Home Sweet Home... Again

Let's just say it's been a good many years since this Bellevue resident has gotten out of town for the summer and for a bonafide vacation.

I gone for a brief five days and I knew Bellevue was home. How did I know?

I was ready to come back to the neighborhood that has become my favorite stomping ground for the past seven years.

I "missed" my morning walk at , leaf blowers and industrial lawnmowers and all -- like a REALLY significant other. I missed that wide amoebae-like expanse of grass and Sharon and Marianne and the little dogs that got karmically lucky (and so many of the dogs are white... Why is that?).

And oddly, I found myself feeling sentimental about the big orca at the waterpark that kids seem content to crawl up and slide down, endlessly. I remember watching the large pale green form get installed by crane summers ago. I said to Sharon, "Whatever is that?" She looked at me like I was from another country and said,"That is an orca..." OK, so I recognized it for what it was when it was painted black and white.  

And being out of town, I missed the . And I was in the mood for a free hot dog, darn it.

It was the sound of constant traffic and cable cars up California Avenue on the streets of San Francisco near Nob Hill that first got me missing my laid back Bellevue 'hood.

Granted there are presently the squeals of happy children on bikes and tricycles during the daylight hours in the parking lot of my complex and at the park to contend with, but once sunset is over, all grows quiet. This is not the case in the big city of San Francisco. 

There is a hustle and bustle in the air 'til the wee hours in some pockets of every big city. And while I don't always appreciate that Bellevue seems to roll up its sidewalks that are not in the core of downtown, there are a handful of places good for late night visits... when we need them.

I'll admit it. I maybe forever regarded as a transplant from California. I won't mind. I came in July of 1998 and don't consider going back. Roots and friends and memories hold me here in this green cosmopolitan and developing area less than 30 minutes (in the best of conditions) from the Emerald City of Seattle.

I aim to explore more of Bellevue and the Eastside for that matter. Kirkland has its sweet spots and great views. Redmond is an easy rock skip away and I need not have a dog to enjoy dogs, if I tag along with a friend to Marymoor. The point is I really need to dig deeper into my own big backyard season to season and weekend to weekend. 

And yes, I'll be certainly taking other vacations far beyond the city limits but I fully understand how happy I will be to come home again!

Stay tuned! This is the year I am determined to get my Middle Schooler to embrace eating sushi...