A small tour of my 'neighborhood'

` As I recall, some of you have asked me over my cell phone what it looks like while I'm walking around town. As I've already posted numerous pictures from inside the apartment, don't forget that I have yet to post the ones I took outdoors!

` These are from my little walk after the fog had lifted....

` First of all - the outside of the apartment building where I will be living for only three more days:


` That top balcony is just across from where I am now - you can just barely see the flag pole on its cinder block-thing. And, why the cinder block-thing?
` When the wind is blowing, that flag is highly visible - which is why the people who live there were made to take the pole off the side of the building and put it in the middle of their balcony. Why there was a flag pole mount on the side of the building to begin with is beyond me....

` Anyway, that smaller building on the left is the Everett Community Market, and just inside one of the entrances is this place:


` The Sno-Isle Natural Foods Co-Op! Which, stupidly, I sometimes go to while I'm on the phone. Yes, that's what heaps of non-pesticide-tainted produce looks like! Wow!
` This is where I buy the unappetizing-sounding Rice Dream beverage - it's great on cereal, of which there is plenty in the bulk section. Occasionally, I'll buy the odd box of Gardenburger chicken patties, which are so chicken-like, it just seems... wrong.
` Also, anything that goes on sale, I'm there: Yesterday, I bought some bananas and an armful of marked-down Wallaby's strawberry yogurt and lived on smoothies the whole day!

` So riveting is my day-to-day life.

` Now, that was actually the last picture I took on my walk, so, where did I actually go first? Up Hewitt, which is currently being fitted with more saplings with white Christmas tree lights on them.
` Shortly enough, I came to Colby - a street filled with both lighted saplings and a disproportionate number of banks. So, if you want to hold up a bank, Colby is the street to go! It's got Key Bank, Washington Mutual, Wells-Fargo and I have no idea how many more!
` The Frontier Bank is just to the left....


` Nearby is the heavily-ornamented alley on Colby that goes to a parking garage. The people walking through it were rolling some kind of display counter for pamphlets or something....


` Across the street - at the Coastal Community Bank - I saw something I didn't really expect:


` Go Eahawks! Then, looking back, I was struck by the name of this scary-looking church and creepy sculptures of uniformed schoolgirls:


` FGM!? Doesn't that stand for Female Genital Mutilation? Umm.... Anyway, I went back to the intersection, where I noticed another one of downtown Everett's many strange fountains across from the Cascade Bank:


` Going down Hewitt a bit further, you can see the horizon in the direction of the Three Fingers, as well as the 'suspension masts' of the Everett Event Center/ice rink. You see, instead of having columns inside the building - which take up space - the roof is supported by the cables!


` Yes, I know, it's a sucky picture. I much prefer the one taken in the 1920's that is now a mural in the cafe under the tall building to the right. You may recognize both the mural and this cafe's window from a couple of my sketches!


` Come to think of it, this is probably a kind of 'historical' picture: I just can't see Zippy's Java Lounge being around for too much longer. The lady who runs the place is so clueless!
` First of all, the space inside is physically too small for sufficient customer turnover. Second of all, the place is open mainly while people are at work - it closes at seven most nights! Third, this woman is so desparate-sounding and overbearing that she tends to drive customers away. Fourth, the names of her own tea blends have nothing to do with what they are. 'Just smell them' is a rather annoying way to advertise what kinds of tea one has. Fifth... hrm... it has a very badly-designed myspace account. You can't even read it because of the stupid background!

` It does have really good sweet potato-string salad, though, but that won't save it.

` Hence, that may indeed be a slightly-significant picture. As a bonus, it wasn't later until I noticed these birds in the reflection:


` Nearby, I saw this police car in an alley:


` For those of my friends who live around Cleveland, notice the flashers. See, the police cars here have a very simple red-and-blue setup in order to get one's attention, whereas in the Cleveland area you may be temporarily blinded at night!

` Anyway, the farthest-out point in my walk was the Everett Event Center so that I could photograph this monstrous fountain:


` ...Of course, there's no water going through it right now, but thankfully it doubles as a fairly elegant statue for the winter.
` Speaking of closings for winter, I was going to get to the roof of the apartments to photograph the south view and the sunset. After I'd climbed the stairs from the sidewalk to the seventh floor, I found a sign saying that the doors would be locked until 'mid-January', which has already passed.
` This didn't stop me from taking more pictures, though, which I'll hopefully put up before I move out!