ConSynPro

Life continues to move quickly. Yesterday a venture into downtown Seattle to do some promotion ended up with varied success. Mild rain fell, but I pretended not to notice to seem more like a local. I hit a couple of shops, dropping off posters and delivering my spiel. Walking through Pike Place Market, the smells transported me to the scene of some harvest festival. I ended up popping downstairs into a bookshop, talking to the seller QN and picking up a pocket-sized ‘Call of the Wild.’ Returning upstairs, I perused the vegetables – I was loving this experience, but was flying a bit high – I think the vendor over-charged me but I didn’t realize this until back at home. NM dropped by in the afternoon and took Paco the dog as we strolled to the Madrona Farmer’s Market; the sticker shock, combined with my distrust from the previous shopping experience, made me think I’d better just buy nothing and try to regroup. NM handed me the leash, and Paco stood there barking and meeting other dogs; I took his social skills as a good example. As dark clouds formed overhead and a light breeze pushed through the Market, NM mentioned that the downpour would soon follow – buy now or get ready to depart. We continued to Nora’s Woods, a single-plot park with ferns, roses, and other plants native to the Northwest – the dense greenery enveloped us as we wound the circular path and the rain’s intensity increased. Finally we scurried back; she to her car and I to the comfort of the 20’s style house. Later that night I took the bus downtown and walked North along the monorail tracks to the foot of the Space Needle at the Seattle Center. Event set-up began at 11pm, and about a half-dozen of us unloaded the truck, set up the tents and assembled the tongue-and-groove flooring for the weekend’s big event. Off duty at 4:30am, I walked clear across Seattle feeling like a salmon traveling upstream, working against the flow of the city and always uphill – I was turned around and discombobulated in urban eddies at times, but was able to identify a landmark every now and then as I tacked my way back. Finally, when a deep blue light showed the outline of the clouds in the sky, I locked on to the morning sun of the East, heading in this direction to First Hill and the sleepy rows of houses in Madrona. I entered the house, waking Paco who stirred and came out to have a moment in the yard in the silence. I crawled into bed as light filtered in through the window, my sore legs and feet breathing in relief as I clutched the soft pillows and set off into wonderful sleep.