Nobody's Mad

It’s been such a whirlwind since we arrived in Seattle that blogging has taken a backseat, but let me try to bring you up to date.  You already know about our garden from other postings, so you know that whenever we have a chance we are either haunting the garden stores (of which the area has an amazing number and variety) or tending our veggies in the backyard.  In addition to the gardening we’ve done a bit of sailing, Mike has kept his professional work going, I have gotten the household up and running, and we’ve renewed ties with some darling people.

Our cousins from Canada have just departed after a lovely six-day visit, which unfortunately coincided with a heat wave that made their upstairs bedroom here a bit of an oven on some nights.  They were darling guests and gamely carried on in spite of the unseasonable heat.  We visited the Pike Place Market of course, attended the Fourth of July fireworks in Bellevue, had a joyous and interesting sail around Bainbridge Island on Bella Luna, shopped the bookstores, and enjoyed casual dinners out and at home.  They and we were amazed by the amount of traffic on the streets here at certain hours, as well as by the crowds lined up at restaurants.  We’d have loved to go to Ray’s Boathouse at Shilshole but abandoned that idea when we cased the place twice and discovered the parking lot jammed both times.

In a way that I can’t explain,  Seattle seems quiet and sterile to me when we first arrive, in contrast to the bustle of small-town life in Mariposa.  I miss our friends there, and the cluttered old house on Bullion Street, and the weekly routine.  But then the magic of being here kicks in– the water, the mountains, the garden, boats, bookshops, and family ties.  Besides the visit from the beloved Canadian cousins, we’ve been in touch by phone or in person with other dears as well.  We spoke by phone to Mike’s parents in England and also made contact with a brother and sister-in-law, nieces, a nephew, a Seattle cousin, and even a former sister-in-law.  To top it off, one evening we had a phone call from an in-law of Mike’s, a delightful woman who lives in Selma, California.  And I’ve resumed my cherished weekly get-togethers at Borracchini’s Bakery (more about that another time).

After the Canadian cousins left, the weather cooled so much that we had to close all the windows to try to retain some heat.  It was too cold to eat outside and almost too cold to work in the garden.  I noticed the front path was damp from a few spots of rain.  Strong winds came in and whipped the trees.

Welcome as it was, this natural air-conditioning would have been a godsend had it arrived a few days earlier, to cool our cousins at night as they valiantly made do upstairs with a fan and a slight cross-breeze.

We only hope the adventures of their whirlwind visit made up for the heat and left them with pleasant memories of magical Seattle.