Four nights and four friends

It was good to visit Ben. He met me at the ferry terminal in Port Hadlock, and drove me out to the place he was 'bus-sitting.' We sat around a fire, drank beer (a satisfying, but delicate thing to do after all that biking...I drank enough to get sick for the first time) and caught up...it had been almost a year since we talked.

The next day Ben showed me around the wooden boat school he was attending. It's amazing! Clearly, everyone there loved what they were doing. There were a couple people like Ben, who loved boats and were hoping that this school would give them enough skill to make a living working on boats, but many simply wanted to spend a year working on boats whether it led to a career or not. It's always fun to see people doing what they love.

It was also fun to see people finding a way to do what they loved...whether it meant renting a yurt, living in a decrepit sailboat that they got for free, or bus-sitting. I admire Ben for seeing what improves his life and not wasting time on other things...At least, that's my understanding of him.

From Ben's, I bicycled down to Whidbey Island and caught a ferry over to Seattle to visit my Aunt and Uncle. They are some of the most fun people I've ever met: when I was little, I remember lying on their floor with my shirt off, while my uncle stood on a chair and sprayed redi-whip into my mouth...I also remember when my uncle asked me to give my Aunt's engagement ring to her and I slipped it into my underwear...probably not how he expected me to carry it, but I didn't have pockets!

This time, they met me with ribs: delicious, tender, moist, cooked-all-day ribs. There was corn on the cob too, and bread, coleslaw and pie...and of course, plenty of redi-whip. Once, when my dad attempted to turn down some piece of food by saying "I don't need that," my Aunt replied, "This is the house of want, not the house of need!" Somehow, she seems to know what I want better than I do!

What great family...they even welcomed me like this!

The next day my Aunt gave me a tour of Seattle, dropping me off near the Pike Street Market while she went to a meeting, and then taking me up the Space Needle and through the Chihuly Glass exhibit. Both were amazing: from the Needle, my aunt gave me a visual tour of the city, pointing out places she used to live, and telling stories about her and my mom when they were in college. Appropriately placed at the base of the Space Needle, the glass exhibit seemed like it was from an alien world. Dramatic pointy spires of colorful glass erupted from the ground, and Dr. Seuss style trees with tall trunks and long wavy fronds grew from the lawn. Inside, flowers, bells and curly-cues tumbled on top of a brilliantly reflective black deck. Finally, out in the garden, enormous glass flowers grew from glass and steel vines, and framed the space needle perfectly overhead.

It's nice to know that my Aunt and Uncle will always be on my way home from school!

From my Aunt and Uncle's place, I went to visit a fellow Cornell runner named Chad. The last few days have been like a time machine: seeing Ben brought me back to my little league days, seeing my Aunt and Uncle simultaneously brought back memories from numerous moments throughout my life, and now seeing Chad brought me back to Cornell.

We went for a run down by the locks north of downtown Seattle, then went back to the house he lives in for dinner. A few other people came for dinner too, including Chad's girlfriend, housemates, and old cross country coach Doris Heritage, who happened to be a five time international cross country champion from 1967-1971.

The first time Chad introduced me to one of his friends as a Cornell cross country captain, I was kind of shocked: that seems so long ago, I'd almost forgotten. Then he introduced me to Doris: "This is Chandler, Cornell cross country captain. Chandler, this is Doris...five time world champion." I had to laugh at that contrast!

Dinner is a blast; all of these people are happy and fun to be around, and after dinner Chad and I went down to climb at "Vertical World," a hobby both of us picked up since leaving Cornell.

By a remarkable coincidence, I learned that my friend Jonathan from Alaska happened to be in Seattle at the same time, and I managed to catch up with him just before leaving town the next day. By the time I got to his aunt's house where he was staying, he had to leave to catch a flight back to Sitka in ten minutes. But it was fun to see him anyway, and to meet the rest of his family.

The best part of my whirl wind tour through the Seattle area was seeing friends with such varied lifestyles all enjoying, and loving their life so well. From bus-sitting at wooden boat school to starting a career with Boeing to owning a house and enjoying an established career...everyone loved their life.