It was a busy day. A fun day, filled with a lot of visual treats, but busy.
Before we begin, I have to do a little bragging. I've wanted to set down and just lose myself for a while in a mindless activity like putting together a puzzle for some time now. I bought a larger, more complex puzzle a couple months ago and . . . it was a dismal failure. I had neither the time, patience, expertise, eye or mental acuity to complete that Bad Boy.
It went back into the box and under the bed QT!!
Still, there was that small, nagging and irritating itch at the back of my head telling me that what I really wanted to do was to build, complete, accomplish the task of putting together a puzzle.
I just had to find a puzzle that was commensurate with my meager abilities, my paltry supply of patience and my lack of an adequate work area.
And I did!!
Thank goodness for the Dollar Tree!! Hahaha, they had a large selection of appropriately-sized puzzles (only 300 pieces!! Hahaha, now we're in the ballpark!) at a Jackie-sized cost!! Only $1, I mean, who couldn't experiment a bit at that price, right?
Alrighty, then, I had the puzzle, the time, the table and the desire . . . and I conned Carol into helping me and we were off!!
I am proud to say that we completed the puzzle The Tinganes Historic District in Torshavn in no time at all!! And I didn't once throw anything, curse the fates, rue the day or, in general, act like a pouty little ass because I couldn't find a particular piece.
Hahahah, it was fun!! I think I've found my niche . . . vis-a-vis puzzles at any rate.
Here's our first completed puzzle and, I daresay, the first of the many which you, Dear Reader, will be able to enjoy right along with us.
Hahahaha!!
I warned you so no whining!!
And, a quick segue from that FUN activity to another FUN activity . . . one at which I've always excelled . . . eating!!
It was our Thanksgiving Dinner and it was just right and nice for the two of us. Mmmmmmm, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, buttered corn, stuffing and rolls. How much more traditional could you get, eh!?!
And it were DELISH!!
I had looked high and low for a turkey roll . . . you know, the pressed turkey meat all done up in a log, or roll, and couldn't find it anywhere. I mean, we went to all the usual suspects; Walmarts, The Dollar Tree, Safeway and no luck.
I told Carol that as a last resort, we'd have the Hungry-Man Turkey Dinner!! Hey, it'd be turkey, right!?!?!
But, fortunately, Carol found an appropriate alternative for us . . . she found a turkey breast at Walmart. It's the strangest thing and I've never seen this before in my life but it sure answered a question I've long had . . . what do they do with the rest of the turkey after they've wrested the legs off that Bad Boy for some special event where they serve the legs only (and I've thinking of those Muddy Warrior Runs where they slop around in the mud and then at the end get a Viking Helmet with horns on it and feast on turkey legs). They take the breast and sell just that!!
Hahaha, we found a nice turkey breast, minus the legs and dark meat, just the right size for the two of us.
And it were good.
And I've really enjoyed the left-over turkey sandwiches and on and on and on . . .
OK, so now it's the day after Thanksgiving and it's time for the . . .
My Macy's Holiday Parade!!
The parade was scheduled to kick-off at 0900 and so we were up and ready early. It was dark and rainy when we set out at 0715.
We knew it was suppose to rain for the parade, but I expected it to be the usual drizzly, kinda floats to the ground misty rain. And so we prepared for that.
Rainy Day Parade Selfie!!
We geared up before we left the downtown Westlake Link Station.
And, POW!!! stepped right into a blustery and rainy day!!
It wasn't the usual misty kinda rain, oh, no!! This was a full-fledged, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head kinda rain.
Regardless, the show must go on!! Ain't gonna let a little moisture spoil our fun. Hell, we're from Seattle, we live for this kind of weather just so we can go stand out in it and look at the other 49 States and scoff at them . . .
Hahahah, you little girlie-men!! We do EVERYTHING in the rain!!
We got there around 0800 and they were closing off everything along the parade route. They'd really done up the trees in the Westlake Park.
And across the street, they had the Christmas Tree done and waiting for the big Lighting Ceremony later that day.
Even the little kiosks looked festive!!
It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas . . .
