A very typical day for Seattle. In a coffee shop, light rain, about 45 degrees outside and even a nice, but most likely schizophrenic breaded man, vocalizing in the corner. Almost a movie version of Seattle. Oh, did I tell you I can see the Space Needle out the window and I swear, a jazz version on Bill Withers "Ain?t No Sunshine" is playing over the sound system.
My son landed a big city job with Northwest Cable News and it was dad's job to drive the truck full of stuff to Seattle. Except for the unreasonable speed limit in Oregon, the trip went smoothly. Snoqualme Pass was not to bad as I rolled out of the forest into the Puget sound. The downward transition from mountain to sea is a shift of the green color wheel. The dark rich evergreens become the soft gray green of aspens. As you enter town the flora and fauna explode into the rich lush emerald of the cities nickname. With an unusually mild winter even some brave flowers were still in bloom.
Downtown Seattle is back in bloom itself. The last time I was here the city was suffering from the tech bust. Not now. Buildings are rising as fast as real estate values.
Oddly enough the soundtrack of Seattle continues with the opening lines of The Mamas and Papas, California Dreaming. Remember?
All the leaves are brown And the sky is gray I've been for a walk On a winter's day
After coffee, I finished my winters day walk by heading over to the the Needle to take a look around. Did you know that the monorail doesn't move until 11 am on the weekdays?
Woke the kid up to check on the truck we had to leave unattended, but before we unloaded it we loaded up on a Seattle's favorite the Dick?s Deluxe. Two Bucks, a nickel extra for ketchup or onions. Shakes were a buck fifty. Even on a Sunday afternoon 60 or so customers waited in front of the window servers for a meal. It was good, the shake was a bit weak, but hey, is was tasty and cheap.
Got back to the big Ryder Truck full of Don?s life, Jed(thanks) showed up and we wrestled everything up the stairs into the new apartment. With two bedrooms and a bit of a view I expect the kid will be seeing a lot of his relatives this year.
After the move it was back to the city to drop off the truck and then back to the luxury south side condo. The sun was fading and it seemed as if the tugs and ferries were all headed home for the week. Night fell and it was time to call it a day.
