When I was a kid my family lived in Spokane which is in eastern Washington. In 1962, during the Seattle World's Fair we moved to Tacoma. The next year one of the things we did was to take a drive south to Olympia to see the Capitol. Things were a bit different then. Not only were we able to tour the Capitol Building we were able to take the walk all the way to the top of the dome. I can still remember the clanking of those metal steps and how tired our legs were by the time we reached the top. After the earthquake of 1965 they stopped allowing visitors to go up to the top. This photo is of myself and my sister. You might remember her from this previous post. Love the suit and tie huh?

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Today's post not only has a little something for Ruby Tuesday in the way of that heavy duty winch, it is also a tribute to my good friend standing on deck. The day this shot was taken my friend Kelly had taken me on the grand tour of this "catcher-processor". It wasn't the first that I had been on as he'd worked on others and I'd seen them too. He spent a number of years in what most people consider the most dangerous job in the world. He was a chief engineer on various crab boats in the Bering Sea. Definitely not a job for just anyone. I post this photo as a tribute to Kelly. I lost my good friend a few months ago. I hope he's got a much easier job now.

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We had a reunion in our house today. Remember this little guy that thought my finger was a sausage? Now remember our crazy Boston Terrorist Muffy? Well, we had the chance today to watch my wife's cousin's little boy. Every time he's over Muffy, being the motherly type has to

keep a close eye on him. As you can see here, they're buddies.

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On a Scenic Sunday I thought I'd share this shot from the eastside of Olympia looking west through part of downtown and on to the Capitol.

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No, it's not some wacky new theme day. Last night I got so wrapped up in one of the three movies my wife rented, I lost all track of time and missed posting. It was "Taking of Pelham 123". It co-starred John Travolta and Denzel Washington. Not a bad movie. Right now the family is waiting for me to finish this post so I'll come sit down and watch movie # 2, "Horseman" with Dennis Quaid. We'll see how that goes. Besides being a movie night, my wife and I had to do the dirty deed. Yep, we had to go shopping at Costco. After seeing enough food to feed a small country I'm already thinking about breakfast tomorrow. The little number you see pictured above will be on the menu too. Bacon sausage. I know, it sounds weird but it's really good. Well, off to the movies. Have a nice night and an even better Sunday evening.

PS: My oldest daughter, you know the one...."Little Miss Famous", she wasn't too crazy about me posting sausage. I'll have to post another shot of her pretty soon. That'll keep her happy.

While driving through downtown one of the things you would have a hard time missing is this huge mural on the side of the Labor Temple. This is The Olympia Rafah Mural Project. It was created after the death of a young local woman in Gaza. I'm showing you this mural not to make any political statement whatsoever, but merely to show you another piece of what makes Olympia the city it is. If, however you would like to read a little more about this wall and what it represents click here.

Back in high school my best friend John and I took the photography class they offered at our high school. We really had a blast. Most of what we shot at that time was black and white, which I really grew to love. The teacher would give us an assignment of what to shoot such as stop action, or textures, or whatever. It got to the point we carried our cameras just about everywhere. I saved up my money and bought my first 35 mm camera, a Yashica TL Electro X. It was a simple camera, but still delivered pretty good photos for the price. I believe I paid about $135.00 for it. One particular weekend my parents decided we were heading to Seattle for the day. John and I grabbed our cameras, a couple rolls of film and off we went. I have quite a few good shots from that day, but this one caught my eye as I was going through them. Why not? The Space Needle is a northwest landmark, and my contribution to Remember Whensday.

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Waaaay back in July I showed you this fountain on the Capitol Campus. Well, this past Saturday (Halloween) night my wife and I headed there to take some photos before going out to dinner. Besides hob-nobbing with the Governor and her husband we managed to snap a few shots before our stomachs started growling. The reddish-pink lights they had trained on the fountain could be seen from quite a distance. I thought it would be great for Ruby Tuesday.

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Often, when a building outlives it's usefulness it is merely torn down and replaced with a larger more modern one with twice the office space, but only a fraction of the character. Sometimes we get lucky though. Sometimes the public speaks out loud enough that one of these old gems lives on. This is the case of The Old Thurston County Courthouse. For a short, but interesting explanation click here.

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Since Halloween and the November CDPB Theme sort of crossed paths I thought it would be fitting to share these gates that mark the entrance of The Masonic Memorial Park in Olympia.