Seattle – A love affair still flickering?

Oh Seattle how you toy with my heart.  You let me down more than once when I loved you so:

Beckie and I on our way to Top Pot for the 87th time.

TIME NO. 1    Last winter I had so many plans to explore your different eclectic neighborhoods like Capitol Hill, Ballard, West Seattle, etc.  Drink your amazing microbrews and catch up with long lost friends.  Go snowboarding a couple of times.  Basically take advantage of all the wonderful things you have to offer.  But instead mother nature dumps what has to be the worst snowstorm ever in your existence.  And you are so ill-prepared with your environmentally conscious but civically irresponsible sanding (no salt!), lack of plows, and befuddling bus snow schedule/routes that I am instead isolated from anything further than walking distance from the View Ridge neighborhood. 

Instead of hitting the Comet Tavern or Fiddler Inn, I have to settle for a daily diet of coffee and donuts at Top Pot, the one NOT STARBUCKS coffee shop within walking distance.  Rather than run around the Sand Point Golf Course with it’s amazing views of the Cascade mountain range and Lake Washington, I can only run on the treadmill in the basement (which by the end of the 2 weeks I feel like I have the knees of a 65 year old arthritic woman) while watching Winter Storm Watch 08 news coverage.  The only friend I am able to spend any sort of time with is my old buddy Beckie who also is snowbound in the neighborhood for holidays.  Our days consist meeting up for a quick walk to Top Pot or nearby University Village with her older brother, where we try to fill each other in on any sort of neighborhood gossip our mothers have passed along (which really is nothing more juicy than landscaping projects or who got a new pet kitty).  Because my parents still do not believe in cable TV, I also get a lot of reading done; this is the one highlight from Christmas 08.  Definitely no trips to the mountain to snowboard.

 

TIME NO. 2   I come home in August to go to a childhood friend’s wedding.  All summer, my parents and all other

What I THOUGHT I was getting myself into...

Seattleites alternate between gushing and complaining about the amazing and hot summer mother nature is bestowed upon you.  June in NY was abysmal.  The wettest on record.  I am beyond excited to be in your presence in August, as this is usually the nicest month of the year and there is nothing like Seattle on a gorgeous sunny day.  But you fail me AGAIN.  The 5 days I am in town you are so dreary that my daily runs and grande coffees do nothing to combat my glazed over eyes and lethargy.  I can do nothing to stay awake and alert and am just a mound of matter, taking up space.

Seattle, after this trip I realized I must break up with you.  When I moved to the tri-state area six years ago I figured that we would maintain a long-distance relationship, then be together again in the near future.  But since then, things have changed.  We have grown in different directions and are no longer right for each other.  New York makes me happy in ways you have not in a very long time.  You are so beautiful and there is no place I’d rather be than with you when the sun is shining.  I love your proximity to outdoor sports and that you are annually awarded Most Literary City.  But your incessant rain drizzle and constant overcast dreariness beat me down.  Moreover, the Seattle Freeze freaks me out. 

...not this.

And where is everyone?!  You’re too damn quiet and empty.  New York may have more extreme season and temperature swings, but at least the sun peaks out more than once every two months and a couple inches of snow still means business as usual.  Furthermore, there is no “NY Freeze.”  People may be more abrupt, but that means no passive-aggressiveness; much easier to figure out where someone stands. With that said, I would still like to maintain a friendship, if you are willing.

…

Well Seattle, I’ll have to admit.  I was not too excited to grace you with my presence this holiday season.  Still feeling vulnerable from our last two in-person meetings.  However you seemed to be on your best behavior and showed an effort in trying to make things work:

The Olympics

- AMAZING weather.  So clear, crisp and sunny.  Staring at the snow-covered Olympics while I walked the 3 miles to my aunt and uncle’s house in Greenlake Christmas morning, or glancing at the Cascades on my daily morning run through the golf course, I cannot believe I grew up in such a beautiful part of the country.

-FANTASTIC food.  Dinners at Bastille in Ballard (French) and Hudson’s (gastropub with an extensive local and import beer list) in Roosevelt/Lake City were the most satisfying meals I’ve had in a loooong time.  I feel like I’ve seen numerous foodie shows on the Food Network and Travel Channel about Culinary Seattle and you did not disappoint.  Such fresh, eclectic combinations of ingredients.  Oh I am already looking forward to where I will eat when I next visit you.

-Running outside!  I NEVER run outside in NY; it’s either too hot, too cold, or just plain ugly and crowded.  Instead it’s wake up too early and fight for an elliptical machine.  And wow, upon getting back into my NY routine, I realize how much harder running hills outside for 25ish mins is compared to 30 mins on the elliptical.

-Snowboarding!  One day at rainy but snow covered Crystal Mt and one day at icy but beautiful Stevens Pass was two more great days than I got all of last year.

-ALL of my Christmas shopping done in 3 hours flat!  And it was so painless!  No elbowing pushy people, standing in crazy long lines that wind out the door.  Northgate mall was almost eerily quiet.  So easy.

-I even made a day trip to Portland and was reminded of how much I love it.  A lot like Brooklyn, without the overbearing Manhattan in the near distance.

Seattle, while we have made amends, I still don’t know if I can ever totally trust you.  Yes, I love your food and your local beers and coffees, and the friends and family in the area, but how do I know you will not revert back to your old ways?  And regardless, my heart is now with New York.  I cannot turn my back on a city that has given me so much: a great group of friends, plenty of sports leagues to occupy my free time, a job I enjoy going to every day, the ability to comfortably not own a car,  However, you have earned back my respect.  And just know this, deep down I will always love you.  Who knows, maybe instead of someday moving to Brooklyn when I’ve had enough of cramped Manhattan apartments I still will be back with you?  Or nearby Portland?

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