Update

I have now been at Susse's for three days. It's lovely! I walk more and because of the excellent company, miss my husband only slightly. It's been raining off and on, nixing my clever plan of wearing sandals most of the time. So today I'm on the last pair of socks I packed. Guess I'll load up the dirty laundry and head down to the nearest stream to pound my wet clothes between large rocks until they're clean.

I found out my coworker's severe bad mood, which lasted 48 hours but seems to be somewhat alleviated this morning, was caused by work stuff.

Off to do credit to corporate America! I leave you with brief musings on NYC vs. Seattle, which I wrote just after getting back, but I *think* I never posted. If I've already posted this, please send a virtual rotten tomato my way!
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(written 4.25.05)

Coming Back to Seattle After Being in New York City

Many of my pleasant feelings upon coming home may be due to the fact that it’s a gorgeous sunny day here, spring hinting broadly at summer.

I look down the streets at green trees and lawns—in New York I would look up streets and they were canyons of buildings, impressive, imposing, not always cold—full of life, definitely. But these trees are nice. I walked down the street from my office to the grocery store, and felt how familiar the block was. It was comforting in a way, but I was a bit disappointed not to be SEEING SOMETHING NEW and different and exciting, as I had the previous four days.

Certainly, the pace is slower—-no frenetic energy, no overwhelming pulsing of crowds, palpable enthusiasm for the arts, endless choice of things to eat, see, do, hear, drink, etc. It’s more calm here. Sometimes that means boring, listless, or apathetic, but it can also mean peaceful, quiet--good things.