Today I joined two friends and their daughter to Alki Point for some beach combing. In true Pacific Northwest fall style, we walked the shoreline scanning the sand for beach glass — they were finding glass while I only kept finding interesting rocks. When I say ‘true Pacific Northwest fall style’, I mean that we experienced gray skies, cold damp breezes, and rain/hail/sun (sometimes intermittent, sometimes all at the same time); this weather is otherwise known as “Scotland“.
The drive out to the point was nice. I had been working out-of-town for the past week & a half; it felt good to be in motion and to get to see some of my city. Trees were displaying their October & November colours; it was nice to see joggers and bicyclists enlivening the sidewalks along with entwined scarf-clad couples and dog walkers. Most of all, I enjoyed reconnecting with my friends.
Between our times of bending over followed by exclamations of “Hey, look what I found!”, I told them about my trip and some of my recent AOR recording efforts. Just days before on Penn Cove, in the same location where Wind & Harps was recorded, I captured most of a 20 minute thunder & hail storm passing overhead. A few days before that I tried recording wind tossing about tops of alders as local tree frogs called to one another — but I think all I got was a lonely baying dog and a guy with a loud lawnmower on some neighboring acres. I told them about the 3 times during the 2 weeks prior to my trip where I tried recording for Trains & Waves, and the difficulties with catching a lack of trains, the wrong kinds of trains, leaf blowers and an electric chainsaw. If this issue persists I’m going to have to call this album Leaf Blowers & Waves — just doesn’t have the same romance to it, huh?
(Lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and electric chainsaws — OH MY! As you can imagine … I’m really growing to dislike power lawn & property implements.)
They recalled a beach they had recently visited with both trains and waves — so close that when they scrambled up a bank of large rocks to escape the incoming tide they were met at the top by a passing train — they named Picnic Point in North Lynnwood but went on to describe what sounded more like Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo. While I will have to enquire further as to where they were, they said that about 6 freight trains passed per hour and they did not recall hearing commercial airlines overhead. The big ‘curved track’ next to the park strikes me as what I saw a few days ago when pulling into Mukilteo on a ferry and considered as an alternate Trains & Waves recording site.
So the point of this post…?
Well, part of it is about sharing the details an outing with friends during one of my favourite times of the year.
The other part — I’m excited, as I may have one more opportunity to record Trains & Waves before the Pacific Northwest receives “Scotland” for the next 6+ months!
I can get to & from Lighthouse Park with much less effort than Richmond Beach, it just takes considerably more time. I’d like to have this recording ‘in the can’ and preparing to be the 2nd AOR release. And I’ve already checked — this Wednesday looks to be the best-weather day. I wonder though if the cute redhead I met at Richmond Beach 2 weeks ago will also be there?
~ Don (I’m single, a Libra, I like recording sessions on the beach and other places, and…)
UPDATE 22October2012 1537hrs — Using GoogleMaps I’ve learned a few things about both Picnic Point park and what is more correctly called Mukilteo Lighthouse Park.
- Both have substantial sized sections of train track arcing through/near/by the parks.
- Being a person currently living without a personal vehicle, to use public transportation to get to/from Picnic Point I would have to three buses traveling to downtown Seattle, the east side of Lake Washington, then to north Lynnwood, where I would have to walk the last 5.2 miles, requiring a mere 3+ hours each way.
- Walking directly to the park, on the other hand, would double the foot mileage and take about the same amount of time. On the other hand, were I to go to Mukilteo … about 2 hours and it drops me off right at the park.
CONCLUSION — Unless I find a ride to Picnic Point, I’m going to Mukilteo.
(Please inform the redhead who was at Richmond beach 2 & a 1/2 weeks ago so we can meet again; this time I’ll do better at responding to what I thought afterward were your “You may ask for my number” green lights — I promise!)
