Post from the Pacific Northwest

I am in Seattle this week, where Spring made an appearance, then fled as Winter came whistling back in:

Promising signs of warmer days to come are everywhere:

But right now it's 27 degrees outside at 10:00 in the morning. Eeeek!

I'm in Seattle to help Lovely Daughter #1 pack up. She's leaving her five Lovely Housemates and the cute house they all call home.

She's saying goodbye to moss and snow and the Cascades mountain range and quirky shops and coffee houses on every other corner and crisp, clean air:

There's lots of packing involved. Lots of boxes, too:

This is Sophie, one of the two cats that live in the house. LD #1 is going to miss her:

But right now there's too much to be done to linger on the goodbyes to come. We took the last bit of dry cleaning to the local laundry. They employ re-usable garment bags there, so there's almost no plastic consumed:

Genius idea, Seattle! When is Los Angeles going to get on the bandwagon and do this, too? (Do you hear me, L.A.?)

We got her car trip-ready at the local auto fix-it shop:

While she dealt with the business end of things, I admired the shop's impressive array of free candy and wall art:

With her little car tucked into the repair shop bay, we walked through her neighborhood. I saw cute fences:

And unusual cars:

(The quote on the side says, "Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe. --Tao.")

And cool park benches:

And stopped in my tracks at this kooky pairing. A store that sells vegan shoes AND chocolate? Sure, why not?

Nearby was....well, it wasn't a pet store, because it didn't sell kibble and cat sand and flea treatments. It sold things for people who adore their pets. This mug-with-a-pug caught my eye:

As did these adorable, dog-bedecked rain boots:

And this cute vinyl tote with a pug on it:

The air was still nippy and we were getting hungry, so we scurried home for a steaming bowl of LD's home-made chicken matzo ball soup:

...and then we spent all afternoon doing more sorting and tossing away and packing (you have to imagine that part--it looked a lot like the box photos, above.

By nightfall, we rewarded ourselves with a glass of wine and a delicious spinach-and-cheese fritatta, made with locally sourced, many-colored eggs:

Tomorrow: loading the storage unit!