Posts Tagged "seattle" on Alex Leighton's Blog https://alexleighton.com/posts/tags/seattle-tag-feed.xml 2026-03-11T13:36:28.055135011Z Alex Leighton https://alexleighton.com/ https://alexleighton.com/static/icon-dino.png https://alexleighton.com/static/icon-dino.png Detritus https://alexleighton.com/posts/2026-02-15-detritus.html 2026-02-16T06:00:00Z 2026-02-16T06:00:00Z Alex Leighton What the tide brought in.

Published on 2026-02-16

]]> What the tide brought in.

Published on 2026-02-16
Tags: photography, seattle

Close-up photo of sunlit driftwood splinters and bark fragments piled together, with a weathered log crossing the bottom edge.

Weathered brown log with several hollows lined with bright moss; three smooth gray stones rest in a groove and another stone sits above in shadow.

Pebbly beach sand dotted with smooth gray stones and dark gravel, with a curved patch of bare sand in the center.

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]]> Skeletons https://alexleighton.com/posts/2026-02-14-skeletons.html 2026-02-14T23:00:00Z 2026-02-14T23:00:00Z Alex Leighton Structures for life.

Published on 2026-02-14

]]> Structures for life.

Published on 2026-02-14
Tags: photography, seattle

Photo of a twisted tree trunk coated in bright lime-green moss in a leafless winter thicket.

Photo of two Canada geese standing on a mossy dock over Lake Washington, beside the 520 highway bridge, framed by bare branches.

Photo of a weathered wooden post with a moss-covered "10" on a wooden plaque, surrounded by wet leaves and brush.

Photo of the cut end of a fallen log covered in shelf fungi and green moss, nestled amongst ferns, leaf litter, and leafless brush.

Photo of a calm Union Bay beneath a cloudy sky, a dark piling in the foreground topped by tufts of green moss and bubbles of tar.

Photo of a heron perched on a grassy clump at the water's edge, opposite a weathered birdhouse on the right, tall reeds in the background.

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]]> Winter Cold https://alexleighton.com/posts/2026-01-28-winter-textures.html 2026-01-28T15:00:00Z 2026-01-28T15:00:00Z Alex Leighton Frost and crisp sunshine.

Published on 2026-01-28

]]> Frost and crisp sunshine.

Published on 2026-01-28
Tags: photography, seattle

Close-up of frost on a car window, mottled teal and pale speckles.

White frost crystals coat the roof of a red car, with a black antenna at left and a gray building and radio towers blurred in the background.

A sunlit gray boulder speckled with lichen and covered in patches of green moss, surrounded by dry leaves and dirt beside a sidewalk.

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]]> Little Worlds https://alexleighton.com/posts/2025-12-09-little-worlds.html 2025-12-09T16:15:00Z 2025-12-09T16:15:00Z Alex Leighton Mutual life.

Published on 2025-12-09

]]> Mutual life.

Published on 2025-12-09
Tags: photography, seattle

Close-up of ear-shaped amber-brown jelly fungus cups on a bright green mossy trunk, with tiny pale mushrooms sprouting from the moss above it.

Sunlit cluster of curled amber-brown jelly fungus on a moss-covered tree, tiny pale mushrooms above, with a blurred woodland backdrop.

Pale green, frilly lichens and small tufts of moss growing on a dark, rough wooden surface.

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]]> Promise on the Horizon https://alexleighton.com/posts/2025-11-28-promise-on-the-horizon.html 2025-11-29T02:00:00Z 2025-11-29T02:00:00Z Alex Leighton Early morning at Lake Washington.

Published on 2025-11-29

]]> Early morning at Lake Washington.

Published on 2025-11-29
Tags: photography, seattle, tahoma

Empty park bench facing Lake Washington at sunrise, with a snow-capped Tahoma faintly visible beyond the dark opposite shore, pastel clouds above.

Golden sunrise light reflecting in ripples across Lake Washington beneath thick gray clouds, a dark opposite shore, and a line of small ducks on the right in silhouette.

Distant snow-covered peak of Tahoma, rising behind a wooded shoreline and a few tall buildings, seen across Lake Washington in soft golden morning light, some scattered clouds.

Dewy evergreen branch in sharp focus with a delicate spiderweb stretched between the shoots, set against a blurred, damp, grassy field.

Two crows perched high in leafless trees under a wide blue sky streaked with soft clouds.

Ragged yellow and green leaves mottled with dark spots, layered densely over blackberry undergrowth.

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]]> Right Into The Dark https://alexleighton.com/posts/2025-11-22-right-into-the-dark.html 2025-11-23T05:00:00Z 2025-11-23T05:00:00Z Alex Leighton Onwards through a moody and dramatic day.

Published on 2025-11-23

]]> Onwards through a moody and dramatic day.

Published on 2025-11-23
Tags: photography, seattle

My Australian Shepherd named Ki looking off to the right, standing on a bed of yellow fallen leaves in a stand of trees with autumn foliage.

A crow perched on the bare, tangled branches of a tree against an overcast grey sky, looking off to the right.

A dramatic cloudy sky breaking with golden light over the water at Magnuson Park, with a lone bird flying high above the lake headed to the right.

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]]> Damp https://alexleighton.com/posts/2025-11-16-damp.html 2025-11-16T20:00:00Z 2025-11-16T20:00:00Z Alex Leighton Between the rain.

Published on 2025-11-16

]]> Between the rain.

