the locks

We love the Ballard Locks. Going there gives us a chance to consider immediate issues such as "Do we want a powerboat or a sailboat in our next life?" and ponder deeper questions like "What do salmon teach us about the meaning of life?" (I googled "salmon and the meaning of life," hoping to find a link with some sarcastic commentary about salmon struggling miles upstream to spawn and die. What I found instead was a rather interesting baccalaureate address given by a professor at the College of William and Mary.)

The locks themselves are like big water elevators where boats of all sizes go up and down the ship canal between freshwater lakes (Washington and Union) and the salty Puget Sound. They're ingenious contraptions, and it's fun to watch the boats go up and down the locks before they safely sail into the wild blue yonder.

Our favorite part of the locks, though, is the fish ladder. I don't know why they call these things ladders. They're more like stairs, but it's kinda cute to think of salmon finning their way up a series of rungs, isn't it?

We can spend a good hour watching just one step of the fish ladder. It's inspiring to see the salmon jump or swim really really hard up a mini waterfall, only to find they have to swim upstream some more and do it all over again. And again. Some salmon are experts and get to the next level on their first try. Others are slower, but relentless learners, unphased by flying into walls or being washed downstream . In the end, we find ourselves cheering (yes, out loud, we're nerds) for all of them.

As as post-script, I must sheepishly add that we took none of the above pictures. Ours turned out horribly. By "ours" I mean "the ones I took." Kelly is much better with a camera than I am. I don't know who the ace is who caught the fish mid-air. All our pictures look like this (There is a fish in there though. Can you see it?):