Night

• 1 pint Rainier - Hooverville
• 1 bomber Stone Brewing Ruination IPA - home
• 1 Wild Turkey bourbon - home
  

*****

I drove into the night, last night.
The dark was there, waiting.
Sky was tranquil.
Sounds were muted, but some; crystal clear.
Streets were my own, really.
Headlights led me.

*****

pebbles wash, pushing
bridge pa-tuts creaks ominous
sound, nighttime surrounds

*****

Gasworks Park ~ 2 am
I wanted a night picture of Seattle from across Lake Union and thought I could get the perfect picture from Gasworks Park. I arrived about 2 am, but the parking lot was closed. I could drive into it, but technically, the sign told me that the park and lot closed at 10 pm. To enforce this was the lack of lamps lighting the area. I could have easily parked there and walked up to the top of the Gasworks hill, however, or to the edge of Lake Union and had a beautiful picture of the skyline. Instead of parking in the lot, I parked across the street further down by new condos. Only the street lamps lit the area and as soon as I ran across the street, determined to get my picture, I realized that it was only the street lamps that were lit. The entire park was blanketed with darkness. And I got scared. I started to imagine people coming out from behind the trees, the bushes, the gasworks. And I didn't want to go into that park alone.

Seattle Arboretum ~ 2:30 am
There are few places in Seattle where you can go and be alone. The Arboretum is one of them. I wasn't about to get out and hit the trails and find bits of Lake Washington, but I did want to drive through the Arboretum to get a little slice of solitude. It was there.

Lake Washington/Madrona/I-90 ~ 2:45 am
Bellevue is beautiful nestled amongst it's greenery at night from across Lake Washington. The I-90 releases some creepy noises at this hour.

Jackson Street/International District ~ 3:00 am
There was a collection of cops and their cars on a corner on Jackson, but when I slowly passed them, they seemed relaxed, even though they were most likely there for a reason. No wonder the air smelled so delicious...Wonder bread was being baked at the factory.

Alki ~ 3:20 am
The seals were talking as I pulled over into one of the grassy areas off of Alki Drive. Further up Alki, I listened to the water shush-shush-shush over the polished rocks.

Home ~ 4:00 am

Bellevue and I-90

King Street Station - International District

Seattle Skyline (wished my camera was steadier)

Shangri-La along Lake Washington Blvd.

Police along Jackson Street

Telephone Poles along the waterfront

I-90 Bridge

Chelan Cafe (not open 24 hours)

Cadillac Hotel - Pioneer Square