Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Pulling the Grade



This was taken late in the afternoon, just up the hill half a block from the Pike Place Market. This street is original equipment. Still paved with cobble stones (not in photo) and it is steep. When I was a teenager our family brought my fathers brother and his family to see the market in his chevy station wagon. We were going down one of these steep streets to the market when brakes failed and the emgergency brake was worthless. My uncle yelled no brakes to clear the sidewalk as we carened into an allyway. Close shave. Otherwise we would have gathered some speed before crashing into the market and killing who knows how many people.