A Busy Week in the Neighborhood

There's never a good time to suffer through the flu, but this week was the best time to recover from Flu: Round Two. I had planned on hours of television time, watching Sochi Winter Olympic events, clicking from station to station on US and Canadian channels. I did some of that, but there's only so much curling I can view before dozing off.

No chance of dozing when the rumble of heavy equipment invades the neighborhood. Vroom, vroom! Thud! Crash! More vroom, vroom! Chunk by chunk a neighbor's house disappeared, knocked down by one man with a tracked Komatsu machine with a toothed bucket. Demolition is noisy and exciting. 

The next day the world outside my window turned black and white, blanketed by a light dusting of snow. Such a lovely visual gift, though not appreciated by anyone who had to traverse Seattle's hills on that day. It was a good day to stay inside and enjoy the view, in between naps and Olympic events. 

Later in the week I thought it curious that a group of crows kept doing power dives past the upstairs window, flashing by close to my reading chair. Local crows are known to pester osprey and eagles in flight, just for fun or hoping to steal something edible. It's hard to ignore large, winged objects hurtling past your head just feet away so I stepped to the window to check out the action. What a circus as crow after crow swooped down to harass an osprey that had landed in a neighboring yard. Oops! one young crow might have misjudged his approach and was now captured - osprey prey - soon to be osprey dinner.  

This was quite an interesting week in the neighborhood. Flu recovery wasn't at all boring.  

Seattle Japanese Garden in Fall

Photo: Cloud Reflections in the Koi Pond at the Japanese Garden (photo by RL))

Exuberant Fall color grabbed my attention, drew my eye and the lens of the camera immediately at the entrance to the Japanese Garden located in the Washington Park Arboretum. The sky may have been overcast today but the landscaped 3.5 acres were a riot of color as vivid golden-orange leaves of lace-leaf maples contrasted with the bright yellow display of ginkos and the deeper crimson hues of several other species. 

The garden's technicolor display may have peaked a week ago or more. Several early-turning trees were already bare while others held leaves with fading hues, no longer brilliant, their edges going brown and crisp. Without a distracting cloak of neon-colored leaves, branch structure is highlighted, then smaller details clamor for attention.

I love walking through this tidy little garden in any season, any weather. Form, pattern and texture have a constant presence to share with anyone who takes the time to pause and observe. But today, it was all about dramatic punches of color highlighted against a background of evergreen trees and mosses, color so vivid it was as though a spotlight shined here and there and there...

Seattle holds many wonderful parks (link), but the Japanese Garden and Kubota Garden are high on my list of favorites. Set aside some time to explore a few, and remember to take your camera.

Garry Oaks and Duwamish Canoes

It was a typical quiet weekend morning with our energies focused indoors on house-related projects when a series of unusual background noises caught our attention. Rhythmic shouts and occasional thumps, human sounds apparently not mechanical, grew louder and closer. One long canoe, then another passed the house, heading south and approaching the shore near a local park. Curious, we grabbed the cameras and headed to nearby Martha Washington Park to investigate. There were two overlapping activities taking place, both reflecting history and current day concerns. Two canoes paddled by members of the Duwamish Tribe arrived at the park as a group of conservation volunteers gathered to clear underbrush from a stand of Garry oaks (link). 

I knew that oak trees lined the park's shoreline, but have never thought much about this species or their history beyond gathering a few baskets of fallen oak leaves for Autumn decorations. 

Photo: horse chestnuts in a bowl of oak leaves

It seems Garry Oaks are native to Puget Sound, with large groves once widely distributed throughout the region, but now harder to find as development has displaced them. They are magnificent trees, and Martha Washington Park and Seward Park boast two groves and volunteer groups who work to keep them healthy. 

Field notes

Garry oak(Quercus garryana)Puget Sound's only native oak, this striking deciduous tree has white-gray furrowed bark and round-lobed leaves. Resistant to fire, the oak withstood frequent burnings by Native Americans who used fire to manage the growth of desired plants and berries. Oak acorns were a staple food for those who visited and possibly lived along the shore between today's Seward and Martha Washington parks. They pounded and soaked the acorns to leach away bitter tannins. seattletimes.com/html/outdoors/2003717960_nwwnaturalwanders240.html

One branch of the Duwamish Tribe has ties to the lake (link) and the land around it, the one-time prairie that still holds some Garry oaks,  aggressive patches of blackberries and used to support camas and other harvestable plants. This tribe, though small in number, is an active group that continues its long fight for federal recognition.  

