Bellevue Bound

 

CAMPUS TOUR: Friday was a mostly dreary day, but about noon, the rain stopped for bit, so I suggested we go for a little walk. Our destination: Bellevue College.

Annabelle is contemplating attending Bellevue for Running Start, and CJ has been accepted into Eastern Washington University's satellite campus there, to finish his 4-year degree.

We parked at the north end of campus, near the baseball field and soccer pitch.

We wound our way south, toward the center of the campus. In one plaza, I spied the roof of the college's planetarium.

There's a fair amount of art on campus. I apologize in advance for not knowing all of the names of the artists or the pieces. I figured I could find that on the BC website, but I just spent a few minutes trying to locate that info, and I couldn't find it. I did finally find a YouTube video on the topic, which was helpful. 

CJ and Annabelle checked out this duo. It's Doorway by sculptor Ray Jensen. It was installed in 1992.

An untitled veterans' memorial near the college's library was topped by bronze combat boots. I was able to find out the sculptor was Bellevue College art instructor  Ross Brown, along with some Bellevue students who were veterans.

The series of white circles below is called Psalm 61. It's by Stu Branston, from 1976.

When I spied the photo of Japanese American children held in an internment camp during World War II on a brick wall, Iremembered reading awhile back that this display sparked a controversy.  A college vice president altered the description the artist, Japanese American Erin Shigaki, provided along with the work, first whiting out and then altogether deleting a reference to anti-Japanese agitation by Eastside businessmen being part of Bellevue's history.

Over by the campus' medical-related classrooms, we found sculptures that reminded us of DNA.

The work in the below was my personal favorite of the public art we saw. The scale was enormous, and that's not conveyed very well in my photo. It's by Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo, installed in 2009.

We also spied a couple of curiosities during our visit. "A payphone phone booth?" I marveled aloud upon seeing this relic.

Turns out, you can't plug a quarter into it and make a call. It's an emergency phone box, presumably connected to campus security.

The oddest thing we saw was this sign on a smoking pavilion. 

Recycling cigarettes is a thing? Ew... I mean, don't get me wrong. Recycling is better than throwing things away but ... Eww. But it's a thing. I checked out an article on the topic at Terracycle.com.

The grounds of Bellevue College are exceptionally well maintained. The trees and shrubs  - mostly Northwest natives - are so well cared for. Overall, the campus grounds were a lot more Pacific Northwest forest-like than I expected. Most of the buildings kind of had a mid century modern aesthetic (the school was founded in 1966).

One bush that caught our eye was an Arbutus andrachne, better known as a Greek strawberry tree (thanks, Google Lens, for letting us know what it was).

Our overall impressions of the campus were that it's attractive, a nice size - definitely a manageable walk from end to end, and that it's pretty convenient from our house to there. We didn't go in any buildings because the campus is closed due to COVID. (In fact, we had to register online ahead of time to visit.)

Santa Stroll

PANDEMIC SANTA: Yesterday we had a number of errands to run in Seattle. One of the things on the 'to do' list was to visit Santa.

Given that there's a pandemic right now, it wasn't going to be a normal visit. It would have to be socially distance and COVID safe. Enter Santa in the big plastic bubble. ...

A few days ago, I read a story about a longtime Seattle Santa who had come up with a way to still visit with kids (and adults!) this season. The article said he was along Greenwood Avenue at the 7500 block. So, I drove down Greenwood and told the kids to keep their eyes peeled. 

It wasn't hard to spot him!

We parked right along Greenwood and made our way to the Santa dome.

What a Jolly old Elf he was! In fact, he was the best Santa we've ever met.

Wait! There's only one Santa, so I guess I should say he was the best, as always.

He asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas, and neither of them asked for a single thing. Santa said he'd surprise them. 

Also, I'll just go ahead and admit watching my kids in masks visit with Santa in the bubble made me a litter verklempt. This year. Ugh.

SPARKLE PLENTY: I happened to glance over at our tree a little after noon and was shocked to see it actually sparkling in sunlight. It has been so gloomy here for the past few days. 

The unexpected sunshine prompted me to yell at the kids to get the dogs in harnesses, it was time to go for a walk!

