The weather app on my phone has predicted nearly solid rain for weeks. Most days the app is spot on. But now and then the sun pokes out unexpectedly and, once in a while it is the impetus for an adventure.

On Monday my friend Judi messaged me with an invitation to meet up with her and her husband on Wednesday at Ivars Fish Bar on the Seattle waterfront. They live in Spokane, and we hadn’t seen them for several years. I told her we’d love to. So off we went! Never mind that rain was on the menu for the day.

Some days you just have to seize the opportunity.

It was one of those “off” days for our weather app. The sun was bright in our eyes. We pulled out our sun glasses and I started snapping pictures. Photos taken from the passenger seat of a moving car cannot be guaranteed to turn out. I know that but usually I accept the challenge and try anyway. And occasionally I’m happy with the results.

So join us on this gift of a day filled with sun breaks, what my friend Joan calls the glimpses of sunshine that break through the clouds in the Pacific Northwest.

No threat of rain in these beautiful clouds, just 20 minutes from home.

Seattle, where Tom grew up and I spent several years as a young adult, has changed so much over the years. But as we exited the freeway at Mercer, we were greeted by the familiar sight of the Space Needle.

The Space Needle standing tall behind the buildings.

Our light turned red and outside my window I saw these two 12+-foot-high figures, chatting. Or so I thought. But when I googled them I found that they aren’t talking, they are silently reflecting. Perhaps they are trying to put words together as they consider the letters and symbols representing seven different alphabets from which they are made.

Seattle’s public art is everywhere. On our way back to the freeway we drove through the city. Our route took us past the Seattle Art Museum where the Hammering Man statue towers 48 feet and hammers away 20 hours a day. It is one of 12 Hammering Man statues around the world, according to Wikipedia.

We knew that the viaduct had been taken down, but we hadn’t thought that all the parking that used to be available under it would be gone as well. But we found a place to park and ran across the street to meet Judi and Arlin at Ivars Fish Bar at Pier 54.

So good to see Judi and Arlin!

Tom and me

Rain was threatening, and the fish bar is take-out only. But we found plenty of tables in a heated, enclosed outdoor patio.

If you’ve been to the waterfront, and particularly to Ivars, in the past you already know that tourists and locals alike love to feed the seagulls. I’m convinced that we have the fattest seagulls in the world. Do you suppose Ivar was the one who started this tradition?

Statue of Ivar Haglund and one of his friends

Several people—and many seagulls—hung out inside the building. We ate, laughed, and caught up with family news, retirement activities, and dreams to travel more in the days ahead. Such a sweet reunion.

Meanwhile, the seagulls were not shy about panhandling. We’d hear the loud cry of the gulls as someone tossed them fries but most of the squawking took place outside the walls of our enclosure. Then there was the woman who stood inside the open door and fed the seagulls who stood outside. Their appreciative cries of thanks (or begging for more) was raucous. We were glad when she went outside and shut the door to continue her feeding.

The sign at our table at Ivars

As we left our friends we headed home through downtown. It’s a beautiful city with many new buildings and attractions. We remember our early years of marriage in Seattle. Our church family and the international students we worked with enriched our lives. Our memories are of Seattle in a different era, but it’s still our city. There’s talk about Seattle being a dying city, yet, with all its problems, it appears to be very much alive.

A glimpse of the old and the new and the transition in Seattle

Seattle streets

One last photo: a glimpse from our parking lot, taken of Seattle’s Great Wheel. We’ve never looked at the city from the top of the Ferris wheel. But one day when rain is predicted and we bet on sunshine instead, when friends are here from out of town, or when we just feel the hankering for adventure, we’ll seize the opportunity to get a new perspective on the city we knew and still love.

The Great Wheel from our parking lot

Thanks for joining us on this tour. I hope you will seize the next opportunity to do something out of the ordinary when the chance presents itself.

Happy Thursday,
Ginger