More snow in Seattle

The same day I was out taking photos of the snow geese I got some snapshots of the Seattle snow environment. My wife and I went for a walk up to 45th ave on Stoneway, because I had to get a new phone to replace the old phone I lost in the snow somewhere. After getting a new phone we walked back down through some of the Wallingford neighborhood. I took a couple of pictures of some houses that interested me.

Once we got to Gas Works Park I took the photos of the geese and some of the people in the park. I have posted those photos here along with a couple from the previous day and from my walk up Queen Anne hill the next day (December 21-23, 2008). These photos give you a hint about the snow in Seattle.

Snow Geese in Seattle

On December 22 I was out walking around in the snow again and came across a group of snow geese in Gas Works Park. Luckily this time I had my camera with me and was able to grab a few shots before the dogs ran them off (don't get me started on this, people in Seattle and there dogs drive me crazy. There is a reason why signs state you need to keep you dog on a leash in the parks.) I had seen the geese the day before but didn't have my camera at that time.

While the geese were in the park it was fun to observe them waddle around sticking their heads in the snow to get at the grass.

Snow in Seattle

I drove my wife to work back on the 17th of December, when it really started to snow here in Seattle. It was around 6:45 in the morning, dark with the snow coming down hard. There was no traffic in the city (Seattle is that way early in the morning)which gave me the opportunity to drive her in slowly but surely.

Right before we left the apartment I grabbed my camera to get some shots. And I am glad I did because I got a couple decent shots in the morning. I was even able to catch the SLUT (South Lake Union Transit) in the snow.

After getting back to the apartment, I proceeded to get bundled up, packed all my camera gear and headed out into the snow to get some photos of the Fremont Area. First I went to the Fremont bridge and started taking photos of the bridge and views from the bridge. While photographing this area I actually got to see a beaver swimming around. I wasn't able to get a decent photo of him, because I had the camera mounted on my tripod which was on the bridge and shook everytime a car would drive over it. I had to wait until no cars were on the bridge to take photographs. Even so, it was still exciting to see the beaver. This makes the second time I have seen a beaver while walking over the Fremont bridge in Seattle.

At this time a single crew rowed down the canal. I just have to say that person was FREAKING CRAZY! Made for a good photo though.

After taking photos on the bridge I walked down to West Lake Union to try and take a photo of Gas Works Park in the snow. But by that time the snow was coming down so thick you could barely see Gas Works Park, crazy, just crazy. I then decided to walk over to Gas Works Park and get some pictures up close.

While walking over to the park on the Burke-Gilman Trail I took a couple of snapshots to try and document how much snow was coming down at that time. I took some of the Aurora Bridge, murals, the trail and close ups of the snow on berries.

Once I got to the park people were already there sledding down the hill and just walking around enjoying the snow. I know I was enjoying the snow and taking photographs in it. I think I took a couple of decent shots that day and I got some more a couple of days later when it snowed even more. I will get to that in my next post.

Wood Fire unloading

After the wood fire was completed, we had to wait a week to give the ceramics time to cool down. Well only until Saturday December 13, 2008.

Everyone in the class had to drive out to al's place again on Whidbey Island to spend a day unloading and cleaning the kiln. I tried to document the unloading of the kiln as well as I could. I find that this is actually one of the most revealing parts of the whole process. Documenting the pieces in the kiln before they come out gives you an idea and insight on how future pieces can be placed, wadded, and stacked to give you certain flashing, coloring and ash glazing. Especially as you look at your ceramics later on and go back to these pictures to see where they were placed in the kiln.

Again, I had a great time doing the wood fire class and look forward to doing it again in the future, hopefully really soon.