Smilin' Jack: Jack's Walk

Or - Trippin' the Light Fantastic!!

I've taken to walking several miles every day. I'm trying to do 3 miles one day and then 2 miles the next. It's good exercise and it is free so it fits my budget. Plus, it is something I can do on my own schedule. I was going to the Rec Center but their exercise room didn't open until 1000.

No, I prefer the walk. I get to see something while I'm listening to my Daily Dose of Right-Wing Subversive Conservative Mind-Controlling Instructions from the All-Powerful Rush Limbaugh. Hahaha, I wish. It'd be a lot easier.

Still, I enjoy walking, looking, listening and thinking.

So I thought I'd include you on my little walk and give you a more intimate look at my neighborhood. I think you already know that I thoroughly enjoy living where I do. The easy access to the Link and, as a result, equally easy access to The Emerald City, aka Seattle.

I have had so much fun exploring Seattle this past year with Carol. It's been a grand adventure and one I wouldn't have undertaken without her. Thanks!!

While I enjoy living where I do and all the opportunities it affords me because of the location, my neighborhood isn't without its blemishes, its warts.

And, believe me, it's got plenty.

It's a rough place...mention Rainier Beach and you get some knowing looks from locals who have grown up around here. Since I've lived here, there have been at least four people who have been killed within a mile of my place...one of them was the cop killer who walked into a restaurant and shot four cops to death while they were getting their lunch.

He was subsequently shot and killed by a cop about 300 yards from my place.

So, you see, it's not all sugar and spice. It's good, mind you. It's given me so many opportunities, but it could be better. Oh, and it is getting better. With the coming of the Link, the neighborhood has become more gentrified with each passing year. The Link and its accessibility to the downtown is bringing in more middle class folks and the difference is telling.

But it's taking some time and in the meantime, our garage has been broken into twice and my mini has been broken into twice.

The good thing about the break-ins to the Mini is that the #&^$% @#*%^ had a beeper that electronically unlocked the Mini without going through a broken window.

Oh, the cops have always been empathetic as they took my report. That's about the extent of that.

So, it's my neighborhood and I like it but I can see it for what it is.

And here it is.

There's something magical to me about a crisp, clean, cold morning. I feel exhilarated by the chilly morning air. And I love the light. You know, that's what photography is...Painting with light.

It sounds corny but it is true. Photography is an art on a par with anything the Old Masters have done. It is, in the hands of an artist, truly painting with light.

I try.

And I saw the morning light coming through the great evergreen across the street. It's one of my curses, but pictures always looks so much better in my mind right before I trip the shutter. Hahaha, in other words, I see something beautiful and when I download it, well, it looks somewhat the same but...

And the morning light ran across the mini and the lawn by the street. Long shadows and soft light...with a special tinge to it.

How cold was it??

Pretty doggone cold. This is a leaky whatever over by the Rosehill Missionary Baptist Church. Yeah, it is so cold the water in the bird baths froze over. I was able to lift out a pretty large frisbee disk of water from the bird bath. Carol goes out several times a day with hot water just to break it up a bit and give the birds a chance for a drink...or two.

Just beyond the church, just past a large vacant lot, is where I got this view. To the left is the abandoned MLK Wood Shed. It's a graffiti magnet now and a repository for old signs and other heavy pieces of junk. Then, beyond that is the 76 Gas Rip-Off Station and some apartment buildings.

The pigeons aren't all that stupid...they flew up to the highest place they could to catch the rays from the morning sun.

Big difference, let me tell you, between walking in the shade of the buildings and walking on the sunny side of the street.

A detail from one of the side panels enclosing the bus stop. Something to stop the rain and the wind from blowing across you while you're waiting for the bus. Can you see the Space Needle? I'm thinking the Metro let some school kids decorate these bus stops.

Hahahaha, this kid is a true Seattlite.

Not counting this year, we don't usually get all that many days with bright sunny...sun. So we rejoice and celebrate those days.

Hopefully, the small downtown area here will be cleaned up and made a bit more presentable. I would really like to see this area take a page out of the Columbia City playbook. Shops and delis and bars and...an effort at keeping the area clean and presentable. It'll come but it is a slow process.

Part of our urban blight is the tagging. Our garage has been tagged a couple of times.

Some of the always full apartments in our area.

