Thursday/ a little rain ☔

There was a little rain today, and it definitely felt like fall, with a high of only 56°F (13°C).

Raindrops and a blob are sticking to the milkweed (Euphorbia) at the back of my house.
[Original image shot with iPhone 16 Pro’s Ultra Wide Lens, 13 mm f2.2 equivalent at  3024×4032 pixels (12 MP) which was resized to 1125×2000 for this post]

Wednesday/ mail from Maryland 🇺🇸

There was mail from Maryland in my mailbox today.
The cancellation says that ‘As in past elections, the USPS is ready. If you choose to vote by mail, please mail early.’
(Early voting has started in some states, and here in Washington State we will get our mail-in ballots by Friday, or by early next week).

Let’s check out the stamps.

1999 Celebrate the Century, 1970s – Bicentennial, Watergate, and Earth Day
Issued Nov. 18, 1999
Perf. 11½| Offset, Intaglio printing | Wmk. None
No 3321| 33c| Multi-colored | 1970s Fashion

1984 Horace Moses
Issued Aug. 6, 1984
Perf. 11 |Engraved printing (combination press) |Wmk. None
No 1845| 20c| Orange & dark brown | Junior Achievement founder, Horace Moses
[Sources: stampworld.com, mysticstamp.com]

Tuesday/ mail from Down Under 🇦🇺

There was mail from an Ebay seller in Tasmania, Australia, in my mailbox today— with a single pair of South African stamps inside.

2023 Australia’s Native Animals – International Stamps
Issued Jun. 26, 2023
Perf. 13¾ x 14½ |Design: Jason Watts Engraving/RA Printing | No watermark
No. 4205 AUS$ 3.90 |Multi-colored |Bilby (Macrotis lagotis)
Notes:
The bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is a desert-dwelling marsupial about the size of a rabbit. It was once widely distributed through arid and semi-arid Australia, but wild populations are now restricted to spinifex grassland in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and to a small region of southwestern Queensland.
[Sources:stampworld.com, Australia Post Stamp Bulletin No 384]
1930-1945 South Africa Definitive Issue (designs redrawn)
Issued Sep. 1, 1938
Perf. 15×14 |Photogravure |Wmk. Multiple Springbok heads
Se-tenant pair of Afrikaans & English inscribed stamps
SACC 43c 2d |Blue and violet |Union Buildings, Pretoria
[Source: The South Africa Stamp Colour Catalogue, 1988]

Monday/ a white one ⚙️

Here’s a Cybertruck clad in white wrap, that we had spotted in Columbia City today.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a classic ice white look for one’s wheels— but how about a whitish wrap with a little pizzazz, such as the Satin Flip Ghost Pearl (from the website buywrap.com)?

Saturday/ checking for watermarks 🔠

I still dunk a batch of used stamps from my large stash into warm water now and again— to separate them from the paper they were pasted on.

The stamps are put on paper towels to dry out until they are damp, and then I press them between sheets of paper under a stack of heavy books for 24 hours.

There’s the watermark, the RSA (Republic of South Africa) in a rounded triangle, embedded in the paper* used for printing the purple 2½ stamp down below in the water. It’s a very delicate process, separating the stamp from the paper, and then gently rubbing the back with one’s fingertips until it is no longer slippery (meaning that all the glue has been rubbed off).
Is that something that Tesla’s Optimus robot will ever be able to do for me— put the stamps in the water, gently rub the backs to get the glue off, dry them out, and press them under books before bringing them up to my study for me? I doubt it.

* These watermarks were probably made with a so-called dandy roll. During the wet-paper phase of the paper-making process, a light roller is pressed onto the paper. The repeating pattern is embossed into the paper, compressing and thinning the fibers in that area. The thinner areas allow more light to pass through, making the watermark visible.

Friday/ sunset 🌇

Happy Friday.
Sunset was at 6.27 pm today here in Seattle.

Looking west from 14th Avenue East and East Thomas Street, at 6.20 pm.
The setting sun is peering through the tree foliage. With the fall equinox here in the Northern hemisphere now long gone (at which time the sun set at due west), it will now appear to set further and further to the south every night— until the winter solstice in December.

Thursday/ gold 🍂

It was a beautiful fall day here in Seattle (63° F / 17°C), with a blue sky and sun this afternoon.

This time of year there is gold in the leaves of the trees that line Martin Luther King Boulevard in Seattle’s Central District.

Wednesday/ landfall 🌀

Landfall was to the south of Tampa and St. Petersburg, sparing those areas a large storm surge out of Tampa Bay.
That is not to say there is not a lot of water there. Some areas around St. Petersburg received more than 16″ of rain in the last 24 hours. 😱

Tweeted by National Hurricane Center @NHC_Atlantic on X: 830pm EDT Oct 9th:
Doppler radar data indicates that the eye of #Hurricane #Milton has made landfall near Siesta Key in Sarasota County on the west coast of Florida.
Doppler radar image tweeted by National Hurricane Center @NHC_Atlantic on X

Tuesday/ on hurricane Milton watch 🌀

Tensions are running high in Florida. Emergencies have been declared, with evacuation orders, in dozens of Florida counties.

