Ukiyo-e Prints

浮世絵版画

Port Townsend, Washington

EVEN ON A DRAB WINTER'S DAY

2005 into 2006 has been the wettest winter since I moved here. Unlike most people I actually look forward to and enjoy gray, rainy days. Yesterday a friend of mine and I ate breakfast at a favorite diner populated mainly by locals. A good hearty meal. Afterwards I suggested that we walk off part of it by going over to Ft. Worden and walking to the top. Approximately a two mile walk by the route we chose. The ground was wet, the sky was dripping, the trees were dripping and there was moss growing everywhere. Everywhere. We couldn't stop for fear that it might just grow on us.

It was a delight to behold. We resolved to return the next morning with our cameras and to try to capture some of the sights. The first image I really wanted to capture was the moss growing on a short tree stump which we had spotted a few feet off the dirt path. Fortunately we found it again as you can see from the photo shown below.

A STARTLING SURPRISE

As my friend and I climbed higher we came on the most wondrous scene at the first major set of concrete bunkers: Moss was growing everywhere there too as the image below attests looking like a worn tattered carpet. I hope my efforts help convey just a bit of the beauty of the place.

BEFORE I LEAVE YOU

I want to show you one last shot which I took just as my breakfast buddy and I were about to leave the park. Again it was moss which struck my eye. Growing a few feet off the path I took it with a flash and think it gets the point across. Multiply the effect of the moss growing on those little shoots a million times over and you begin to get a sense of what I am everyone else here experience on a gray wintry day.

THEY DID IT ON PORPOISE!

AND SO DID WE!

In late October 2005 a couple of friends came to visit. While they had  been to Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria a few years back they had never seen Port Townsend. I was their tour guide for the week. After a couple of days the wife - let's call her Betty - told me that she had never been to a more beautiful place in her life. I could see why she would say that. One day I suggested that we might take a short roundtrip ferry ride from downtown Port Townsend to Keystone on Whidbey Island. It would offer a different view of the scenery than we could get otherwise. We wouldn't even have to take the car. All we would have to do is pay the fee for walk-ons and enjoy the ride. Betty thought that was a great idea so that is what we did a couple of days later.

While waiting for to board we met a woman who lives in north Seattle. She could not have been more enthusiastic about the region. A few minutes into the 'cruise' that same woman came rushing up to us to say that porpoises had been spotted just off the side of the ferry. We rushed out to the deck and sure enough there they were swimming alongside. It was a bit chilly out there so we decided to go back inside to warm up. Right after we sat down the captain of the ship made an announcement over the loud speaker that there were porpoises off the bow. Everyone hurried out again to the front railing. By the time we got there all the spaces in front were taken so the Seattle woman said in a loud voice "Let this woman in so she can see too!" and the crowd parted. It was wonderful. In fact, it rivals anything I had ever seen anywhere.

I had taken my digital camera along to try to get some new shots of Port Townsend from the water to show you, but none of them came out well enough to post. But most of the photos I took were of the porpoises leaping out of the water just ahead of the boat. We were moving at a decent clip, but the porpoises were pacing us. Two or three of them would appear just under the surface for a second or two and them the would leap out of the water and dive back in before veering off. A little later they would do this again. This went on for a number of minutes and was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately I barely got any 'decent' shots of this. I'm sorry. The pictures don't do it justice. If you look carefully at the wallpaper in this section you will clearly see them just below the surface.

Even more remarkable was the fact that the members of the ferry's crew which had served this run for years had never seen anything like this before. I guess we were just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Do I regret having moved here from Missouri? What do you think?

DALL'S PORPOISE

Right around the time that I was first posting the images of the porpoises leaping before the local ferry as it made its short back and forth run to a nearby terminal on Whidbey Island I was in contact with a Canadian scientist, Glen Jamieson, a man with intense interests in many diverse topics. A true polymath in my book. So, I thought, Why not?, I will ask him if he happens to have a good image of porpoise I can post. He said he didn't, but would ask his friend Anna Hall who is a specialist on a particular kind of porpoise found along the Northwest Coast. That is how I got the picture seen above "...of a Dall's porpoise bow riding."  Anna Hall was kind enough to send it, but wanted me to make sure that you know that the photographic credit belongs to her husband Chris. He took it. For this I want to thank all three of them: Glen, Anna and Chris. Couldn't have done it without you. Thanks!

