What a day!! Busy, busy, busy!!
It started out with your weekly run to the Laundromat for some more keen fun (Oh, I am sooooo looking forward to having my own washer and dryer).
Then it was off to hair-cuts, ducks, trees, eagles and, finally, dinner with an old friend.
A most busy day.
Let's get it started then, with our weekly adventure to the Laundromat. As far as I can ascertain, and this is simply through observation, this Laundromat is run by a Russian fellow and his daughter. He opens on Monday and she on Tuesday. I don't know anymore of their routine other than that. He on Mondays and she on Tuesdays.
And, now that I've been in a couple Laundromats, I can say it's the cleanest and most pleasant of all of them. There's two other Laundromats across the street and neither quite comes up to the neat and orderly vibe this one has. Oh, and there's another one further down MLK . . . again, the environs leave something to be desired.
Nope, even though the two have their problems with arriving to work on time, it's suppose to open at 0800 but sometimes the Rascally Russians are a wee bit late, that's the only drawback. Other than that glitch, it's the best one of them all.
CB
We even tried a Laundromat in Renton. That one was a big flop. It just didn't wash with me. Hahahaha, pun intended.
Ok, enough of airing my laundry. Hahahaha, I strike again!!
Seriously, enough.
So we headed off to Renton to Linda's so Carol could get her split ends clipped. You know, important stuff.
Heading up 3rd Street towards Linda's. Neat thing about Linda's is that if one is busy then you can always go to the other one.
Hahahaha, here's the deal. See the Barber Pole on the right? That's one of Linda's Barbershops. Then about four or five doors down, there is another . . . Linda's Barbershop.
Don't ask.
I don't know.
And, here she is . . .
. . . all relaxed and enjoying the whole thing.
It's got a good atmosphere here . . . I get my hair-cuts, at least once a year, here.
And there's a great view out of the window.
I really do love Renton. It's just got that small-town feel and I am a small part of it. Oh, plus it is right next door to the Big City and, possibly more important, it has a Walmart.
Here's a detail of the shop. I think that might be an original door.
Here she is getting 'er done.
Window on 2d floor apartment of the building across the street.
Merry Christmas!!
If you look, really look and then take the time to see it, you can see the most interesting things. Like this Long-Haired Whippet. I didn't know they had a long-hair version!! Other than the hair, it is a whippet. Long skinny legs and about nothing for a stomach. Can't say the same for the big boy with him, eh.
And this, I've put this in the blog before, a while ago, and it still catches my attention.
I think it's classic that the thing is sagging in the middle and it is still being used. I mean, it really sags in the middle!
A close up. Look at that!! Makes ya wonder about the stability of the building but, it continues to be used. The Comic Shop is down there underneath the sag.
Christmas Store Window Reflected Selfie!!
Carol's gotten her split-ends taken care of and we were walking around the city. It is a pleasant little town to stroll around in.
I've shot this before, too. This is the side wall of St.Charles Antiques. There's a lot of living there in those bricks. I keep thinking that if I were a better photographer, I would be able to find the beauty in these walls, these bricks.
For some time, I have been looking for another magazine for my pistol. I have two but one is an abbreviated version and when it is loaded the grip just doesn't feel good. So when we're out and about and near a gun store, I always stop by and check on their availability.
And I try to get some pictures. Course, sometimes the folks in the shop don't like pictures being taken. It was OK, if I didn't shoot close-ups of the weapons.
So I got these two pics of some of the older weapons and miscellany they had in their display cases and left it at that.
Oh, and I did get a magazine. But, it was the wrong size.
Ratz.
Pintos, a small town, American owned business.
Right next to the gun shop is the St. Charles Antique Store. Pretty standard stuff on the right side. Old thingies AND a Christmas Tree.
But . . .
. . . on the left side of the store it was All Seahawks all the time!!
Hahahaha, I had to really fight the urge to go in and buy that little pork pie Seahawks hat . . . in neon green.
