a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
It’s a challenge to go for a run outside, or to play sport outdoors in the Pacific Northwest winter.
When it’s clear and dry, it may be too cold.
When it’s cloudy and milder, it may be raining.
There’s always skiing and snowboarding in the mountains, of course.
No sun at sunset over the Olympic Mountains today— only blue mountains and pastel colors.
Here are a few pictures that I took on my walk around downtown Seattle today.
Revelers could gather at the Space Needle again (post-pandemic) to usher in the new year with the fireworks display there.
These pictures were sent to me by a friend— snapped from the rooftop of a condominium building.
Peace everywhere, for everyone, always.
There was snow on Wednesday, sleet and ice on Friday, and lots of rain on Saturday to clear it all up for Sunday.
Everything outside is coated with ice today, and the streets and sidewalk surfaces resemble those of ice rinks. Just venturing out onto my back deck is a perilous undertaking.
Argentina has won the World Cup for a third time (also in 1978 and 1986). Congratulations to Argentina and to Lionel Messi.
In restless dreams, I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
– From ‘The Sound of Silence’ by Simon & Garfunkel (1964)
I stepped out of my house into the cold to take a few pictures of the fog, late last night.
There’s a little snow on the way this weekend for the low-lying areas around Puget Sound, say the meteorologists.
Here’s looking due west from Melrose Avenue and Thomas Street at 4.01 pm.
Sunset is now at 4.19 pm, as we approach the winter solstice next week.
So on Sunday it will be Argentina 🇦🇷 vs. France 🇫🇷 for the World Cup Final— a clash of two titans in the world of soccer.
It’s a welcome distraction for Argentinians, living in a country where the rate of inflation now stands at an incredible 100%. (Inflation in the US for November was 7.1%).
[Still image from FS1 TV channel broadcast]
P.S. A 2021 investigation by The Guardian newspaper revealed that over 6,500 migrant workers from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka died between 2010 and 2020 during in Qatar— a high percentage of that probably during the construction of World Cup venues in Qatar.
[Still image from FS1 TV channel broadcast]
Coastal Kitchen on 15th Avenue has been open for a week.
It’s nice to see the entrance all tidy, with the new neon sign lit up.
Hey! The sun was out as I walked down to the Capitol Hill library to take my books back.
I stopped by the QFC grocery store— and had picked out a few things when the fire alarm went off.
We all had to leave everything on the spot, and go outside.
I waited for a while in the cold, and then gave up and left.
I am lucky to have plenty of food in the house, and a house that is warm inside.
I took the light rail to Seattle’s International District station today, just as the gray sky was turning into black. (King Street Station for the inter-city Amtrak trains is nearby).
There will be dry weather and sun this week, but the highs will only reach 42°F (5°C).
Here are today’s pictures— a little bit of everything at a soggy Seattle Center. (I see the city got 5.15 in. of rain for November, so not too far off from the average).
The McDonalds building on 5th Avenue North has been demolished (it has been gone for a few months now).
The site will be used for a new 9-story office building .. or maybe not right away, now that the local economy has softened somewhat.
‘This is one nutty World Cup, people’
– Commentator Alexi Lalas
I watched most of the two World Cup matches today. Both ended in penalty shoot-outs, so thrilling finishes to both. It must be painful to lose with penalty kicks, though (as Brazil and The Netherlands did).
So Tuesday it’s Argentina 🇦🇷 vs. Croatia 🇭🇷 for the first semi-final.
On Wednesday it will be
( France 🇫🇷 or England 🏴 ) vs. ( Portugal 🇵🇹 or Morocco 🇲🇦 ) for the second semi-final.
The France-England and Portugal-Morocco quarterfinal matches are played tomorrow.
Sad news is that sportswriter Grant Wahl (48, USA) died today in Doha, while covering the Argentina-Netherlands World Cup quarterfinal. He was reportedly working very hard and not sleeping well, and fell ill with a respiratory illness (not Covid).
Wow, great news that basketball star Brittney Griner will be home soon.
The Biden Administration could not (yet) secure the release of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan who was detained in Moscow in 2018.
There are many other Americans being wrongfully detained by foreign governments as well. A State Department official remarked recently that the number is between 40 and 50.
I made a run out to SeaTac airport at 3.30 am this morning, to drop off three intrepid travelers.
Here’s the line-up of red traffic lights on Broadway in Capitol Hill at 4 am, in a very light drizzle of rain.
Senator Raphael Warnock (D) prevailed over Herschel Walker (R) tonight in Georgia’s run-off election.
That means democracy in Georgia still works, more or less.
(Walker did not lose by much, even though he is utterly unqualified to be a US Senator. Today, election day, a work day, the polls were open only from 7 am until 7 pm. Georgia election officials, supported by the Republican Party, tried to prevent 70,000 citizens from voting early on Saturday Nov. 26. At the end, 13 judges had rejected Republicans’ effort to restrict voting, and the voters won back their right to cast early votes).