Arrived in Seattle

Week 1 of 52

KoloWe arrived in Seattle yesterday morning after a trip from hell and a busy and kind of rough couple of weeks. First, as many of you know, our sweet, sweet 14-year-old cat, Kolo, escaped from her new home after only two days and she hasn’t been found. I tried everything I could to find her including going out twice a day for our last couple of weeks, but no luck. I am heartbroken to say the least. It would be easier if I knew she were dead, but to think of her out somewhere on her own haunts me. Then HK got sick while we were heavy into packing everything up and seeing friends for the last time. Last Sunday we had a going-away party at the home of friends; I was fine but that night lost my voice and over the last week have had a terrible cough, fever, and all around being sick, all during our last push to get out of “Dodge.” (We really apologize if we infected anyone….) Then it took us 24 hours to get here, courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines (who are very good and have the #1 on-time rating for an airline). But we happened to hit not one, but two flights that were seriously late.

Anyway, enough of the yucky stuff! First, thank you so much to all our dear friends who made our parting bittersweet: Jim and Mary, dinner at the Volcano House was more than elegant; Erica and Lance, your generosity in hosting our party was so lovely; Aloha Coast, thanks for one last dinner at Kaleo’s; Rich and Barbara, dinner at your house is always a guaranteed good time; and Karen, I can’t thank you enough for helping me build my memorial garden by the ocean for my departed family members. (Thank you Nick and Dione for letting us do this!)

So here we are now, typing this in a gorgeous condo in West Seattle, with a fire going, looking out at a ferry on the water (lake? sound?… I need to learn where we are) with the snow covered Cascades (?) Olympia Mts (?). We were supposed to arrive in Seattle Friday night, but due to the delays, we didn’t make it until Saturday. Being sick at an airport for 12 hours and then on a red eye flight is NOT fun. So I slept ALL day yesterday, and half of today, and then I finally pulled myself together. I am now unpacked and I even took a walk; this is what I wore:

  • long pants
  • socks and real shoes
  • a tank top, a long sleeve top, a sweatshirt, and a coat with a hood, and a long scarf

But I was warm and it was OK.

After only two days here this is what I miss:

  • the weather (of course…!)
  • apple bananas
  • Luigi’s Caesar salad (we had one at the airport and one last night… NO comparison)
  • thinking that we won’t have a sense of community for a while

After only two days here this is what’s nice:

  • Our friends’ gorgeous condo with the beautiful views… we’ll be here for a couple of months
  • The ability to walk to places (we’re going to have chowder tonight at a restaurant nearby)
  • The first two pages of the Sunday paper were filled with arts, theater, things to do!

That’s it for my update for now. I’ll try to send a brief update along with my Sunday Fun forwards each week. Thanks again for all the aloha from our Hawaii friends.

Sharene