Scene from Holy Rosary School, shared by John Slee, who explained: “This was at the end of the day, just as the students were being let out….. they just couldn’t resist throwing the leaves.”

Two photos from the WSB inbox (thanks!): First, Amanda shared that shot of a sign that’s turned up on the fence by Delridge Playfield – if you’ve passed the in-progress renovations lately, the joke makes perfect sense; if not, take a close look at what’s in the background, and imagine dozens of those mini-hills on one field. (We’ll be checking with Seattle Parks on the project’s status this week.) Meantime, a view from inside The Bohemian:

As Ryan put it in the note accompanying the picture, “Everyone (was) enjoying the sun today.” Another place to enjoy it was the South Seattle Community College Arboretum on West Seattle’s Puget Ridge:

WSB contributor Keri DeTore shared that with a few other fall-colors photos from a walk through the Arboretum this afternoon – you’ll see another one atop tomorrow’s morning-preview lineup.

Two great photos just landed in the WSB inbox – first, Rolly Francisco shares the view of Mount Rainier as seen from 40th/Andover around 5 pm (you just never know how many more times this year we’ll see it!) – second, Trileigh was out star/planetgazing last night and captured multiple moons:

Trileigh explains:

Although in the photo you can see three moons surrounding Jupiter (the bright white spot near the middle of the picture), with a spotting scope you can actually see four.

And I don’t know what that funny blue thing is to the lower left of Jupiter. It was in each picture I took, several minutes apart, and appeared to move first further away to the lower left each time and then back closer. Could it be a satellite, I wonder?

Tonight should still be clear, I believe – people with binoculars or a spotting scope should get out and see five moons at once, including Earth’s!

Thanks for the photos!

(Photo added 4:29 pm – Alfonso took it from Alki – thanks for sharing!)
ORIGINAL 1:57 PM REPORT: Amy just e-mailed to say she saw “a blimp over West Seattle.” If it’s what our first cut of research (we haven’t seen it ourselves yet) suggests, it’s actually a zeppelin.

3:01 PM UPDATE: Confirmed – it’s the Airship Ventures zeppelin. They documented their flight northward with photos on this website – no West Seattle photo (so far as we’re seeing), though.

11:07 PM NOTE: Christopher Boffoli went up to Paine Field (Snohomish County) to check out the airship (aka zeppelin):

Check out his report in the comment section – including (scroll down) a link to more photos.

The photos are by Christopher Boffoli, who spotted a few unexpected sights while out covering some non-Summer Fest news for WSB today. He explains:

If people saw a convoy of classic Triumph cars driving through West Seattle or at the Fauntleroy ferry today, it was the Seattle-based Tyee Triumph Club, headed to Vashon for a monthly meeting. They assembled in the future Trader Joe’s parking lot before heading out to catch the ferry.

P.S. Speaking of classic cars – several people asked about upcoming car shows while we were helping in the Summer Fest Information Booth again today (11 am-5 pm tomorrow). The Alki Car Show is next Saturday, 8 am-4 pm (here’s our recent preview); the West Seattle Junction Car Show (which we’re co-sponsoring again this year) is September 19, also 8 am-4 pm.

They are being seen more frequently on West Seattle street corners – people standing for hours, selling fruit from boxes. (There’s been one at the busiest corner near WSB HQ, three days during the past week, standing there from morning till late in the day. A nearby resident who speaks a little Spanish tried talking to her, and learned only that the vendor was “from the mountains of Mexico.”) Some people have messaged us to ask about the law. One of the first results we found in an online search reminded us that this is not a new phenomenon – there was even a discussion last year in the WSB Forums. While a permit is required to sell on the street, it’s a moot point in many of these cases, because it’s outright prohibited in single-family zones (as is the case of the one near us). Is anyone enforcing the rule? So far, we haven’t heard from anyone who has officially complained. The method for doing so is on this SDOT web page. (SDOT is checking for us to see if they’ve been getting complaints, and how they’re handled.) We haven’t found much past coverage of the fruit sellers in this area, but it’s been a hot topic in the Bay Area, where this story suggested some of them may be more victim than violator.

ADDED: SDOT’s Marybeth Turner tells WSB they don’t get many street-vending complaints; when they do: “An SDOT Street Use Inspector responds to these complaints during normal work hours on a priority basis. If it is a matter of public safety, a Seattle Police Officer may also respond, also on a priority basis– this occurs mostly in the SODO stadium area or nightlife areas” such as Belltown.

Diane Skwiercz of Street Treats says her “entire family” lives in West Seattle – so it’ll be a homecoming when she brings her dessert truck to Alki tomorrow night. She says she just recently launched Street Treats, baking cookies, brownies and bars every morning, and carrying “homemade ice cream and handheld pies from two local businesses.” She’s not sure where they’ll park but they’re hoping to be at the beach for a few hours starting around 6 pm tomorrow (Thursday). We asked for a photo, so you’d know what to look for; you can also check Twitter to see if she tweets where they wind up – @StreetTreatsWa.

West Seattle Junction Association guy-of-all-trades Don told us during Sunday’s Health Fair that he would make sure Old Glory graced California SW for Flag Day today … and the promise was kept. No fluttering in the breeze so far since the air is fairly still, but if you go to The Junction, you will see the Stars and Stripes all along the way. Today is the 233rd anniversary of the day the flag was adopted by the Second Continental Congress.

