epiphany

McPhee and Me

After a couple of hours of looking through the want ads this morning, I realized that I wasn't really seeing or processing them anymore. This tends to happen a lot with me lately. I took some groceries up to Merideth, my landlord's wife, and she asked how I was doing. I told her that job hunting seems to be burning me out, even though I haven't done that much. She suggested doing one fun thing each day as an escape or mental break. On her recommendation, I headed down to the Chittenden Locks.

I had visited the Locks last summer and enjoyed them. They're situated in the midst of a large garden full of exotic plant species. While the Chittenden Locks (sometimes called the Ballard Locks for the neighborhood they're in) aren't the largest in the US, they're among the busiest, with several hundered thousand boats going through each year. I arrived after my three mile or so walk just in time for one of the two daily tours.

The neatest thing about the Locks is the fish ladder. Salmon run up the canal each summer, so the government built a viewing area in the ladder. King salmon happen to be running right now, and you could watch them splashing about in the canal. Last year someone told me that they jump in order to knock off parasites. The ranger said that the parasites will die and fall off within a day or two of reaching fresh water. He also said that today was a great time to watch the kings because of all the rain we had this weekend. As more fresh water flows, more fish return to their home waters.

Merideth also told me about a store I had to visit. I stopped at Archie McPhee's on the way to the Locks, and I'm pretty sure that once I get a job, I'll be stopping in again fairly often. They call themselves the "Outfitters of Popular Culture," and they are a riot. All the cheap, chinzy little toys and gadgets you've ever imagined or seen advertized in kiddie comics crowd the shop. From potato guns to Rosie the Riveter bobble heads, from Chinese candies (White Rabbit!) to pink yard flamingos, from action figures of the Librarian (with real "shushing" action) to the Messiah, they have it. It's an absolute riot.

I especially want to get a Free Ballard! shirt or hat. Down with Seattle Hegemony!

Posted by jonhanneman at August 23, 2004 6:36 PM