a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
I was near Lake Union for two appointments this morning and took these pictures.
Top to bottom—
Rowing lessons for kids near a flotilla of moored yachts;
Troublemakers (Canadian geese) on the docks;
Space Needle and Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI);
Incoming floatplane;
Departing floatplane— the last one of four in a row— but then the first to become airborne (in the center of the last picture).
We’re out of the latest heatwave here in the city.
We had 91°F (33 °C) on Tuesday, but only 75°F (24 °C) today.
The smoke and fine, fine ash flakes in the air have not gone away, though. Officials now say the Bear Gulch fire will burn until winter— one of seven large wildfires in Washington State. It continues to grow and is still only 3% contained.
I took at few pictures today (at about 6 p.m. tonight) of the fast ferries from Kitsap Transit at Pier 50 on the Seattle waterfront.
The fast ferries are passenger-only, so no vehicles.
The first pictures shows the Enetai at the terminal, waiting to depart for Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula.
The Solano is approaching in the distance, about to complete its 26-minute crossing.
The Enetai backs away and departs after the Solano has docked next to it at the terminal.
Another fast ferry arrived shortly after that— the Reliance— in from Bremerton.
The meteorologists are promising us (well, a 95% chance) that we will get a little rain tomorrow here in the Seattle metro area— actually, as much as 0.45 inches.
It’s summer, so it is wildfire season— and the dry conditions everywhere in Washington State are not helping.
There was only a trace of rain (less than 0.01 in) this July here in the city.
The last year that had happened was in 2003.
It was a beautiful summer day here in the city (77°F/ 25°C).
I went down to the waterfront to check out the newly renovated Pier 58 that had opened on Friday.
We are having a run of beautiful and mild sunny days here in Seattle.
The high today was 77°F (25°C).
I walked down to the fountain and texture pool in Cal Anderson Park just before sunset.
Sunset is now at 8.56 pm and there were beautiful soft blues, pinks and oranges on the horizon, looking out towards the Olympic Mountains behind the Space Needle.
We had 88°F (31°C) here in Seattle today.
The National Weather Service issued a Heat Advisory for today and tomorrow for the Seattle area— with potential for temperatures in the mid-90s (35°C) on Wednesday.
Three amigos ran out to Marymoor Park by Redmond this morning— the site for the Electrify Expo Seattle 2025.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell posted this picture on X today, of new US citizens and Seattle officials who attended the 40th annual Independence Day (July 4) Naturalization Ceremony held at Seattle Center.
Over 500 new US citizens were sworn in.
The officials in the picture are:
–David G. Estudillo (fourth from the left), Chief US District Judge for the Western District of Washington: Judge Estudillo presided over the ceremony and administered the oath of allegiance to the new citizens.
–Maria Cantwell, US Senator for Washington State (to his right): Senator Cantwell gave the congratulatory address to the new citizens.
–Miss Washington is Hermona Girmay, who was crowned in July 2024. She is also a University of Washington School of Public Health alumna and is using her platform as Miss Washington to champion health equity.
–Bruce Harrell, Mayor of Seattle: Bruce Harrell delivered welcome remarks at the ceremony.
Alma Franulović Plancich, the ceremony’s long-time coordinator, was recognized for her 40 years of dedication to the event.
From Google Search Labs | AI Overview:
Rainfall in Seattle during June 2025 was 0.40 inches, which is significantly below average.
This amount is 73% less than the 30-year average for June, which is 1.49 inches.
For comparison, here is a summary of June rainfall in recent years:
2024: 2.02 inches
2023: 1.42 inches
2022: 4.98 inches
Historically, June is one of the drier months in Seattle, with the average rainfall being around 1.6 inches. The wettest June on record saw 3.90 inches of rain in 1946.
On a gorgeous sunny Sunday afternoon, thousands upon thousands of people flocked to downtown Seattle for the 51st annual Pride Parade, arrayed in all the colors of the rainbow.
Over the past five decades, the parade has grown into the city’s biggest annual event. Organizers expected 300,000 attendees this year, though Seattle police did not have specific turnout figures Sunday.
– Caitlyn Freeman writing for the Seattle Times
Happy Friday.
It’s Pride weekend in Seattle, with the annual Pride parade scheduled for Sunday along 4th Avenue, downtown. Time flies, and it’s been ten years since same-sex marriage became legal nationwide in the United States (on June 26, 2015).
The artwork below is from an art exhibition— one of the main events of Tokyo Pride 2025— on the third floor of Tokyu Plaza Harajuku shopping mall’s Harakado space.
Happy Friday.
Happy Summer Solstice (here in the northern hemisphere).
The arrival of summer weather has been delayed by a few days here in Seattle, with cool and rainy weather expected this weekend.
The high today was only 62°F (17°C).
The Seattle metro area is coming out of the summer’s first heat wave.
A record high for June 8 was recorded at the airport on Sunday (90°F / 32°C).
It was still hot today, with a high of 87°F (31°C).
The amigos went out to the Mt Baker tennis courts for pickleball at 9.30 am before it got too toasty.
Four amigos met at the Seattle waterfront this morning.
We rode our e-bikes along the bike trail to Elliott Bay marina where we met up with a fifth amigo for lunch.
I’m stopping for a moment to admire Buster Simpson’s public artwork called “Anthropomorphic Dolos*”.
Dolosse* is a South African invention, first deployed in 1964 on the breakwater of East London, a South African port city.
* A dolos (plural: dolosse) is a wave-dissipating concrete block used in great numbers as a form of coastal management. It is a type of tetrapod. Weighing up to 8 tonnes (8.8 short tons), dolosse are used to build revetments for protection against the erosive force of waves from a body of water. [From Wikipedia]
[Sources: Seattle Department of Transportation, Elliott Bay Connections, Seattle Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects. Esri, Google, Chris Kaeser / The Seattle Times]
I like Gabriel Campanario’s artwork, published in today’s Seattle Times.
There is a lot of activity— and all kinds of people— on the Overlook Walk that links downtown Seattle, the Pike Place Market, and the newly revitalized Waterfront Park.
Happy Friday.
It’s the start of Memorial Day weekend here in the US, the unofficial start of summer.
The weather here in Seattle will be pleasant (72°F /22°C on Saturday), and the ferries plying Puget Sound will be packed.
I tagged along for a test drive in a new Tesla Model Y today.
I had lunch at the Washington Athletic Club in downtown today, and took these pictures.