We haven’t been able to find the answer to this question – so we’re hoping maybe you know. Karen shared the photo above, earlier this month, after seeing fish like that all over The Junction; in a note tonight, Mark is the latest to ask:

Does anyone know what is the meaning of the “purple fish” graffiti that has been sprayed on many different walls and surfaces at the Junction and other places? I’ve also seen them at the 35th & Fauntleroy intersection. They may well be other places around W. Seattle, and maybe other places in the city as well. They are about 12-18 ” long, and look like they were made with a fish-shaped stencil and a can of purple spray paint.

We’ve tried search phrases from purple fish to purple shark. No luck. But maybe you know the story…

For better or for worse, through richer or poorer … through rain or shine … Mark shared that photo taken over the weekend after he spotted the truck on Alki.

Your WSB co-publishers and freelance reporters/photojournalists go out and “cover stories,” but the spice of the site is so often YOUR contributions – whether a wildlife sighting, a breaking-news photo, kudos for volunteers, or something else entirely. The latter category might be the most appropriate for this story, with photos, shared by Kevin McClintic:

I took the low bridge home from downtown Seattle and came upon a large gathering of car enthusiasts assembling under the West Seattle Bridge around 17:15 Sunday evening, February 21. Most of the cars were Hondas, with a few other makes and models mixed in for variety. One Honda even sported right hand drive. The drivers were all in their late teens to early twenties and very well behaved. Young men and women – and their love affairs with cars.

I managed to find the leader, Daniel Vargas, who was happy to take a moment away from his own photography to explain the group and their purpose.

Daniel is the sort of official leader of the group and spokesperson. He explained that the group comes from all over the Puget Sound area once or twice a week when the weather is nice and cruises around to different locations and then parks and talks cars, taking turns photographing each other’s rides. Daniel went on to explain that they DO NOT race – they just simply enjoy cruising around. The events usually draw a crowd of about 40 to 60 cars. I estimated perhaps 30 at this gathering.

Daniel has a My Space account called “Big Brown Photography” where he evidently showcases pictures from the weekly events [it’s set to “private”]. While I was busy taking a few pictures, Daniel motioned for me to come over, and he had arranged for one of his friends to put on a little demonstration.

Meet “Nick” in the blue plaid shirt.

Nick was using a laptop to “tune up” his engine from the driver’s seat. I was not really sure what was going to happen next. Nick revved up his engine while he made some adjustments from the laptop that resulted in a half dozen or so loud bangs (similar to gunfire) that was caused by his purposely causing the engine to backfire. Some might say juvenile – but this 50+-year-old writer was suitably impressed with the fact that it was all controlled by a laptop. Demonstration now over – the car sounded like any other Honda that you might see around town.

It’s not hard to see that organizer Daniel takes his interest in autos seriously. Just take a look at his forearm and you will see that he is a die-hard Honda owner.

I asked Daniel about his car – what does his car do? He began to tell me about his 4000 (yes – four THOUSAND) watt stereo, and asked me if I would like to hear it. I looked at my watch, thanked Daniel for his time, and told him I had to get home in time for dinner.

WSB contributing reporter Keri DeTore tells the story behind that photo:

I was driving home along Fauntleroy at about 9:15 (last night) and saw, going north, two groups of runners–one group per side of Fauntleroy, tricked out with Christmas hats and blinking blue lights. I managed to catch up with one group and ask them about it.

Cathleen Knutson (center, with Macbeth Watson at left and Lori McConnell at right) came up with the idea of an “Alternative Christmas Party.” The group of nine friends ran from Knutson’s home on Avalon, to see the Christmas lights on Charlestown, then to Celtic Swell for “beverages,” and then back to Knutson’s home. A total of eight miles!!

They are calling it the “1st Annual Holidazzle Run.”

Keri caught up with that group on the longest night of the year – which began shortly after this photo shared by Diane:

She took it a short time before sunset, from the 37th/Hinds vicinity, other side of the peninsula from where Alice Enevoldsen and fellow sky-watchers gathered at Solstice Park (photo here).

Two more gorgeous photos tonight, following up on the great ones shared earlier – thanks again to EVERYBODY. Top photo is Mount Baker, as captured by David Hutchinson tonight from Alki with the pink light of sunset/dusk. Next, Max caught tonight’s moonrise:

Thanks to those who answered the call for photos of the full-moon-rise that brought photographers to West Seattle viewpoints in droves last night, looking for a shot like … that one there! Thanks, Greg! (He’s also wondering if anyone can identify the specific peak in front of the moon in his image.) Also just in, Derek’s view from a little while later:

ADDED 11:11 AM: Two shots from Alki photographer extraordinaire David Hutchinson. For the technically minded, he includes this note:

The full moon photo is actually a combination of two taken on a tripod. The first was at a shutter speed of 1 second to expose for the downtown skyline and the second taken immediately afterwards at 1/60 of a second to expose for the full moon. At 1 second the moon shows as a white featureless disk and at 1/60th second the downtown lights are hardly visible. Our eyes do a great job of compensating for this difference in brightness.

David photographed from the Seacrest area, and went back for this morning’s sunrise:

ADDED 3:24 PM: Thanks to Sean for this closeup of just the full moon:

Thanks again! If any more come in, we’ll add them to this item.