OK, now for my disclaimer, it was a overcast and gray day with just a little light available to work with and so, you're gonna see some blurred and out-of-focus pictures throughout. I pushed the ISO to 800 but I knew I would be zooming and so I didn't want to push it any farther because everything would have been grainy.
You make compromises and deal with it, right!?! Just like in life.
I'm really taken with the lights in the trees along the streets. We took our roost on 5th Avenue.
You can see it's kind of a bleak sorta day. I was expecting the overcast and gray skies, but I wasn't really expecting it to rain so doggone hard.
Looking north, up 5th Avenue, there was the Nordstrom. A nice touch, they set up lights to give a soft hue to the building.
Under the Umbrellas Rainy Day Selfie!!
It was a rainy day. Carol caught this picture with her cell phone.
We had our seats and then the parade started. I was a bit surprised because they started the parade on-time!! Seriously, I was expecting some kind of delay because of the rain but . . . not today!!
Hahahaha, Seattle laughs in the face of rain!! Let's Rock 'N' Roll!!
You can't tell it, but it was coming down pretty good. In fact, it started out coming down pretty good and just got worse. Hahaha, I was surprised. I had expected it to back off and get back to that drizzly stuff I normally expect.
But they ran the parade out.
I'm sure it dampened (Hahahaha, pun intended) things a bit.
OK, so I shot and it was a blurry mess and so by the time the camera recycled they were already past me but still worthy of a picture.
Ingenious costumes.
And the Christmas Tree!!
One of the things I learned about parades in Seattle is that they don't have floats, per se, they had inflatables mounted on a motorized cart.
That's the thing here in the Great American Pacific Northwest. They use a LOT of inflatables for their floats.
Regardless, it was a colorful and festive way to begin the parade.
Next up, the Candy Cane Express!!
With candy drops, lollipops . . .
. . . and the Express itself.
See the guy to the right, there? He was pulling a wagon full of candy canes. They handed out thousands of candy canes. A lot of the time they just threw them at you.
Observation: I gathered this from watching the parade.
1. The Sounders, Seattle's Pro Soccer Team, has a band but NO mascot.
2. The Mariner's, Seattle's Pro Baseball Team, has a mascot but NO band.
3. The Seahawks, Seattle's Pro Football Team, has BOTH a band and a mascot.
Conclusion: Having BOTH a band and a mascot is way cooler AND may be a factor in the Seahawks having a Championship and the other two not having one.
Hmmmmm, food for thought, y'all, food for thought.
OK, so here's the band for the Sounders.
I cannot get enthused about soccer. I'd rather watch golf and, y'know, that's duller than dishwater so that gives you an idea of how entertaining I think soccer is.
Here's the Mariners Mascot, Mariner Moose!!
Fun Facts: In 1990, a contest for children 14 and under was held to select a mascot for the team. Out of 2500 entries received, the club chose the 'Mariner Moose,' originally submitted by Ammon Spiller of Ferndale, Washington. The Moose made his debut on April 13, 1990, dancing onto the field at the Kingdome to 'The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades' by Timbuk 3.
And, saving the best for last vis-a-vis pro sports teams in Seattle, here comes Blitz, the Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks Mascot!!
As the Seahawks mascot, Blitz has done his part to make sure CenturyLink Field is the loudest, most exciting stadium in the NFL. Always an entertainer, Blitz has jumped off the roof of CenturyLink Field, flown with the Blue Angels and skydived with Red Bull.
What 'chu got, soccer?
Hahaha, I didn't think so!!
And he brought a couple of a couple of Sea Gals with him.
Hahahaha, football rocks!! Even in the rain.
And here's Boom!!ˆ
According to press releases issued by the team, Boom 'hitched a ride in Blitz's time machine' to find his way to Seattle and has requested to serve as the 'official sidekick' to Blitz.
Hahaha, what's that mean? Now they can make more money hawking (Hahaha, pun definitely intended. I do crack myself up!!) Team Crap with Boom on it.
Ka-Ching!!
OK, we've seen the mascots, now for the Blue Thunder!!
Blue Thunder is a roughly 33 piece drumline for the Seattle Seahawks. They made their debut in 2004, the first year in which Seahawks Stadium was renamed Quest Field . . . until they renamed it, again, as CenturyLink Field.
