Monday, June 26, 2006

Where the Wobblies were

So, it’s afternoon here in the south of California, and I’m feeling euphoric excitement cut with anxiousness.

The streets are lit orange.
Road-sauteed skunk is in the air.
Russian neighbors are talking grammatically-altered baby-speak to my brother’s dog, fire engines are battling regurgitated free-styles in Spanish, an original coal-fueled, model train is being ignited in the driveway next door, mid-modification-revving engines are groaning twilight attempts at breath along my street,
and I’m…

well…, I’m trying to digest the fact that myself and Mister E. are on our way to Seattle Washington in less than 24 hours with only a few backpacks, some love, a coupla bottled cliches and no plans.

I guess it shouldn’t be all that new or scary…

Afterall, I’ve done tougher things. I’ve lived and worked in countries where I didn’t speak the language; places where they fed me things like guinea pig and horse sashimi and bowed profusely at me while I did my grocery shopping. I’ve worked with inmates in Ecuadorian jails, swapped gambling leads with sun-baked seven year olds at a kick-boxing match in Thailand, dodged zapoteco pick-up lines in the back of a flat-bed and tried to order a black coffee in Starbucks without getting laughed at…

I should be able to handle a simple move.

…especially to such a beautiful place that Tom Robbins had this to say about:

“I’m here for the rust and the mildew, for webbed feet and twin peaks, spotted owls and obscene clams (…), blackberries and public art (…), for the rituals of the potlatch and the espresso cart, for bridges that are always pratfalling into the water and ferries that keep ramming the dock. I’m here because the Wobblies used to be here, and sometimes in Pioneer Square you can still find bright-eyed old anarchists singing their moldering ballads of camaraderie and revolt. I’m here because someone once called Seattle “the hideout capital of the U.S.A.,” a distant outpost of a town where generations of the nation’s failed, fed-up, and felonious have come to disappear. Long before Seattle was “America’s Athens”, it was America’s Timbuktu.”

Yup, it definitely sounds like my kind of place! …Webbed feet, “moldering ballads,” Wobblies and failed, fed-up felons. Ooh la LA! Come to me, Seattle!

11 comments:

senor puppet said...

hey are ya sure about seattle? that place sounds kinda weird!

Edward J. Taylor said...

Seattle rules dude! It's near the top of my list of places I love, but could never live. (I'm still wringing out from the 'Nog. No good beach weather, yet. Alas...)

Meet me at the Soundgarden. I'll be the one hoeing with a didge...

dingobear said...

Have a great time in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, -c!

(and don't forget to write about it if you get the chance)

Winston said...

I've heard Portland is the city to tackle if tackling's your game...Seattle's too expensive with Microshaft diddling and Bill Gates McSwindling.

Frustrated Writer said...

you will be able to get black coffee at a starbucks in seatle without any giggling, so travel on! I am a bit envious of your travels. I think I will have to plan a trip to someplace exotic too... like Mobile Alabama. Yeah, that's the ticket.

I think Billy Bob Desoto had this to say about Mobile...

..."The people were nice, the weather was hot enough to scald the belly of a lizard sitting on a ice cube. There sure were a lot of poor lookin' huntin' dogs laying around..."

Yuppers, sounds exotic to me. We'll have to compare notes.

Nico said...

You could always look up my bro' up in 'couver, now that you will be in my old neck of the woods. And should I eventually ever make it home, and you are still around, we'll have to meet up and hang out whilst trying to run and hide from the gourmet coffee baristas...

-c said...

senor puppet- yup...a kinda weird place for two kinda weird folks :)

ted- See you there! I'll be the one, poking you in the cheek to try and mess up your circular breathing.

cap'n rich- awe..c'mon, schmoozing and sk'daddling go well together! ... And, Mr E says "Lucky?! Man, this guy must not know you, -c..."

dingobear- thanks! I swear I'll sit down to write soon... just apartment shopping now, though...

dunzo- yeah, Portland is actually the back-up plan for when we run into trouble with the law in WA.

frustrated- ha ha! somehow, I think you're gonna have me beat with your tales of Mobile. I'll give it a good go though.

nico- perfect! Number 24 on my "To Do before I'm 30" List was: Trot away from coffee baristas with Nicole! Hurry home, so my dreams don't pass me by!

dingobear said...

Apartment shopping? You're moving to Seattle?

Winston said...

A word to the wise -c...don't tangle with the law.

-c said...

dingobear- yup. We are thinking about permanently moving here. For now, we are just staying a month, feeling out the city and checking the job prospects. It's a pretty cool place, and, hey, I'll be closer to Canada :)

dunzo- no worries. As hardcore as I may seem, I keep my nose pretty clean.

dingobear said...

Awesome, -c ... yep, Seattle is so close it pretty much is Canada! Well, whether you decide to stay for one month or longer, hope it's everything you and E dream of.