What's Tony Thinking

4,000 Words

With the old line, “A picture is worth 1,000 words,” in mind this Sunday post mostly consists of pictures.

I made a trip downtown (Seattle downtown that is) the other day and checked out the progress on taking down the Viaduct. It’s quite an enterprise. It’s a little like dental surgery, with a combination drill and water jet working simultaneously.

Just the other day a recent Seattlite asked me (I’ve been here 30 years) about how I felt about the changes in Seattle. It’s common, and easy, to be negative, given the greater density and traffic. But it isn’t all negative. The new tunnel seems to be working really well. And while I can work up some nostalgia about the Viaduct, I think the Seattle waterfront is going to be a lot better when free of the old elevated highway. These moves/ decision were hard-fought, but good ones.

In some ways the Waterfront project captures Seattle’s current transition. Seattle was once more a port and industrial town, of which a utilitarian highway like the Viaduct was pretty emblematic. It has become a 21st century tech center with less of the old industry look and feel. This photo shows the progress of the demolition near the waterfront Aquarium.

To change our photographic focus entirely, here’s a recent painting of mine. I worked from a photo I published last month of a sunset at Puako on the Big Island’s northwest shore. For the curious, this is done in acrylic. The scene was a combination of the sunset and some very dark clouds on the right side of the sky, which highlighted the lighter colors of the water on the left side. The shoreline in Puako is mostly rocky, which is the foreground.

And the last 1,000 words goes to our youngest grandchild, Olive. Grandad brought Nutty-Buddy ice cream cones to the party. Olive enjoyed her’s. Grandad enjoyed her enjoyment.