The Blue Thunder consists of 33 pieces: 10 snares, 7 bass drums, 6 tenor drums and 10 cymbal players. BTW, the cymbal players have the most fun during their performances. And that's saying a lot considering that the other members of the band are drummers!!
Blue Thunder performs around the stadium and in local fan bars two hours before and after each home game as well as on their stage by the 12th Man Flag during TV timeouts.
Quick recap:
Soccer - One Band
Baseball - One Mascot
Football - One Band AND Two Mascots
Aflack . . .
'Nuff said.
Here comes one of the best parts of the parade from Salty's, a Seattle area seafood restaurant.
I heard this long before I saw it. Remember a couple days ago when we visited the Pacific Place Mall? I took a number of shots of the NussKracken they had on display throughout the Mall. Well, they aren't for decoration only . . .
. . . because they were in the parade, too.
The rumbling, like thunder coming over the range, was from the casters they used to make the NussKracken mobile. And it were loud, too!!
Nicely done, this was a very colorful and fun part of the parade.
It was breezy and a bit, not too much, cold. All the kids involved did a great job considering that it was raining pretty good during the parade.
Everyone was getting soaked.
Nice touch with the Santa Hats.
And they were playing traditional Christmas songs . . . some of the songs even had, gasp, a religious theme!!
Quick to the "I'm offended" lawsuit machine!!
Go you wet, wooly Wildcats!!
Then these show-offs came along.
C'Mon, be honest!! I think everyone has, at some point in their lives, wanted to ride on a unicycle. I know I did but common sense and a strong sense of self-preservation kept me from trying this.
As Carol pointed out, there were little kids out there riding them!!
Hahaha, way to rub it in my face, guys!!
Speaking of little kids, can you see the fun these Munchkins are having!?!
This car was advertising a play at the 5th Avenue Theater, A Christmas Story. They had the child lead in the car waving.
I know this is a bit out of focus but I included it because they've got this 1941 Chrysler so polished up you can see the people sitting on the sidewalk reflected along the side of the car.
Beautiful car, eh?
OK, let's get back to the bands!!
Isn't that a great idea!?! Not only decorative and fun, but it also helps keep the hands both warm and dry!!
Way to go you mighty St. Bernards!!
(I'm not kidding. That's their school mascot, the St Bernard.)
This was a new float for this year, a siamese cat on an ornament.
Remember I told you about the candy canes and how they were a-flyin', fast and furious!!
A lot of them ended up in the street and, strangely, no one was rushing to pick them up.
How odd.
You can get an idea of how much precip we were getting from this shot. In a couple hours, all that will be left is the wrapper as the water was dissolving the canes.
Oh, our totally left-leaning Seattle Times!!
I wish I could train a dog to fetch the paper.
Hah!!
Speaking of dogs . . . and having previously spoken about St. Bernards, why not some of the real deal, eh!?!
Really fun . . . and it gives you a good idea of their working dog class.
Hmmmm, I wonder if one of them would be strong enough to haul my rather ginormous rear-end around? I think I'll look into that.
These kids were wet!! But they played a mean tune.
Ho, ho, ho . . . A right jolly, and wet, Elf!!
Oh, gosh, I'd love to own one of these.
A Nash Metropolitan!!
While most U.S. automobile makers were following a 'bigger-is-better' philosophy, Nash Motor Company executives were examining the market to offer American buyers an economical transportation alternative.
The Metropolitan was designed in the U.S. and it was patterned from a concept car, the NXI. It was designed as the second car in a two-car family, for Mom taking the kids to school or shopping for for Dad to drive to the railroad station to ride to work. The 'commuter/shopping car' had a strong resemblance to the big Nash but the scale was tiny as the Met's wheelbase was shorter than the VW's Beetle.
The new Metropolitan was made in two body designs: convertible and hardtop. All came with several standard features that were optional on most cars of the era. Among these were a map light, electric windshield wipers, cigar lighter, and even a 'continental-type; rear-mounted spare tire with cover. An AM radio, 'Weather Eye' heater and whitewall tires were offered as optional extras for the U.S. Market.
