Today my Tourist visa expires. I've had six months to gawk at the beauty of the landscape and to not know where I'm going and that grace period ends today. This morning at the bus stop I had to pretend I was squinting down E. John St. in search of the 43, and not gazing lovingly at the Space Needle and mountains as usual.
Not to say that I'm officially a Local, either. I think you have to survive at least one winter here before you can get that badge of honor. People ask me, "How do you like Seattle?" and I always say, "I love it. I can't get enough of it." And when I tell them I arrived at the end of June, they have a smug look on their face. "I'll ask you again in March."
I don't know. Granted it's only the end of December, but I've yet to see all this gloom and doom everyone's been threatening me with for the past two years. Yesterday was our shortest day. The sun rose at 8:00 and set at 4:15. Guess what? I was at work under fluorescent lights from 8:45 until 5:30! And in Boston, the sun rose at 7:15 and set at 4:20. And guess what? I still would have been at work under fluorescent lights from 8:45 until 5:30. And besides, Boston winters are not especially known for their ovewhelming cheeriness. This knowledge was reinforced after talking to Mon Frere this week while he was attempting to navigate I90 in a snowstorm, when all the Massholes in SUVs with snow tires forget how to drive.
The secret is that, yes, it rains almost every day. Take yesterday for example: it rained from 6:00 am until 7:00 am, and then was 50 degrees and sunny all day. But the weather report says "rain".
Oh wait – I’m not supposed to tell East Coasters any of this. That was part of my Orientation. I was sworn to secrecy so that all of you Northeasterners bragging about your extra 45 minutes of meager winter daylight stay on that coast and we can have this gorgeous city to ourselves.
See, even though I have not earned the title of Local, I do hold the title of Resident, which enables me to refer to Seattlites as "we" and all the Northeasterners "you".
That said, I miss the snow a little bit. The Boy was in New York for Christmas and I was fleetingly jealous of the negative temperatures and falling snow. And I miss Harvard Sq. at Christmas time. And gingerbread muffins at Au Bon Pain. And walking into the Someday Cafe in Davis Sq. with my glasses steaming up to grab my free espresso.
But the Space Needle has a Christmas tree on top of it, and somehow that makes it okay.
RSS: subscribe to feed