The Volunteer Park

I was told I missed my chance to relive my childhood after not participating in the much spoken of 

game of tag. But I know that is one chance that is never missed. I am alive as a child every time I 

set my eyes on the unknown.

Why put into words my experience at this park? The poet in me says no on this one. I have absorbed,

and feel no need to reproduce or describe.

The sensations felt by myself and many others remain alive in it still. Go there and share in it, I say.

Yes, it is beautiful. 

What this park is to me now?

A sickly little fish weakly swimming sideways, weighed down by its misshapen belly, as human eyes are turned towards the beautiful. As jaws are dropped in awe of the lighting, the shadow, the overwhelming day.

The same things that are seen over and over again until they begin to lose original meaning.

Real appreciation.

Unaware of a little plea going unheard.

In one of many little ponds that seem so much less, but are so much more, worth admiring.

Pioneer Square

All wet today.

I went in the rain, arent I a rebel?

Time-wise, my visit was perfect. Weather wise, not so much.

It was raining, deserted and cold. 

I liked it very much nonetheless. What a different little part of Seattle.

I would certainly not have discovered it for a while had we not been given this assignment.

But as perfectly sweet as the square and surrounding area is, I was still wet and cold.

And so were my socks, as I had walked all the way there.

I was hungry.

I was listening to Scooter.

Anyone remember them?

I was enjoying myself.

Art. I have learned that it is truly the essence of this city. This little piece of creativity has only been there

for the past few months. As if a tiny part of ocean life swam into this gray city with the rain.

Something about the looming gray of material and immaterial everything on that day,

 surrounding the persistent little colors. Absence of color overwhelms so much more than presence.

I thought to myself all along: I will certainly come back to this neighborhood when the weather is better.

When I am motivated. When I have the money to spend in the shops with the pretty things in the

windows that make me drool a little.

My heart leaped when I saw something I had never seen before in the US.

The Berliner Döner. Know what döner is? It is one of the best things you will ever taste.

For carnivores only.

I had given up hope of finding it on this side of the ocean and it reinforced my faith in Seattle just a little.

And so I trudged.

Until I was stopped in my trudging by a boy with an umbrella.

He asked if he could walk with me and I asked him why.

He was an artist.

Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square... pioneer square. 

Such stark contrast from what I'm used to seeing.

A small glance into the past,

A place of old, of character and history.

Walking around with my brother,

He says "it's not a safe area for a girl."

I brushed it off without a second thought.

Whatever.

I see the totem pole, so tall and odd

I see brick buildings, such character and age

I see a sinking building, a wedge between two paths

Then I see the underground, or should I say the 1st floor?

The underground tour was fascinating.

The history of how it came to be.

It was dark, cold, with a weird dusty smell,

I wonder if it'll cave in one day.

Satisfied and happy, I left the tour.

Then I hear a "Hey YOU!" and saw a man.

He marched right up and handed me these leopard sunglasses,

"Merry Christmas! Your good karma!"

I bowed, thanked and left in a jiffy.

Both stunned and confused.

The sunglasses sit on a "no parking" sign,

And I sit in my car back home.

Don't Judge Me.

Pioneer Square!

The walk to Pioneer Square is not a terrible one as long as it's not raining, which of course it did in unpleasant bursts that prompted my third outfit change of the day when we finally got home, wet and whiny.  The Square itself was interesting, although I wish we'd gone on our usual Friday and not on a Sunday evening, when most of the shops were closed.  Our first stop was the totem pole, which I somehow failed to notice at first even though it takes up a large part of the square we were standing in.

...What totem pole?

After that, we spent a good deal of time exploring the area, pointing out all of the shops that would be fun to visit if they were open.  I was struck mostly by how different the area seemed from the areas we'd walked through to get there, which is one of my favorite things about Seattle.  The Denny Triangle area where we live is completely different from Downtown, where all the giant malls and upscale department stores are, which in turn is completely different from Pioneer Square, which had a wind-y, old-timey, red-light district-ish feel about it that I dug.  

The other thing I enjoyed about Pioneer Square was that I found two separate things that I recognized from our course reader:  The cast-iron bus stop thing...

  ...which is on the front cover of our book, although from a different angle, and this sign...

...which was in one of the essays we read recently.  I was super excited that I was seeing things that were in a book until I remembered that this was a book made for this course and about Seattle, so it wasn't like I'd spotted the white whale from Moby Dick or anything.  It still made me happy though.

All in all, I enjoyed Pioneer Square, although I'd like to go back sometime soon on a better day and in friendlier weather because I don't think I really got the whole experience.

Pioneer Square

Jeremy and I joke that at least it isn't raining as we walk down the orderly Seattle streets, past rows of closed restaurants and cafes, toward Yesler Way. We had walked up to Kerry Hall and back in the pouring rain on Saturday and it was a relief to see dry skies. Of course, as soon as we reach the tangle of streets that marked Pioneer Square, it starts to sprinkle. Our first destination is the totem pole in the middle of the tiny park.

"What totem pole?" Jeremy asks. "Oh." The pole is not negligible, but it lacks a sense of power, considering there are buses and bums and trees covering and surrounding it. We take a picture of the glass posters written in (what Google has informed me is) Lushootseed and we move on.

For the most part our journey is documented in pictures and jokes about tattoo parlors and rug shops. We run into several of our classmates and it is almost like a regular Friday field trip! However, since it has begun to rain severely, we decide it would be best to head back so, with a quick stop for food, we hurry home.

A lasting impression of Pioneer Square: kind of dirty? I'm sure I'll have to go back and explore more when I'm not so worried about catching pneumonia.

Pioneer Square

saturday 10/9:

As I walk dow the semi familiar streets of Pioneer Square memories come back to me from when I was young and me and my cousin were really close friends. I remembered they time when we were down here and we were sitting next to the totem pole, my cousin and I were telling each other stories we were making up on the spot about how it was made and what all of the faces meant. I told here that if she started at the bottom one for too long she would have ten years bad luck. She believed me and then I laughed. This is a place to me I guess because there are memories attached to it that make it familiar to me.

I do think that it is funny when people have umbrellas in the rain when most of them probably live here.

mackenzie

Inspiration: Incomplete Manifesto for Growth

For a bit of inspiration, check out Bruce Mau's "Incomplete Manifesto for Growth": http://www.brucemaudesign.com/#112942/