I don’t know much about birds, but I thought this one looked cool. This guy (or gal) was just hanging out at the entrance to Gig Harbor. I’m hoping one of my readers will know what kind of bird this is. Kind of looks like a turkey to me, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it’s not.
Any ideas?
I was visiting some downtown shops in Gig Harbor this morning, and Mount Rainier kind of jumped through the clouds at me. This photo is taken from the very end point on Harborview Dr, just past the Tides Tavern.
So what is a cold day in Gig Harbor? Am I providing accurate information about Gig Harbor, or is my Gig Harbor info skewed? A few days ago I wrote about temps dropping into the 30’s. Then it snowed. A day after the snow came, temps shot up to the high 50’s and we got torrents of rain (much of Washington has severe floods, but Gig Harbor is fine). Today, “cold” means low 40’s. The picture just kind of looks cold, though, doesn’t it?
I had a chance to travel to Auburn this afternoon with Terry Bouck and some other members of the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce to witness the “Celebrate Junior Achievement Holiday Luncheon.” Wow! I had no idea what JA World was all about, but came home completely impressed and sold on the value of this great program. Junior Achievement of Washington is designed to teach our 5th and 8th grade students several of the life skills that they will need to give them the brightest futures they can have.
The JA World was divided into two wings; the 8th graders were in the JA Finance Park while the 5th graders were busy running JA BizTown. These students were given 4-6 weeks of classroom prep, all culminating in this one day event at Auburn’s JA World where the kids run the show. They have jobs, pay checks, kids, bills to pay, cars to buy, decisions to make, debt to manage…it’s really an incredible environment. I’d encourage you to visit their website to learn more details.
PSD Superintendent Terry Bouck told me that his goal was to have every single 5th grader and every single 8th grader in our district be able to participate in this program. Obviously, this costs money, largely in the area of transportation. It also requires a good deal of volunteers, both parents and community business people. After listening to Peninsula High School senior Allison Bill sing the National Anthem, and hearing the stories of 2 youngsters involved in the program currently (including a 15 year old in Tacoma’s Juvenile Detention Center, who has an amazing perspective on her life and her future), and the story of a JA alum who has done amazing things with his life, I was more than happy to support this program. I’m sold on helping Superintendent Bouck achieve his goal of bringing this program fully into all of the PSD’s 5th and 8th grades.
We got our snow today. It wasn’t much, but it doesn’t take much around here to get us excited. It started snowing around 11:45am, and came down steady for about 3 hours. Sure is pretty here.
Several years ago, when I was a 6th grade teacher, I hated it when the weather man called for snow. Nothing hypes up a 12 year old kid in this part of the nation like the promise of snow. Now that I’m not teaching, however…
The weatherman is calling for our first snowfall of the year tomorrow night! The photo above was taken in January of ‘07. Having grown up in Park City, UT, I am fully aware that this is not a lot of snow. Yet it’s tough to find a more beautiful sight than Gig Harbor, the water slightly iced over, with a dusting of snow.
If the weatherman is right, and we do get snow, it’ll make a wonderful backdrop for the Gig Harbor Tree Lighting ceremony. The ceremony will take place tomorrow night from 5-7pm at Skanskie Brothers Park in downtown Gig Harbor.
Firstly, let me emphasize that I love writing this blog. I’ve been amazed at how many people, all across the nation, have been reading it and commenting and emailing me. I’ve loved meeting some of the incredible people that make up our incredible community. Recently, though, I’ve been getting panicky because I can’t possibly think of something relevant to write about each day, and although I’ve asked (and am asking again) so far none of my readers have emailed me any suggestions. Fortunately, I read a blog yesterday by the Queen Blogger of our network, where she wrote about not having anything to write about. That gave me all the confidence I needed to just write, so…
Clearly none of these pictures were taken in Gig Harbor. They are from one of my trips to the Gold Coast of Australia with a group of Washington High School cross country runners. This past year I was unable to make the trip due to an injury my wife suffered while boating on the Puget Sound shortly before we were to have left (her head is fine now, as is my elbow…thanks for asking!). A Gig Harbor resident and Peninsula Seahawk runner made the trip, as did a runner from a little further north in Port Townsend. Great times had by all.
