Dampness in Seattle

Now that Mom has left us, there is an opportunity for travel.  I don't have a passion for travel per se, but I do desire to connect with the people I love.  Our first trip of the year came up this past week as Layne and I found our way to Seattle, to see daughter Jessica and her family.  When we fly, it is always stand-by on United.  I'm still mad at our airline for all the mistreatment of their employees and retirees, but enjoy our remaining perk of free travel, albeit on standby.  Butterflies live in my stomach with each effort at air travel, as we never really know if we are going or not.  Thursday morning included plenty of apprehension as all flights for the day to Seattle were oversold, except the 7 AM  flight, which had ONE seat.  We got up at 3:30 AM to try for that flight.  Seems a bit early, doesn't it?  But taking BART to the airport involves an hour and a half travel time, and we arrived an hour early.  It makes for a long day and we were so hoping that our sacrifice of sleep would pay off.

As is often the case with early flights, there were lots of no-shows.  That opened things up for us.  Not only did we get seats, but so did all the other stand-bys.  Blessed again.  With this set-up I always measure our success in flying with the Lord's blessing.  Somehow we were meant to visit at this particular time.  This approach in my thinking helps me to make the most of things.

We had in-depth visits with both Jessica and her husband, Chris.  I felt that we understood their hearts during this visit.  Exchanges with the kids were more abbreviated.  This trip seemed to be for Chris and Jes.  Layne spent lots of time in Jessica's bookstore, as he is her book keeper.  It's a charming little used bookstore.  Jessica knows how to decorate and Chris knows how to provide the infrastructure needed.  The store has been open for a year and a half now.  They are giving it two years to turn a profit.  What is the future for books?  They will not go away entirely, but we all wonder how many will be displaced by technology.  What is the future for bookstores like theirs?  Jessica loves everything about books; their touch, smell, readability.  She glows in their midst and loves being surrounded by them.  That's a perfect fit for a bookstore.  Now if it can just become profitable.

Seattle provided its usual winter fare:  clouds, rain and mist.  In spite of it, we walked to the bookstore and back, taking an hour on the way there.  Wow.  I could really feel my "out-of-shapeness".  My shins are sore from the effort.  The mist wrecked my fluff "do" as well but I convinced myself that I didn't care about  such vain concerns.  During the walk anyhow.  For some reason I have a thing about hair.  I want it to be just right all the time.  How silly is that?  Silly indeed yet hard to let go of.

While we were there we went to a movie with Chris and Jes that I can recommend.  It was called, "The Artist".  Apparently it is a limited release, but so different and so good, with a positive message.  All in all we enjoyed our time in Seattle.  Our trip home was easy; there were lots of open seats on our flight.  So many in fact that we flew First Class!  That rarely happens on domestic flights these days.  We felt indulged and blessed.  The remainder of this month promises to be full of activity and yet another trip, as we prepare to visit our kids in Taiwan.  More on that as it unfolds.

Chris and Jessica's kids are below:

This is Miles, 10 this month, relaxing in the family room.

Gemma is the oldest at 11.

Here is Peyton, 7, in the middle of some chatter.