THE COLUMBIA CENTER--A PHOTOBLOG

Marble Nameplate

Northeast Corner of Columbia Center

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

Bottom third of the building...

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

Panning up to the middle...

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

And, finally, here's the crown of the building...

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

The 76-story Columbia Center is the tallest building in Washington state and the 20th tallest in the nation.

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

Construction began in 1982 and was finished three years later.  It was designed by Chester L. Lindsey Architects and built by Howard S. Wright Construction.

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

With this photoblog post coming on the heels of Osama bin Laden's death and the accompanying remembrances of 9/11, it is truly surreal to see the airplane (look carefully) photographed between the Columbia Center on the right and its neighbor across the street.

 (Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

There are actually SEVEN stories underground making the Columbia Center the most storied building west of the Mississippi.

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

                                                       

                                                           

YOU CAN'T KEEP A HAWAIIAN AWAY FROM WATER...NOT FOR LONG, ANYWAY

On Seattle's 4th Avenue, Looking North
(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

Thank God it's Thursday!  


At 6:30 AM, my shift was over at the bagel shop, and I quickly made my way over to the bus stop across the street from the all-stop Fred Meyer store in Redmond, WA.  A bit fatigued from a very challenging week and not enough sleep, I was so happy to nestle into my seat and catch a few winks.


About an  hour later, I emerged from the bus like a drunk man.  There was a bar across the street, so I guess I didn't look too conspicuous.  Stumbling around for just a few seconds, I finally got my bearings and headed west from the Chinatown/International District Station. 


I was carrying my umbrella around because the weatherman on Northwest News had said last night that there'd be a good possibility of cold, wind, and rain this morning.  Well, it was a little chilly, but there was virtually no wind, and the sun was out!  I'm so glad I had my camera with me.


Have laptop, cellphone, and camera--will travel! is my new lifetime motto.  Blogging has changed my view of the world.  I'm more attuned to the people, places, and things I once took for granted. Simultaneously, I'm looking for the unusual juxtaposition of X, Y, and Z as well as organized patterns in the universe.  I freeze-frame potential photographs and immediately have key words and sometimes even a complete paragraph in mind with which to construct the next day's blog.


Occasionally, I will even have a comprehensive post mapped out as I commute by bus, train, or foot, especially for the lighter subjects that I draft for the sister blog to this one,

http://hawaiianodysseus2.blogspot.com/

I love the fact that new life has been infused into my blogs with the addition of my brother's gift to me, a hand-me-down digital Fuji FinePix 440 camera with a cracked and inoperable viewfinder.  I wouldn't have wanted nor have understood the high tech parameters of a new and more expensive camera.  The instrument in my hands is a metaphor of me--a broken man utilized by a Creator who lovingly sees the potential, not the damaged goods.  


As we approach that time of year when we celebrate the resurrection, it seems fitting and all the more lovely that both camera and I are rising to our potential.


And as the sun bathes me through a window at the World Trade Center Starbucks located at 2200 Alaskan Way along the picturesque Seattle waterfront, I am delighted to share the following photographs with you.  I never claim to be a professional photographer and I like my mushroomness--you know, the simple, down to earth substance that, even in a pasture full of manure, speaks with a voice of truth.

Qwest Stadium
Home of the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders
(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

Compare these day photos, if you will, with their evening counterparts of my last post.

Sidetracked in Seattle

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

I remember experiencing a fleeting phobia about dropping my camera or--worse yet--falling to the tracks below.

King Street Station

(Hawaiian Odysseus Photo)

This is our Emerald City Big Ben.  The King Street Station, once called the Union Station, was built in 1906 and has since gone through several remodels.  Of the eighteen stations in Washington that serve Amtrak, this is the busiest.  In 2010, it was documented to have boarded or detrained 1,850 customers on a daily basis.  It also serves the regional train, Sounder (photo below), at a rate of over 1.2 million riders a year.

The Arrival of a Southbound Sounder

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

Across the street and to the east of the King Station, I was inspired to photograph the building below.  I love glass buildings.  Check out the reflection of the King Station spire in the skyscraper mirror.

Multi-faceted Glass Building

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

I took one more photograph, this time facing north on 4th Avenue.  Again, you can compare this day image to its equivalent night image of my last post.