The Metropolitan was the first postwar American car that was marketed specifically to women. The Dodge La Femme was introduced one year later. The first spokeswoman for the car was Miss America, 1954, Evelyn Ay Sempier, and the car was prominently advertised in Woman's Wear Daily. American Motors' marketing brochures described the new model as 'America's entirely new kind of car' (1955), 'Luxury in Miniature' (1959), and 'crafted for personal transportation' (1960).
The cars were produced between 1953 and 1962. Gee, I wonder why my Mom didn't get one?
Ah, from one fun tale to another. Here's a bad picture of Winnie the Pooh getting himself into the Hunny Pot.
Now this group has a band director that thinks. One of the things that bugged me, and I don't know why it did, was that a lot of these kids were out there marching without any protection from the rain. And, folks, it was raining the WHOLE time we were there. And it was really raining, too. Not any of that misty stuff I expected.
And yet, even though everyone knew it was supposed to rain, a lot of the Knotheads (aka teens) showed up with nothing to help shield them from the rain.
I blame the adults . . . there's many a good reason teens are known to be mostly brain-dead in the Common Sense department. This is just another example of that simple fact.
But fortunately for these kids the Band Director thought ahead and arranged to have some cheap but effective plastic ponchos for the kids to wear to help keep some of the rain off them.
End of rant.
#fornow
There were plenty of dog clubs represented. I was surprised by the number of clubs devoted to a particular breed of dog. We've already seen the St. Bernard club and I had a bad picture of the Scottish Terrier club which I decided not to burden you with. Now comes along the Dalmations.
And their float.
Nice touch, the Dalmations had their own, portable fire hydrant. Never know when you might need one, y'know!?!
I don't know. They followed the Dalmatians but I don't think they were part of that group because . . .
. . . they had their own float.
Here comes another band. I had planned to be towards the beginning of the parade and, I think, it made a difference. The kids were still excited and full of energy. They wuz high-steppin' and wailin' as they marched along.
And, to a band, they all played well. Really good and their music selection was great. Very Christmasy.
Hahaha, after our Gingerbread Village, we got to see this more traditional Gingerbread House.
Mmmmmm, I was getting hungry, and not for the good stuff, either.
I really liked the cherry pie costume. Some really great costumes with a lot of thought in them.
We'd been out on the street for a little over an hour. If you can't tell, that's Carol down there somewhere. Hahaha, we used everything we could to stay semi-dry.
She looked so forlorn that one of the guys in the parade, one of the clowns, came up and asked her if she were OK. Hahahaha, why wouldn't she be, right!?!
St. Bernards, Dalmatians, Scottish Terriers . . . now for some Shaggy Dogs!!
Hahaha, remember that movie? Quick, who was the juvenile male lead for that Disney classic?
That young guy there on the right was having a good time and be bayed, barked, yodeled all the way. The more mature, dignified and refined fellow there on the left acted like he'd been to the Big Show before. It wasn't his first rodeo, no sir!!
Trivia Answer: The part of Wilby Daniels, the boy who is transformed into a shaggy dog, was played by Tommy Kirk.
Fun Fact: This was the first-ever Walt Disney live-action comedy.
Hahaha, these guys should have followed the Scottish Terriers . . . not the, shudder, English Sheepdogs.
When I first heard the skirl of the 'pipes my heart picked up the beat and it made me think that I must have a strong connection with my Scottish ancestors . . . the music resonates with me. It touches me.
And these Highlanders from Keith put out a lively tune.
Another new float for this year . . . the Red Caterpillar. Or is it an Inchworm? Regardless, the kids liked it.
This picture clearly shows two of my contentions about the bands in the parade. First, a great example of just how devoid of common Common Sense teenagers are. Look at that Big Honyok there on the left holding the banner!!
A t-shirt!!
Second, it shows that some of the Band Directors left their brains back at home in front of the fireplace watching the Other Macy's Christmas Parade from New York.
Why would you let one of these Chuckleheads go parading around for over an hour in cold, wet, rainy weather with just a t-shirt.
Why?
End of rant.
#maybe
Oy!! Here come the clowns!!
They were done up pretty good and there were lots of them in the parade.
