After all the whatever, I actually get to start school tonight over at Shoreline Community College. What a trip. I’ve wanted to get some kind of formal training in photography for so long that this whole thing still seems surreal. I’m pretty excited.
I woke up before the sunrise, so I took advantage of my timeliness by grabbing my 35mm and walking over towards the Ballard Bridge. I’ve been to the bridge a few times for photos, and I’ve really wanted to get out on one of the docks at the Marine Academy (a diving college that’s located right near the bridge). The glow of the clear, pre-dawn sky and the placid water helped to create, what I think, is a pretty interesting scene. I guess I spent about an hour on and around the bridge, waiting and watching the sunrise.
Mary headed off to work about an hour after I got back, so Willy and I have just been hanging this morning. I’ve done a little more work to the site, adding a “sideblog” to Blather. It was a good challenge to work on, and I’m glad I got it done today. It’s supposed to get up to 71°f (21.6°c), so I’ve got my shorts on, and I’m really wanting to get out of the house for a while before school.
In fact, I wouldn’t be here right now, but I’m waiting for Mark (my stepfather) to arrive. He’s coming over from Puyallup, bringing a collection of trains for Mary and I to sell on eBay. I’m not sure how this fits into the grand scheme of things, but I’m more than happy to help. Getting all of the trains posted on eBay should prove to be an interesting process.
Northwest Trek
Since I’ve got a minute, I guess this would be as good of a time as any to tell you how my little Saturday Safari worked out. Mary and I jumped in a thoughtfully-stocked car early in the morning, planning to spend most of the day out and about, taking pictures. We started by hitting Kerry Park again (yeah, I know, but I need good B&W shots), stopped at Larry’s market, and then hit the Downtown Goodwill.
I think it’s Providence Hospital that overlooks the Goodwill parking lot. It’s set on top of a hill, and it really looks like a throwback to medieval times, so I spent a good twenty minutes standing in the parking lot with the camera, waiting for the passing clouds to shed just the right light. I also amused myself by pestering the local pigeons.
After Goodwill, I headed towards southbound I-5 and made a quick call to my mom on my cell phone, telling her that I was out on safari, and that I could be heading her way. Things shifted easily during the conversation, and Mary and I were soon headed towards the folk’s house, out in Puyallup. And by the time we finally arrived for lunch, the plan had changed dramatically: Mom and Mark thought it would be fun to head out to Northwest Trek, which would give both her and I the opportunity to photograph some of the “wildlife.”
Alright, I’d better explain. Northwest Trek is a zoo. OK, it not really a zoo, it’s a wildlife preserve that’s open to public tours. You can take the tram around the park and look at all of the pretty animals, or you can walk around the trails to look at the animals whose cages are built to be more natural. Or, in other words, it’s a zoo.
I learned a lot from this little adventure. I learned that if you want to get good pictures of the goats, bison, white-tailed deer, or whatever, you’d better be on the left side of the fucking tram,
