Another tale of my day off

First off, Ginger and I have signed the appropriate papers and our house is officially "our" house. We move next week. Secondly, Ginger and I had the pleasure of listening to author John Mcphee read from his new book and field questions recently at the Seattle Library. It was well worth the free admission, especially when he described a typical working day. "I sit in my office until panic sets in. I'm not trying to be funny here. Once 5 o'clock comes around and I think that I may not write one word today, I somehow manage to get a couple of hours work in. Then I go outside and people tell me that I'm such a prolific writer." If this is how a guy with 42 published books operates, there may be hope for the rest of us.

Today, the weather being about as good as it gets in Seattle, I decided to go for a walk. I took my usual route, winding my way down Queen Anne hill to the park that runs along the Sound and into Downtown. My current neighborhood is one of the richest and, oddly enough, nicest ones in the city. I could walk all day and never tire of gazing at the amazing houses and beautiful, lush gardens. My new neighborhood of South Park is not quite the same. It is one of the poorer areas of the city, but is making some great strides. Today the Port of Seattle voted to clean up an industrial site along the Duwamish River, bordering South Park, to beyond EPA standards. There is a good possibility the area will be turned into a park. We'll see. Our solice is that we will be living away from the neighborhood center where two days ago a guy was shot and killed. He was thought to be a pimp and a drug dealer, so I guess it's okay? Just keep your nose clean, I guess. Anyway, it being possibly my last day to not be packing for the move, I took in the sights of the current surrounds one last time.

Like the upscale neighborhoods of San Francisco, Queen Anne is a place where streets abruptly end in stairways. A drive around the neighborhood is not quite as nice as a stroll.



The other striking feature about Queen Anne are the gardens. Rare is the yard that has fallen into disrepair.




The walk down the hill eventually leads over the railroad tracks and onto a strip of land that meanders along the Sound and into downtown. The park is nice, but activity in the Sound reminds one of the "industrial" side of Seattle.




My walk ultimately took me back to the library where John Mcphee spoke a few days prior. From there I caught the bus back home. The bus smelled like babyshit.