Fun Fact: The first hat to be called a pork pie was a hat worn primarily by women beginning around 1830 and lasting through the Civil War. It was a small round hat with a narrow curled-up brim, a low flat or slightly domed crown with a crease running around the inside top edge, and usually with a ribbon or hatband fastened around the shoulder where the crown joined the brim. It often had a small feather or two attached to one side of the hat. They were made of many different materials but what made them pork pies was the shape and crease of the crown and the narrowness of the brim, sometimes called a stingy brim.
The pork pie began to appear in Britain as a man's hat not long after the turn of the century in the fashion style of the man-about-town, but its resurgence in America came in the 20s and is credited to the silent film actor Buster Keaton who wore them in many of his films. That hats from his films were ones the actor made himself by converting fedoras and other hats into pork pies. This kind of pork pie had a very flat top and similar short flat brim.
This is just another small example of Seahawks Pride by The 12.
Gooooo, 'Hawks!!
For an out-of-the-way antique store, they sure did have a lot of 'Hawks stuff there.
Hahahaha, a Seahawks couch!!
This looks a bit more normal for an antique store, doesn't it.
But then you pull back a little on the next window and, BAM!! There's some more 12 stuff.
Hahahaha, this town is Seahawks Crazy and it will get way worse if the 'Hawks get anywhere close to the SuperBowl again.
That would be exciting!
Another antique store and an early (?) version of the Shelf Elf.
Love the Christmas Decorations!! I really do. I just enjoy seeing the doggone things.
Hahahaha, I don't know if these Gnomes are Christmas or not but, hey, they're bright and they're fun.
And this was just nice.
WOW!! Look at that!!
I guess it was around 1954 or '55 when we moved into the house on Cohassett Street in Sun Valley, California. Sun Valley is out in the San Fernando Valley. It was early on and one of my very first memories was of Steve Melby driving his little red pedal car on the street in front of our houses.
Ah, man, I remember that and I remember how I wanted that little red pedal car with every fiber of my being. I wanted it!!
And, even now, nearly sixty years later, I still get a tingle when I see a little pedal car . . . even this blue one. How cool is that little pedal car?
If it were adult size I'd really consider getting one. Strongly consider it.
Hahahahaha, I still like the things.
In the same store, different window, we saw this fine fellow getting ready to come down the chimney.
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| Ho, ho, ho!! |
Just to the side of that Elf was this Father Christmas.
Aaaah, if only I had the room to display all these . . . and, more importantly, the room in which to store them.
Just a kick seeing all the Christmas stuff . . . even to the Cardinal there on the right. And I won't comment on the little car he's riding in.
The Comic Store even changed their window displays!!
Rock 'N Roll Santa
And his main squeeze, Mrs. Claus!!
Now, mind you, this display is in a jewelry store and they still display their SeaHawks Pride!!
It'll be crazy when they beat the Cardinals this coming weekend.
Cray-Cray as Michelle would say!!
I think I've mentioned, we were meandering around and just seeing what we saw. We made it down near the plaza and turned down Williams towards where the mini was parked.
We were passing in front of the Post Office and saw this guy posted just off to the side of the Post Office protesting . . . something.
He was promoting the philosophy of Lyndon LaRouche. I don't know much about LaRouche, I visited a couple of his sites and he is very radical warning about genocide and something about destroying the British Empire. Hahahaha, I felt this guy was off the radar with the sign he had up and the little I've read doesn't do a thing to dissuade me of that notion.
Loose Wing Nut!!
When he saw me getting his picture he waved us on over but we politely declined his invitation.
Ummmm, no thanks!!
Let's go on to things I can actually comprehend, like the humor behind this sign in a local pub. Hahaha, they're honest about it.
Before we left, we stopped at Jones Park on the Cedar River to check on the river. It's a small park mainly set up for the older generation that lives in the area. The walking paths are heavily used by the More Mature Citizens.
Fun Fact: The large wooden pergola here in this park boasts one of the largest wisteria vines in Renton.
Woo, woo!!
The park itself is surrounded by some great older homes and a newer apartment house. On the east side of the park is this nice looking home. Looks comfortable.
And on the westside of the park is this beauty which has been in my blog several times previously. I don't think I've included the whole house before, just the doorway. But I got this long shot of the house. I like it.
Artsy-Fartsy Alert!!