TRAILING:  In the mood to see some new sights, I piloted our Honda Fit down the hill to Renton Memorial Stadium. I knew there was a trail next to it, and I wanted to check it out. Turns out that was a very good call!

According to the Washington Trails Association, Cedar River Trail is 17.4 miles one way. It stretches from the Cedar River Watershed’s western boundary at Landsburg, downstream to the mouth of the Cedar River, where it empties into Lake Washington in Renton. We walked the last bit of the trail today, parking at Renton Memorial Stadium and then strolling riverside to the lake.

For most of the journey, Renton Municipal Airport was to our west, and Boeing operations were to our east.

We saw many points of interest during our two-mile trek. For starters, we discovered there is an outdoor gym along the trail. The kids both hopped on the balance beam.

We'll have to try the other equipment (parallel bars, chin up bars, and such) on another day.

So many signs caught our attention on our walk today.

For instance, we learned that Nishiwaki is the Japanese sister city to Renton thanks to a sign and a commemorative plaque.

On the subject of sister cities, Annabelle informed us that Boring, Oregon has two sister cities: Dull, Scotland, and Bland, Australia.

Another sign we encountered urged people not to feed birds and water fowl. We stopped to ponder. ... 

Are water fowl not birds? How many people signed off on that sign before it was printed and posted?

Thanks to a sign near a boat ramp, we discovered our lives might be at stake during our leisurely stroll between the airport and Boeing.

We walked over two bridges that accommodate not just autos, but airplane traffic, too.

We encountered a sailing-themed playground for little tykes. CJ and Annabelle clambered up it for a photo opp.

Near the playground, there was a colorful sign about things to be on the look out for while walking the trail.

We saw lots of little planes take off. I wish one of the jumbo ones had landed or taken off while we were there. We'll definitely go back in hopes of seeing that sometime. 

One of the enormous Boeing buildings we saw on our walk had a distinctive, jagged edged roof. I wondered aloud why the roof was that shape - was it for aesthetics or was it functional in some way.

Within 60 seconds, Annabelle had my answer. She used Google to search 'why do factories have serrated roofs?' and learned it's called a saw tooth roof. According to a Wikipedia article, "The sawtooth roof, with its glass panels facing away from the equator, blocks the light and heat of direct sun exposure and provides uniform, natural light over a large area. It was particularly useful in design factories and manufacturing buildings." How 'bout that?

All in all, and enjoyable and educational walk!

CRAFTY ELVES: Today was the last day for CJ and Annabelle to complete their Elf Activities. So, we found ourselves sitting at the dining room table covered in pom poms, Popsicle sticks, glue, scissors, stickers and such.

First up was a Christmas tree craft. Here's CJ's completed project.   

                             

They also made some foam gingerbread men. 

And they put the finishing touches on a couple of cards.

LATEST: Today, CJ was notified he's been accepted to Eastern Washington University's program at Bellevue College, which was good news. He'd found out a bit ago that he was accepted by Eastern, which is in Cheney, WA, but the Bellevue-based satellite requires an additional level of acceptance.

He also finally finished the application to University of Washington at Tacoma, which has a history major with a museum program minor program that he's jazzed about. Not sure exactly when he can expect to hear any news there, but it won't be until after the new year, as their deadline for priority applications is Jan. 15.

Photo of CJ in pandemic attire for fun. 

Treats

BOW WOW: This afternoon, Annabelle and I finally got around to making some doggie biscuits. We've been wanting to do that for a long time. She found a recipe online. Its ingredients were flour (we used gluten free), a couple of eggs, pumpkin, all natural peanut butter, a little salt and cinnamon.

The consistency of the dough with the recipe ingredients was super dry, so we had to add water. We got it to a consistency that could be rolled out.

We used an assortment of cookie cutters (dog, bone, hydrant and a heart). 

We used our dogs as taste testers. They were a little leery of the first one, but the real test was giving them a second one to see if they went after it. They absolutely did, so we consider that a success. 

BALDING: After running an errand today, when I got out of the car, I was basically buzzed by a pair of big, beautiful bald eagles. They were so low, right over our driveway!

