Down by the River

Since we've been having a bit of sunshine (what's up with that?) lately, I've been trying to get out and grab some photos to help keep your morale up. Besides, getting out the house is good for me as well.



A short walk from out house is an old building, it says 1892 at the top. It is now home to an antique/junk store called Once Upon a Time. Among the things they have outside are several metal signs. This faded Coca-Cola sign, at one time used for target practice, is reminder of days gone past as it hangs on the side of this unpainted building.

For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, this place has a Fordson tractor parked in front. It is in very bad shape and completely rusted.

Turning at the corner by this shop, I headed down to the Snohomish River. There is a turn-around and a small park area where the Centennial and Riverfront Trails meet. By walking down what appears to be an old boat launch, I could find a path that took me under an abandoned train trestle. It was the continuation of the tracks that have been removed to make the Centennial Trail.

At the base of one the bridge piers we find this street art. Not on par with Melbourne or Budapest, but at least it is colorful.

It seems that there was a dock or landing here and all that remains are these old pilings in the shallows in the shadow of the near side trestle pier. The top of this one has accumulated soil, perhaps for the river rising and falling over time, and is sprouting it own ecosystem.

The main part of the trestle, over my head, has a complicated set of gears, shafts, and levers to move the rails I suppose and possibly to move the entire trestle out of the way (as you will see in a photo below).

I though the light and shadows on the reds and greens of rust and growth made an interesting composition.

Another view of the underside of this old mechanism.

This structure above the near-side pier suggests that this was once a swinging bridge. This in turn, tells us that there must have been traffic on the river that needed the height. From this I infer that there were busier days in Snohomish's past.

Don't get too rusty sitting about. We will all have busier days in out future. Even those of us that live on smaller throughways may have to shift to let large load through. Keep your gears lubricated so you can change with the times.