I'd Rather be Stuck in Traffic...

It was nearly 9:00pm on one of our longest and warmest Seattle days. Knowing we had about an hour until the sun set behind the Olympic Mountains, The Non-Scotsman and I decided to scuttle over to West Seattle to watch the orb take it's plunge.

We put the top down and went the scenic route - our favorite - Highway 99, aka: The Alaskan Way Viaduct. Built in 1952, this bridge has been both a stunning architectural feat and a thorn from the burning sulfur of Hades in Seattle's side. I adore it.

(The Viaduct during construction, 1952)

Just as we pulled onto it, however, we skidded to a sharp stop, nearly colliding with the car in front of us. The Mini behind us screeched to a stop inches from our bumper. We braced ourselves, like soldiers that understand the battle to come, for the inevitable. Stand-still traffic jam. We sat for a moment or 10, finally realizing we were going nowhere really at all, and started enjoying the scenery around us, snapping photos with our phones out of the top of the convertible. We realized where we were - sitting happily on a bridge with priceless, untapped views all around. I sat back and smiled broadly at the jam-packed car of hip-hoppers stopped next to us.

City on the left - Puget Sound on the right. Sensory enjoyment overload.

Ferries. Passengers.

Water. Waves.

Architecture. Design.

Markets. Delights.

Some things I learned while stuck in traffic:

1. There's some sort of factory directly in front of the cheeky Four Seasons Hotel. Doesn't block their view, but does produce a billowing steam in front of their views.

2. Owners of the Four Seasons Condos and I have a lot in common: we both love to sit on our balconies with a glass of wine and watch the sunset with good friends.

3. Seattlites will grow plants ANYWHERE.

4. A sneak peak into the old brick Pioneer Square apartments off the highway shows that many of them leave their laundry strewn about the house.

5. People, maybe some stuck in traffic like us, have gotten out of their cars and written love notes on the cement pillars of the highway. Risking death for the sake of love, eh?

6. Parking garages get all the good, big windows. I want to live in one.

The sun tucked in for the night before we ever got to the end of the bridge by the stadiums. We'd been in the car over an hour, but we didn't need West Seattle by then, anyway. The hour in the car, on the most scenic piece of property in the city, filled us up to contentment.

I hope I hit traffic again soon.

A Good Man...

You know you’ve married a great man when he takes you on dates to Earthwise and the Restore, actually makes stuff out of potential you find there. A man like this has no reason to desperately resort to bad milk chocolate and roses on Valentine's Day.

Earthwise and the Restore: these two places are like monasteries. They are sacred, religious places in Seattle because of their eco-responsibility. I, however, like a pilgrim, journey there to be revived and inspired; to rest on one of the pews for sale...wishing I had more than 425 square feet so this could be part of my dining room...

(Fir bench, Earthwise, 2010)

In these cloisters search our souls; we find broken and discarded leftovers of the world, the hidden beauties, the one-of-a-kind design. Each piece has a powerful story to tell, and with a little imagination can become new again.

We have pulled butcher-block kitchen islands, blown glass lamps, tables, and art out of what we've found there.

This is a lamp in my window cut from a forgotten jar:

This is a coffee table The Non-Scotsman restored from a discarded factory cart left in the basement of a building by the Alaska Way Viaduct: we have seen them sold for 10x what we paid)...

(Factory Cart coffee table, 2009)

(Beautiful details)

This discarded mailbox is happily hanging in our entry-way:

These are two tall tabletops in Epulo Bistro that we built out of massive discarded doors (I apologize that this photo is difficult to see):

(Epulo Bistro, 2009)