Seattlest Pix: 08Sep04

"Reading Time" by M.V. Jantzen

Even when we were only visitors to this city, ferry-watching was one of our favorite activities. We'd go to Colman Dock and stand there forever, watching the downtown crowd knock off for the day and make their way to the boats. In this context, we never imagined too deeply into the narratives of the people we observed; rather, we were content with observing their most mundane activities. We were mesmerized, too, by the un/loading procedure which, as you know, is also fairly mundane. Yet for some reason we'd stand there, watching the bikes and cars queue up. We still do this now—misty, overcast days are especially lovely. It's a little like watching reality television, except with more reality and honesty. Ironically, given the lack of reality-TV-drama, it is infinitely more interesting.

These days, too, we love queuing up ourselves. Those fragments of an hour spent waiting here and there in those dedicated pens are an oddly extraordinary part of travel around these parts. Part of that novelty is the weird notion that water routes are part of the highway system. A not insignificant number of people rely on these briny highways for their daily commute. We've got a water taxi... how cool is that?

The obvious abundance of waterways was one factor that compelled us to move here. And the sometimes subconscious ways that their maritime cycles influence our daily routines is what keeps the novelty from wearing off, even after all these years. There's a strange beauty that emerges from all of this mundane activity.

This photograph, especially its framing, more literally reminds us of that television-like aspect of ferry-watching. Thank you for sharing!