pictured) who charmed her with dancing and kissing her hands. They followed one another around for quite some time, playing cat-and-mouse with their kid-size lawn chairs while the band played, people danced, and the alpacas did whatever they were doing.

Next week the market will be "joined" by the folks from Sustainable West Seattle, who will host their first festival across the street. Tons of good stuff going on.

Decisions, decisions

Spotted on the #48 bus this morning. What is one to do when given an impossible choice?

How i spent my sunday afternoon

What did you do for fun today?

Officers Quarters, Fort Worden

I haven't had a single room in I don't know how long.

Tim O'Shea is an absentee slumlord!

Timothy J.C. O'Shea, who's name appears in this public posting tacked to one of his properties, is the worst kind of absentee speculator slumlord. He has bought up most of a city block in our neighborhood for the intended purpose of building homes. What he's really done is ignore the properties and let them sit empty. Well, not empty, actually; there's a brisk crack cocaine trade going, so at least the houses get some attention. One burned, but not nearly enough. Another (formerly rented by our friends) was looted for scrap metal.

It's a disgrace. Tim O'Shea is a disgrace and an embarrassment. We live here while he presides over a drug-infested bunch of squalid squatters' shacks. Tim talks a good game, but doesn't have the goods to follow though.

Shame, Tim, shame.

Build it or sell it.

the sun brings out the ballerina in everyone.

My caucus.

Playground, between rains.

New year bus trip

I got a jump on my resolution for 2008 today and went for a lunchtime run between morning and afternoon clinics. It is stunningly sunny and lovely out today: 40-degrees and bright. I ran from DFM straight down to the waterfront near Peir 66, headed north along the water toward the Olympic Sculpture Park, which I bypassed to avoid the temptation of touching the art. I ran through Myrtle Edwards park along the pedestrian path to a little spot with parallel bars and a sit up platform. A little of this and that on the bars, then back south toward the sculptures again, facing into the bright December sun, which at best seems to rise halfway above the horizon and so far to the south that I was running right into it. Nice though. I wonder how many lux you get on a day like today?

Getting back to clinic took a little more uphill energy, and I started to fade a bit. But reminded myself that lunch awaited, and managed to press on.

Again, I did not touch any sculptures.

Thirty minutes remain now between me and my afternoon clinic.

Today it was easy to keep my resolution. We'll see what happens when the rain comes back.

Who knew rei would be busy today?

What Are the Odds?

I went to the Seattle Aquarium this morning with my girls. A hundred-thousand or so marine animals. I managed one crappy picture of a person.

Seattle Snow

Day off today.

Zoë wouldn't nap this afternoon and it was snowing, so we headed out for a run. There were huge snowflakes falling, covering the connected parks on our usual route but sparing the paths. Nice. Zoë fell asleep in the jogger after about twenty minutes--she needed it. As we dropped from the hilly stuff down to the lake, the snow turned into rain, which was unpleasant. I was dressed for snow, not rain, so I got soaked but pressed on, feeling like I had a lot of stress to get out. We ran along the lake for a couple of miles then headed back up through Mt. Baker Park. Near the top of the hill, the flakes got big again and there was more snow sticking to the grass. Zoë woke as I stopped to take a picture of the snowman (some industrious kid made the best of almost nothing).

We dropped back into our little valley, got home, wrung ourselves out and waited for Brooke and Elliott to wake up from their naps, finished making peanut butter cookies, and drove in the slush--becoming ice--to see Sachi and Travis, who just had baby boy five days ago. I got to see them in the hospital, a benefit of working there, but Brooke and the girls hadn't seen him yet. We took them some black bean soup, cookies, and satsumas. Zoë made a total mess of their place for an hour, and we headed back home for the slow, chaotic descent into kid bedtimes and now my own.

I'm on tomorrow morning early and need some sleep, so off I go.

Tomorrow it'll be fifty degrees and the snowy world of today will be gone. Maybe that snowman will see Monday.

Can't Touch This?

Welcome to the Olympic Sculpture Park. Whatever you do, don't touch the art. Even though you're three years old. And you're outside. And the art is outside, where things touch it all the time. And don't run. Running is fun. So don't do it. Even if you're three, and run at an adult's walking pace. For the love of art, just walk. Just do what the security man in the blue jumpsuit says. No touching. No running. No lip.

And the art that looks like a bench? Yes, the one called "Bench." Can we touch that, Mr. Blue Jumpsuit? How about just with our butts?

I know this is old news, but it's still incredibly annoying. My first impulse was to set Zoë loose and let her run snotty fingers over "Eagle," maybe give "Split" a big hug, or see what "Wake" tastes like. But it was somehow more satisfying, culturally, to grumble in waspy indignance and walk on. I'm glad others have found creative ways to comment.

It is a cool park, though.

Macy's Parade

Yesterday we all went down to the Seattle Macy's Parade. We found a moderately-crowded spot at the end of the parade route and edged in so we could see the floats, marching bands, and assorted oddities that passed by.

I loved the marching bands, especially (though I hate to admit it) the Washington State University band, in town for today's Apple Cup. I've attached a slide show with the few in-focus pictures.



Unlike last summer's disastrous pirate outing, this was actually fun for all of us and we'd do it again. We'll also go back and let Zoë stare at the Macy's windows, which are pretty good this year.