There are reports of clogged highways and interstates, and many gas stations running out of gas, as  drivers make their way out of the storm’s path.

Jason Samenow of the Washington Post explains below why it matters exactly where near Tampa, the hurricane makes landfall (projected to be very late on Wednesday night, or early Thursday morning).

Monday/ here comes Milton 🌀

Milton was a Category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico late Monday Eastern time.
Right now the models predict that it will make landfall near Saint Petersburg and Tampa, Florida, on Wednesday night.

From the New York Times:
Milton is the 13th named storm to form in the Atlantic in 2024. In late May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that there would be 17 to 25 named storms this year, an above-normal amount. This season follows an overly active year, with 20 named storms — including an early storm later given the official name of “Unnamed.” It was the eighth year in a row to surpass the average of 14 named storms. Only one hurricane, Idalia, made landfall in the United States. Typically, the El Niño pattern that was in force last season would have suppressed hurricanes and reduced the number of storms in a season. But in 2023, the warm ocean temperatures in the Atlantic blunted El Niño’s usual effect of thwarting storms.
[Map by the New York Times]

Sunday 🍂

The leaves are turning, and the days are getting shorter.

On 17th Avenue here on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.

Saturday/ a new waterfront park 🏙️

The new elevated Waterfront Park here in the city opened yesterday.
The park is on the central waterfront by downtown Seattle and connects Pike Place Market and  downtown neighborhoods with the waterfront.
A few public art installations and a concessions area are still to be added, by early 2025.

This picture is from Friday, and from the Seattle Times. People wait to take to the Overlook Walk before the grand opening on the Seattle waterfront.
[Photograph by Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times]
The view from the uppermost deck across from Pike Place Market today, and I am looking more or less south to the Seattle Ferry Terminal in the distance, on the left and behind the Ferris wheel.
There are several winding staircases down to the lowest level where the piers are. The blue building is the old part of the Seattle Aquarium, and the structure clad with the wooden slats outside is the new extension of the Aquarium.
Looking up from one the decks halfway down. The newly routed Alaskan Way and Elliot Way meet here. The elevated Alaskan Way viaduct that used to run along here is now long gone (demolished in 2019).
Looking north towards the Port of Seattle Cruise Terminal (Pier 66). The Norwegian Bliss is about to depart for Alaska.
In the foreground Palestinian flags are being waved by anti-war protesters. Some signs read ‘No War in Iran’, as well.
This structure houses the new pavilion of the Seattle Aquarium. The wood-clad outside is meant to weather to a gray color, I believe.
At the entrance to the aquarium, prospective visitors get a glimpse into one of the large tanks.

Thursday/ on the RapidRide G Line 🚌

It was a spectacular fall day here in the city (a high of 65°F /18°C).
I made a quick stop at the dentist’s office on Olive Way, and then walked along Fifth Avenue to the Seattle Public Library.

The No 12 bus no longer runs along its old route up to Capitol Hill, and I hopped on the new RapidRide G Line stop by the library to get me to 17th Avenue and Madison.

Zooming in on a the upper section of the Seattle Public Library (on the right), using the 5x telephoto lens on my new phone.
This map posted by the bus stop at Fifth Avenue and Madison Street by the library shows thee ways to get Capitol Hill from downtown:
1. Maroon: the RapidRide G Line bus;
2. Green: the Link light Rail train;
3. Orange: Seattle Streetcar, First Hill Line.
Here comes the RapidRide G Line. The stop here has a side platform. Other stops are at a center platform. That’s why the buses for the G line have doors on both sides. I had a freebie ride: the Orca card reader at the front was out of service and the driver waved me to the back.
The stop at 12th Ave/ 13th Ave/ Union Street has a center platform.
‘Don’t run for buses, another will be here soon!’ says the electronic sign.
Down below the sandwich board says ‘Project Funded by President Joe Biden’s American Recovery Plan’.
The stop at 17th Avenue and Madison St by Trader Joe’s grocery store. Here comes a bus with another one on its heels, headed for the city.

Wednesday/ US stamps 🇺🇸

These stamps from the USA landed in my mailbox (on an envelope from an Ebay seller that I had bought stamps from).

