Sights of Seattle, etc.

This awesome picture (which I did not take) was posted on Neatorama. (Later I'll tell you about my fondness for fence-eating trees.) Apparently, someone chained their bike to a tree many years ago, and never came back for it, so the tree eventually ate it.

Interestingly, it happens to be on Vashon Island, Washington, where my friends Karen and Lars and their two dogs, Inky and The Colonel, live. Worth a pilgrimage on our next visit. I had a chance to see Lars and Karen while I was in Seattle. Here's Lars in a cool bar called King's or King Hardware, in Ballard: He's very handsome, but can't resist making faces for the camera--so unlike any of my other friends. Just above his head is a taxidermied bobcat. The walls were filled with diverse taxidermied wildlife of the great white north. One wall was devoted almost entirely to wintry northwest landscapes, from skillful oils to paint-by-numbers. I loved it. Actually, I just love Seattle. One, because so many people I love are there, and two, because it is chock full of weird little places like this. I love to walk and explore in the neighborhoods. It's a fantastic food town, so I know there's a great local beer, cup of coffee, or tasty treat in store for me wherever I go. As I mentioned, I brought home piroshkies, but I also brought home beautiful alderwood-smoked Copper River salmon. The fish display at the local Whole Foods made me swoon. The fresh salmon display looked like pyramids of silver ingots on ice. Sorry, no picture of that, but I can still picture it in my mind. (I didn't have a real camera with me, so most of these images are from my phone.) More later on Seattle.