In the Pacific Northwest
written by Genece
In the Pacific Northwest
crisp and delightful winds
gently breeze through the heart.
Arouse the intricacy of my soul
that is home to all the passions.
Calm to the breath of spirit and
sweet to the essence of my nature.
The sea that whets my appetite
freshens and awakens
the call to life’s true purpose.
The voice that demands my truth
giving and receiving.
The vision that no longer haunts me,
the freedom of expression that wants me.
An island cottage to nurture my work
exceptional and beautiful.
The artist paints dreams in watercolor.
The writer writes authentic treasures.
Inspiring and voracious images
outpour from visual details
Words sketch into feelings of grace.
In the Pacific Northwest
from the inside world
meaningful rhythms that curve me
along the shores of my fulfillment.
Blissful thoughts are quiet and
vulnerable to the allure of water
that has brought me home to dream.
This poem was written about Guemes Island (a small island 10 miles in radius) located in the Pacific Northwest (approx. 90 miles north of Seattle) where I lived for 2 1/2 years. The island is made up of people from all walks of life–home to artists, writers, professors, musicians, fishermen, environmentalists, hippies. and retired people. One of the things I most treasured while living there was that most people referred to the island as “an island of creative misfits and muses.”
You’d be amazed at how much happens in this magical place that’s just a short five minute ferry ride from the town of Anacortes, WA. Facing the San Juan Islands, Orcas whales swim the channel on the west side and large egrets habit the north side. I lived in a cottage on the water only about 8 feet from the channel’s edge. You can imagine my excitement when the whales made their way past my place. Deeply connected to their spirit and sound, I could hear them from a distance when they were nearing the cottage. They spoke to me! I would speed to the shore and bellow in the loudest voice trying to speak their language. On Guemes, I didn’t have to worry what people would think. I fit!
September Sunset
2nd Avenue Extension South
I work on 2nd Ave Extension South in Seattle, Washington. Our street is sort of an after thought of a street but we’re on 2nd all the same.
That’s not the story I have for you.
Not this time.
I’ve written about Ghosts and Devils,Witches and Werewolves, and Science Experiment Kids gone wrong, Greedy Prospectors and Cursed Souls -
and all of them have walked this street themselves.
Many of the towns that they live in- towns I called Abandon or Fallen, Duwamish Bay- have roads that lead right to 2nd Ave and to the heart of Pioneer Square itself.
So here’s a little history of that Street from years and years ago- take a look and Anita’s Owl Creek Bridge will take on a little light in a place where it’s always dark.
And you’ll see for yourself where my stories have been grown and harvested from
amm
Second Avenue Before The Fire
During The Fire
after the Fire
and what lies beneath
Photographer’s notes: “Mineral palace Great Northern Celebration July 8 1893″ “Pavilion Pioneer Square. Celebration of Completion of the Great Northern Ry July 3 1893″.
I put this here because my Grandfather told me that a man was buried under those steps alive (of course) in vault after he was caught cheating in a game of cards that didn’t involve money.
Grandpa told me he was sure the man could probably hear the construction going on above him but that no one could hear him screaming-
so my Grandfather claims.
In 1903 The Ringling Brothers Circus came to Seattle and elephants walked down 2nd Ave.
That’s another story I grew up on because some of my family members were there that day and they saw those elephants and the Circus Performers walking down the middle of the street that I now cross every day to catch my bus.
100 years almost to the day I hear a story from who woman sees the Ringling Brothers train come through Seattle.
The train is pulling empty animal cages and travel cars and Big Top rigging on flat beds. She remembers lace curtains in the private cars and the faded circus logo painted on anything that could hold paint.
She says she still doesn’t know how to explain the feeling she got when she realized she didn’t see one person moving around in the passenger cars or in the engine car or getting on or off the train the entire time it was stopped right off her loading dock.
Not a Soul.
True story.
( Luna Park )
The Luna Park Fire- if my Grandfather or Aunt told me a good ghost or murder story they always tied it to the Luna Park Fire and DIRECTLY to the Famous Looff Carousel.
After years of being scared out of my mind by those stories I was glad ( in a very malcious way ) when they came to the part when the Park burned down- but the part that always haunted me was the part about how the Carousel gets away.
Specifically, how it always seems to get away.
The Carousel’s Weird Story starts when the famous Carousel craftsman Charles Looff built it in 1906. The Carousel was supposed to be sent to an amusement park in San Francisco- but it was re-routed to Seattle because of the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.
(Escaped was the word my Grandfather used)
It was installed in Luna Park in 1907 and it was the only thing to survive the Luna Park Fire in 1911.
(Escaped was the word my Aunt used and she insisted they moved it at dark)
It was purchased by a private collector in the 1970’s and put in storage in New Mexico- Roswell, New Mexico and I am NOT making that up.
That Carousel is still around- it’s in San Francisco and I wouldn’t go near it for neither love or money.