Alas, it was right around this time that my legs gave out on me and I scooped up the forlorn, wet and still, somehow, happy Carol and headed off towards home, warmth and a comfortable seat on the couch.
But not before I got a picture of the parade making their first turn from Pine onto 5th Avenue.
So here's our plan. Parade in the morning and then back to the Hole-in-the-Ground for some nourishment, relaxation, libations and TV . . . and maybe a little nappy stuck in there somewhere.
And this part of the day worked to perfection. Except for UCLA losing to the Stupid Stanford team. That part was supposed to be a lot different.
So we came back, got fed and watered and changed into some dryer clothes.
The second part of the day was to kick off at 1700 with the Lighting of the Christmas Tree in front of Westlake Center.
So when I got up from my little afternoon siesta, we got ourselves bundled up and ready to go for Round Two of this Very Christmasy Day.
Hahaha, you gotta keep learning, right? That's one of the many happy little secrets to life that you discover along the road. Well, I learned that I didn't want to walk to the Link Station in the rain, drizzly as it was. Yeah, it was supposed to clear up in the rain department this afternoon and it almost did . . . except for that pesky little misty kinda rain that we get a lot here.
So rather than deal with that, I used my vast reservoir of trivial minutiae to recall that the two-hour limit for parking ended at 1700 and so we could drive to the Link, park and come back without getting a parking ticket for $45 or so bucks.
And we did. Hahahaha, I also learned it's a lot more fun and a heckuva lot easier to drive than it is to walk it.
I know, Duh!!
It was a rainy and dull day, weather-wise. And as the sun set, it didn't get much better.
Hahaha, Portland's putting another push on Seattle for the ol' Tourist Dollar. They roped us in last March. Hmmmm, it might be fun to visit Portland again.
Take a look at the two happy folks just above the Portland sign. Have you ever played that game where you see a stranger and try to build a life for them . . . maybe a reason for why they are where they are and a reason for what they look like?
It's fun, sometimes, to play that game.
What kind of story would you build for the girl on the right of the picture? What about the guy?
They stopped the Link at University Station and had everyone get off. Whoa, this was one stop too early. We'd planned to ride to the end of the line, Westlake Center but, those rascally demonstrators had done something or the other and so we had to get off a stop early.
Oh, the humanity!!
It wasn't a real problem, we just had to hoof it 3, maybe 4 short blocks over. It certainly made me aware of and oh, so sympathetic, to the cause being demonstrated for. No, wait. Nope!! It didn't help their cause a bit with me.
So we were off.
Backstory: When we'd gotten off the Link and made it to street level there were a number of cops there seeking shelter from the . . . drizzle and so, having heard that demonstrators might be out and about this evening, I asked one of them where they might be and what areas to avoid.
Hahaha, he was emphatic that the demonstrators were at Westlake Park and that we shouldn't go there as they had reports the demonstrators, hereafter known as Seattle Activists Protesting Stuff, or SAPS for short, had some kind of vinegar bombs (?) and were stirring up all kinds of mischief there.
Well, we'd come this far so I thought we'd just go and maybe stand along the edges and take a look-see at all the goings on between the SAPS and the police.
It's not too often you go for a Christmas Tree Lighting and get to see some of the action that will be featured on a We now interrupt your regularly scheduled viewing for this Special Report - Seattle Burning!!
Honest, could you resist that lure?
Ahhhh, downtown Seattle . . . in the rain . . . er, ah, the drizzle.
Here we're approaching the Westlake Park.
Off we went, merrily on our way.
Neat thing, I was able to stand in the middle of the intersection at 3rd and Pike and get this long shot of the Public Market because the cops had the streets blocked off for either the Tree Lighting or the SAPS.
Hahaha, I had so much time, I was able to zoom in for an even closer shot.
Hoozah!!
Like Polyanna, I found something about the demonstration I could be glad about.
Then, because I could, I turned around 180 degrees and got this shot of the Washington State Convention Center, too!!
Hahahaha, SCORE!!
OK, time to get serious as we were nearing the battle zone.
But, what? It really wasn't too much of a battle. We could hear an announcer going on about the tree lighting and see the folks walking, calmly, to and fro.
All appeared normal. Well, what passes for Normal in The Emerald City.
