feh
The fog has lifted but it's been overcast all day. This weekend it was 80 freaking degrees! It was a fab slice of summer and it might've been the last one before the next 9 months of drizzle. Fog + drizzle = what I hate. Why do I insist on living in Seattle? Yes, it's beautiful and yes everything is green because it's so moist but that's also why my hair is frizzy. And no it doesn't rain every single day for weeks on end, but that monotonous gray or white sky is putrid. And so I ask myself over and over throughout the winter months, why do I insist on living here? Every time I go to a warmer state anytime outside of summer and feel how "the other side" lives I cannot believe we put up with this month after month. I was in Houston in freaking May, having left 30-degree gray wetness, and it was 80 degrees at 11pm and we were sitting outside in short sleeve shirts, drinking beer at a bar with an outdoor deck... and I had to ask myself, WHY am I living in Seattle? I could be cavorting in warm breezes for most of the year if I'd only move just a little farther south. But my friends... my family... If I were rich I'd move in a heartbeat and fly my friends and family out to see me all the time, whether they liked it or not.
I'm reading a book right now called "The Good Rain" and I should give props to the author but I have the hardest time remembering authors' names. It's written by a journalist and it's all about the history of the Pacific Northwest. It's helping me love it more around here for the reasons I stay - mountains, islands, water, trees, eagles, hawks, prairies - and it's good to know what kind of place it is we're all living in and using up. We have a lot of history here with kicking out the Native Americans, which is no news, but to read how it all played out over the years is eye-opening. And the energy of our history is part of what we're all dealing with here. I was thinking the other day, is there a place in the U.S. that isn't riddled with bad history or natural disasters (I remembered in reading this book how we live near so many volcanoes, cuz you forget they're volcanoes and start to think of them as harmless, pretty mountains, and how devastating Mt St Helens' eruption was for many miles around; if Mt Rainier blew...oy vay) or overpriced housing or stagnant job markets or high unemployment... is there a place that is well-balanced in a nurtured and stable environment? And I guess that's what I'm looking for in Bellingham. Even though it's less than an hour away it feels like a whole other world - quaint little downtown, no skyscrapers, no traffic, probably only 10 Starbucks in the whole town. Downtown I can pass 5 Starbucks within 4 city blocks - there's a Starbucks kiosk in the lobby of an office building that has a slighter larger Starbucks nook just around the freaking corner! What in the hell? Seriously. What is that? And that doesn't even count all the Tully's, SBCs, independent joints AND the espresso carts tucked in between. And every single one of these places has a line out the door, no matter what time of day. It's not like I don't wants me afternoon coffee every day at 3:00, but can I please walk farther than 1/2 a block to get it? Can I please work just a little to access this small luxury?
Anyway, like I was saying...Seattle - why do I live here?
1. mountains
2. islands
3. water
4. trees
5. eagles
6. hawks
7. prairies
Why shouldn't I live here?
1. incessant moisture
2. bad mojo with native people
3. volcanoes might erupt
4. coffee too easy to get
What's Bellingham got on Seattle?
1. quaint
2. no skyscrapers
3. no traffic
4. gotta work for my 3:00 coffee
5. plus all the pretty
Sumpin to chew on.
I'm reading a book right now called "The Good Rain" and I should give props to the author but I have the hardest time remembering authors' names. It's written by a journalist and it's all about the history of the Pacific Northwest. It's helping me love it more around here for the reasons I stay - mountains, islands, water, trees, eagles, hawks, prairies - and it's good to know what kind of place it is we're all living in and using up. We have a lot of history here with kicking out the Native Americans, which is no news, but to read how it all played out over the years is eye-opening. And the energy of our history is part of what we're all dealing with here. I was thinking the other day, is there a place in the U.S. that isn't riddled with bad history or natural disasters (I remembered in reading this book how we live near so many volcanoes, cuz you forget they're volcanoes and start to think of them as harmless, pretty mountains, and how devastating Mt St Helens' eruption was for many miles around; if Mt Rainier blew...oy vay) or overpriced housing or stagnant job markets or high unemployment... is there a place that is well-balanced in a nurtured and stable environment? And I guess that's what I'm looking for in Bellingham. Even though it's less than an hour away it feels like a whole other world - quaint little downtown, no skyscrapers, no traffic, probably only 10 Starbucks in the whole town. Downtown I can pass 5 Starbucks within 4 city blocks - there's a Starbucks kiosk in the lobby of an office building that has a slighter larger Starbucks nook just around the freaking corner! What in the hell? Seriously. What is that? And that doesn't even count all the Tully's, SBCs, independent joints AND the espresso carts tucked in between. And every single one of these places has a line out the door, no matter what time of day. It's not like I don't wants me afternoon coffee every day at 3:00, but can I please walk farther than 1/2 a block to get it? Can I please work just a little to access this small luxury?
Anyway, like I was saying...Seattle - why do I live here?
1. mountains
2. islands
3. water
4. trees
5. eagles
6. hawks
7. prairies
Why shouldn't I live here?
1. incessant moisture
2. bad mojo with native people
3. volcanoes might erupt
4. coffee too easy to get
What's Bellingham got on Seattle?
1. quaint
2. no skyscrapers
3. no traffic
4. gotta work for my 3:00 coffee
5. plus all the pretty
Sumpin to chew on.