Old Folks Say It Best: Tips for Staying Sunny in the Pacific Northwest

1) Whiten Your Teeth
with the great and astounding abundance of good red wines, great coffee and coffee shops, dark beers and beets beets beets, a good thing to remember is: brush brush brush... then whiten.
2) Add Some Color to That Quinoa
the almost grossly glorious are the greens, yellows and varieties of reds one can find at their local supermarche as well as at the famously fantastic Farmers' Market in downtown Olympia.
3) Rise and Shine, Skip the Worm
waking up early in this glorious state of Washington affords you much more than extra sunshine: it gives you a valid excuse to drink fantastic coffee All Day Long, a reason to walk the dogs in the mist and start both of your days off with the right foot soaked and the left brain smiling, it allows you to watch as seals swim past on their daily route to the schools awaiting the chase and, most importantly, you get to watch as swallows dive and play and toussel one another in loving reaches and teasing swooshes.
4) Adages Add Up
its important, when living in such lush greens and heavy greys and dark deep blues, to remember that it is solely your responsibility to keep your chin up, even if its consequently dripping rain all down your shirt. with those heavy, rain laden clouds, comes the duty to smile that (bright white, see above) smile and remember to look past the torrential downpour that is upon you and look to the silver lining ; to remember that very shortly after you've decided to take in the lush beauty, and accept that nature is nature and will undoubtedly rain whether you like it or not, that the rainbows, those glorious, goodness-inspiring, warmth-proving rays of life are going to be in your face and no matter how dreary the day was or how dreary you are being, those belts of joy will reach you, dry you off and stretch that smile right across those pearly whites of yours.



I feel like myself again, happy, free, capable, in love, with Ryan, with life, with everything. Its good to be back and be a stranger not to myself, my friends or my family, but to a whole new society, a new type, a new neighborhood. Because, as many of you know, I'm only a stranger for a short period of time. Before you know it, I'll be hosting neighborhood parties, serving bowls at the food bank and making friends with bus drivers.

Away we go!