Then we heard the announcer tell some people to back off from the kids and then ask for some extra security.
Hmmmmmm, I must see what is going on.
Bravely, we pressed on. But not so quickly that I wasn't able to stop and get some pictures along the way. They dressed up the trees in Westlake Park.
As we moved closer, we could see the star lit up on the corner of Macy's.
And there it was . . . our Grail for this evening . . . the Christmas Tree. We arrived about five or so minutes before the official lighting of the Tree.
And so they lit it up. And it is beautiful.
Then, and we were lucky to be where we were when this happened, they set off the fireworks. I knew there was going to be fireworks, hahahaha, the traditional kind, not the demonstrator kind, for the evening if the weather permitted but I just didn't know where they would be and didn't know where to go to see them. But we got lucky and were able to see a good part of them from where we ended up.
We were on 4th just across from the Macy's and they set off the fireworks from the roof of the Macy's.
And we had pretty much a good view of them along with the huge star that Macy's has hung on the corner of their building. Really, for stumbling into it, it was a pretty good location.
And, thanks to the SAPS, there weren't that many people there. Oh, it was busy, but it wasn't really crowded like it might have been.
So far we'd heard just the announcers, a couple of local personalities from Channel 5, and their comments to the audience and their asides to the SAPS.
Evidently, the SAPS had somehow gotten to the same floor as the announcers and were making themselves as annoying as they possibly could. They had a large group of kids for a Children's Choir that was supposed to perform after the Tree was lit but the SAPS upset those plans and had the announcers asking for additional security for the kids from the SAPS.
All in all I had thought it went well and they did everything they'd wanted, the announcers that is, not the SAPS I didn't learn until later that they'd not been able to have the children perform nor one or two other things they had planned.
The SAPS was getting the attention they evidently need as the major news outlets were all on hand.
Carol and I were more interested in the sights and sounds of the Christmas Season. They put up this antique carousel every year for Christmas.
I'm thinking maybe Carol and I will go down one afternoon and get ourselves a ride on this.
Sounds like fun.
Westlake Park.
One last look at the Christmas Tree.
Remember earlier I had a shot of Nordstrom and you got a hint of color in the building from the lights. At night you can get a much better sense for the lighting. I guess they had to do something to compete with Macy's.
Just cuz I like the trees lit up.
The crowds were all uniformly polite and cordial.
Hmmmm, now that I reflect on it, I didn't see any of our Valued Homeless nor did I hear them.
And because it was so much fun shooting from 3rd Avenue, I stopped and got another shot from 5th Avenue.
Hahahaha, love it!!
I'm thinking they should shut down the inner city to motor traffic for the whole Christmas Season.
One of the many things I enjoy about this beautiful city are the windows. They hold all sorts of treasures when you look. Like this beautiful Christmas Tree.
In the lobby of a bank they'd put up this almost too-tall tree.
Back Story: I had the new camera and it's got a Creative button. You put it on Creative and it takes six different shots of the same scene . . . all with the one push on the shutter.
I havne't figured out all the different approaches it takes. I just go through them without too much thought and delete the ones I don't care for and keep the rest.
Like these.
This first one is the only shot of the six I kept. A B&W with a sepia tinge?
These two were from the next shot. I think it shoots six shots after you press the shutter release and so each shot is slightly different. Not much, as they're all shot bam, bam, bam, one after another.
It not only colors them or puts them into B&W, but it also changes them form horizontals to verticals.
I don't know if I'm too keen on this feature. Maybe as a toy to get a 'Happy Accident.' You know, a picture that somehow works even though you had no idea what you were doing at the time. Hahahaha, like most of my photography.
Windows . . .
A detail from a jewelry store . . .
. . . to a large display of stuff.
And this . . . aren't these old buildings beautiful?
I would like having an apartment there in one of the corner units with the curved windows.
Seattle at night.
Just a random shot looking down Union where it intersects 4th.
We made it back with no problems. The rain, such as it was, wasn't a problem. Neither were the SAPS. All in all, it was a good evening. I'd have liked to have stayed a bit longer but I was flagging. Besides,we'll be back.
I want to ride the carousal.
Hahahaha. . . .
Life is good.
Hooah!!