I tend towards certain ideas, themes when shooting. I like architectural photography, a lot. I also tend towards lines and angles as well as color. I avoid, do not like, portrait photography. I don't take to posing folks and, to be brutally honest, my candids have always been, pretty much, uniformly unflattering.
So I go with my strengths, such as they are.
And I was taken with the lines and patterns these bare tree branches made silhouetted by the gray and dreary sky.
And the repetition, too. I like the repetition.
And the repetition, too. I like the repetition.
I liked this one.
Carol liked this one most.
So I had gotten some pictures of the trees in Jones Park. Now let's go and see what the river is up to.
Quack, quack and quack.
I don't care. The ducks are the only wild things out there and so I shoot them . . . with my camera.
The river was running fast but wasn't as high as it was a week ago. They opened up the river walk now; it had been closed before when the water was higher.
And i got lucky and actually caught two ducks in flight. They are speedy little suckers. This picture has been enhanced and then highly defined and so it's not quite as I saw it but it gives you an idea of how drab the whole day was.
Just an ugly sky. But it worked good to make these ducks stand out.
I've seen this wall on the old Episcopal Church before and it has caught my attention a number of times. I've tried to capture it in a picture and always came away disappointed. What I got just didn't make it.
This has been the best of all my efforts. I think I may be moving in the right direction. Next time, I might crop a bit closer in on the windows on the bottom and include the arched peak of the roof.
Hahaha, it is fun, y'know. Playing around with the camera.
Man, I really do appreciate the time and the ability to get out and shoot with my camera.
It is really important to me.
After the park, we drove over to the Skinny Park on the Cedar River Trail out where the Cedar River empties into Lake Washington. I do love the park system here in Seattle and Renton. We walked along the River Trail where I took these pictures by the banks of the river.
Lines and angles, right?
This was my favorite shot of the day.
POW!!
This one just jumped out at me.
I had the lens at widest angle possible. This camera is so cool. It has a moderately wide-angle lens along with a really super-long zoom lens.
Another scene along the river.
And this, with the lines and angles. I know I'm repeating myself but, as I look at these pictures I just had the thought that, as I took it, I was seeing the trees and the grass but I think I was really shooting the lines and the patterns without being aware of it.
And we saw this Golden Crowned Sparrow getting lunch.
Looking up the river towards Lake Washington. Good colors working together here.
As we were walking back to the mini, we came upon this stylish trend-setter. Ol' Pop was very proud of his little Princess. I guess he'd have to be to spend all the time necessary to get his hound all decked out in this . . . get-up.
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| Bon Jour, Fifi. |
Here's the proud Papa showing off his girl.
The point where he went overboard was the shoes. Oh, and the sunglasses which he patiently explained to me were just as necessary to his pooch as to him to protect their eyes from the ultra-violet light from the sun.
Really?
Hahaha, OK.
We walked over near the Renton Rowhouse and saw the plains where the river flows into the lake. Normally this area has about a foot or so of water but the tide was out. You can see where the river has deposited all the sand and silt it has carried with it for many miles.
And, while we were there, we got to see some of the local waterfowl.
And we had a clear view of the Dancing Clams over at the Clam Lights Display put up by Ivar's in Coulon Park.
Hahaha, when I first saw them, I thought they were Ms. PacMan's.
We were there, looking across the park when all the birds in the near distance took to the air and began flying away in alarm.
Ducks, seagulls, it didn't matter. They all took to the air and unassed the area as quickly as they could.
Then Carol spotted the reason why . . .
. . . an eagle!!
Yeah, when this guy flies by, everybody takes notice and moves just a little bit further away. He flew across the lake towards the westside of the airfield.
And, after he was gone, things settled down.
The funny thing, and Carol noticed this, was that all the ducks and a number of the gulls all flew on over towards the Rowhouse where we were.
Hahahaha, if they thought being by me made it safer for them they were very, very wrong.
This one took pride of place. She quickly became Carol's favorite.
I think her playing coy was what captured Carol.
Another of the Femme Fatales.
Fun Fact: A Femme Fatale is a stock character of a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, dangerous and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art. Her ability to entrance and hypnotize her victim with a spell was in the earliest stories seen as being literally supernatural; hence, the femme fatale today is still often described as having a power akin to an enchantress, seductress, vampire, witch, or demon, having power over men.
