I’ve decided to stay in Seattle for another day. It’s a lovely city but mostly I’m staying for friendship.
I woke up yesterday and took my time about leaving the house. Then I headed out the Wayward Café, a vegan restaurant that Anna recommended. I had a breakfast biscuit to die for. Light flaky biscuit, cheezey tofu and a side of kale. Delicious. The place was full of punk/hipster type folks who were a bit younger than me and I was there adding up totals for my unemployment paperwork. It’s been interesting to feel so much less punk/anarchist/alternative/etc on this leg of the trip. I suppose I was never really punk. I’ve always measured success by work. Was happy to feel settled. I suppose I was metal, kind of. There’s a lot less politics at a heavy metal show but there is still a tight community and sense of belonging. Now I’m just trying to shake of the feeling of being a square.
I went out to Seattle City Center and took pictures of the Space Needle. It wasn’t really that impressive but it was exciting to see it in persin. Kind of life the first time I saw the Golden Gate Bridge or the Statue of Liberty. I poked around the area, walked over to the Experience Music Project that’s housed in sort of a jumbled but beautiful building. As I walked over to take a closer look I saw a mess of bright orange lines and realized that there was a labyrinth laid out in front of the building.
Labyrinths are important to me. They have been since the 9th grade when I went to Grace Cathedral and walked one for the first time. It was such a deeply spiritual experience and writing just poured from me when I reached the center. Since then it has been a tool of prayer, surrender and grounding for me. In fact part of the reason I chose the college I did was because they had a labyrinth on campus. Usually when I walk it’s to try to let go of some hurt, to try and get grounded in my body and faith again. But as I walked this neon orange labyrinth, laid out in front of two main tourist attractions, just out there in the middle of everything, all I could pray was a thank you. Just again and again, thank you. Because it was a gift to see how the holy could be laid out right next to the day to day. Because I could feel all the blessings in my life. Because I felt connected. Because I watched as people were called to this sacred tool even though they had no knowledge of it. Because I was reminded how simple faith can be, how beautiful it can be.
After that I headed up to Capitol Hill, the queerish part of town. There were shops and restaurants. I stopped in Babeland to get some tips on where to go. It was a calm afternoon and I ended up resting in my car for a bit and chatting on the phone with a couple folks I really like. I didn’t feel rushed by the city, I felt calm and capable.
I headed down to Pike Place Market. It was sort of an insane market with produce, crafts, flowers and, yes, men who throw fish. It was nice to walk around but there wasn’t too much of interest. I met up with Anna and hir friend Julie and we poked around Left Bank Books and stopped at little bakeries from time to time. Anna showed me a place where you could taste free truffle oil and where to get a vegan cookie. Hir love of free samples surpasses even my own.
After we went to dinner at In The Bowl (yummy rice noodles with peanut tamarind sauce and a jungle themed bathroom that rivaled the one in Boise) we met Amy J at a queer bar called Unicorn. That’s right. A gay bar named Unicorn. It was pretty fabulous. And this wasn’t a pretty, pretty unicorn. This unicorn had edge. I drank a delightfully pink beverage named Unicorn Juice only to find out later that the actually name of the drink is Unicorn Jizz. It only made it slightly less appealing. We all sat around drinking, sharing various fried foods, and chatting. It was nice to get to know Amy J a little bit better and I was amazed at how well she and Anna blended. Two very different worlds coming together. I didn’t really know hir that well in SF but it was good to laugh and hang with hir. She’s good people. We rounded out the evening with a hot dog run and then gladly went home to go to sleep.
Today Anna called out of work and we’re gonna go gallivanting around town. Vegan doughnuts are the first stop and then who knows. The sun is already shining and I think it’s gonna be a good day.
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