Walking Fremont

The community of Fremont interested me because my first eight years on earth were spent in Fremont. Fremont, Nebraska that is, which was named after John C. Fremont. According to Wikipedia Fremont Seattle was named after Fremont, Nebraska which was the hometown of two of its founders, L. H. Griffith and E. Blewett!

So today I did a five mile walk south through Fremont, across the Fremont Bridge, west along the ship canal to the end of the walking path and returned. Along the way I discovered the Center of the Universe is located in Fremont and marked by this rocket.

I also met a water-meter reader using a Segway to travel her route! Quite an amazing machine which just stood there and gently rocked back and forth while she read a meter. Then she stepped on and floated along to the next meter box. This was the first time I have seen one in action.

I also saw the Fremont Troll residing under the Aurora Bridge.

And, Happy Holidays to you too!

Walking Greenwood

I decided to walk a portion of Greenwood, Washington because I lived in Greenwood, California for about twenty years. Actually Greenwood, in California, is now called Elk, California because the Greenwood family established two Greenwoods. One in the Sierra Nevada and another by the Pacific Ocean. The Sierra Nevada one got a post office first so the one by the Pacific had to change its name. I have no idea if the Greenwood family also named Greenwood, Washington but, anyway…, it was an interesting walk.

I really got a kick out of the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. I was told it is actually a reading teaching center for children.

This is a great name for an olive store.

Drip City

I tried something a bit different this morning. I slept an extra hour and went for my walk at 7:00 AM instead of 6:00 AM. I’m quite familiar with the streets of Fort Bragg in the dark but walking in the dark and drizzle of Seattle amongst the potholes and downed tree branches is quite dangerous. A later start gave me a wee bit of daylight and helped a lot.

Of course I spotted one of the ubiquitous Latte stands during my walk.


My route “around the block”, a total of approximately 3.5 miles. 244th SW does not go through like it shows on this map. The red line I added is the shortest way around the block!

Seattle

Remember when the Space Needle was one of the tallest building in Seattle?

Can you find it in this photo?

Yep, it is over there on the far left!

Walking Fort Bragg will be "Walking Seattle" for about a month

Lolli and I are leaving the balmy clime of Fort Bragg in order to celebrate the Holiday Season with our friends and relatives in the Pacific Northwest.

I fully intend to continue walking, photo-ing and blogging, letting the Seattle Area become my muse for a while. Stay tuned.

Gusty Morning

Strange clouds and wind gusts to 28 mph as the sky brightens over "Wiggly-Giggly Park", a children’s playground located on the southwest corner of Laurel and Whipple.

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I was really tempted to stay in bed and just listen to the wind rattle the doors and windows but decided to get up and go see the action. I headed west on Laurel to the sound of squeaking signs then turned south on Main to avoid walking against the north wind. Very invigorating!

A few doors down Main from Laurel I noticed the “Triangle Tattoo” entry was lit so took a photo through the locked door. Triangle Tattoo is located up these stairs but I have yet visit them!

Another few doors south, “Out on a Limb”, had this Christmas/Zen greeting in their window. Nice.

Blog Wandering

Jan of Walking Berkeley introduced me to One Mile From Home in which "Julie from the UK" came up with the idea; “Walk a minimum of one mile from home. Record where you’ve been with a drawing, sculpture, photo or painting and then walk back.

I must have spent two hours scrolling through Julie’s blog enjoy her drawings, paintings and writings about her country environment. Excellent!

"Neath" of Walking Turcot Yards has a link on his blog that led me to Out of Rails, a photo blog about trains in Portugal which had a link to Express Train. "Express Train" is a photo blog by Travis Ruse who writes:

“I live in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I work in midtown Manhattan. 42nd & Lexington Ave., to be exact, right across from Grand Central Station. As the crow flies, that’s just 6 miles. But on the tracks it can be three trains, 11 stops and 45 minutes each way. My blog is what I see every day commuting to and from work.

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All the above helping me have the courage to show what I saw during my four mile walk around Fort Bragg this morning.

If it caught my eye…, I shot it!



This decal is on the back window of a car parked on Harrison Street. I have walked past it many times but this time I decided to see if my new camera's flash worked. It did!!

Graffiti inside the men's at Safeway. Nothing near as creative as what Gary sees in Brooklyn.

I spotted this in a front yard on Franklin Street. Don't tell the children!

A sign on a vacant building. Food for thought.

This "rounds" out my morning walk! A display in "If the Shoe Fits" on Franklin.

Photo Fun

Ten days until Winter Solstice when daylight starts to return and morning walks will slowly become brighter so…, now is the perfect time for exploring the possibilities, and oddities, of taking photos in the dark.

The above photo was taken from the middle of Highway One (Main Street) looking south towards the Laurel Street intersection. I didn’t realize how long the exposure was taking and lowered the camera just before the end! An interesting mistake!

A north bound bike lane symbol on Franklin.

Purity Market. Located on the East side of Franklin between Alder and Redwood.

A peek through the door of Purity Market before they open at 7:00 AM.

And a surprise! I spotted this tabby sleeping on the light box inside Mendo Litho! Northeast corner of Franklin and Oak.

