Today was a sunny day, and one could tell by the lines of cars at carwash, the double-staffed sunglasses kiosks, and the high number of cell phone calls and text messages sent out by movie theater ushers... Also, a large number of the population was out taking pictures today, with whatever they had in their hands. A girl at PandaLab was getting her medium-format prints back, and I got to take a peek at just how "light-tight" the Holga's really aren't. Then there was the girl on the street corner holding up an offering of a camera phone to the Sun God(s? - is there more than one?). And then there is me, lunking around my monster SLR and sweat-inducing 70-200mm, rattling off shots at skateboarders as I whiz by in the Camry, rolling the odometer past 272,500 miles (I really need to do a write up on how amazing this car is). But before I decided to be a "lens-slingin, burger-chompin', coffee-sippin', noodle-eating, automatic-transmission-drivin' maniac," I spent two hours +/- .340 (to 3 significant figures) walking the docks of Shilshole Marina, my to-be home in the Fall. It was splendid. Everyone has their own personality, look, pets, and hairdue - but they all look UP at you when you walk past, and mutual "G'day's" or "Howdy's" are exchanged with a nod or a smile. This puts me at home. Now, I will say, that I felt a bit out of place in the 36'-44' slips, as the people there seem to have fallen prey to the idea of status... They see (or at least I imagine that they do) that I am not one of them, that I am too young to be accepted into the "Co-op Of Cowardly Knowledgable Folks Arguing Cruising Edicite" Club. But this does not sadden me, as I really have no desire to suck up and fit into an image for the pure reason of "measuring up." So I took pictures of diving birds instead, and listened greatfully to the distant sound (which grew closer as I walked the docks) of a piper seemingly making an attempt to charm a...... sailboat. And "it was Good."