So there’s my 2nd Avenue in Seattle-
some of these places I’ve told you about are on it
or under it or just a few blocks down
from it.
That Street
has haunted me and inspired me for my entire life and I guess that should make sense because
I was born in Seattle
and I know she has
strange and weird ways
of speaking to you
and
of claiming you
and of making you her own.
Which is not a bad thing at all.
amm
Snoqualmie Falls
May 8, 2007
There are two reasons I moved from Florida to Washington: Mt Rainier and this place!
This is a view of the falls from the visitors’ platform at the top of the falls. (You’ll see what I mean in a second.) There is a gift shop, parking lot, and picnic area nearby. I stop here for a look at the water level of the falls. On this day (5/8/07) it was a decent 4500 cubic ft per sec going over the rim. A little misty but no problems taking photos. It’s lowest in the summer, around 2000 cubic ft. And during spring snowmelts or winter rains, it can be full from rim to rim (10,000 cubic ft to 20,000+ cubic ft). My digital photos of such a time were lost to a hard drive crash in late Jan, so I’ll have to refer you to other’s photos (see link at bottom of posting) for now. But it is magnificent! The falls are thundering with the water pressure, the air is full of spray (very difficult to get any photos!), and it’s “raining” inside the platform. In about 10 secs my glasses are too wet for seeing. The area below the falls (where this tour will soon be going) is not suitable for human visitors. Unless you have a suicidal wish to be swept downstream. Fortunately, such occasions are not the norm and most of the year you can safely go to my favorite place to be—the bottom of the falls. Next! (And I forgot to mention–click to see larger image.)
Yep! Way down there! This is the view looking down from the platform to the river bed below. The height of the falls is 268 ft by the way, taller even than Niagara Falls (170 ft on the Canadian side). From the picnic area there is a moderately steep half-mile trail going down to the bottom. For a native of flat Florida however, it is a little more than moderately steep. So I cheat a little and take a short-cut (known mostly to the locals) down to the bottom. I prefer to spend my energy hopping around on the rocks, rather than huffing and puffing up and down the hillside trail.
(For a drawing of this area and more info about the falls, go to: http://www.images.beggerlybend.com/photos/snoqfalls/SnoqFallsInfo.html
At the bottom of the trail is an old (1910) power plant. It’s closed to the public and the main trail bypasses it (via a chain link fence tunnel). The trail becomes a wooden boardwalk leading to another viewing platform.
Whoops! This is a rear-view of the boardwalk. (Looking back toward the power plant.) The river is on your right as you move along the boardwalk. At the end of the boardwalk but still a distance (one-tenth of a mile?) from the bottom of the falls is a viewing platform. From there you go over the railing and down to the rocks. The way down is pretty obvious. And you can often watch someone else go first! The Falls is a very popular tourist destination (1.5 million people a year). Maybe about .5 of that 1.5 million go down to the rocks, so company is never far away.
This is a view looking back at the lower platform.
Looking towards the opposite side of the river. (Getting closer to the Falls!)
Ahh! Great view! Can you feel the mist?
One very interesting thing (among several about the falls), is that the rock walls surrounding the falls change color–drastically, depending upon the season and lighting. From dark brown, nearly black and grey-white, to a reddish-brown and red-yellow. I’ve seen photos that made me wonder if the photographer had “colorized” it—or used special lenses—because it was so different from what I saw with my naked eyes. But, while rock-hopping, I discovered that photographers weren’t faking it.
I think this is a hunk of rock from the walls, not a river rock. As you can tell, it’s quite colorful. I was tempted to take this one home, but it was too heavy. So I left it for others to admire as well.
Yeah. Bury me here when I die. (Don’t I wish! But it’s a park, so I’ll have to settle for having my ashes released into the water. Like the Buddhist monks—who sweep their sacred sand mandalas into vases after completing them and then pour the grains of sand into a local body of water as a blessing.)
How about 4:45 pm, on a summer’s day, when this begins to happen?
The rainbow will progress across the bottom of the falls. On occasion I have seen double rainbows, but the second one is usually too faint for the camera’s lens to capture.
Snoqualmie Falls is about a 40-minute drive from my house and I try to visit it several times a month during the year. There’s something about the rushing water that is both relaxing and energizing. It’s a special place for musing and writing. You can’t see from this photo—
but these boulders are huge (some are 8 to 10 ft in width and height) and hidden between them, near the green tree on the far right, nearest to the camera, is a large log. This area is shielded from the mist by the boulders and the log offers shade. That is where I write. When I’m not watching the falls or the rainbows.
For more views of the falls, go to www.snoqualmiefalls.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoqualmie_Falls
http://www.vrseattle.com/pages/browse.php?cat_id=159 (Quicktime movies! Very cool. However, it is not current. All the logs visible in the videos have been swept away in recent floods. And, the videos were taken during the weekend when the place was quite crowded. I visit the falls only on the weekdays, in order to avoid such crowds.)
All photos above by Cheshire. c) 2007
