The Safeco Building in the U District

Today the Safeco Building in the U District was officially renamed. The building was sold some time ago to the University of Washington, and today I noticed that the words UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON have been placed atop it. Pretty boring lettering, if you ask me.

Bye bye Sunset Bowl in Ballard

All the bowling balls and pins have been sold off, and Sunset Bowl is just a memory now. The chain link fence has been put up, and demolition is imminent. Who doesn't have memories of this place, of midnight bowling and that crazy counter where you could get steak and eggs at 3 in the morning? For 51 years, Sunset Bowl served the needs of drunks and kids looking for something to do.

It looks like they even sold the letters S-U-N-S-E-T that used to adorn the outside of the building. I suppose a giant apartment building will probably be constructed. Ballard just ain't going to be the same.

Bald Eagles Nesting at Woodland Park Zoo

Now mind you, I only have a crappy little digital camera, well, not crappy, it's a Nikon COOLPIX L6. But it's certainly not made for shots like this. Nonetheless, if you click on the image to enlarge it, and look really closely, you can see the bald eagles that are nesting at the Woodland Park Zoo. I've darkened the rest of the photo, so look in the center where it's lightest and you'll just barely be able to make them out. If you live in Seattle and can get over to the zoo, it's an amazing experience. Go to the Northern Trail, stop at the fence where the wolves (who you can never see anyway) are housed, then look up into the evergreen tree in the distance. There will probably be other people there with fabulous telephoto lenses and scopes, and if you can bring such a device, great! Send me a picture and I'll put it up on the blog.

Pine Cones Forming

Seattle is awash in bloom during May. Flowers are everywhere! The great thing about spring is that you can watch everything begin to grow anew, and here's a little picture of pine cones in the making. They're so cute, about half formed right now.