photo by Ballard Avenue

Named for the British philosopher Bertrand Russell, Bert, a British Shorthair of impeccable breeding and reserve, is rarely caught on camera. And when you do, the pics look like hack paparazzi shots.

They're from Finland, so they fall within the Scandinavia-to-Newfoundland-to-Ballard worldview of this little corner of the web. The song is apparently a huge hit, with versions and re-mixes to be found all over the 'net. But I like this original version. It's fresh and fun and they are all so adorable.

photo by Ballard Avenue

How's he gonna get his day's work done? Well, since his day's work is pooping all over the 24th Avenue dock I figure he'll find some time for that before nightfall.

photo by Ballard Avenue

Well, at one time this was a pretty hot spot. Ballard had its own station on the Great Northern (now BNSF) Railway line. Passenger trains would stop here and freights would roll by all day long. But the passenger trains stopped stopping and the station building was moved nearby to serve as someone's home. All we have now is a metal building for railway stuff and this sign. There was once talk of building a commuter rail station just up the line from here, but as always, it's Ballard's fate to pay for things—in this case a useless commuter transit agency—that it gets no benefit from.

photo by Ballard Avenue

Another view of the Salmon Bay drawbridge, this time from the old Ballard station site just north of the bridge. The bridge's counterweight, the large concrete slab hanging over the rails, looks particularly menacing. The BNSF Railway lines east to Chicago and north to Vancouver, BC, both use the bridge and it's busy all day long.

photo by Ballard Avenue

He was the perfect cat.

It's the first day of spring and of course that makes us think of accordions and Paris.