New happenins in the great Northwest

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I miss everybody back East very much but have met some great people out here who have made me feel very welcome to celebrate with them. I was fortunate enough to have three separate Thanksgiving celebrations this year. It has been a glorious week of gluttony! My first celebration was at another co-op called the Oasis. The Oasis is a cultural hub for young progressives in the Bellingham, WA area. It was packed to the gills with friendly people and excellent food. On an average day there are about a dozen people living in the three story duplex style home. Every square inch of the house is put to good use; not to mention the front yard where an old school bus is a permanent fixture and residence for some of the folks. The meal was amazing, there was too much food to sample everything, but the organization was remarkable. In consideration of everyone's diverse eating restrictions all thirty-some dishes were labelled with ingredients. After stuffing ourselves, a surprisingly efficient assembly line formed to make short work of the mountain of dishes. With the dishes done and tables and furniture cleared out of the way the living room became a stage for an incredibly diverse selection of musicians. Starting with reggae the jam transitioned to bluegrass, folk, and rock. The house was brimming with energy and hippie love.
My second feast was on Thanksgiving day and I was lucky to spend it in Seattle with the amazingly talented Jerrett sisters. We had a delicious vegan meal, which seemed appropriate considering the amount of bird eaten at my other two feasts. While in Seattle we weaved our way through the tightly packed pike place market, where we saw a woman get chased with a fish. Then we made our way over to Starbucks corporate headquarters to meet Eileen's sister for lunch. Although a giant Starbucks siren's eyes glare out from the peak of the roof, the building wasn't quite the intimidating corporate castle I expected. It was a fairly modest-looking, large building with a pleasant interior, not much different from the inside of a Starbucks cafe. Throughout each floor there are coffee stations completely stocked with everything you'd find behind the counter at a Starbucks, which is all free for employees, not a bad..... perk? (this pun dedicated to Dave Ryan)
So my third and final Thanksgiving feast was here at the Woolley Mammoth. We hosted a pot-luck/ leftovers party for neighbors and friends complete with a turducken. For those who don't know, a turducken is a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken, mmmmmmmm turducken. (note: I had a vegan meal in here somewhere) It was great to see the Woolley Mammoth alive with people. This monstrous house is ideal for hosting such big gatherings and our turn out of about 35 people was just a fraction of the max occupancy we could potentially hold here. Nevertheless, it was a good size group for meeting new people and learning more about some of the happenings in this neck of the woods.
         
Besides all of the feasting and celebrating pace of life has been slow yet deliberate, introspective yet engaged. The culture of Northern Washington is unfolding to be very complex and different from the culture of Northern Virginia. Where Northern Virginia  has so much diversity and what seems like not enough time to explore and relate all of the extremes, Washington seems to have less cultural diversity and a more involved community. Or at least thats the impression I've gotten so far. I'm not saying that one is better than the other, just that this is what I've been looking for at this point in my life. A community that has the time to interact. Not too busy to be introspective. People's personal values seem to be a more prominent concern out here. Dogma has been cast aside and personal exploration and challenge is prevailing to be a stronger set-up. Its refreshing.
We had an unexpected visitor the other day. While I was sorting through rugs and blankets in the spare room, I heard a rustling up at the skylight. I looked up expecting to see a sparrow or a starling trapped in the room with me but was amazed to see a beautiful little owl! It frantically flapped around the room for about 5 minutes. After a few crashes into the wrong windows, I was able to coax him in the right direction and out he went.
   


I've been having a lot of fun playing with the video editor on my new laptop, so here's another video from the train ride, this is the portion of the ride across Washington.


Happy Birthday Chels!