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| 6/11/14 Platinum Carbon and Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu-Kusa and Fuyu-Shogun inks, Caran d'Ache Museum water-soluble colored pencils, Zig marker, Canson XL 140 lb. paper |
If you remember the sound that was emitted by something like
this, or if you even know what this is, you’re probably at least as old as I
am.
This air raid siren tower in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood
is, according to a 2002 Seattle Times article, the only remaining
one in Seattle. Put up in 1953 and silenced in the mid-‘70s, the siren was
tested every Wednesday at noon. Had there been an actual nuclear-missile
attack, the siren was ready to warn Seattleites.
Growing up in the Leschi neighborhood several miles south of
Phinney, I regularly heard the siren from a similar tower. I was about five
years old when I asked my mom why we heard that noisy sound every Wednesday at
noon. She told me that it was to let everyone know it was time to go in for
lunch.
As I sketched the tower yesterday from outside Starbucks on
a gorgeous afternoon, I was thankful for its silence.
I don't think we ever had a siren tower anywhere that I know of, but I'm sure they must have existed on the east coast just like the west coast. I wonder if there are any around...I'll have to check into it. It is much nicer that it is a sketching opportunity rather that what was originally intended. Nice job...and you got to have Starbucks too.
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