Sunrise

While I don't really have a great view out of my office window (although I am one of the first to know when Dillard's is having a sale!) I do get to see some great colors early in the morning!

Rainbow

I saw this rainbow, and note the faint double rainbow, while stuck in traffic one day last week. It seems I always see these things when I'm stuck in traffic. Maybe I need to walk more!

Sunrise

I thought the blue, up above the gray clouds, made a nice contrast in these pics.

Praying Mantis

I saw this little guy on my fence post yesterday. I did not seem to be much of a bother to him. Unfortunately he was just inches away from a very large spider web, owned by a very, very large spider. Hopefully he prayed about which way to move and is still with us today!

Fading Foliage

09-09-09

A new day begins in Norfolk.

Circumzenithal Arc

With all the trees in our neighborhood it is usually difficult to see anything in the sky, unless you are looking straight up. However, this evening I took the dogs out for a walk a few minutes past 6:00pm and was treated to a glorious display in the sky - two sundogs, an ice halo, and a circumzenithal arc! Wow, say that three times fast!

Anyway, sundogs, also called mock suns, are what essentially look like mini suns that appear on the left and right sides of the sun. Sometimes you may only see one, but this evening I was blessed to see them on both sides of the sun. And as you can just barely see from one of the photographs (upper right), there is a faint halo surrounding the sun and connecting the sundogs.

But the coolest thing to see was the circumzenithal arc above the sun! The circumzenithal arc (CZA) is what looks sort of like an upside-down rainbow. CZA's are formed by sunlight refracting through ice crystals that are flattened out, and floating horizontally through the sky. These types of crystals are called plate crystals.

It was a most beautiful site this afternoon, and I am sorry to say, these pictures do not do justice to "sky show" just above our heads. Unfortunately I do not have a wide-angle lens for my camera. If I had, I think I could have gotten a picture of the CZA "floating" above the sun and sundogs. Truly an awesome sight!

One note - the "specs" in the one photo of the CZA (lower left) is not dust on the camera lens. They are turkey vultures that have begun to frequent our neighborhood!

Early Morning Flight

Up at 3:45am.

Leave the hotel at 4:20am.

Fly out of Seattle at 6:00am.

It was almost as bad as flying the red-eye. Ugh!

But at least I got a couple of photos for my trouble!

Seattle Means SEAFOOD

When I am in Seattle, I make it a point to "only" eat seafood. Why? Because it is so darn good!

Here are my four dinners, where I ate them (in case you get the chance to go to Seattle) and my ratings.

# 1

Ahi Tuna Flores - Mexican Cantina in Pacific Place

600 Pine Street

Excellent!!!! The flavor, the texture, the price, all excellent! Melts in your mouth

# 2

Mesquite Grilled Alaskan Halibut - The Fisherman's Restaurant

Pier 57 on the Waterfront

Excellent!!! Outdoor dining on the end of the pier, the halibut was grilled perfectly!

# 3

Kasu Marinated Canadian Black Cod - Steelhead Diner
95 Pine Street, Pike Place Market

Very, very good! The only reason it didn't rate excellent was I had a similar dish last year at Ray's Boathouse and that was the best meal I ever had! The Steelhead Diner is a great place to eat, everything looked great. Make sure you make reservations!

# 4

Linguine Mare Ciaro - Il Fornaio in Pacific Place

600 Pine Street

Very Good. Mussels, clams, shrimp and scallops in a marina type sauce. Personally I did not want to eat here, but my co-worker does not eat seafood on on day 3 he wasn't going to stand for another seafood place! This was his choice. Everything on the menu looked pretty typically Italian, and this was the only seafood dish they had! So sticking with my plan to only eat seafood, this was it!

More Seattle Pics

A few more photos from Seattle.

Seattle's Freeway Park

Many, many years ago I read an article in National Geographic about a park that the city of Seattle had built on top of Interstate 5. Well, it turns out that the park is only a block or so from my hotel. It is a very nice park, lots of trees and flowers, places to sit and read a book, etc. Here are a few photos from my "trip" to the park.

Seattle

Clear skies and cool temps out here in Seattle.