200th Anniversary of the US Constitution
Issued Aug. 28, 1987
Perf. 10 hor. on 1 or 2 sides Photogravure
Booklet with 4 panes of 5 stamps printed in cylinders of 120
2355 A1720 22c |Multi-colored |Preamble to the US Constitution
2355 A1721 22c |Multi-colored |Preamble to the US Constitution
2355 A1722 22c |Multi-colored |Preamble to the US Constitution
2355 A1723 22c |Multi-colored |Preamble to the US Constitution
[Source: 2003 Scott Stamp Catalogue Vol. 1]
Classic Books
Issued Oct. 23, 1993
Perf. 11 Litho. & Engr.
Booklet with 4 panes of 5 stamps printed in cylinders of 120
2787 A2126 29c |Multi-colored |The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*
2785 A2124 29c |Multi-colored |Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm**
[Source: 2003 Scott Stamp Catalogue Vol. 1]

*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by American author Mark Twain that was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. [From Wikipedia]
**Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a classic American 1903 children’s novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Rowena Randall and her aunts, one stern and one kind, in the fictional village of Riverboro, Maine. {From Wikipedia]

Tuesday/ sunset 🌇

I have a lot to learn when it comes to using my phone’s camera.
There is a plenitude of settings and defaults to choose from, and once the picture is taken, all kinds of adjustments can be made to the image that was captured.

Sunset was at 7.47 pm tonight.
I captured this image in Apple’s RAW format, which saves it as a .DNG (digital negative) image, size ’48 MP’ or 6048×8064 ‘pixels’. 
(Note: These are quad-pixels, really the equivalent of 12 MP when compared to my Canon digital camera).
I cropped the image to 9:16 in Adobe Photoshop, and reduced the pixel count to 1350×2400 to upload it to this blog.
It’s a perennial dilemma: how much processing to allow the camera (photo app software) to do by default, and how much to leave standard (‘RAW’) to keep all options open for manual adjustments before the picture is sent or posted somewhere?

Monday/ a new phone 📱

My new iPhone landed today, and it was a lot easier (than three years ago) to transfer everything over from my old phone to the new phone.

The iPhone 16 Pro in black titanium.
I picked the Pro because I wanted the nicer camera, and I always go with black phone, black case. No bling for me. I’m not even going to try to write a review (since there are already so many on YouTube, and I am no expert).
My new iPhone 16 Pro is on the left, with the iPhone 13 Pro on the right.
The 16 is a smidge larger, and the display bezel is thinner, adding up to a slightly larger screen. I’m using Apple’s silicone case since the leather cases are no longer available.
The silicone case feels nice enough, and hey- no animals were harmed in the process of making it, right?
I used the direct phone-to-phone wireless transfer that is available nowadays (the other method is to use Apple’s iCloud). The transfer took a while, because I moved over some 400Gb of data 😱, mostly photos and videos.  (I’m a trigger happy photographer, and what about it? And yes, I do store my pictures on the cloud as well).
At the outset the estimated time was 17 hours, but as the hours went by, the transfer time estimate shrunk as well.
In the end, it took just under 8 hours to transfer everything.
The little island at the top of the screen (where the camera lenses are) is new for me (my old phone had a notch, not an island). If you play music, a tiny little album icon and sound bars appear there. (That’s Jennifer Rush, singing Ring of Ice).

Sunday/ my cleanest dirty shirt 👕

R.I.P. Kris Kristofferson (1936-2024).

 

Well, I woke up Sunday mornin’
With no way to hold my head it didn’t hurt
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad
So I had one more for dessert
Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt
And I shaved my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day

I’d smoked my brain the night before
On cigarettes and songs that I’d been picking
But I lit my first and watched a small kid
Cussin’ at a can that he was kicking
Then I crossed the empty street
Caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin’ chicken
And it took me back to something that I’d lost
Somehow, somewhere along the way

Refrain
On the Sunday morning sidewalk
Wishin’, Lord, that I were stoned
‘Cause there’s something in a Sunday
Makes a body feel alone
And there’s nothing short of dying
Half as lonesome as the sound
On the sleeping city sidewalk
Sunday mornin’ comin’ down

In the park I saw a daddy
With a laughing little girl that he was swinging
And I stopped beside a Sunday school
And listened to the songs that they were singing
Then I headed back for home
And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringing
And it echoed through the canyons
Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday

Refrain
On the Sunday mornin’ sidewalk
Wishin’, Lord, that I were stoned
‘Cause there’s something in a Sunday
Makes a body feel alone
And there’s nothing short of dying
Half as lonesome as the sound
On the sleeping city sidewalk
Sunday mornin’ comin’ down

– Lyrics from “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” (1970)

“Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” was written by Kris Kristofferson, and first recorded in 1969 by Ray Stevens before becoming a No. 1 hit on the Billboard US Country chart for Johnny Cash.
Kristofferson himself recorded and released the song on his album ”Kristofferson” in 1970.

Saturday night/ the cold open 🌃

The fiftieth season of the American sketch comedy late night television program Saturday Night Live premiered tonight.

‘Vice President’ Kamala Harris (portrayed by Maya Rudolph) and ‘Second Gentleman’ Doug Emhoff (portrayed by Andy Samberg) doing a skit during the cold open* tonight.
Nothing about the future is certain, but let me be optimistic.
The American people will confirm in 38 days that the real VP Harris will become President Harris, and that her husband Doug Emhoff will become the first First Gentleman on Jan 20, 2025. 
*Cold open: jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown.
[Screen shot from Saturday Night Live on NBC broadcast television].