LEAVING WASHINGTON (AGAIN)

POST # 42


It's just after 5am as I begin to write these words. I hadn't planned on getting up this early, but there must be something in this blogger's mind that causes him to want to try and get the words written before the day is out, so here I sit for the final time in front of the computer screen, with the letters flopping onto the page faster than my mind can come up with the next word, especially at this early hour.

My human brain would like to think that this morning, Tika dog would be having a tear in her eye, because of my imminent departure later this morning, but in fact she's sound asleep at the moment in dog dream land, probably dreaming about her owner, Mary who will be arriving back home later today. I am very sure that they will both be happy to see each other soon and it would be nice to be around to see the reunion, however that won't be the case this morning. In a few hours from now I will be boarding the Amtrak Cascades train for my return journey to Vancouver to begin my next housesit assignment.

As I sit here and reflect back on my time in Everett, I am happy with my thoughts of what has been my life since arriving here on September third. There have been plenty of good things that have happened over this time period, some of which I couldn't even have anticipated at the beginning. I've made some new friends along the journey, and that has to be a good thing.

During my time here I did have a car at my disposal, however I also had a bike to ride. For those who know me well, they can already guess at what my preferred mode of transport has been during my stay. But one day this past week I actually did take the opportunity to use the car and went for a drive to the historic little town of Snohomish which is a short distance east of my current location. Snohomish is an example of what I think small town USA would have been like a hundred years ago, with a wonderful main street, with all sorts of shops to look through. Naturally I took Tika along for the ride so she could have a bit of a new adventure, at least a new adventure for us anyhow. I tried to make sure to walk on the shady side of the street, in order to keep Tika as cool as possible, which I hope she appreciated. With a good looking dog like her, virtually everyone that we walked past would smile and make a comment about her, and the most frequent comment was "What a beautiful looking dog." Each time we would stop, and say hello, and it was great to meet a few of the Snohomish locals. One of the men who stopped to say hello, had two canes to support himself. He would have been much younger than me, and like me, he was wearing shorts. The reason he needed the canes to walk, was that from just below his hips, he had two artificial legs. Even though I was curious to find out just how he managed to end up that way, I didn't ask, as one never knows what sort of emotions might be stirred up by such an innocent inquiry. But as we said our goodbyes, I walked away thinking for the umpteenth time just how fortunate I am to still have both of my legs.

The afternoon in Snohomish was a very sunny one, like they have all been since I arrived here in Washington, and soon enough Tika was looking like she had had her fill of walking for the day so we headed back home for our late afternoon naps. That is one of the bonuses of being a petsitter, you get to have an afternoon nap if you feel like it.

It's still dark out, and Tika is snoozing peacefully on the back porch. She'll be that way for some time yet. I on the other hand must get this rather short blog entry finished, and then continue my packing up in anticipation of my departure to the train station. One more "walk around" to see that everything is in order here, and to make sure that I haven't left anything behind. But when one travels as light as I do, it doesn't take very long to pack or look around.

My hope is that when Mary arrives home that she will (a) find the house in order and (b) find a happy dog. Maybe that order should be reversed. In any event from my point of view, it has been another successful house/pet sit, and I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to take part in it.

Friends of Mary's have offered to pick me up this morning which is very kind and generous of them, and it certainly makes my life easier. So I had best gulp down the last few sips of coffee, and get ready to go.

I'll leave Everett, but I'll take away some very warm memories, and what is life, if not a collection of memories?

The thinking and wandering will continue next week on the other side of the 49th parallel.

Happy trails.

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

Vancouver PS: An uneventful and very relaxing train journey back to Canada. And now I have my bike back so it's time to get off of this library computer and gets some riding in before the sun goes down. Sweet memories of Everett lingering in my mind.