One of the great things about this job is that I love what I do. What a pleasure it is when learning can be fun too and there is nothing I like more than learning. Well not much that I like more. Anyway, when I was riding the ferry the captain announced that there were porpoises jumping off the bow. Me? I couldn't have told you if they were dolphins or porpoises. But the captains word was good enough for me. When I mentioned this to Dr. Jamieson he jumped right in and talked about the Dall's porpoise and his friend Anna in the same breath. What a break for me. I had never even heard of this creature....this type of porpoise, that is. Some quick research and I found out that the Dall's porpoise is one of the fastest swimmers around and that they love bow riding. Bow riding? What in the heck is bow riding? Duh! It is what I had the great luck to experience that day. One of those moments that will live with me forever like my first view of the Grand Canyon, the Eiffel Tower and the Canadian Rockies. I hope you get the same chance one day. However, from what I understand you have a better chance of seeing the Canadian Rockies because at least you know they will be there when you arrive. Porpoises bow riding...now that is another matter.

Bird tattoo on the arm of a local Port Townsendite - let's call him "C" -

seen below.

It is based on a print by Hiroshige of a

parrot on an aronia plant.

Anyone who has ever visited Port Townsend will know what I am talking about: It is an astoundingly beautiful place filled with gorgeous views of snow-capped mountains and volcanoes, charming harbors and waterways, a plethora of Victorian architecture, one of the best little privately owned used bookstores in America, remarkable forest paths and so much more. It is also filled with a rather odd assortment of people making it all that much more charming and bizarre.

About ten years ago I discovered, rather late, the joys of camping. After setting out for Alaska - I never got there - I spent weeks in Canada in Banff and Jasper National Parks. That was enough for me. I had to move. Had to move  to the Northwest from the Midwestern (Kansas City) summers and winters. Had to move closer to the mountains and the forests and camping. Had to leave my friends to do this, but they could come visit me.

Before I set out to find a new home two friends said I should look at Port Townsend. One had never been here, but takes sailing magazines and said that there are always articles by Port Townsendites in them and the other friend had a sister-in-law who lived in the area. I came here just to tell them that I had looked and to get them off my back. The rest is history.

I looked in the local weekly rag and saw a listing for two rentals. One was a double wide in an isolated wooded setting and the other was a second floor condominium apartment which was empty, being painted and had a spectacular view of a large, watery harbor, forested islands and shorelines, sailboats and in the distance a remarkable view of Mt. Rainier in all of its glory. My own private Fuji. I had found Heaven. Or, so I thought.

Pirate ship in drydock?

How does one move a pirate ship (?) into drydock. Check out the hoist  in the picture below.

That is my car parked underneath the straps for scale.

Boat hoist with my car parked below the straps.

When I set out to find a place to live in the Northwest I wanted to take my time. If it took me two months --- fine. However to spend that kind of time and not bust my bank account I decided to do a lot of camping while looking. I hadn't paid a first and last months deposit on a place since the early 70s and wasn't looking forward to the hunt or the vetting. Although I like Seattle a lot I wasn't keen on the hustle and bustle so I decided to start with Olympia. Got a paper, checked the ads and went searching. The first place I looked that was half-way appealing was near the State Capitol building. Found the office to the complex and the manager. Turned out she was a Nazi. Not a metaphorical one, but the genuine article. Right after I introduced myself, said I had cats, asked the price, etc., she peered at me and said that she would have to check my criminal record. I laughed. Thought she was kidding. She wasn't. I told her: "I don't have a criminal record." Her eyes narrowed and she hissed: "We'll see about that. We're still going to check." Oh, did I mention that she was German with a German accent? She went on to tell me about all of the ethnic groups she would never rent to "because they all have criminal records." I was so depressed I went camping in the woods. That is how I ended up in Port Townsend two days later. That and the recommendation of a couple of friends.

Fortunately Port Townsend has a state park on the north side of town: Fort Worden, where they filmed "An Officer and a Gentleman." The town still lives off the experience. The charge was $25 a night for just my car and my tent. A bit steep considering the shower didn't really work. Not a drop of hot water. However, the place is so damned beautiful I couldn't really complain much. Especially after my encounter in Olympia.

I am telling you all of this because not only is Port Townsend a magical and wonderful place, but Fort Worden just makes it that much better. The fellow who rented me my condo-apartment asked if I had seen the bunkers there yet. I hadn't. He said I should and that I should take a flashlight up there with me. I didn't do that until after I moved my things here and then...WOW! Don't forget to bring a flashlight.

When I was about four or five years old the first thing I really wanted to be other than a cowboy was an archeologist. Below are shots I took recently of the bunkers. (Today is October 6, 2003.) They evoke the mystery and awe of what I imagine to be an explorer's discovery of some Mayan ruins or something of that ilk.

PHOTOS OF THE BUNKERS

AT FT. WORDEN

"AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN"

WAS FILMED HERE - OR AT LEAST PART OF IT WAS.

If it was good enough for Debra Winger, Lou Gossett, Jr. and Richard Gere

it should be good enough for you.

