Throughout the year 2016 I have enjoyed reading Seattle bloggers’ perspectives of life in the city as portrayed through photos, sketches and writings.

Portraying the Life of the City:  from Nature to Architecture

Looking southward on Fourth Avenue toward the corner of Marion Street, we see the frantic construction boom in downtown Seattle. At right foreground is the Rainier Club built in 1909.  At far right, the black building is the Columbia Center.  At center the shiny office building is under construction as of this December 2016 photo at Fifth & Columbia Streets.  At lower left can be seen the round red-tiled roof of a former church at Fifth & Marion.  Photo by Valarie.

I was born here in Seattle (how many people can say that???) but there are still places in and around the city that I have never visited.  Many times when reading Park Preview I have been intrigued to learn of hidden gems, with excellent descriptions of how to get there.

Fred King of BlueStar2012 takes photos in south Seattle along the Duwamish River, South Park and Georgetown — areas which are not familiar to me, and I have learned a lot from Fred’s photos and writings.  This year Fred added out-of-this-world views along Route 66, which he called Dispatches from the Mothership.

I love downtown Seattle and my enjoyment of its history and architecture has been enhanced by Paul of Feeding Squirrels and Orion of Traveling Orion with their photo views and their tales of commuting by bus and rail.

The ThoughtsinButtermilk blog page has added views of city architecture combined with spectacular scenic shots out over the waters of Puget Sound.

For another way of seeing Seattle, how about sketching?  Red Harp Arts is part of a group, the Seattle Urban Sketchers, who get together to draw Seattle with pen, pencil, water colors and charcoal.

Seattle’s urbanites are also nature lovers and many bloggers take wonderful photos of our lakes, mountains, and wildlife.  Joe Sweeney, a resident of the Wedgwood neighborhood, is an expert bird guide and photographer.  He leads bird walks with the Seattle Audubon Society and I was fortunate to go on one such walk this year to enjoy spotting birds along the Yesler Swamp Trail.

2017 Perspective:  the Ship Canal in Seattle’s Life and History

What could be more iconic to Seattle than the view from one of the bridges which cross the ship canal?

In 2017 a new book, Waterway, by David B. Williams and co-author Jennifer Ott of HistoryLink will tell the story of Seattle’s ship canal construction including the Locks and bridges.  The book release is timed for the hundredth anniversary of the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

I (Valarie) am participating in the ship canal centennial with the Making the Cut 100 group.  Some of my blog writings in 2017 will be about this wonderful event.