The Seattle skyline is the backdrop of my life. I was born the year they opened the Space Needle and I watched the skyline evolve. When I was young the skyline was dominated by hills, with the Space Needle, Smith Tower and the Seafirst Building jutting up. Now it is all juts in the middle. The flashy, spiky, modern buildings dwarf those icons from my youth. But they are still there, if you look closely.
Three serendipitous times this year I got a few unique and beautiful views of the Seattle skyline at different times of the day.
Dusk
Christmas Eve I was rushing from a worship service at my grandmother’s nursing home to the annual gathering of the clan at my aunt’s house when I had to stop in my tracks for this view:
Blue hour
Another evening I was on my way to visit my grandmother, but a little early, and happened to have my tripod in the car. At “the Mount” (Grandma’s nursing home) the sunset was pretty much over, but, if you look closely you can see the orange-pink of it reflected in some of the tall buildings, even as the city started to light up.
Middle of a gray day
One cold, dim, gray day we had tried to go to Costco and aborted, because there was no parking. We realized that it was a holiday weekend after seeing the madhouse. Heading for home my husband was admiring how the sunlight reflected in the buildings and suggested that we go to a viewpoint.
The city viewpoint is a pocket park, is just a pull out for cars with a view of the city. The trees have grown up so the view is no longer panoramic. But, by moving around, you can see the whole city in bits. We watched a sun break move across the city. It highlighted different buildings as it went.
What a difference even a small amount of sunlight can make!