Mock newspaper on display at the Woodland Park Zoo.

The favorite exhibit seemed to be a water station where the kids could explore dams, salmon ladder and water flow, building mazes and floating ducks, orcas and boats. While there were plenty of places for kids to enjoy playing, even Elisabeth, there were also many exhibits educational for adults. We left before we had exhausted all the opportunities at the museum – and before the kids were too exhausted. I think we’ll be back soon. (note: plenty of resources available on the website too!)

A transplant from Chicago, Matthew Rosenberg’ shared his perspective on Seattle weather. His post will become a classic in my book. I liked his list of reasons why the rain is good (excerpt below).

The plus side of Seattle’s frequent drizzle:

a) plants and flowers of all kinds grow, and grow, and grow;

b) one learns not to depend on external factors for fulfillment or happiness – in turn engendering a healthy imperviousness to the ephemera of life, man’s condition, and modernity itself;

c) the moisture is good for your skin;

d) ) rain fosters reading, and eating in;

e) rains boosts coffeehouse culture, and Wi-Fi therein;

Read the end of his post. I do think he’s being optimistic

And I’m being optimistic too, hoping for wet rather than white, at least until the weekend…but the kids are begging for maple snow …

But I will say that from my split citizenship I do not think that God hates either the Eastside or Seattle. I have spent more years living in Bellevue than I have spent living anywhere else: nearly all my childhood except for a few years in the beginning. I watched the horses replaced by houses. But at the same time, I attended school in Seattle for six years. Chief Seattle’s namesake appears on some important documents from my life. I love the suburbs and the city and I think they each have their strengths. Going to school in Seattle but living in Bellevue gave me a bit of a dual identity and a split citizenship. I like them both.

This post of Scott Koon’s and his comments have many great ideas for Dave. So does this post by john. I confess that I haven’t visited many of the places: the Seattle and Bellevue that exist in my mind are often fifteen-year-old memories of what I knew as a child. I’m trying to replace them as I can, for example, by visiting Benaroya Hall on dates with Ted – a wonderful new home for the Seattle Symphony. Hearing Yo-Yo Ma perform there was exquisite. Living in Bainbridge, a ferry ride from downtown, is allowing me to know Seattle in new ways. We’ve enjoyed a couple great restaurants. Many new wonders have come in the years that I was gone from my hometown area. However I think I still prefer to remember Bellevue Square, where I once doled out orange juice drinks to earn a few dimes, as a thinner version of its now bloated self. It is funny to me to see Crossroads mentioned as a good place to go: when I left headed to college, that mall, near my home, wasn’t worth a visit. We would only shop there in desperation, walking in snow storms. Now it has become a Geek Dinner destination. And, of course, I agree with the praises for Bainbridge . Living here has shown me new sides of Puget Sound living and new aspects of history, such as the sawmills and the Suquamish, Chief Seattle’s heritage. Perhaps one may ask, which side of Puget Sound is God’s side?

I’m glad that Dave has moved here. I like Seattle and I am happy when those I know come here to enjoy it too. It’s been fun to read his weblog and watch him discover little delights of Seattle life, like the bus system and the art museum. I’m glad he’s having a great time.

The city is always changing. Although Frangos and Frederick and Nelson’s are gone, new treasures such as the library are here. This column by Jerry Large in Thursday’s Seattle Times describes the slightly different Seattle: We’re always making new Seattles for the next generation to get attached to.

I don’t know exactly why it is I am so passionate about Seattle at the moment. Perhaps it is the fact that we might stay here for a while. Soon we will have lived here longer than anywhere else in our marriage. Or maybe it is that right now is the end of September summer, after a season of sun, and I feel blessed to live in such a place. By February, I might be wishing we could move to somewhere southern and warm. Or I think it is that I am happy to be raising my children in the same area where I grew up. When I met and married Ted on the East Coast, I never thought I’d get this Philly boy to move to Seattle with me. But it happened somehow, in a mixture of grace, mystery and opportunity. And I have been happy to be back here, in the rain and green, where I feel at home, although living this time west of the city instead of east.

Of course, if I were a true Washingtonian, I wouldn’t want anyone else to move here. I’d begrudge Dave his new citizenship. As someone said in Scott Koon’s comments, Seattle is a bit xenophobic. After all, according to local legend and animosity, isn’t it the Californians who have ruined this place?! Or maybe just all those people Microsoft has hired in the past twenty years. Yeah sure, technology has trashed this town: stick the blame on the stock options. But I’ve been a Californian myself, and although not microserfs, we are a software family too. We sold the house down south and came up here to buy one: doing the whole deal. I have lived the life that was detestable to any local back in the ’80s. (Back in those days when it was claimed that resumes were rejected for any sign of out of state heritage. When it was joked in a tv commercial that you had to have a Washington drivers license to buy a kind of local potato chip…Times have changed though and it seems that many people we meet have moved here themselves…having a native in the room is rare…) And then I came back here. And claimed my native birthright. And removed our out of state plates…

I’m a Seattle girl. Or maybe I’m a Bellevue girl. Actually right now I’m living on Bainbridge. Still I probably prefer King to Kitsap County and in moments of shopping I’ll often head east on the boat to hit those familiar streets once again, this time in my minivan with my daughters instead of on the Metro bus.

