hem|mungen

Is this thing on?

I don’t know who’s still reading this, but if it’s you, here’s a brief update. We moved to Seattle, where the Other got a job. It’s nice here. For the past month (two for Andrew), we’ve been living in Belltown. That’s the urban heart of the city, more or less. You know, lofts, restaurants and bars that change hands every month or so but no place to do grocery shopping. We’re going crazy because of the noise, but the apartment is neat: we can see Elliott Bay from the balcony, and there’s a roof deck from which you can watch the Olympics. Does one “watch” mountains? Whatever. Anyway it’s very nice. Just loud. Trucks and breaks and screaming drunk people, like living on Sixth Street, and did I mention the freight and commuter trains?

Next weekend we’re moving into the house we’re renting, which is far up north, still in Seattle but way out of town. It’s a lot quieter there, I get a yard and plants and a porch, and on clear days we can see the Olympics from the front steps. That’s cool.

In spite of the noise and the scary business of the night that happens on my street, everything else around here has been lovely. Especially the weather: it rains in the morning, sort of until lunchtime, and then it gets beautifully sunny in the afternoon and evening. My run is mostly through a park right next to the Bay, and there are dogroses (Hagebutten) all along the way. When you inhale it smells like fish and roses, just like an der Jade.* This morning the sky was black with rain, but didn’t really let go until I was on my way home. The climate, the light, and the plants remind me so much of Wilhelmshaven I find I’m almost eager for the dark, wet winter to get here. No I’m not, that was a lie. But not entirely: after ten years of Texas I’m ready for real seasons and what they bring with them. Even if it doesn’t really snow here, either.

*In Wilhelmshaven, on the northwest coast of Germany, where I lived in high school.