The phrase is French for 'fatal woman'.
And she had an entourage.
Hahaha, we get a kick out of watching the ducks.
Oh, here's Carol's girl. She does have a certain beauty to her.
Just some shots of the ducks.
Then this happened. It was a first for me.
Nature was, naturally, taking its course.
At least someone left happy.
Hahahaha, on that note, we took off for our rendezvous with Brion.
He's an old friend from my working days. We get together every couple of months so that I can get a good laugh hearing about all the goings on at the place where I once worked and relishing the idea that I don't have to work anymore!!
Hahahahaha!!
And we met at one of my favorite restaurants, The Sizzler.
Hey!! I'm a simple guy and, honestly, their steaks have always been good. And I wasn't disappointed today, either.
We brought a small gift for Bri . . . a tin full of candy to remind him of how sweet life is for me now that I'm retired and . . . a Weekly Planner so he can jot down every time he envies me and my carefree and wonderfully happy life.
Hahahaha, yeah, I'm a jerk.
I don't know if it is the Season or if they've made some radical renovations in the over-all restaurant but the heavy use of the blue lights is new. And the bar area, too.
They really put a lot of money in those blue light bulbs. It doesn't look that bad, does it?
The hardest part of any dining experience is . . . making the choice. I really do wrestle with it each and every time. I mean, even if they have my favorite, a corned-beef sandwich, I still argue with myself about whether or not I should get it.
Every time.
And when I do go off the reservation and try something new, I am usually disappointed and end up wishing I had gone in a different direction.
Argh!! The humanity!!
They did a nice job with the renovation and with the Christmas decorations.
Nicely done.
And, finally, Bri showed up. I wasn't surprised, well, actually I was. I had expected him to be later than he really was. Today he was only about 15 minutes late.
Getting better Arbeles!!
There he is.
The thing about him is that he is a genuinely nice person. Very thoughtful and generous. But he is one of the toughest guys I know to keep track of a conversation with.
He is all over the place and will start a story in the middle and take it to near the end then double-back and hit the whole beginning and never, ever stop to take a breath.
When he gets started he's hard to stop. But his heart is always, well, most of the time, in the right place.
And he's not afraid to laugh at himself. That's a very positive trait.
The story behind the bib? When he got served, he asked our waitress, Mrs. Seahawks for a bib and she got him this baby bib and tied it on him.
Hahahaha, she didn't look a bit surprised by his request!!
So, what'd we get? Like I say, it's always tough but I knew I wanted some steak and the trusty sidekick, Baked Potato, but what else? The lunch menu at the Sizzler is not as open as the dinner menu . . . either that or when they redid the restaurant, they redid the menu because I didn't see any plates where you could just order a steak and potatoes.
Bummer.
But I regrouped and got myself the Classic Trio, steak, shrimp and Malibu Chicken with a baked potato.
Mmmmmm, it was all ga-ood!!
Carol got a classic, too. The Classic 1/3 lb. Burger.
We are, both of us, in a huge rut. A tasty one but still . . .
We had a good dinner and a great time visiting with Brion. This is the fourth time I've met him here and had dinner. We met at least once before I retired. Hahahaha, that rut thingie.
As a treat for Bri, we made sure we were seated in Mrs. Seahawks section. You might remember her from a previous post. She and her hubby, Mr. Seahawks, have season tickets and sit at the south end of the field and each has their very particular and distinctive make-up.
They are so overboard in their support of the 'Hawks, they got married on the fifty-yard line at halftime of a Seahawks game. Their house is a shrine to the 'Hawks and has just about everything ever made with the Seahawks on it.
And they're so well-known as Super Seahawks Fans, she and her husband were included in a commercial for Campbell's Soup where the League of SeaHawks SuperFans save Richard Sherman and bring him to his Mom's Kitchen for some savory and delicious Campbell's Soup.
We asked her and she consented to have her picture taken with Bri . . . and she even gave him one of her playing cards.
Hahaha, a good dinner and a good time. A winning combination.
It was a good day. From the laundromat to the barbershop to the river to the lake to the Sizzler, it was a good day.
Life is good.
Hooah!!
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