Life in Seattle (Part II)

The other day, the blue sky and the clear January sun made me stray off my usual commute route, to check out Lake Washington. Looking east, I could see the snow-capped Cascade range in the distance, and a lone kayaker was paddling southward (on his way to work?):

The kayaker kept going, coming closer to the shore. Maybe he was on his way back from work (it was around 3:00 pm):

The fine weather made me keep driving :), past the UW, past Wallingford, to one of my favorite neighborhoods, Fremont, where...uh, what's that under the bridge?

It's the Aurora Bridge Troll! With a real VW Bug in its hand! 

Anyway, where was I? Oh, I was on my way to see how Vladimir Lenin was doing. Someone rescued him in Eastern Europe when the Soviet Union collapsed and symbols of the communist party were thrown out, and shipped it all the way to Seattle:

Who'd have guessed this statue of Lenin would end up in America, leading the inexorable progress of society, led by the Fremont Hemp Co.:

as well as Taco Del Mar? If there is an unidentified source of earth rumbling in Russia, the epicenter may be Lenin's grave.

Oh, yes, Mt. Rainier comes out from behind the clouds sometimes, and it's pretty awe-inspiring when it does. It's all the more impressive knowing that it's always been there, behind the clouds, all the time, watching over us little creatures, so to speak. 

I didn't take this one -- I think I saw it on the UW homepage, "almost live" webcam picture, and couldn't resist the urge to download it. The building on the left is Suzzallo Library, and on the right is Gerberding Hall. The camera is on Kane Hall (coordinate L-9 on the campus map), pointing directly at the fountain (M-12) and the mountain.

Yearning for a more stimulating, more refined, cultural experience than my commute? Check out these cultural, recreational, and community organizations in Seattle.