Trinacria
Up at 4:15am Helsinki time (6 pm Olympia time). Veera accompanied me to the near-by bus stop to catch the first 615 back to the airport. I am so happy to have had this opportunity to reconnect with her, and to meet her family. The long line in front of the KLM desk made me glad I had checked my luggage already. Bought a coffee and downed the last of Eija’s Karjalanpiirakka before boarding the plane to retrace my flights to Amsterdam and then Seattle.
The flight to Seattle was interminable. My mind was still so busy going over the gamut of different experiences I could not sleep, I couldn’t write. The woman on the aisle promptly fell asleep and I could not get up and walk. It would seem like hours had passed yet the screen showing time to destination would drop by only 10 or 15 minutes.
Finally… We were in Seattle. It took an hour for the checked luggage to finally arrive on the luggage carousal. And going through customs I was forced to give up the milky white Weisswurst from Doris. Rats!
Cherie was waiting to drive me home. I talked her ear off. We stopped at the new licensed Dancing Goats in Lacey. Chris was there and it was good to see Windy and Lauren, former co-workers. The space was very comfortable. Had coffee and one of Lauren’s yummy scones. And we talked some more.
It was after 4:00 by the time Cherie dropped me at my doorstep. I could hear the little monsters, my two fur shedding year-old cats running to the door as I put the key in the lock. To date they have not developed the common cat trait of being miffed when I’ve been away for awhile and purred and enthusiastically furred my leg to welcome me. One does get attached.
Andreas and Muxia: Posing is not their speciality
Trudy had warned me that my left rear tire was completely flat, so I called AAA for some air and headed off to the local tire store where they replaced my tires.
Alley
En route to the tire store I checked to see if Trinacria, Olympia’s Sicilian restaurant, was open as it was Monday. Eugenio answered my knock at the alley door and assured me he would be open. There are not always a lot of customers on Monday’s, and he uses the time to prep for the week. I left the car to get repaired, walked along Budd Bay to Bayview for cards for ‘Thank Yous’, and then headed back to Trinacria. I’ve been thinking of it ever since Wolfgang, Doris and I ate at the little Sicilian restaurant in Berlin. I love the food here. Not to buck habit I had a glass of red wine and my fav, aglio e olio. Eugenio’s always warm welcome seemed like an extension of all of the other warm welcomes I’ve had recently. It was nice to be here (and good to see that it filled up as the evening went along.) As always after a trip, the things I love most about Olympia seemed fresh yet familiar. The yellowing of the trees along Capitol Way, the soft gray mist, a new mural on the side of “The Bread Peddler” building. The tide was high, and the boats along Budd Bay gently bumped the docks. There are salmon running under the 5th Street Bridge. It began raining harder while I was eating, and when I got home you could hear the rain on the roof. Wow, what an intense couple of weeks.
Promise of things to come