A tribute to Seattle

When we left Zurich, I spent days making my "top ten things I will miss" list. I agonized over that list, over every detail of the place I would miss so much. I wanted to remember it forever, because we had no plans to return, it made leaving very difficult. There is a Ryan Adams song called "The Long & Sad Goodbye". Every time I hear it now I get teary remembering what it was like to leave.  Moving away from Seattle is different though, because it will always be my home town. It will also always be just a short 5 hour drive (with two kids...sounds easy enough) away. I will forever in my heart be a Northwest girl. So as we depart for area code 509 bright and early, I'd like to leave a little list behind of the things I love and will miss about Seattle.

The top five:

5) The Viaduct. I know this sounds funny, but I'm going to miss my daily (yes, daily) trip over the bridge, past the downtown skyline and waterfront, seeing the ferries out on Elliott Bay and the mountains in the distance...never really knowing if the bridge is going to collapse beneath us at a moment's notice. Every time we make it over alive, I feel like we've won the lotto.

4) Metropolitan Market. Don't get me wrong, there's not a thing in the world wrong with Safeway, but I LOVE the W. Seattle Metropolitan Market in a big way. It makes grocery shopping feel like a little European treat.

3) Greenlake. Andy will never understand why I choose to drive the 20 minutes to a man-made hole in the ground that gives you swimmers itch in the summer rather than just driving down our street to walk along the Alki boardwalk. What can I say, old habits die hard. When I was little it was the place I learned to roller blade with my mom. When I was in high school & college (and for maybe a couple years after) I could run around that bad boy (2.8 miles) in under 18 minutes. When we brought Hadley home to the US at 3 months old, it was the place I couldn't wait to take her for a walk (and I did - she & I spent the morning of my 28th birthday walking around the lake in the sun). And now, it's our favorite park with the biggest sand box and our default place to go for a stroller walk with our best buddies Alice and Lucas. When they're not sleeping I swear those poor kids are practically wriggling out of their strollers but we make them sit through it anyway, because we love it (and hey it's good for them to learn a little patience). If we have to, we count every single duck, bird and dog we pass just to make it through the journey without a meltdown. And snacks, we take along a lot of snacks.

2) The Rain. Call me crazy, but I love the rain.  I love the smell, the feel, the peacefulness of a rainy day...I love how it makes you that much more appreciative of the sunshine. I even love how everyone from Seattle (including myself at times) constantly complains about the weather like they're surprised it's raining or something.  And last, I love knowing without a doubt that anyone on the rainy streets of Seattle actually carrying an umbrella, is most certainly a tourist.  

1) Friends & Family. This goes without saying, really, but I'm going to say it anyway.  You all know who you are. It has been so wonderful moving back and having quality time, walks, park dates, dinners in and brunches out with you guys. I hope you know you are ALL welcome to come to Walla Walla any time. Please take us up on that. We have a guest room for a reason! I only hope this will be a chance to spend more quality time together - as the quantity will certainly decrease, I'm so looking forward to spending whole weekends together instead of too-quick-toddler-run lunches :)

So farewell, Seattle. See you soon!