This week has been eventful. I started my radiation therapy. It doesn’t hurt when they do it, but it really wears me out. Most of the time, I can walk six to nine miles a day. Now, I’m lucky if I can manage to get through three. Lifting weights is quite challenging, but the doctor emphasizes that I need to maintain my muscle mass as it is.
When it comes to photos, I took quite a few during my radiation visits. I have to drive to the Capitol Hill area of Seattle, which is about a 35-minute drive from our home in good traffic. Fortunately, I get to pass through some interesting areas, and my photos this week showcase those spots. On Friday, I went for a five-mile walk across the 520 floating bridge with my camera. That’s why there are more than seven photos—I just couldn’t decide which one was the best.
Remember, don’t forget: if you click on the first shot, you can scroll through using your arrow keys or by swiping. My favorite this week is the cormorants from my Friday walk across Lake Washington.
This is your weekly Keeley shot. She is my best model. Kathleen bought her that thing on the floor. You had treats or her food in and under the parts, and she tries to find them. It’s supposed to be a challenge. She usually finds whatever we hide in less than three minutes, using her teeth, her tongue, and her paws. She is an awesome dog. We were told when we got her that she was a certified support dog (not a service dog), and she certainly is. I’ve been feeling kind of down about my lack of strength due to the radiation and hormone therapy. She understands that and will come and sit in my lap when I’m feeling down, just letting me hold her. From time to time, she will look up and give me a wet kiss.
It’s another beautiful day (though the rain returns tomorrow), so I decided I needed blue skies in my photo. And clouds. And green trees. So here you have all three for a wonderful March day.
Today, after my radiation treatment, I took a long walk across the 520 floating bridge. I saw lots of things, including these cormorants…
This heron…
Some swans swimming by…
Two young women soaking up some sun…
These ducks (which I love for their reflections)…
And the start…
and finally, two canoeists.
and a few minutes of a rowing race (just practice)…
And now for something architectural. This is a building that sits on the back side of Seattle’s Capitol Hill. It is an all-girls school that I used to work with when I was doing yearbooks. In fact, it was my favorite school. Part of the attraction is this building. The school was founded in (ready for this?) 1896. Yup, it’s almost 130 years old. But inside and out, this building is gorgeous. As I was driving home from my radiation treatment, I thought that on this beautiful, almost spring day, it would make a great architectural shot.
After two days of landscapes, I decided to come indoors and focus on close-ups. I put on the 60mm macro lens and photographed a small section of a pencil cup on my counter. It features a great pattern, which reminded me that my favorite photography guru, Scott Kelby, is hosting a month-long photo contest with a theme centered on texture. I really appreciate the texture in this shot.
On the way to my radiation appointment today, I passed Lakeview Cemetery. It sits high on a hill with an incredible view, kind of like the one I showed you yesterday. I’ve been to this cemetery before to see the tomb of martial arts guru and actor Bruce Lee, as well as his son Brandon, both buried side by side. When I visited before, I wondered why it’s important for the dead to have such a great view, especially with today’s wonderful weather.
Today was a fun day (said sarcastically) as I began radiation treatments for my prostate cancer. The treatments don’t take long, but since we are Kaiser members, I have to drive to the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle. It takes about an hour. Since today was my first day, I left early, unsure how long it would take me to get there. When I reached the back side of Cap Hill, there was a panoramic view looking back toward the Eastside across Lake Washington. It’s been a couple of weeks since I took an outdoor shot, so I thought this might be a good opportunity with Lake Washington in the foreground, part of the 520 floating bridge showing, and the snow-covered Cascade mountains framing it all up.
