Ghost Ships

I lived on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle from the time I was born until I was about 22. I then got my first apartment on lower Q.A.; it was a studio which I converted into a 1 bedroom just by closing the closet doors. They were glass paned french doors which I decorated each month accordingly with paper designs: snowflakes, hearts, shamrocks, etc. I was given a 9x12' wool rug by a friend who always found the best deals at the Goodwill. I got a vintage couch for $50 from a friend at work. I brought my dresser, a bookcase, and my breakfast nook table from home. And I bought two chairs from an antique dealer in Pioneer Square where I had worked for $90. I was all set up. My rent was $300/mo then. Now it is called The Seaview, "one of Seattle's premier Art Deco condo buildings" and the unit next to mine, #310 is up for sale for $215,444, and they want more than I paid in rent for condo fees!

On Elliot Bay there is a grain terminal, just down and to the right of my apartment. Ships would come in, sit in the Harbor all day then move to the terminal and upload, then leave. Funny thing - I never saw them go! It was a mystery, so I started to pay attention. I would look at night, and see that many of the containers were, say, blue. Then I would check the next morning, and see that they were red! How did that happen? So one night I decided to watch what I termed, "the changing of the guard." Tug boats would push/pull one barge away from the terminal, Ever... So... Slowly.... So slow as you could hardly see it move away. Then, also very slowly, two more tugs would start positioning the barge in the Bay to line it up at the Terminal's Pier to take on grain. The whole process took about 90 minutes, if I recall correctly. Time is an abstract concept when you're stoned.

After the changing of the guard came the ghost ships. I named them that because they were container ships, quietly, slowly moving to their piers to offload cargo. This is similar to my view of West Seattle straight across the Bay from my 3rd floor vantage point. Along that strip of land over yonder at night was a string of streetlights. When the ghost ships came in to offload at the tideflats, they could only be seen by their displacing of those lights. It was mesmerizing.

These days that apartment has the new view -- of the apartments and condos that have been built in between it and the bay. I'm just glad I lived there when I did. It was such a charming building with coved ceilings tall enough to allow me to have a seven foot Christmas tree, and to hang my three tiered capiz shell lamp which I bought while visiting my brother on Okinawa. Oh those were the days!

MJ, the changing of the guard, and ghost ships. Oh, my.


Good Night, TTYL, and Be Well,