Covering Ground

CAMPUS VISIT:  This morning we went to school, but not back-to-school, like so many students are right now. Rather, we went to visit Kennedy's new first grade classroom in the Wallingford neighborhood.  The dragon (less than a foot tall) can be found in the park behind the Good Shepherd Center (pictured in the background). The lovely old brick edifice is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ken's classroom is in an annex south of the big building.  Once we entered, we found his class mascot, a (as yet unnamed) hedgehog. 

 We also spied what appeared to be a Seahawks 'rally monkey' hanging from the ceiling. Not sure what a monkey has to do with the Seahawks, but it was cute, nonetheless.

This Star Trek the Next Generation mug was sitting on a shelf. I told Ken it is going to frighten the children! ;)

We dropped off a stack of books and puzzles for Ken's classroom (the kids made sure the puzzles' pieces were all there).

Then, we went and explored the 6-plus acres of lovely grounds adjacent to the gorgeous old building.   There are a many pieces of art throughout Meridian Park, including the dragon atop a post (the photo leading this blog post), and this cute little robot, K-25.  

The park is home to a P-patch (community garden), and the Seattle Tilth demonstration garden, plus in the common areas there are multiple mature apple, plum and nut trees, so there are all sorts of edible all over!

Out in front of the building was a 30-plus foot high monkey puzzle tree and it had what we presumed to be 'fruit' on it - big old spiky coconut looking thingees!

Scientifically speaking, the specimen is actually Araucaria araucana, an evergreen native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina. (We learned on Wikipedia tonight that because of the great age of this species, it is sometimes described as a living fossil, and that its conservation status was changed to "endangered" by the IUCN in 2013, due to its declining abundance.

We learned tonight that the brown 'coconut' looking things are actually female seed cones. The globules will disintegrate this fall and release around 200 seeds (3- to 4-centimeters long). 

VOLUNTEERING:  This afternoon, we headed just east of Interstate 5 to yet another Seattle greenspace, Volunteer Park. 

What prompted our visit? Numerous media reports that one of the Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the Corpse Flower, was in bloom in the Volunteer Park Conservatory. The flower gets its common name from the fact that its bloom smells like rotting flesh.  While some of the plants bloom every 2- to 3-years, others don't bloom for 7- to 10-years. The last time a Corpse Flower bloomed at the conservatory was 2008.

After paying admission and strolling past multiple lovely tropical plants, we found the corpse 'flower.' And, it wasn't blooming (curses to the multiple media sources who said it was). It's getting *ready* to bloom, but right now there's not much to look at and it doesn't smell AT ALL. 

I guess we'll have to go back in the not-too-distant future. Sigh. However, it's not too early to enter the convervatory's contest to name the bloom. The contest winner will receive their 

very own corpse plant (a healthy, 2-year old specimen that may or may not stink some day). 

Entry forms are available in the Conservatory’s Palm House Gift Shop or people can Tweet their entry to @Ivan_Von_Katzen before Monday, Sept. 8.
CJ sent in his entry for the flower's name this afternoon.  He suggested Audrey III (after Audrey II in "Little Shop of Horrors." Annabelle suggested George. I thought Carrie Ann would be good, since it sounds like carrion, which is what the flower smells like (or so we're told).

Here are a few random beauty shots from inside the conservatory, proving the trip wasn't a total bust.

Since we'd driven all the way cross town in rather horrible traffic, we thought we might as make our effort worthwhile, so we explored some of Volunteer Park's 48.3 acres.

Right away, we came across a stand of trees with neat-o trunks - perfect for climbing, even if you're afraid of heights!

And we soon spied a reservoir, where some of Seattle Public Utilities' water is stored.

Nearby were a couple of man-made ponds stocked with koi. A couple of ducks appear to have taken up residence. They were so still, we darn near missed them.

Seattle Art Museum's Asian Art Museum is on the grounds of Volunteer Park. Stopping there is on our to do list, for sure. Today, we settled for a photo opp in a sculpture out front. The art is Black Sun by Isamu Noguchi.

Continuing south, we found the Volunteer Park Water Tower.

The round tower was built by the city's water department in 1906.  At its base, we were standing at an elevation of 444.5 feet, the highest point of Capitol Hill.

We climbed the tower's 107 steps, to reach its observation deck, at an elevation of 520 feet. (By comparison, the Space Needle has a top elevation of 725 feet).  We took the stairs swiftly and without stopping. I'm not gonna lie, there was some huffing and puffing by the time we reached the top. But the 360-degree view was worth it!  We looked for the Space Needle, of course. ...  

It was easy to find downtown.  

We had no trouble spotting Queen Anne High School.

And you could see Lake Washington and Bellevue, the University of Washington. I'd love to be up there on a blue skies day. 

There were a number of wonderful posters in the tower, detailing the history of some of Seattle's parks. 

We had things to do, so we didn't hang out too long on the observation deck before heading down the 107 stairs. 

A plaque on the north side of the tower honors L.B. Youngs, the first superintendent of the water department (1895-1923). 

After Volunteer Park, the kids and Christian hit up Pop Mounger pool, another Seattle Parks facility, for what was almost certainly the last outdoor swimming session of the MPA kids' summer. 

THREE STRIKES WE'RE IN: Last night, some Philadelphia Phillies' pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter. You know what that means for 20,000 lucky people who are registered on MLB.com? Free pizza! 

                   
                        photo: www.mlb.com/dominono

Dominoes offered this twice before this MLB season, and each time, we've been able to score a free pizza (me the first time, Christian the second time). Today, we EACH scored one. Hip hip Hooray for free pizza!

GREEN DREAM: A Facebook post today from German astronaut Alexander Gerst read, "So sieht der Blick direkt nach unten aus wenn wir uns in einer Aurora befinden." 

     Photo:  NASA/ESA/Roscosmos

Translation: "This is what we see looking down while being inside an #aurora."

Gerst is an ESA astronaut, geophysicist, volcanologist and explorer, currently living and working on board the International Space Station.