Last Days of August, Part Uno

I guess we should probably talk about what's happened in the last couple of weeks before it gets too late. Besides, you guys are back in school now and probably won't have much time for online tomfoolery. Or even tomline onfoolery, whatever that is.

Your cousin Andrew (better known as "Spike") flew into Seattle to see me and we spent an entire week goofing around and having a good time.

So...you guys ready? Homework all done? Teeth brushed? Washed behind the ears? Didn't think so.

The whole thing started with Andrew and me meeting 

up with your Aunt Shelly (you remember her) and going to a lawn & garde

n store to feed the 

goldfish. Which doesn't sound like too much fun until you realize this was no ordinary Lawn & Garden store

 and these were no ordinary goldfish: they were Koi, up to a foot or more long, and so tame they'd eat out of your hand. Ever had your hand kissed by fish lips? Well, we have.

I realize this isn't the best picture I've ever taken, but it does show Shelly. And Spike. And, if you look closely, a fine-looking pair of Fish Lips, too. And that's what counts, right?

So, what do you do after getting kissed by fish lips? You go visit the Fremont Troll, of course.

As you recall from previous posts, Seattle has a lot of water. And for people to get over water, of course, there are bridges. You probably learned in school that trolls like to live under bridges, and Seattle is no exception.

So to see the Fremont Bridge Troll, you go to the Seattle neighborhood of Fremont, which claims to be the center of the universe. 

And you know what?-- they might be right. How many towns do you know where they have a Rocket? Or a parade full of people riding bicycles, naked? 

But stop asking about the naked bicycle parade and the Center of the Universe sign, do you want to hear about the Troll or not? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. 

The famous Fremont Bridge Troll-- as I was trying to say before you started asking all those silly quiestions, is in the a neighborhood called Fremont. 

Not the Fremont in California, of course-- which doesn't have much of anything except a really big shopping mall, but the one here in Seattle. In addition to the Center-of-the-Universe stuff, and the naked bicycle parade, and the Rocket, Fremont has a bridge. You'll never guess what they call that bridge.

OK, you guessed. 

Here's a sign in the middle of Fremont that shows directions to the Fremont Bridge and the Troll. Among many, many other things.

It turns out this particular Troll is made out of cement and is clutching a car-- an old Volkswagen Bug. Almost as old as your dad, even.

So you're probably saying to yourself, just how big is this alleged Troll, anyway? See for yourself. Here's a close-up of the car-- which, remember, is an actual car. Not a model. No, really.

You can see where people have written their names in the cement dust on the car's rear window. 

Since you may not believe how big the Troll is, here's another picture with a couple of life-sized monkeys perched on his (or perhaps her) shoulder.

But because of the limitations in this silly blogging software, I have to put some more text in here befre there will be room for the photo, which should show up right about....here.

OK, well close enough. See the monkeys?

So that's about it for this post. It's late and I'm tired and I'll write more later. 

But just because I figured you secretly wanted to know, here's pictures of the rocket--  And no, that's not a picture of me under it.