The Sun Still Shines

According to the forcasters, postcasters (is there a term for those who predict the weather after it happens?), news media, and locals, last week was the coldest first week of June on record (dating back to 1894). I am wondering if it was also the wettest...

This evening I shivered out on the porch in attempt to capture the sun's short visit.

Returning Home (observations from a trip back East)

This week I flew back East to spend a week at home for the first time since moving to the Pacific Northwest one year ago. On this trip I realized my perspective has changed and also noticed some of the differences between the left and right coasts. Here are some of my observations:
1. Short trees. Back East they hug the ground and spread together rather than reaching to the sky as they do here. I'm trying to decide if that is a metaphor befitting the people of each area as well?
2. Smoking policies. In Pennsylvania you still have to ask to be seated in the nonsmoking section in a restaurant.
3. The contours of the land. Round gently rolling hills characterize PA; rugged forests and jagged peaks drew me here.
4. Tans. The dark skin from the early spring sunshine on the East Coast was very obvious next to my pasty white winter-is-not-quite-over Seattle skin.
5. Cleanliness. I have gotten used to the availability of toilet seat covers in every public restroom, but back East, even in airport bathrooms, they may or may not exist.

The gently rolling hillsides, quiet life and love of the people back home gripped me this past week, but glimpsing the mountains and the evergreens as my plane neared Seatac reinforced my decision to live here. I'm back, and I'll try to write more often...

Really.Good.Coffee

For several weeks I have been driving past a sign advertising Satellite Coffee on Division Avenue in Tacoma. This afternoon I decided to check them out.

The parking lot has 5 (or is it 6?) spaces. A wooden set of stairs leads to the second story of a small blue space that looks like a mobile home, in which Satellite resides. This is a bare-bones shop: Inside is one table and a bar with 2 stools against the window. The menu is posted on the counter. As far as food, at 2 p.m. there were 4 bagels and 2 scones left beneath the counter. However, the coffee is anything but bare-bones. . .

Go to Satellite for custom-made coffee. I ordered a tall dry cappuccino with a shot of vanilla for some flavor. The barista used a digital timer to pull perfectly-timed shots (oh by the way a tall is automatically 2 shots, the way it should be--in my opinion anyway). Then he proceeded to carefully spoon foam into my cup, making more halfway through because he was unsatisfied with the amount. My foam was not treated, but the customer before me had a well-designed heart in the foam on his latte.

Three customers came in or were already there while I waited for my coffee and they were greeted with their names and questioned about whether they wanted their usual order. I plan to return earlier in the day next week to see what the morning rush is like.

Bottom line: Go to Satellite for good coffee (they use Stumptown coffee from Portland--which they sell by the bag). Do not go if you are in a hurry (that's what Starbucks is for).