Seattle

Seattle.  A place of great importance in our family's history.  This is where Leo and I started our married life together, bought our first house, tackled our first remodel, thrived in our jobs, made good friends and started our family.  It has been almost ten years since we left, but the Pacific North West still holds a special place in our hearts and memories.  Ending our big ten month adventure in Seattle was not the original plan, but was a fitting finale.  We arrived at the decision via a series of well timed coincidences.  It started with our return flight out of Paris, scheduled for mid August, the flight we had booked almost a year earlier, being cancelled due to the Boeing Max groundings. This happened around the time that we felt the pressure to figure out where to go for our last month on the road.  We were looking for a mythical place in Europe: somewhere not too crowded nor too expensive in July.  We were getting the sense that it might be a futile search. When we realized that our renter in Seattle was leaving our house at the end of June we decided we could fly to Seattle and spend a month back in our old home, enjoying a part of the world that we loved and that was at its zenith in July in terms of weather and beauty.

We landed in Seattle tired but excited to see friends, feel the cool air, and spend some time in our old neighborhood.  V had never been inside the house that looms in our family lore as "our house in Seattle." He was excited to be in it and the other two kids were excited to see how memories and reality matched up.  Leo and I were both excited but also a bit cautious, aware that we were returning to a home that we had lovingly built and a community that still held a strong pull.

Within hours of arriving, jet lagged but jazzed up, we were exploring the nooks and cranies of the empty house, appreciating our friends who had decked it out with air mattresses and toys, neighbors who lent us towels and cooking gear, and a garden that begged for some trimming.

Before we could settle into chores we were swept up in the excitement of celebrating July 4th.  Bleary eyed and a bit discombobulated we joined up with friends we had not seen in many years, welcomed into their festivities, including watching the fireworks.  Leo was even feted (t'was his birthday) with a homemade s'mores cake that beat any French pastry.

Our first week was spent enjoying the experience of being in our own space and doing the mundane chores that we hadn't done in months.  Pride of ownership, even for a property that we don't live in most of the time, was evident in how everyone helped in the gardens.  It was also evident that we were all thankful to be back in a space where we could spread out, walk the neighborhood, go to the grocery store and stock our shelves.  It was clear we were ready to stop travelling and just be in one place, and although not totally home this felt home-like.

A man in his heaven.
Japanese Maples in dire need of pruning.

Window washing.  Putting the kids to work!

  

LEGO! The kids enjoyed spreading out and playing with Lego friends thoughtfully brought over. 

We spent hours just being "home".  Taking walks through the neighborhood, grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, walking the Burke Gilman trail, riding bikes, getting books from the library. We spent time at the playground that was the site of many hours of play when the kids were toddlers.  Walking the streets felt like walking through my own history.  There were so many memories of living as a new mom in this city.  I was struck by a fierce mix of nostalgia, longing, sadness and love.  It was so clear that time has marched on.  The children were no longer babies, and there was a sadness about that, but current life is so full of life and love that it seems silly to focus on what is no longer.  Perhaps gentleness is what was needed during this final month of the trip, as transitions happened, memories swirled, and we looked ahead at "regular" life that no longer had a grand adventure on the horizon.

A highlight of our time in Seattle was, without question, reconnecting with friends, even if  time flew so quickly that we didn't get to see everyone we hoped we would.  Friends made time and space for us, welcoming us back into their lives.  We shared food, outings, and good company.  One of the highlights for our kids was when they explored the outdoor climbing wall at Magnuson Park, a few minutes from our house, with their friends.

A girl who kicks ass climbing up the wall, and looks composed and cool while doing so.

We shared many good meals and hang out time with Chris, Heather and their boys.  It felt like we picked up right where we last left off (which happened to be Morocco a couple of years ago).  As always our time together was tinged with the feeling that we wanted "more." It was, as with so many things in Seattle, a mix of appreciation for the good that is and the want for more.

Leo loved being back in handy-man mode. 
Doing house chores was something he actually missed while away. 
Here he helped Chris with some electrical work.

