seattle’s best

It seems lately that all signs are pointing to Seattle. Why? I don’t know. I used to think that all roads led to my hometown because it seemed that almost everyone close to me had a relative who lived there or was born there or they themselves had once lived there. Now, it seems all roads are leading to Seattle, clear across the world, a full day’s plane trip for heaven’s sake.

First there was a good friend from grad. school who moved there and when I visited I fell in love with the place, but knowing that it was a billion miles away from everything I knew I didn’t think I could up a go like she did. She was an army brat and used to the moving about. My parents still live in the house they bought 40 some years ago. My bedroom there is still pink. So, I stayed on my lovely East Coast.

But, Seattle made my heart flutter a little bit. I love its moodiness, its lusciousness, its greenness, its boathouses, its quaint neighborhoods, its fresh salmon, and its coffee. A friend of friend moved there 2 years ago and I thought of that tugging on my heart that Seattle was doing again. I wanted it’s cloudy days and it’s Puget Sound and the old gas works park.

Now, a good friend, a really good friend is almost definitely moving to Seattle, clear across the world, a full day’s plane trip, and my heart is tugging again. She and her husband both say, “Come with us.” “I can’t,” I say very grudgingly, “My life is here, my family, but I love Seattle and I will visit you lots.”

I’ve been a little bummed about this news of her going not only because she’s leaving, but also because it reminds me that I’m just floating in the wind a little. There is no other person to drag me across the world because I am tied to him. I don’t get to go with someone to buy a house and get a new job. If I move, it’s just me and when my friends leave, it’s just me. I get left and that’s not the best feeling in the world even if I love the city they are moving to clear across the world, a full day’s plan trip.

The good thing to come out of this, the thing that made me say, “OK you can go,” was the decision to drive across the country this summer with my friend to take her to her new house. I’ve wanted to drive cross-country my whole life and now, so unexpectedly, it might happen. That, my friends, may be Seattle’s best gift to me.