I yelled at Annabelle to get out of the car and yelled, "Look up!" We stood there for a couple of minutes and watched the pair circle overhead. I finally thought to take a photo with my cell phone. You can't even tell it's an eagle in this shot, but you can see how close it was to our roof. And in this photo, it's about 15 feet higher than it was when I first spied it. Cool!

GREEENER: Another day, another option for CJ. He found out yesterday he was accepted by The Evergreen State College. That's my alma mater, and his big brother Rick's undergrad school.

Now, he needs to apply to their Tacoma campus. The first step of gaining admission there is getting accepted by the main campus.

CJ also took his last test today for fall quarter. He was pretty nervous about it beforehand, as it was a proctored online test. He's never done that before. However, he did quite well, despite having a bad feeling after finishing it. He said the online calculator he used was unfamiliar and missing functions he's used to having. I think him getting a score of 88 percent on the test is pretty darn good, all things considered. I think he wound up with a 95.5 percent for the class overall, so good for him. He is also done with biology 101 and his favorite class, rock history. 

Season's Greetings

NURSERY STROLL: This holiday season is not normal. Not by a long shot. None of the fun seasonal things we've done in past years are an option. There's no merry-go-round at Westlake Park. No Space Needle Santa. Winterfest at Seattle Center is virtual. No clam lights at Coulon Park in Renton, no Santa at Chuck's Hop Shop. There's no Teddy Bear Suite at the Fairmount Hotel and no amazing gingerbread display downtown. Sure, some of these events are being held virtually, but there's only so much joy of sitting at home looking at websites instead of going out and actually experiencing these fun attractions. 

The no that might make me the most sad is that we won't be getting our annual photo in the red sleigh at Swanson's Nursery. The kids have been doing that for 12+ years now. However, Swanson's was still open, and available for visiting via a ticketed appointment. So, Friday afternoon, we headed to the northwest tip of Ballard/Crown Hill and paid a favorite spot a visit. 

We were so glad we went. First of all, the nursery was doing a terrific job regarding pandemic safety. There was hardly anybody there, which was great. The grounds were decorated so nicely, with lots of lights, baubles and bulbs. 

The plants, as always, are just so gorgeous. I wanted to take almost every last one home with me. We came home with a cool lemon-lime tropical plant that I've already put in a planter out front of the house.

There was no red sled, but the expansive train set up was there (outside instead of inside this year). 

The cute kids' playhouse was decorated for the season. 

I thought the use of tubular pool noodles to make lollipops was ingenious. 

We appreciated the greenery, including camellias in many colors. 

It felt good to get out of the house and stroll amidst some beautiful grounds. It helped that it was a beautiful day, sunny and not too cold. 

SILVER BOUGHS: Our trip to the pretty nursery helped get us into the spirit to finally start decking our own halls.

First up: The vintage Pom Pom aluminum tree!

Also on the 'to do' list for CJ and Annabelle was completing some of the items on their Elf agenda. We received the kits we ordered from the city of Renton. They are actually pretty cute and clever.

There are crafts to make, physical challenges to tackle, and, of course, some sharing and caring things to complete.

Here's CJ completing the jumping jacks requirement. It was pretty funny watching Annabelle and him crawl on the floor and tiptoe, as well. The kit is clearly intended for kids who are a little bit - or a lot bit - younger. :)

If they are successful, they will receive an Elf School Diploma next weekend during a drive through ceremony. Stay tuned. :) 

SHARING AND CARING: Speaking of the spirit of the season, CJ and Christian have been busy sharing info about a couple of nonprofits near and dear to our hearts, Teen Feed and Birthday Dreams.

Christian was featured in an in-house Seattle Public Utilities' story. In the article, he talked about our involvement in a monthly Teen Feed service.

And last week, CJ put the finishing touches on a 5-minute video about his volunteering. It was made as part of an application for a scholarship, but I think it's a good stand alone piece, showcasing some community service work he's been involved with for years now. Here's a link to the story: https://youtu.be/7i9zM142b5E

Embedding videos doesn't seem to work any more in Blogger, but I'll give it a try in case that bug has been fixed. 

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