Saturday, March 22, 2008

It always rains in Seattle

Back in the seventies, my parents took us on a trip to the West Coast. My mom liked the rain. My dad didn't. When they split up, they migrated. Lots of people leave Hawaii. I wonder how I grew up on an island smaller than Chesapeake, VA. Last time I was there I drove the thirteen mile stretch between Ewa Beach and Kaneohe, and people told me how far it was.

"It's on the other side of the mountains..."

Sure. The other side of the super-ultra skinny razor thin mountains down this uber highway to the Super K-mart. It took me like ten minutes.

Seattle is bigger. But it rains all the time. It's lush and wet--traffic is a killer, and gas is outrageous.

Visiting isn't the same. I have to live here. The WASLS are coming up, and my daughter just finished the SOLS. Guess she'll have to do them again.

The water tastes funny, the air smells wrong, the roads are too narrow, and--family, is hard getting used to. Didn't Thomas Wolfe say you can't go home again?

He knew what he was talking about.

When you leave a place--or people--you leave their way of doing stuff. My family has decades of building a history that didn't include me at all.

They do things differently and talk differently, and think the same, while I did other stuff. Darwin noticed in his book "Origins of the species", you can take a base unit, move half of them away, and over time, adaption steps in. Flightless birds, missing defense mechanisms. Here I am, rapidly flapping my wings, but I can't seem to take off.

Luckily, I have really nifty friends, who in the interest of getting me up to a cruising altitude, helped me get over my flight obsession. Walking is damned good, and these slides are made for walking.

I got another shot of happy when I checked in on my e-mail.

  • a review!!!!

  • My very first review. Like a shot of adrenaline and caffeine all at the same time. I don't even know this woman, and it was...cool. She sent me a really nice thank you to my thank you (which sounds weird, but felt really good). I'm going to have it framed for those times when I'm depressed or tired.

    And of course, it's still raining. But tomorrow, I'm going to get an umbrella.

    5 comments:

    Unhinged said...

    Yeah, buy a GORGEOUS frame, one that will match whatever computer desk you end up getting, and make sure the frame is easily-seen from where you sit.

    And why do you HAVE to live there? Why not look at this time there with family as downtime...and in the meantime, decide if Seattle is really where you want to be.

    {{{ Hugs }}}

    Anonymous said...

    Even if I lost Mr. Al today, there's no way I'd try to go home. Don't know that I'd stay where I am, but I would not go home. Uh-uh, no way. Not that I don't love them, but.....

    Kaige said...

    *hugs* At least you won't have to dig around in the back to get an umbrella. It's funny to see them wheel the little cart out with different rain accessories here at the grocery store or the pharmacy on those rare days when it does rain.

    Want me to box up some of our sunshine and send it to you? We've got plenty. ;)

    Unknown said...

    I thought about staying in VA--in fact, I told everyone I wasn't about to go anywhere else, but funny how life just makes it hard on you if you don't follow the plan. My kids are happy. They're together again, and they're happy. It makes up for a lot of rain. But yeah--Unhingey--when my daughter grows up and out, it's time for me to put serious thought into where I want to live. I've been thinking about Volcano. Cool, but not rainy, quiet. No traffic. Might be a great place.

    Anonymous said...

    Oh, I know the feeling about those reviews! Great for you!

    So, you're in Seattle now? I'd heard it rained a lot there. Must have been true what I heard...

    Come and visit me more often. I enjoy your company...:)

    MM