Corrections

I have some backyard bird corrections to make thanks to my knowledgeable birding friend Roger. The above bird is an Orange-crowned Warbler, not a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and, I'm told, quite rare for this late in the season.

This photo is of an immature White-crowned Sparrow NOT, a Gold-crowned Sparrow but they are quite similar.

And this "second" Obelisk wasn’t as far south as Chestnut Street. This morning I rechecked during my walk and discovered it is actually located at the northwest corner of Wall and Willow, NOT Wall and Chestnut.

Fort Bragging, Blogging and Birding can be tricky business!

A little help from my friends

Our friend Suzanne from San Francisco is visiting this weekend. I decided to take her and my wife Lolli on a walking tour around Fort Bragg to show off my collection of oddities; Square Poles, Obelisk, Horse and Buggy rings. the Boat House.

During our walk, by golly, Suzanne spotted another Obelisk! This one is at the northwest corner of Wall Street and Chestnut Street. I don’t think I would have ever noticed it. And it has some of the mailbox mounting hardware still attached!

Good eye Suzanne!

Plus we spotted another misaligned manhole cover!

All in all a nice productive walk. Then the rain settled in and we skedaddled for home.

Surf's UP!

1:15 PM and sure enough! (Read today's earlier post.)

Big ones arriving just south of Noyo Harbor!

6:19 AM to 7:13 AM

Columbi's Laundry 6:19 AM

Oak Street Deli 6:24 AM

Safeway 6:40 AM

Rhoades Auto Parts 7:03 AM

Mendocino Cookie Company 7:08 AM

Laurel Restaurant 7:12 AM

Laurel Street 7:13 AM

It was very interesting watching the day come on as I walked this morning. My original intent was to take photos of places that are open this time of morning but the sky, oh man, the sky.
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This just in.

Special Weather Statement
REDWOOD COAST-MENDOCINO COAST- 1105 AM PST FRI DEC 8 2006
...HAZARDOUS SURF WILL IMPACT THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BEACHES TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY...

LONG PERIOD WESTERLY SWELL WAS PRODUCING 20 TO 25 BREAKERS THIS MORNING ALONG THE NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA COAST...WITH THE LARGEST SETS OBSERVED UP TO 30 FEET HIGH. RUN UP OF THIS WAVE ENERGY WILL MAKE BEACH GOING VERY DANGEROUS...AS THE SPEED OF THE WEST SWELL ALLOWS OCEAN WATER TO SURGE UP TO THE DUNES DURING INCOMING TIDES. ADDITIONALLY...THE POWERFUL SURF WILL PUSH LARGE LOGS AND DEBRIS ONSHORE.

WALKING ALONG JETTIES IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED...SINCE THE WAVE ACTION CAN EASILY SWEEP AN INDIVIDUAL INTO THE COLD AND TURBULENT WATERS. BEACH WALKING DURING INCOMING TIDES IS DISCOURAGED THE NEXT FEW DAYS... ESPECIALLY FOR CHILDREN OR ELDERLY.

Glass Beach Area

I walked over to Glass Beach today to look around. The following is what Wikipedia has to say about Glass Beach:

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"On the northern edge of town, along the shore next the fence surrounding the Georgia Pacific property, is a small beach covered in smooth bits of glass. Some are colored, some are clear, some even still bear the traces of blue and white china patterns on them. in some places, there seems to be as much glass as sand.

"In the early 20th century, Fort Bragg residents threw their household trash over these cliffs. They discarded glass, appliances, even cars. The land was owned, at that time, by the Union Lumber Company, and locals referred to it as "The Dumps." Sometimes fires would be lit to reduce the size of the trash pile. In 1967, city leaders closed the area. Over the next several decades, the pounding waves cleansed the beach, wearing down the discarded glass into the small, smooth, colored trinkets that coat the beach today. The area is now frequently visited by tourists, who scour the beach for interesting curios to take home as souvenirs.

"Warning: the path from the road down to the beach is somewhat treacherous, so curious visitors should be sure to wear shoes with good tread. It is not uncommon for unprepared visitors to injure themselves on the way down."

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These pilings are all that is left of the Union Lumber Company dock when Redwood was shipped from Fort Bragg by sea.

In the late afternoon clouds moved in and

Huge sets of waves started rolling in. Awesome!!

Bird Break

It is early December and here is what I have in my Laurel Street backyard.

Orange-crowned Warbler.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

Dark-eyed Junco.

White-crowned Sparrow.

Gold-crowned Sparrow.

Townsend's Warbler

Just thought you would like to know.

Full Moon Morning

Seagulls on top of Longs Drugs.

This morning I photographed what usually occurs between 6 and 7 on weekday mornings.

The Bus Barn at the northeast corner of Laurel St. and Alger St.

Engines being warmed up, lights and brakes being checked, drivers standing in a small group talking, waiting for their scheduled departure time to start gathering children.

A Waste Management Inc. garbage/recycle truck making stops on Harold St.

An open gas station on Main St.

The Good News Guys radio station for KSAY 98.5 FM in the alley way just east of Franklin St.

A street sweeper heading south on Main St.