This is the old Burke Building, built in 1895 in downtown Seattle. See the arched doorway in the center of the street level. Then look straight up. This old building had a real Cherry on Top. This is what it looks like now, in the plaza of the newer Federal Building on the same site.
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/cherry-on-top/
This week’s Photo Challenge topic of Detail was perfect! I had been planning to do a post on this topic for a while, and everything came together nicely. This one also goes with last week’s Look Up theme. So I packed up my camera and notebook, got in my car, and drove the 20 miles from my home to downtown Seattle. This is what I found, by looking Up at the many older buildings downtown (and one new one).
These are the Decatur Building on Sixth Avenue.
These next pictures are the old Eagles Auditorium on Union Street. Yes, the rock group The Eagles did play there in the 1970s. It is now the home of the ACT Theater, and I’m really glad they kept the beautiful details of the outside of the building.
The Cobb Building is one of the most famous Seattle landmarks. When I was growing up, it was filled with medical and dental offices. It now contains condominiums.
Also famous as one of the best Art Deco buildings in Seattle is the old Northern Life Tower, now called the Seattle Tower. It has many beautiful details.
Even the underside of the door canopy is decorated! Inside, the elevator doors are also in the same motif. Very beautiful.
The Exchange Building is from the same period as the Northern Life Tower, and has some of the same kind of exterior detail.
On First Avenue and Marion Street is the old Federal Building, and the original Seattle Post Office. This complex dates from 1931, and is an excellent example of Art Deco.
And One New Flourish. 1201 Fourth Avenue.
Next time you are downtown in your city, look up. You might notice things that are very beautiful.
I make a habit of always looking up when I’m outside. I’m an Art Deco lover, and I am especially fond of the “ruffles and flourishes” you find over the doors and windows of Art Deco buildings. I’m also a bird-watcher, so I’m alert for birds in the trees. I heard this little guy before I saw him, at the Mercer Slough Park in Bellevue, Washington one afternoon. He’s a common wren. Isn’t he cute?
Old….And Young In Cambridge, England
The young lady, walking in front of the door to the oldest College at the University of Cambridge.
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/opposites/
July Fourth is a day to celebrate. But what do we celebrate? Funny, but a man-on-the-street survey found that the average person does not know why we celebrate on the Fourth of July. This is depressing. If Americans don’t know why July Fourth is important, how are they going to appreciate their country, and how unusual it is? On July 4, 1776, a most remarkable group of men got together, and literally took their lives and their Sacred Honor in their hands, and declared Independence from Great Britain.
This was the beginning of the most important political creation in the history of mankind. For the very first time, a new nation was created, being the union of thirteen separate colonies into the United States of America. A new nation, founded on an Idea, of Human Liberty, and enlightened Self-Government. The Colonists came from all over Great Britain, from the Highlands of Scotland to the Fen country of East Anglia, to the South Coast, and everywhere in between. And from other parts of the world, including France, Poland, Spain, and the Caribbean. All these disparate people, united by a Grand Idea, vowing to free themselves from the shackles of Britain.
This is a good short film about the Signers of the Declaration, and what they did.
It is incumbent upon us, the descendants and recipients of the heritage of America, not to ever forget what our Founding Fathers accomplished. We must never lose the enthusiasm for our Great and Beautiful Country, which still remains a beacon of Freedom and Prosperity for the rest of the conflict-ridden world. Why else would millions of people from all over the world apply to become new Americans, and literally beat down our doors to get in? Here is what some Immigrants to America think.
Just this week in the Wall Street Journal, a headline read “America Drops Off History Curriculum”. It seems that there are institutions of higher (?) education in the US that do not require any American History classes of their History majors! I was astonished to read that only 23 among the colleges rated “best” by a well-regarded magazine require even one US History class of their History majors. I guess it goes with the information above that many Americans don’t know why we celebrate July 4. Maybe nobody ever told them why. Maybe their government schools make it a point to mention how racist, sexist, and how homophobic America is. Maybe they are brought up to think that America is a force for evil in the world. If that is true, it is saddening. Just think-these misguided individuals will be someday in the highest offices in the land. [come to think of it, the 1960s radicals who run the country now think that Americans are stupid and can be enslaved by bureaucrats in Washington DC]
Hillsdale College in Michigan has taught Liberty and Intelligent Piety since 1844. They are the shining star in Higher Education in America. They accept not one cent of government money, which allows them to be totally independent. These days, they are the epitome of American freedom and open-mindedness.
So, tonight when you’re watching the fireworks, remember why we celebrate. Remember the courageous Founders, who left behind the mother country, and came to a new land, where they and their children could be Free. 
From Sea….
To Shining Sea…
God Bless America