4th Avenue, Looking North

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

See the tallest building in the photo above?  It is the Columbia Center, and it stands 937 feet tall.  That's like three football fields high, folks!  In 2010, I wrote only my third post while sipping a venti Caramel Frappucino at a Starbucks shop located on the 40th floor of this impressive skyscraper.

http://hawaiianodysseus.blogspot.com/2010/01/from-2nd-highest-starbucks-site-in.html

Starbucks on the Alaskan Way Waterfront

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

I bought a cup of coffee here this morning during my walk.  It's a great place to pause for refreshment and conversation after enjoying a brisk and picturesque walk along Seattle's quaint waterfront.  However, I decided not to stay there to work on this post because tI did not see any plug-ins in this particular shop.

And now I come to the final photo of this blog post.  I took about three photos from this vantage point, but only one showed up  in the camera's memory.  Like I alluded to before, I'm not a high tech kind of guy.  Most of the time, I'm surprised to see what progress I am making just by stumbling along.  Anyway, like the title suggests, like iron ore to a magnet, a Hawaiian will always be drawn to the water.

Shucks!  Where's my fishing pole when I need it?

Puget Sound

(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

That's West Seattle in the distant left--more specifically, it is an area called Alki Beach.  In the near future, I hope to do a post about that area.  In the central background, you can see a ferry boat headed southeast across the sound.

Usually, I'm peeved about the weatherman getting it wrong.  But today was a weather prediction mistake for which I'm very grateful.  The glorious sun, at least through a quarter after 1 in the afternoon when I drew to a close in my post, has prevailed!

                                            

FROM THE 2ND HIGHEST STARBUCKS SITE IN THE WORLD

Columbia Center Building
Seattle's Tallest Skyscraper
(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

Today, I wanted to treat myself to a Caramel Frappucino, venti size, and I wanted to engage in my blog activities while reveling in the magnificent view from the 40th floor of the Columbia Center, smack dab in the heart of downtown Seattle.

From this vantage point, I can see the details of the underbellies of incoming planes as they maneuver through their approach flight patterns, eager to touch down at either Boeing or Sea-Tac Airports. For a moment--and a fleeting moment, if you will--I reluctantly flash to the newsreels that played over and over and over again on our television screens on that fated September day a little over 8 years ago. At the speed of light, I thank God that the giant silver birds that pass over me this idyllic Seattle afternoon are manned by friendly pilots.

Somehow, the magical perspective from this lofty site makes me forget about the dismal sports seasons the Emerald City has suffered through the past couple of years.

So what if the occasional (um, okay, chronic) drizzle cloaks this city in eerie black and white film noir apparel?

It's just me, my laptop, this delicious frapuccino, and the musings of a vagabond lifestyle that color this Pacific Northwest metropolis as night covers it with an ethereal blanket.

An hour from closing time, I am waiting for my four auctions on eBay to end so I can record the necessary information and prepare the packages for mailing.

Meanwhile, I want to share with you that my son and I had a gmail chat this afternoon (his midnight). He's been very busy taking beaucoup photographs in gorgeous Florence, Italy. He added that he'd get back to his blog sometime in the next few days. Speaking of which, I really like how he's added the amazing European landscapes, architectural and sculptured classics, and lively portraits to his blog. He certainly has a photographer's vision.

Back to the eBay theme...

What am I selling? Some of the best fly tying/fishing hooks out of Korea and Japan--respectively, the Dai-Riki and Tiemco brands! Ten years ago, when the general populace was uncertain as to whether or not Y2K was going to be the most awesome and ominous computer plague to hit the planet, Rita and I opened up a Mom and Pop business on the burgeoning internet auction giant. At first, I was selling fishing flies that I had begun crafting in the early 90's. But it got to be such a pain in the neck (really, the long hours spent with one's neck at an unnatural angle is certainly an invitation for early arthritic onset), that I decided to go to a least labor-intensive practice--that of selling fly tying materials and supplies to other fly tyers. The fly tying hooks just happened to be our highest volume commodity.

It's a humble venture, but it's helped pay for some of the smaller family expenses as well as contributed to the fine Christian education of both of our children. In addition, it's been an adventuresome and educational foray into online entrepreneurship. How wonderful to have customers from every state of the Union as well as from every continent of the globe. Most importantly, it has set an example for my children about the good things that can happen when diligence, sacrifice, and perseverance fire up our dreams.

Just this morning, I was musing about our 100% positive feedback rating from almost 5000 unique customers. We serve a wonderful God who blesses in such sweet and mysterious ways.