So Seattle, I know your reputation, but must every day be a near washout? I've seen so little sun the last 3 days, particularly compared with 2 straight weeks of SF sun to the point where I actually got sun burnt, that it does lend a rather gloomy pall over everything. That is also partly due to the lonely factor. Yes, it does get lonely on the road on one's own, and I'm feeling that even more now due to the relative isolation of this flat vs the SF one. Castro is booming and bustling with people every day well into the early morning hours. I never felt unsafe walking there at any hour because of same. Not to fault the neighborhood I'm presently in - it's not that it's unsafe, it's just that it's 4 blocks of darkish, tree lined residential streets either way before you hit a block with any activity during the day, or after dark. Admittedly I haven't actually attempted to go out at night here yet, to see what is open after dark - simply because of the cool, wet weather, but also, Castro had the huge bonus of having that red-chair square I sat in many a time - ie someplace to go out in public, even after dark, where there was a ton of bustle, and no expectation of buying a drink or coffee, and with total permission to people watch, unlike what occurs with sidewalk cafes and restaurants. Maybe there is someplace like that in Seattle, but I haven't seen it so far in this neighborhood, so consequently at night, I'm stuck in my flat. Yes, I could hop on a bus, but I guess I'd rather not, when I've been riding them all day.
The weather will turn - it's actually supposed to be sunny this weekend!!
Today had a fairly miserable start, weather wise. I wore three layers all day, and actually opened the umbrella - it seems Seattle-ites don't bother, so they must have pegged me a tourist. Unfortunately it was the coldest day yet, temp wise (52), and windy, and rainy, all at the same time. My hands were actually cold to the touch. Yikes - didn't assume I'd need to bring gloves.
So I walked 2 or 3 blocks south of here, and caught the #8 at the corner of E John and 12th, which took me downtown to Denny Way and Dexter Ave N., then almost immediately caught the 26, which takes you west, across I-5, and then north into the hamlet, just across the Fremont (draw)bridge
(Built in 1917, and according to Wikipedia, so this might be total buillshit: "Due to its low vessel clearance of 30 feet (9.1 m), the Fremont Bridge opens an average of 35 times a day, which makes it the most frequently opened drawbridge in the United States, and one of the busiest bridges in the world.")
... of Fremont, a colorful, arty neighborhood at the north end of Seattle, known for it's funky public art, like the Fremont Troll
Which is enormous (that is actually a full sized VW bug in it's right hand) and which sits underneath the adjacent, more modern bridge, the Aurora.
The town is also known for a sculpture called Waiting for the Interurban
Which the townspeople dress up
And even make carry signs.
The town also has wiggy mod lampost lookin things
And various other oddities including an enormous statue of Lenin, and these wavy public bench things that I can't find any pictures of. The town also has a lovely organic grocery store called "PCC" - no idea what it means, and I used their bathroom first thing and bought a few items including brown coconut shampoo, instead of something called Yes To Carrots
Or Yes To Cucumbers. They even had Yes To Tomatoes.
As far as dumb, hippy dippy names go ... just, wow.
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As I left the store, I noticed a man out power washing the sidewalk, which seemed preposterous considering the constant rain, and I asked him, very politely, why were they having him do this, and he replied that it would otherwise get "nasty", and I said, what, you mean, dirty? And he said ya, and
also "pee and poo."
I assumed at the time he meant human feces, but now that I think of it, did he mean dogs? Which reminds me of something I have not mentioned to date, that I saw ALL over SF, which was dog poop on the sidewalks, and the remnants of stepped on dog poop, trailing down sidewalks. Across the road from my SF flat, one of the owners or renters had a little jack russell terrier - I saw him and his dog twice on the same spot in front of the same house - and once I noticed the dog pooping and the guy not picking it up, and seeing it, the poop, later in the day, still not picked up. So I guess for some crazy, truly unfortunate reason, they do not have a law against this, and I'm telling you, I saw it in every neighborhood. So stupid and lame, and of all cities, I mean, please. SF is so stunning. Do you really want people looking up at it's Victorians and bridges and crooked streets and putting their feet down in this stuff?
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But anyway, Fremont, today. Arrived around 10:45, not earlier, because my intended destination didn't open til 11, and walked around quite a bit, did some window shopping, mostly, and later on checked out their truly lovely local library to juice up the Iphone.
Then headed over to the Fremont Vintage Mall (when I was last here it was called the 'Antique Mall', interesting name change), and it did not disappoint. Located in a large,sprawling basement, it's a 'collective', loaded with tons and tons of cool old shit and fun, funky wares. Old dial phones, old cameras and polaroid instamatics and shit, some original Space Needle world's fair stuff (I bought a glass), and just tons and tons o' stuff.
The girl who rang me up I had noticed as I was walking around half paying attention had spoken with a slightly altered cadence, and when I was then face to face with her, I realized it simply was that she was Scottish. Moved here with her husband as his job transferred him here, she said. I mean, wow - can you imagine, even at their young ages (28, and 30, she offered) moving to another continent?? At least the language is the same, but still. Interestingly, she said the weather is actually better here than at home (south of Edinburgh), where it's blustery and gets less sun, somehow.
Anyway, I bought a total of four things I didn't need. The Space Needle glass, an old AM transister radio because it was so cute, an old, pink-with-brown-face 'baby Ben' alarm clock, and a tiny cheaply framed vintage shot of the Space Needle and Monorail from that era. Didn't spend a lot, and a groovie time was had by all.
After spending maybe 3 or 4 hours in town, I headed back via the same buses, and got home around 3:30 or so.
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Seattle is a cool, Boston-like city that has the misfortune of being on the heels of my incredible time in SF/Castro. So, nothing against Seattle, because no U.S. city, really, can compare with the natural stunningness of SF, I think, and so I'm going through a bit of withdrawal, and missing it, and the freedom I felt there, particularly at night.
Particularly as the weather improves, I will enjoy being out more in Seattle, and that will help take the sting away, but right now I'm really missing my naked friends and gayboys, and even the flyers around the neighborhood. Today, I saw a poster someplace, and it showed a youngish man, and I peered in at it and actually had the thought, "wow, that's not a gay poster", so used to the constant racy images of hot, topless and sometimes bottomless, jockstrap wearing males advertising disco nights and clubs that were ubiquitous during those two Castro weeks.
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