The land, the Garry oaks and the Duwamish paddlers share a history and a somewhat uncertain future. I like to think both were celebrating and celebrated at the park this weekend.

Old-fashioned Twig Fences

A daily walk could quickly become boring, a thoughtless routine that provides fresh air, exercise and some level of satisfaction in the knowledge that it's a healthy pursuit. Could become boring? maybe, but not lately, certainly not in our neighborhood. Beyond the neon colors of Spring flowers, clouds of petals falling from blooming fruit trees, noisy songbirds darting about in the bushes, waterfront activity around the park shoreline... beyond all that, there's always some small scene to stop a walker in their tracks. 

Today I spotted some raised beds being readied for planting and was intrigued by the twig fences dotting the property. It felt like a step back in time to an era when such handwork was routine, when fencing wasn't supplied by the nearest big box store, and when nothing, even pruned branches, would go to waste.

Now I'm tempted to prune the ornamental fruit trees in our yard and create something with the branches, maybe weave a basket to line with moss and display on the deck. Or maybe I'll put that notion in my Someday File, my file folder of good intentions, and focus instead on 2013 cruising preparation. Spring does force me to make choices.

Seattle Christmas Ships 2012

An Almost Wordless Wednesday post since the shot doesn't really need a caption. But I want to share my enthusiasm for this holiday tradition. It was a joy to view the dozen or more lighted vessels as they cruised past in front of the house and gathered in the cove. 

The flotilla paused in front of the nearby park and treated our neighborhood to a 20-minute program of Christmas music. The truly hardy souls gathered along the park's shore, other neighbors viewed from their windows, and many of us hung out on docks to enjoy the annual event... and dash inside for a hot drink to warm our hands and our insides. Cool, windy, drizzly weather and any stress of the season was forgotten as the familiar carols filled the air. I LOVE Christmas happenings in Seattle. 

The Neighborhood Frog

Here's a new addition to the neighborhood, the Remodel Frog. He grins back at me every morning through our kitchen window bay. This l'il character appears every three feet along the wall next door, making the view through all our northside windows bright and cheerful. I know the view of aqua-wrapped walls and orange trimmed window openings is temporary (and that's a good thing). Still, I will miss that army of cheerful frogs when they are covered by siding. 

Frogs are an inside family joke, occasionally annoying but more typically funny. Green frogs with pink wings... I smile and shake my head at the thought. Nope, I won't go there. It would lose something in the explanation.

Back to the remodel: the house's exterior shell remains the same, though stripped of siding and some of it's stone. Check out the new clerestory window added to the roof. The east wall remains open to the lake, displaying open studs throughout the interior. 

New swarms of subcontractors arrive each week, keeping the site active. Recently it has been roofers, plumbers and HVAC installers that joined the regular crew of carpenters. Big delivery trucks arrive and depart, worker's trucks fill up the street, and I can only imagine the choreography required to keep things progressing inside the house. 

Construction is such fun to watch, even when it's next door.  

Ten Days Later...

The view from the street remains the same, a residence with several vehicles parked in front. Only the gated side yard displayed signs of activity. The big blue dumpster has been filled and emptied at least three times; filled to the brim with wood, sheetrock, fixtures, flooring, carpeting, insulation, etc. 

 Only the interior shows signs of major activity - really major, drastic in fact. 

It was startling to see the gutted interior, the bare bones of a structure that was home to two sets of terrific neighbors over the past 20+ years. 

What's left are a ton of memories, and the anticipation of change ahead. I was right, there is a lot of interesting activity in the neighborhood.. 

A Morning Wake-up

Garbage and yard waste is usually collected on Fridays, so we weren't surprised at the early morning noise of a large truck backing up and loading. But today it was somehow different, the clanging and thunking went on, and on and on.  A quick glance out the window in a back bedroom told the whole story - the remodel next door had begun. There will be a lot of interesting activity in the neighborhood during the next six months.