Two Short Days in the Emerald City

A couple of weekends ago, I jaunted up to Seattle for a weekend. It was great to smell the northwest air yet again, to be in the Emerald City, to spend some time with family and friends.

But the magic began before I landed Friday night. As the plane descended into Seattle, the clouds were bathed in a warm, orange glow from the setting sun, accentuating both their texture and softness. I thought, "Ah what the @#$%, I'll take some cliche out-the-airplane-window shots." But by the time I'd dug my camera out from under the seat, the warm sun was too low, and all I could capture was a hazy, cold, white and blue vista of some mountain peaks sandwiched between two cloud layers.

Below the two upper layers of clouds but above the bottom layer, a gorgeous sunset came into view beneath the pale cottony scene from which we'd just descended. That sun which had descended too low for the warm orange glow was now in a fiery red blaze on the horizon. I figured they were probably not seeing this from the ground, so I whipped out my camera again just in time to snap a couple of shots before it was gone.



Just after this, we passed through the lowest cloud layer, and sure enough, underneath, Seattle was a drab grey. No surprise there. No sign of the amazing sunset that had everyone in the plane pointing out the window. But the fact that I was descending into my second home countered any disappointment.

When I arrived, Kim picked me up from the airport, and as it turned out, Maw arrived right after I did, and Erik was a bit late on his way to the airport, so Kim picked up her, too, and we met Erik in Factoria at Kung Ho, the best little hole-in-the-wall Chinese place I've eaten at. I picked up a dish of the world's best lemon chicken and some hot and sour soup, and Kim got sweet and sour chicken. Then Kim and I headed south for an evening at Matt & Steph's place.

Joe and Stacey also met up at Matt and Steph's. We spent a typical evening chatting endlessly about politics, religion, and less controversial topics like Dolly Parton, the Cat Man, SNL, Shakespeare and the praiseworthiness of Meet the Robinsons, which led to me confessing I had not yet seen it, despite a friend's recommendation (due in part to the small but entertaining role of Jamie Cullum, a favorite musician of mine). Matt then looked at me and said, "When do you need to go to sleep?" I looked at the clock, which indicated it was somewhere around 1:00 am, if I remember right. I said something like, "Are you proposing...?" Yup. He hopped up and grabbed the DVD and put it in. We watched the whole thing, and I was "home" to Erik & Pam's place by sometime after 3:00 am. I'm nearly 30 and watching Disney flicks on a whim at 1:00 am right after philosophical and political conversation. I like my friends.

The next morning was the baptism. It was a nice service with plenty of tasty refreshments (always a highlight of a good Mormon function). Of course, some refreshments proved more popular than others. The juxtaposition of an empty Oreo box and a bowl full of broccoli proved too good to pass up.



The girls played and ran around the stage in various combinations of colored lights which was, again, too tempting for this somewhat experimental novice photographer to pass up. The results were varied, some of them whimsical and others creepy. These ones count as creepy.



After the baptism, we headed back to the homestead for some chili, some flying chair, and games like hide and seek, which are always good times. We also got into an entertaining ol' Jacobsen debate about UI alum Palin's preparedness for the office of Vice President or even *gulp* President. Also good times. What's especially fun is reminding one of the debaters of how she voted. *wink*

Afterwards, it was off to U-Village to meet up with Justin, where we found a friend of his at work, and during her break we all went to H&M because I was surprised to see one in the Seattle area. Then Clint, Zeke, Justin, and I ate at Bambuza (mmmm, ginger chicken pot) and jetted back to Justin's place for a small get-together. A couple more people came. Then a couple more. Then like 5 more. Wait, small get-together? Justin shrugged and said, "I didn't think they'd all come." I laughed and said it was fine. Oddly, I was in the mood for a good ol' fashioned Mormony game night with lots of people. It was a very fun night of intense Nertzness, hot cookies, and entertaining running charades.

Sunday consisted of church, followed by a very brief visit to Kim and Stacey's new pad, followed by time with the fam at Erik & Pam's, including some serious Blokus action, and then off to the airport to head back to SLC. While I never get to spend quite enough time with everyone I want to spend time with, this visit was one of my favorites in a while. My main regret: I once again failed to take any pics with friends. Next time.