Refueling in Kwajalein

Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands hosts two notable population centers: the American Bucholz Army Airfield, and Ebeye Island, where perhaps 12,000 Marshallese live. Despite being US military property, Continental Airlines stops here five times weekly.

Photography is supposedly prohibited (by 18 USC 795), though that didn't get in the way of taking this shot. It's a US Army refueling truck topping off our 737 with jet fuel. The vital military installation beyond that is the golf course.

Marshall Islands Funeral

A funeral procession winds along the only real road in Majuro, the biggest of the Marshall Islands. The mood was not conducive to photography, so I hung back to catch this fragipani blossom with the police-chaperoned hearse in the distance.

I was surprised to learn that citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands here can live and work in the United States without requiring a visa or employment authorization. Consequently, there is a population of many hundreds of them in Spokane.

Hawaiian Outrigger

This outrigger canoe sits in Kuli'ou'ou Beach Park in Oahu as a bit of stormy weather passes through. It was quite windy, and there were periods of pretty dark cloud, but it didn't rain down at the coast that afternoon.

Chuuk Barrier Reef

Chuuk, a state of the Federated States of Micronesia, has a spectacular barrier reef extending outwards from its volcanic islands. Here is a segment of it; the ocean falls off quickly to the top right.

The reef is huge, enclosing a lagoon of over 2000 sq km. It was Japan's last naval stronghold in WWII, and is a graveyard that was filled with numerous Japanese ships and airplanes when the US captured it in February 1944.

Brant Geese

This skein of Brant Geese is just passing through Seattle, on their migration from the Californian coast up through to the Arctic. They don't fly in organized V's like other geese, and they're much smaller - we mistook them for ducks. Here they're alighting near the shore of Discovery Park.

Graffiti Alternative

A bright cartoonish mural is a great alternative to employing the city to endlessly repaint a grey concrete wall. 46th St under Aurora was a wall in need of just such an improvement.

The Freemont Neighborhood Council raised $1000, and the city matched that amount. This is Todd Lown's design, though the actual painting was done by a bunch of volunteers and a separate youth make-work project.

Matson Maui

Sister to the Matson Kauai, the Maui heads out of Puget Sound for the Pacific, with the Olympic mountains behind her.

It may look like a boring container ship, but she can carry an interesting ballast. Below deck sits a ballast tank that can carry 2600 short tons of molasses. Hawaii doesn't export much molasses anymore, so the capability probably doesn't profit the shipping line.

Freemont Tugboat Co

This is not a collection of nautical kitsch - it is the headquarters of the Freemont Tugboat Co. Some subset of the four owners (Erik, Tom, Mark, and Margie) live here on Lake Union in the shadow of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

They run a fleet of small tugs, and claim that they commute from this location in a vessel called The Jeep.

Raised Sidewalk

The sidewalk of the Montlake lift bridge strikes a jaunty angle as the span is raised for marine traffic.

I was the first car to be snared by the opening, so I popped out for some photography during the wait. A few others followed the example. When the span was being lowered back into place, other motorists rushed back to their cars. "No need to rush," I called out, "as you'll be waiting for me anyway!"

Sunny Snowfall

It is rare to experience heavy snowfall in full sunlight. A small amount of overnight snow had adhered to everything above perhaps 1000ft or so, and full morning sun was just coming out as we got up to that height. The snow continuously slid off the firs, and the ambiance was spectacular. It was cold enough that the snow was still crisp and powdery.

It didn't take long until the warmth of the sun led to drippy, slushy, unpleasant precipitation, still from the trees above.

Stryker Convoy

This is a long convoy of fully crewed Stryker armored fighting vehicles, coming off Snoqualmie Pass westbound towards Seattle. It's unclear their purpose in the area.

Each of the fellows riding atop their very capable 18-ton 8x8 jeeps returned a cheerful wave. I too would be in good spirits approaching the coast, after traversing a 3000ft pass in mid-March at 60mph.

Edge of Fog

This marine cloud layer was losing the battle against the strong sun, and we found the very edge of it on this forest trail.

Sun doesn't penetrate very far through these dense clouds, and this effect requires the top of the cloud to be very close indeed. The path was completely clear in dazzling sunlight 60 seconds after this.

Crocii

Snow crocus will pop up as soon as their wee bulbs feel the first warming of spring, even if there's a bit of snow still around.

Here in Seattle we've had an odd spring - initial warmth drawing out the witchhazel and early bulbs, but then weeks of coldness making the cherries and plums wait a bit more.

BierCraft Bistro

This L-shaped space was Tomato, then Stella's, now the BierCraft Bistro. The nook of the L is a barbershop, occupying the corner of the block.

My visit was consistent with experiences at other Belgian beer places. Nice ambiance, tasty beer, but expensive.

Skyviewing Sculpture

Here at Western Washington University lies a set of unremarkable public buildings erected in the 1960s. It's depressingly familiar to anyone who has visited any campus in North America built in that era.

There are some interesting sculptures around the campus, including Isamu Noguchi's

Skyviewing Sculpture (1969). It looks vastly different as you walk around it.