Well, I've been out here in the fine state of Washington for a little over a week now. Mountains, waters, rainforests, and a very progressively-minded metropolis that seems to coexist relatively well (for a post-industrial cityscape) with its natural surroundings.

I'm about ten or fifteen miles out of Seattle, at the foot of the mountains and surrounded by what I can only describe as "evergreen jungle." It is really beautiful out here, but the commute into Seattle isn't great, with or without a car (the latter, in my case). I'll be looking for a place around Capitol Hill, the U-District, or another neighborhood in that area in a few months, exactly when and where being determined by my need to balance the employment game and other money matters, working on the current house I'm staying at, and the if and when of Mike's emigration from Minneapolis.

The was wonderful for most of my first week, hardly any rain, often sunny, and 50-60 degree temperatures. It seems we are approaching the true rainy season now, though. Still, it seems to me that the thousand shades of gray interact often quite dramatically with the green, green, and green that prevail even in winter. That is, when you can see anything at all through the mist and rain...

Much love to my "third coast" amigos in the other Emerald City (ala Jozef) and Ill-waukee. I miss you all and hope you will visit when I get my own place.