After fielding a number of worried phone calls last night from people who were worried about how I was coping, I decided to send out a message to the list that tells everyone I'm fine.
Yes, the shooting that took place in Seattle yesterday happened about a third of a mile away from me. Yes, that was the neighborhood I work in that was being searched.
All day yesterday there were police helicopters circling over Fremont, at least three and sometimes four or five of them. I spent some time listening to the police scanner over the Internet, following their progress. The streets were quieter than they normally are. People hurried down the streets to get to their destinations, and almost all of the faces were ones I recognized as working in the area.
Occasionally, a cop on a motorcycle or in a car would drive by slowly, looking at everyone and everything. It was drizzling all day yesterday, and the helicopters would disappear and reappear in the low clouds. The noise of the choppers was ever-present.
The atmosphere was fearful and a bit resigned. Fremont/Wallingford has long been a little island of sanctuary; isolated from the rest of the city by a geographic oddity, the things that plague the neighborhoods on the other side of Lake Union don't touch us nearly as deeply as elsewhere. Fremont is a gentrifying artist's republic, long known as a good place to live, work, and go to school.
We're all a little bit shaken this morning. They haven't found the shooter, yet. Our little republic has been shaken to the core; this is something that we never would have imagined happening here.
We know better, now.
But I'm fine, really. Remember, I grew up in a city where violence was, if not a part of my daily life, enough of a presence that I learned how to cope with it. I know it can happen to me, because it has, and that's all right.
It's scary, yes. We have no motive for the crime. None of the surviving victims knew the shooter. We have no good descriptions of him, we have no idea if he's still in the area.
The perfect multiple murder.
What do you want to bet they never catch him?
I'm sitting here eating an Asian pear. This is really amazing. The flesh is light, sweet, and exquisitely crisp, and the flavor is light and not overwhelming. I'm not fond of the texture of most pears, but this is really amazingly good.I'd forgotten about the pleasures of being on the diet I've designed for myself. Crunchy vegetables, and tasty fruit. Spicy beef jerky. Cracking open pistachios with my tongue.
The key is to enjoy everything, slowly, and to listen to the body when it needs food. When I'm hungry, I can ask myself, "Am I hungry? Am I bored and wanting to eat to distract myself? Am I thirsty? What am I hungry for?"
Being able to go grocery shopping is going to improve my diet to no end, I can tell. Yesterday, on a whim after work, I went to Archie McPhee's. While I was there, I stopped at the liquor store for amaretto, tequila, and rum. And on the way home from there, I decided, that I needed to go grocery shopping. So I went.
Before the car, when I wanted to go grocery shopping, I had two choices.
One, I could go home, get my trusty all-terrain shopping cart, and put it and myself on the bus. I'd go shopping, wait for the bus home, haul the groceries on the bus, and then haul the groceries down to my house from the bus stop. This took about 3 hours, total.
Two, I could order from HomeGrocer. This didn't take very long at all, but I'd have to wait for a couple of days to get my groceries.
But this time, I drove into the parking lot and parked my car. I bought groceries without worrying about how heavy they were, and I bought a week's worth rather than two. I got them bagged up in paper bags, took them out to my car, and drove home. this was so simple when compared to the work I used to have to go through...I'm just boggled. And I got a new ice cube bin, some ice cube trays, and a new pitcher.
Life is good.
This weekend, I will be cleaning. Yes. My house is still over the line from acceptable to too dirty to deal with. I'll also need to go pick up a couple of things from Target and Ikea (shelves, mostly) so that organization can be accomplished.
And then I break out the vinegar and oil soap.
Muahahaha.
[the fridge fairies came last week and cleaned out the fridge. I think it was Roomie. Thank you, Roomie!]
Best reason have Windows Media Player:
Police scanners on the Internet.
how goes the war?
Transporting Secret Weapons in the form of pistachio nuts in the Secret Industrial Lunchbox.