But in any case, no matter my identity, I welcome Dave and hope he enjoys his stay here in the Emerald City, home of a great blogger meetup!

Perhaps I should not use the term “falling in love” to describe my relationship with a library. I should use “falling in love” for relationships with people. Actually only one person.

But it’s difficult to say what happened to me that day. I’d seen pictures. I’d seen the photos from Myk, Chip and Garrett, among others. I’d skimmed at least one Seattle times article. But I wasn’t that interested. Neither architecture nor libraries excite me, at least not automatically. Yet I figured I should go see it so I would know what others were discussing, as part of my part-time Seattle-citizenship.

Neither the pictures nor my skepticism prepared me for the experience. It was wild. I found myself thinking about other bloggers and friends I’d wish could see it too.

For example, I wondered what j and Lisa would think about the spiral design:

The Books Spiral is a series of flat tiers, connected by gentle ramps. A gradual slope of about 2 degrees winds through the four floors of book stacks. The majority of the nonfiction collection — 75 percent of the entire collection — is located on the Books Spiral. This allows the nonfiction collection to be housed in one continuous run, and avoids the problem of having to move books into other rooms or floors when various subject areas expand. [...] Only 25 percent of the Central Library collection is in closed stacks. Escalator and elevator stops are labeled with Dewey Decimal System numbers corresponding to materials on each floor. In addition, floor mats throughout the Books Spiral highlight Dewey Decimal numbers that match nearby books stacks.

The fact that I had already seen pictures of the building allowed me to focus on other details. The fact that I had small children with me meant that I didn’t get to see all the floors or photograph all. But I thought I’d share a few pictures from what I did see…

I didn’t take photos of the outside of the building. For glimpses of the (amazing mirrored) exterior, please see the bloggers listed above or the Seattle Times article

The mechanized book chute caught my eye right away.

These chairs look too tempting…imagine surfing and blogging with that beauty…I’d never want to leave my computer…

(Then again, now after reading Anita’s link, I see why they are not accessible for all…)

The vivid escalator is a psychedlic trip up into the sky.

Especially the eyes and faces watching us from the wall

This floor amazed me. The Seattle Times article said

the stunningly beautiful Floor of Babble: hardwood by artist Ann Hamilton of raised, backward letters in foreign languages that record the first lines of the library’s foreign-book collection. Patrons will walk on a woodcut of what seems like a Gutenberg press.

Computers, books and gardens together..some of my favorites…a real garden as well as a carpet one…juxtaposed…

The kids section, where we spent most of our time, is like a candy store, with colors that reminded me of rainbow sherbet.

The girls played computer games on IBM ThinkCentres.

The library also gets points from me for having a huge family bathroom (what we need at this stage of life) and a number of accommodations for kids and fun toys they could enjoy.

Although I thought that Ryan Overbey’s zeal for the library was a bit extreme, after seeing the place, I too wished we lived in Seattle.

It was garden, lounge and art gallery. It felt like a museum and also like something fast -forwarded from the future. Colors sang. Screamed. Details spoke.

Somehow though this book title seemed too appropriate…

Afterwards we stopped by a gelato shop recommended by a friend. Hey Jay, if you come to town sometime, maybe we can take you there for a belated Happy Birthday present!

On the ferry ride home, the tiramisu, raspberry and chocolate melted together and the girls scraped the bowl to the bottom! .

Now, the next thing I want to do is take Ted for a boat ride downtown, so I can fall in love with him yet once more…at the library….

P.S. Michael Hanscom posted a great collection of articles describing the new library…

more below…

A note:
What surprised me most at the Market was the Pike Place Fish Market. And it wasn’t the eyeless fish with sharp teeth (see second fish picture) that one of the guys shook in an attempt to frighten/tease my kids…

Growing up in Seattle, I knew that the shop was famous for “flying fish”. When a customer buys a fish, the crew tosses it into the air from person to person and chants. It is enchanting to watch.

But I had no idea how they have turned themselves into a marketing machine complete with motivational video and “inspirational book”. While we were standing watching the fish mongers, a tourist from Minnesota, quite taken with the fellows, began telling me that she had read the book, seen the video and knew the life stories and names behind the crew at work…I was impressed not only by this woman’s passion for the Fish Market, but also by the company’s passion for marketing themselves so well…These hometown celebrities have a consulting team they’ve created! Creative indeed…

Ah, but even though I was tempted, especially by the large eyes on the Fresh Yelloweye fish, I didn’t make a purchase or take any home with me….we settled for organic apple chips instead…

Do you think they have seedlings and sprouts on the menu?

Her dress is sliding off of one shoulder revealing a thin strap. Her shoulders are also getting sunburned, bright red at the top. It is a hot day and I imagine she must be uncomfortable.

Her left hand is holding onto a little boy. Based on the size of my own kids, he’s probably three or four. He’s wearing a yellow T-shirt with a profile of a skateboarding kid on it, and something about him looks exactly like the T-shirt boy. A cap on his head completes the picture.

I’m watching them as they turn the corner and away from us. I’m wondering where they are going. I’m wondering what is their story.