Published on 2025-11-16
Tags: photography, seattle

A pebbly lakeshore on a gray autumn day, with a curve of yellow leaves lining the water's edge pointing at tall trees in orange, yellow, and green foliage, reflected in the calm lake surface.

My black, white, and tan Australian Shepherd dog named Ki, standing in clear, shallow water over smooth pebbles, his reflection visible beneath him, attending to something off behind the camera.

A fallen tree trunk on damp forest ground, sawn end facing the camera, dotted with small white bracket fungi in a line horizontal along it, nestled among wet leaves, moss, and bright green ferns.

Wide view of a misty lake with still water and a gray sky, my black, white, and tan Australian Shepherd dog standing on a rock at the shoreline, the gravel beach curving off towards nearly bare autumn trees.

Close-up of thin branches covered in clusters of small red berries, each berry holding a raindrop, with a blurred, soft green field in the background.

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]]> Lake Washington Traffic Interference https://alexleighton.com/posts/2025-10-15-lake-washington-traffic-interference.html 2025-10-15T13:30:00Z 2025-10-15T13:30:00Z Alex Leighton Suspected unethical dealing from the mayor's office.

Published on 2025-10-15

]]> Suspected unethical dealing from the mayor's office.

Published on 2025-10-15
Tags: commentary, corruption, politics, seattle

Ryan Packer for The Urbanist on 2025-10-07:

South Seattle traffic safety advocates have been trying to piece together what happened behind the scenes to cause Seattle Parks and Recreation to quietly cancel a set of planned safety upgrades along Lake Washington Boulevard this year. The traffic calming measures, which had been announced in 2024, were the result of a long community process around the future of the park boulevard, but they were abruptly removed from the project’s website in July.

I'll add on a little more context. During Covid (July-October 2020), as part of the Stay Healthy Streets/Keep Moving Streets program, a good chunk of Lake Washington Boulevard was closed to non-local car traffic, encouraging walking and biking along the stretch of street, as were many other non-arterial streets throughout Seattle. The long community process referred to above began out of public sentiment formed during that program's run:

...
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]]> Growth https://alexleighton.com/posts/2025-10-05-growth.html 2025-10-05T22:20:00Z 2025-10-05T22:20:00Z Alex Leighton Nature in Seattle autumn.

Published on 2025-10-05

]]> Nature in Seattle autumn.

Published on 2025-10-05
Tags: photography, seattle

A tree trunk with green ivy vines climbing up its light gray bark surrounded by a stand of the same trees.

A cluster of over twenty mushrooms growing next to a mossy tree root, surrounded by fallen autumn leaves and patches of green grass. The tan mushroom caps are in various stages of opening, with some split to reveal darker gills underneath.

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]]> Looking Outwards https://alexleighton.com/posts/2025-10-02-looking-outwards.html 2025-10-02T23:00:00Z 2025-10-02T23:00:00Z Alex Leighton Tempestuous sky over the lake.

Published on 2025-10-02

]]> Tempestuous sky over the lake.

Published on 2025-10-02
Tags: photography, seattle

Scenic view of Lake Washington from Magnuson Park in Seattle, showing calm waters reflecting an overcast sky, with dark evergreen trees framing a tiny bench in the foreground, and distant hills visible across the lake.

A wooden bench facing Lake Washington in Magnuson Park, Seattle, centered on grassy ground with evergreen trees and distant hills visible across the calm water under a partly overcast sky.

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]]> Downtown Seattle https://alexleighton.com/posts/2025-10-01-downtown-seattle.html 2025-10-02T03:20:00Z 2025-10-02T03:20:00Z Alex Leighton Looking down 5th avenue.

Published on 2025-10-02

]]> Looking down 5th avenue.

Published on 2025-10-02
Tags: photography, seattle

A cityscape photograph taken from a high vantage point showing downtown Seattle buildings including the cylindrical Westin Hotel, modern glass and older concrete buildings, with 5th avenue running vertically straight in the center of the image, under a cloudy sky.

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]]> Seattle Police Records Requests https://alexleighton.com/posts/2025-09-19-seattle-police-records-requests.html 2025-09-19T13:30:00Z 2025-09-19T13:30:00Z Alex Leighton How they dodge Washington's public disclosure act.

Published on 2025-09-19

]]> How they dodge Washington's public disclosure act.

Published on 2025-09-19
Tags: commentary, corruption, journalism, seattle

Publicola editor Erica C. Barnett, an independent journalist focused on Seattle city government, has run up against blatant corruption in the Seattle Police Department:

Erica C. Barnett on 2025-09-17:

The Seattle Police Department has informed me that they will not follow the policy they agreed to in a settlement with the Seattle Times on public disclosure when dealing with my records requests. Instead, they are "grouping" all of my requests and responding to them, in full, one at a time.

As the Seattle Times' own coverage made clear, their understanding and belief was that SPD is no longer allowed to group requests that are more than two months apart. After months and months of not bothering, I filed another request, noting this policy. They told me to fuck off.

We have a very good Public Disclosure Act in the state of Washington. SPD has ginned up a way to violate the law, which both violates the intent and letter of the PDA and discourages public records requests, which SPD's communications office often directs me to file instead of answering questions.

...

The agreement with the Times says SPD won't group requests more than 2 months apart. My most recent request was more than 9 months ago. SPD said they don't care and lumped it in with all my other requests. I do not expect them to ever respond to most of these; they've made their refusal clear.

...
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