We also had a list of "must see" attractions, often an outing that was remembered fondly from early childhood.  High on this list was the zoo.  When we lived in Seattle we spent hours at the zoo, walking the paths, observing the animals, making memories.  Within days of arriving in Seattle we returned to the zoo and, once again, I felt the tug on my heart of appreciating the present while also remembering the fleeting past.  My hope for our time travelling together was that we would tighten our family bond and that the kids would strengthen their relationships with each other.  Seeing them wander the paths at the zoo together made me feel like maybe we had met that goal.

Another "must do" was to visit the museum of flight.  We were lucky to share this outing with our neighbors and friends, who led the way navigating the new light rail and buses that led us past much of the traffic that clogs the city, as we ventured from our neighborhood to the museum on the far side of the city.

This is the real deal.  The part of the space ship that returned from the Apollo 11 moon mission. 
It was part of the special exhibition for the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.

We explored the city using transit for the first week or so.  We were all struck by the cleanliness, the lack of crowds and the ease of use, after using public transit around the world for the past year.  

One sign in particular made me laugh and captures how different Seattle is from the rest of the world. Everywhere else it is "watch your pack" for pickpockets or safety.  Here it is to make sure you don't bump someone else. Totally captures the Seattle spirit: a bit uptight yet under the guise of really caring about others.  A little like the notorious bike lady who rides her bike down the path while yelling at people to wear a helmet.

As one day tripped into another we were caught into the rhythm of chores, visits with friends, bike riding around the neighborhood, punctuated by a long weekend visit from Leo's sister who flew up from LA, a big change in my hair style, and a huge load of mulch for the yard that seemed like a good idea at the time of ordering.

We even did a few days of cat-sitting for our neighbors!
It really helped us feel like we were part of the neighborhood again.

This happened! 
After 7 months of letting my grey hair grow out in the relative obscurity of travel far from home, I chopped off the scraggly ends and was left with both grey and short hair, two things I'd never had before. Having an old friend take me from long and scraggly to short and chic was a particular treat!

This also happened.  A HUGE load of mulch.

The guys supervising the dump. 
And then dug in to help with the inaugural loads.

By day three of shoveling we were over the novelty of doing chores and rued having had so much delivered.
But with a few more hours scattered throughout the week we did get it all done and the yard looked amazing in time for our new renters.

One of the themes of our month in Seattle was connecting with friends.  We enjoyed brunches and BBQs, walks to the lake, games of poker, tubs of ice cream and takeout Thai.  We had dinner with neighbors where the kids played in the backyard and wandered in and out of the house as they did as little tykes many years ago.  We uncorked a "vintage" homemade wine that a friend had kept since we moved and cleared out our stash.

A highlight was having dear friends Rob and Lara visit from their home on Vancouver Island.  Rob and Lara had become a part of our lives in Halifax but in the past year they'd become parents and moved back o Victoria.  We missed them and knew we would keenly feel their absence once we were back in Halifax, so it was a real treat to spend time with them and their sweet daughter while on the west coast.  We had a whirlwind few days with them, seeing some of the city, meandering the neighborhood, and catching up.  We also hatched a plan to visit them on Vancouver island later in the month.

The city put on a show for us, showing its beautiful side.  The sky was blue and the mountains were out.  One of my hopes for our time in Seattle was that we would connect with the wilderness that is just outside the city limits.  Our time flew by faster than expected and we did not make it to the wilderness as much as I had hoped, but the guys did have one day out on a river and we all enjoyed a few dips in lake Washington, with Mt Rainier looming in the distance.

Seattle was a stop that we left with mixed emotions.  It was a month that was busy, packed with chores and "must do" outings, and people coming and going.  It was also a place that was the host to many memories and rich with history and emotion.  Layer that over the fact that it was the last stop before our return home, the end of the trip, the final chapter of our grand adventure, and there were lots of emotions bubbling under the surface.   To complicate things further, in a moment of emotional impulsivity and intolerance of emotional distress, we added another creature to our family.  Seattle would now become the place we added a dog to our family.  This, as many grand moments on this trip, deserves its own post. Stay tuned...