[day 256... sep 13]

For several years I've wanted to visit the Olympic Sculpture Garden and the new Central Library in Seattle, and today I took the boys downtown for a quick tour of both sights. It was a beautiful day to be out and about, and I loved seeing these new landmarks at last.

This is Niall looking through the giant Typewriter Eraser sculpture. As we enjoyed checking it out, a voice came booming out from a loudspeaker: "Park patrons, please do not walk on the grass." Whooops. Of course, there were no signs saying that we should stay off the grass, and apparently in other parts of the park, it's fine to walk on the grass. Something you just learn by trial and error, I guess? Maybe that's part of the "park experience."

After a brief tour around the sculptures, we stopped at Subway for lunch and then drove over to the library. (I was lucky enough to find on-street parking both times, even free because it was Sunday - nice!) The library is very cool to see up close. The outside looks like what some people kiddingly call a "Giant Cheese Grater" but it's actually quite attractive in person. Here Niall and Cory are taking in the view of the water (peeking between several other buildings) and a rooftop garden/park.

The inside layout is also intriguing, with multiple sloped levels for books 000 - 999. There is artwork through, from the raised "type" on the wood floor at the ground level, to colorful, airy sculptures flying from the walls and ceilings in the Children's Center, to spooky talking bodiless heads with faces projected onto them in a jagged cutout along one escalator.

We enjoyed exploring the building top to bottom, and also got to meet librarian Erica, who is married to someone I knew in my childhood. We've been connecting online on Facebook for months now, so it was fun to finally meet her in person.