There is a restaurant at Point Hudson* called The Otter Crossing. The name is self-explanatory once you see the family of otters which live in the harbor. I had the good fortune of standing on a local pier when several of them swam below and then scrambled up onto a dock and then to dry land.

I have been told by some of the locals that  occasionally the otter family has been seen walking down the middle of Water Street, the main lower downtown artery, stopping traffic. Haven't seen it myself, but have no reason to doubt it. Fortunately the speed limit is so slow on that stretch of road and because there are often so many tourists who always have the right-of-way while crossing the street these accounts are completely credible.**

**On more than one occasion I have had to sit stock still in my car while tourists stop in the middle of crosswalks to gawk at the local scenery or to take pictures while having prolonged conversations. Dumb tourists! Let them try that in New York City or Buenos Aires. Bet there aren't any otter families walking down the middle of their thoroughfares.

The N.D. Hill Building

1889

The Hastings Building

1889-1890

View from my balcony on a surprisingly typical day.

The pine trees are on the edge of a bluff. If you look carefully at the dead one on the right you will see Mt. Rainier in the distance. This is the first thing I saw when I  entered. Within a minute or two a large bald eagle landed on the top of the tallest tree and sat there for an hour or so. I am a lucky fellow.

One extra note: the camera lies! Lies, I tell you! Mt. Rainier does not always appear even on clear days --- probably due to atmospherics --- but when it does it is actually about 20 times larger when seen in person from my apartment than it appears in the image above. Come visit and if it is a good day you will see what I mean.

This town has more rainbows than I have ever seen anywhere. It doesn't rain very often because it lies in the shadow of the Olympic Mountains, but when it does rain combined with the winter winds the result is rainbows and more rainbows and a few more just for good measure. All the pleasures of celestial beauty and dry to boot.

Sunset from my front door -

Thanksgiving Day, 2002

When I got up this morning --- today is September 9, 2003 --- I went into the kitchen to get either a bowl of cereal or some Metamucil. As I glanced out of my picture window I saw a single paraglider floating by. Ran for my camera. Then there were two, three, four. My photos don't do them justice.

I hear that they jump off a cliff nearby and let the wind catch them. They do acrobatics. They pirouette. They soar or float down out of site only to return soaring above a few minutes later. I have gotten used to this, but right after I moved to Port Townsend they were as startling as the eagle that alit on the tallest tree nearby and just sat there overseeing its domain.

I had three cats when I moved here. Two now. The first time one of them saw a paraglider it arched its back and hissed. Bird? Man? Birdman? Now they take it in stride and just sit and watch - like me.

One of the main attractions of Port Townsend is the beautiful and historic downtown filled with late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings. It is very small and very manageable for the average tourist. However, what most visitors don't know is that there are two downtowns - one lower and one upper.  The locals, especially the old timers, have a love hate relationship with the tourists. Some just hate them. but, by and large, a lot of people don't want the newbies to know that there is much more to Port Townsend than a scenic harbor with a few short blocks of views, vistas and shops.

Now that is not true, of course, of the merchants who own some wonderful establishments in the upper downtown. In fact, some of the community's best eating can be found there.

That brings me to the image of the fountain sculpture seen above. Found at the end of Taylor Street which is only one block long in the lower downtown welcomes you to the stairs which lead to the upper downtown and which most tourists won't climb or waddle up. (Remember they keep telling us that most Americans are overweight. Any wonder why?) Anyway, if you climb the stairs you still have to walk north and west a few blocks to reach the heart of the upper downtown: Lawrence Street. It is worth it both for dining, views, and lots of lovely homes which include many of the town's best bed and breakfast establishments.

I come from a city famous for its fountains and its sculptures. In fact, it touts itself --- or used to --- as having more fountains than any other city in the world than Rome. Don't know if it is true, but there are a slew of them. The sculpture seen above would hold its own against any of those  anywhere else!

DON'T VISIT IF YOU

ARE ALLERGIC TO CATS

 AND BE SURE TO GIVE ME ENOUGH NOTICE

SO I CAN CLEAN UP

Don't visit me if you are allergic to cats. Above is Sticky pushing against the guard I put up to keep him from jumping to my neighbor's porch --- again.

On the left is Sticky in his down time and on the right are Sticky and his sister Tjer. Too damned cute, eh?

This morning --- September 12, 2003 --- I looked outside and saw what has become commonplace for me: deer in the yard. You would think that they were an endangered species around here. About 80% of the time I go riding I spot them. Lots of garden flowers and veggies to eat. Grrrr! Actually I kind of like seeing them.

The top picture shows Sticky playing it cool in front of the deer grazing below.

Click on the two sleeping pups go to our second

"Why Port Townsend?"