Lots of, to me, unusual restaurants mixed in with the other businesses. And graffiti. And shops like the small coffee shop next to the laundromat...where I've discovered mendazi and sambussi, Somalian treats. Oh, and their coffee. It's heavy and it's sweet.

I walk up to the Link Station and then head down MLK. I've got a 3-mile route laid out...1.5 miles up and 1.5 back. It works for me. Looking north on MLK. You can see where the Link runs right down the center of the street.

Seattle is a city with hills. Plenty of them. And still plenty of room for growth, too.

Some of the small cottages that are so common in this part of town. Oh, that's another plus...the older homes are all different and, when kept up, they're really nice.

And our McDonalds. Getting its early morning fill from the truck. It's a mile to this Mickey D's. The Jack-In-the-Box is a mile in the other direction. Hahaha, that's another plus for the neighborhood. Course, someone did get shot outside the Jack a couple months ago.

Hmmmmm...

Plenty of restaurants along MLK.

And did I mention it was cold this morning?

And another view of the early morning Sunday traffic along the MLK.

Yeah, that's right...a classic 1965 Ford Mustang.

And the Firestone Guy!!

Always a pleasant and fun sight.

As I crossed the street and turned back, I saw this Fine Fellow, taking a nap. Well, actually, I think he was assuming room temperature.

I include this to again remind you, and myself, that even though this is a major metropolitan city, it is still very close to its rustic, rural beginnings.

Yeah, we have raccoons and an occasional rat running around the neighborhood.

Hahahaha, not as regal as an eagle but still part of that natural wildlife.

It's all part of the street scene in our area. There is a small problem with the Valued Homeless population.

I don't know...this is just a weird looking business front. I think it's a business front. It could be an apartment. I honestly don't know. But it is an interesting front door.

Looking south down MLK. There are a number of small homes that front right onto this busy street.

Hahaha, I don't know what this business once was. Peach!?! Really!?! Do you think that might have had something to do with the business going under?

Brrrrrrr, cold.

One of the side streets off MLK.

And the Link. I have to agree with the critics who complained that the only reason the Link was run at street level on MLK was because it was a poorer neighborhood. Why else put it at street level? It is a pain trying to turn left off of MLK and having to wait for the links to go through before you can get your light. Honestly, one day I was going to the VA and waited over four minutes at the light on Alaska before I could turn. The Link goes up on an elevated rail as it goes south and stays up all the way to SeaTac. It seems it would have been better had they elevated the Link.

Another street off MLK. Now they've taken to issuing parking passes for the cars in neighborhoods around the Link. To park within about a half mile of the Link, you have to apply and show you live in the area in order to get the pass. Otherwise, you're limited to a two-hour max limit for parking. And they've got Meter Maids driving around in those little cart thingies ticketing folks.

It was one of those Meter Maids that ticketed me for having my right rear tire six inches into the grassy area between the sidewalk and the street...that grassy area that I rake, mow and tend to. Cost me something like $42...or was it $34. Regardless, it really chafed my hide.

Hahaha, I don't hold a grudge...not forever anyway.

Rainier Beach. It's called a beach because of some small portion of public lakefront still open on Lake Washington.

On the left is the lot that Sound Transit bought to store their equipment and supplies while they were building the Link. There's a bunch of these all along the Link route. I have no idea what the city is eventually going to do with them. They've been sitting empty for around 7 years now.

Hey!! There's the Link Station at Othello. Here's our launch pad for adventure!!

See!! There's some community pride!!

This trailer opened about six years ago as a sandwich shop and a bike repair shop. Then it folded and now it's open again as another restaurant. You'd think they'd do good, being right there at the Othello Link Station. Time will tell.

Always a lot of trees on the street. Here's the 76 station again. I'm heading back down Renton Ave. S now.

Artsy-Fartsy Alert!!

Hahaha, thought you'd escape this, didn't you!!

Hahaha, you thought wrong!!

A stop light for a jet!! Get it!!

I didn't either but I just like the picture. Can you find where I 'erased' the lamp post? Ask yourself, Why is that pole stuck there behind the lowest light in the middle stoplight?

Ah, Gloria's Du Lich. Don't know what it is but I do know it's been used to store cars for the past 8 years. An empty, sorta, building with a large parking lot where the cars change every other week or so. Nothing strange there. They did have to build the new apartments, The Station at Othello, around this lot, though.