So what do these two areas have in common? Well, nothing really, other than they’re both indescribably beautiful areas by the water. I just love that a teenager from our little community, as well as my wife and I, have had the opportunity to visit there and take in the gorgeous sights you see in the collage!
Gig Harbor resident Jim Nelson’s career was in education for more than forty years, with picture-taking as a lifetime hobby. Now in his mid-seventies, photography has become his fun passion. Gig Harbor has been home since retirement, and it’s the natural primary focus of Jim’s images. But his portfolio also holds dramatic shots of animals, flowers, nature and scenes from all over the United States, Europe and Africa.
After graduating from the University of Puget Sound, Jim taught in the public schools two years, and returned to UPS where he served as Director of Admissions. He married his Stadium High School sweetheart, Jan, and focused his camera on their four children - all born in Tacoma. The family then moved East where Jim became a Vice President of the College Entrance Examination Board in New York City - where he served for more than twenty years.
In recent years, Jim has won many awards as a photographer and there has been an increasing demand for his work - including large-sized prints for many homes and businesses. Several tourism and visitor’s bureaus show his scenic photography of Gig Harbor (see the opening panoramic photo of Gig Harbor at www.gigharborguide.com) and Washington State, and more than a dozen local businesses use his images on their Internet sites and in their ads. He was named last month as the featured artist at WatersEdge Gallery in downtown Gig Harbor, where many of his photographs are on display.
Jim’s Photos can be viewed on the Internet through links at his web site - http://jnels.org - or at - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimspics/sets/ .
Okay, I know I have regular readers in Minnesota, Chicago, and Utah, so you guys won’t have any sympathy for me here, but for my readers locally and in Southern California, this is for your benefit. I woke up this morning to find my dog’s outside water bowls frozen solid (don’t worry, he’s an inside dog with inside water as well). We dropped below 30 last night, which qualifies as a cold November day in Western Washington. Below is a nice shot of the public dock in Gig Harbor on a nice frosty morning.
Gig Harbor North is growing. It’s growing quickly. We have numerous new amenities that the community is buzzing about, such as Costco, YMCA, new homes, and a hospital in another year or so. With all of this growth comes a problem…traffic. Roundabouts were installed as the solution to this traffic problem. Really, they’re not a bad solution when used properly, but there seems to be some confusion on how to navigate our roundabouts.
The city has placed multiple signs around the traffic circles in an attempt to clear up the confusion, and they’ve repainted the lane lines to try and make it clear where drivers should be. Still, there seems to be traffic back ups almost daily. I’d like to chime in with my two cents worth to try and simplify our circles. One, stay in the correct lane. Nobody is benefited when a vehicle takes an inside lane simply to choose the lane with the fewer number of cars when the intent is to exit to an outside exit. Secondly, please use your turn signal when EXITING the circles. It is highly frustrating when a car is waiting to enter the circle, pauses for oncoming traffic, only to see the car exit the circle without a turn signal, causing the incoming cars to wait longer for no reason. Signalling your exit will help the incoming traffic flow more smoothly, and lessen the chance of accidents.
The city has a website with full information on how to drive properly in our roundabouts. They really can be a good solution!
I finally used the new Gig Harbor YMCA last night. The Y has been open on this side of the bridge for about 2 months now, but yesterday was the first time I’ve actually taken advantage of it. Wow! What a great facility. There’s a very nice indoor track (which I will never use…too boring), several aerobics/pilates/yoga rooms, some spin cycle rooms, a very nice sized gym for basketball, volleyball, pickleball, etc, racquetball courts are almost done, a HUGE pool with lap lanes, kid play area, and really fun looking water-slide, free weights, machine weights, and enough cardio machines to accommodate the entire city (or so it seems). Oh yeah, and a climbing wall for the kids!
My wife and I used some various cardio machines, the ones in front of the large flat screen, not the ones upstairs with their own TV’s mounted on them. Each machine has a port for your headphones, with volume and channel control on the machine. They were nicely spaced apart, plenty of ventilation, and just tons of them.
Swimming lessons for the kids are FREE! Kids dropped off in the awesome nursery can also do the swimming lessons. There is a free 12-week fitness program with personal trainer for members. The Y was crawling with kids hanging out after school, and there were no problems at all. These kids were having fun working out, not messing around. It was a great experience all around…but now I’m sore.
