Belltown Bent

Nothing to carp about

Just minutes away from Belltown (but seemingly oh-so-far away), nestled into the southern tip of the Washington Park Arboretum, is a beautiful Japanese Garden. It opens again, officially, on the 28th of this month. But, if you're itching to get out, plan on attending the opening ceremony a few days earlier.

I'm betting these guys can hardly wait for rain-free days when visitors can "rain" some food pellets on them. Koi, better known in Japan as Nishikigoi, are bred from common carp, but they don't know that. It's recommended they feed only once or twice a day, but they don't want you to know that.

A fact is a fact

Here's one for you: Seattle gets less rainfall annually than Atlanta, Boston, New York, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Miami, with 37 inches.

That's fact #16 from PR Newswire's 40 Fun Facts About Seattle, prepared for Superbowl writers who lack inspiration for stories.

Here's another that might surprise you - Washington has hosted two World's Fairs, one in Seattle in '62 and one in '74. Do you know where?

What's all this have to do with this picture? Well, for just a little while this morning, in what turned out to be a socked-in day of dark clouds and rain, the Olympic Mountains were out in all their glory. And that's a fact likely to escape the news services.