Ode to Seattle

April 6th, 2016

Gasworks Park

Gasworks Park, a pretty sweet place to hang out in Seattle

I would like to tell you the story of my recent “vacation” with 15-month-old twins, but I’m worried I am not in a place where I’ll be able to infuse it with any sort of deprecating humor. As of this writing — the day after our return from Seattle — I am still having a hard time finding the funny in the number of times I was barfed on, coughed at, deafened, and deprived of sleep by two super sick little ones dragged to a strange place by two obvious idiots with no common sense. 

[Sidebar: if you’re looking for an uplifting blog about how totally doable it is to travel with twins, this is not it. This is.]

On the other hand, through that shroud of misery, I still enjoyed being in Seattle. It’s my place. I have been trying to get my husband to move there for a while now. It’s a weird choice, I know; Seattle hasn’t really been cool since the 90s. Either that, or, depending on who you ask, it’s way too cool. When I tell friends I want to move to Seattle, they say, “You mean Portland, right?”

I actually lived in Seattle once, for just under a year. Just to get this out of the way, I love the weather. Too much sunshine irritates me. I love a good somber day; Jon and I have that in common.

Here are some other things I love about Seattle:

  • The water, everywhere, and all the islands, like little Narnias surrounding the city
  • The oxygen in the air
  • The meandering, nonsensical streets broken up by traffic circles just when you least expect them
  • The lush greenery and explosive flowers when the rain finally stops
  • The coffee, particularly Lighthouse Coffee in Fremont
  • The PCC — best market ever
  • The working-class vibe layered with a little bit of artsy hippie, but not enough to be overtly hipster all the time (I mean, that definitely exists in Seattle, but you can choose to ignore it, is all I’m saying)
  • The excellent smoked salmon we got at the Ballard Farmers Market, not to mention the purple broccoli
  • The wealth of interesting, smart, creative, down-to-earth people
  • The lack of ex-boyfriends I could possibly run into

Jon and I have been trying to decide where to move ever since I landed in Utah almost two years ago. The plan has always been to move; coming here was a necessary pit stop on the way to our forever home. But exactly where to move has been the question.

Jon loves skiing, rock climbing, and…

Nope. That’s it. Those are the only two things. He thrives in a mountain desert like we have here in Utah. He doesn’t care about decent coffee shops, excellent smoked salmon, or oxygen. He loves snow and never gets cold. Slick roads don’t phase him.

I, a girl, am perpetually freezing. I won’t drive if there’s a flake o’ snow in the air. I like my people weird, my air smelling of sea, and my coffee expensive.

We spend a lot of time talking toward consensus on the moving thing. But right now, a day after leaving Seattle, despite it being sheer misery the majority of the time I was there, I know exactly where I hope we end up.

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One Response to “Ode to Seattle”

  1. December 28, 2012  2:25 pm by IllMattIc That is true shit just seems pointless to me. I just started getting back into comics over the last year have loved every issue of Batman so far but don’t really get anything else DC except for Batman Inc. I did start picking up some Marvel titles really like All New X-Men, Indestructible Hulk, and Thor, Captain America and Avengers are pretty decent too. I dropped Iron Man after the first issue.

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