Farewell, Washington

It seems like just 10 months ago I was writing a goodbye letter to Vietnam, and now it’s time to say goodbye to a newfound friend: Washington.  We moved here with the intention of having much more time together but Roger and the subsequent hormones demanded otherwise.  While JD and I are hugely excited for our next adventure with our move to Michigan today, we also realize we’re leaving a lot behind.  Here’s what I will miss about Washington.

The People

Our social lives went from big groups of crazy-hat wearing friendly friends in Vietnam to a much smaller, but special few this year.  Between our impromptu day trips, pregnancy fatigue and living more remotely, JD and I used much of our time to just enjoy being together.  And I am happy for it. Two will soon become three.  We are delighted (still terrified) by the impending arrival, but know that we don’t know how much it will change our daily routine.  Having some one-on-one time with my favorite human has been great.  With this exclusive mentality, it’s rather amazing we’ve made any friends at all.  But we have.  And those friends are funny, interesting and exceptionally kind.  I will miss them.

Weird Pride

The West is weird.  And that’s pretty cool.  It’s fun that pretty much any fashion, any comment, and herb goes here.  Although it has made for some strange run-ins with the Odd, I’ve enjoyed the open mindedness (mostly) found along the Pacific coast.   What else would you expect from Sasquatch territory?

Eagles

Our most frequent visitors this year have been deer, herons, hummingbirds and magnificent eagles – and the occasional orca popping by.  We have been truly spoiled by nature. JD has been on a quest to take that perfect eagle photo since he arrived.  Considering there’s a nest in our front yard, you’d think it’d be easy to capture our national bird on film.  But they taunt him.  The swoop and swirl like a giddy circus act, until the camera comes out.  Then – whoosh! – they’re gone!  This winged coy play finally concluded just in time for us to start packing. Take that, you photogenic feather brains!

Oh, the Places Yet to Go!

Our day and weekend trips show off just the tip of the iceberg of what this area of the world has to offer.  I’m happy with how we’ve used our brief time here.  We’ve gotten to know our itty bitty town and seen much of the immediate surroundings.  We leave having visited PA, PT, Olympic National Park, Rialto, Neah Bay, Forks, Poulsbo, Gig Harbor, Seattle, Portland, (San Francisco), San Juan Islands, Leavenworth, Vancouver, Victoria, Banff and, of course, Sicamous.  But we leave without having seen so many extraordinarily beautiful places.  Looks like we’ll have to come back to visit!

That View

House, oh house, how I love thee.  This has been the best house I’ve lived in since I was a kid and the best home JD and I have shared.  The small simplicity of our 800 square foot cottage on the ocean still feels like a surreal gift.  We now expand to bigger family house with play space for Roger and several thousand extra square feet.  We welcome the More that’s coming, but take a moment to value the freedom of Less we’ve had this year; where weekends start whenever we choose to get up and include breakfast smoothies on our deck looking out over that show-stopping view.

Washington, you’ve been terrific.  Thank you for a great year!