The New Digs

We've moved into a new apartment. I officially live in Seattle, and not just in the general suburban vincinity. Unlike my friend Jake, my apartment is decked out in early nineties aesthetic unoffensiveness. Seattle apartments seem to often lack the toasty brown seventies vibe because the city was purchased from the Canadians by Boeing in the late 1970s, and later acquired in a friendly takeover by Microsoft. The walls are white, the carpet khaki, and the faucets water-conserving. The walls are lined with thin windows designed to suck in all possible morning partly-cloudiness, and my kitchen ledge appears to be specifically designed to house ripening avocados. My books are sitting on semi-wood Ikea shelves. It's tiny, airy, relaxed and unpretentious, ironically or otherwise. I like it.

I even like the views. To the east, it's the sprawling side of a four-story Target/Ross complex, the tops of nearby two-story apartment buildings, and our complex's heated outdoor pool (sounds swank, but it's realistically Motel 6). Someone has take the time to plant many deciduous trees on the property, so we will be treated to the changing of the seasons. To the west, approximately 150 yards away, is Interstate 5, rambling on to Vancouver. Some people might hate the sounds of a highway nearby, but it isn't like stop-and-go suburban thoroughfares. It produces a constant, lulling hum that sounds like a constant stream of water and wind lapping against our basement. It reminds me of living on the corner of Lawrence and Western in Chicago. Constant noise, if not grating and irratic, can feel like evening company...quiet is much more isolating.

I had an amazing time in Iowa and Chicago...so much so the return to Seattle was really discumbobulating, as if months had been forgotten and needed to be relearned. It was a gentle learning curve though. I'm already popping into the 156th Ave. (Microserf's fans, take note) Trader Joes and filling my kitchen with polenta and steamed artichokes. I'm making plans to paint, and to have parties. To tuck in.