When it's good not to be where the action is ...

It's been surreal today to read the news out of Bremerton and Aberdeen and to hear about I-5 at Centralia being 10 feet under water. It's been surreal to think how easily I could have been in the thick of it all.

I used to work for both the Aberdeen and Bremerton daily newspapers, and I can pretty much guarantee that business is not usual at either publication, or location. I've seen the photos of sink holes and washed out roads out of Bremerton, and I've heard from friends in Aberdeen about apartment windows being blown out in the middle of the night, about all major roads closed, about power out, and about the newspaper's operations having to move to the radio station and then the Satsop business park. And about some of the not-so-ethical folks in town taking advantage of power outages at local stores.

I remember wetness in both places, but never to this degree. A little more than a year ago, I was temporarily stuck in Bremerton when Highway 16 closed during the November storms. And between 1998-2000 I remember having to wade into work at the Aberdeen paper. I remember semis driving by and putting waves over my car. I remember everything being very wet. But not this wet.

In Tacoma, there may have been some powerful bursts last night. There may have been a lot of rain. But today I looked out my window again and was amazed at the calm. Recent flash floods have wreaked more havoc, and not near the havoc other areas are going through this week.

It seemed like the rest of the region might just be playing a big trick on us ... if I didn't see the pictures. If I didn't get the e-mails.

It's surreal to think that I could have been there. And despite the part of me that is sad to miss the thrill of covering a possibly once-in-a-lifetime event, I gotta say, I'm glad to be far, far away from all the sinkholes I've been seeing pictures of. So I'll just thank my lucky stars and hope for those who are experiencing the "adventure," that they return to normal soon. Very soon.

Stormy day delight: How Margaret made my day

I love stormy days; I love walking along, lost in thought and being caught off guard and yanked into a lovely bit of reality by drool-inducing whiffs of wonderful things. So today was a good day.

Some folks think I'm crazy for loving autumn's windy, rainy, stormy days, but I do. And today was a lovely day in my book. Crisp, but not cold. Windy and rainy enough for a bit of a gamble and an adventure and a need for a raincoat if you ventured out. Everyone on my bus this morning agreed that hot buttered rum was in order. Hot buttered rum, a good book, and not having to be at work.

Since I had to be at work, I was pleased as anything to be wandering down St. Helens street in search of coffee when I was suddenly snagged by an indescribably hypnotizing smell as I walked by Margaret's Cafe. I felt like I was in a cartoon and that I must have been walking on air as I wandered by her large glass windows, the smell of loveliness pulling at me. Taunting me. Calling to me.

I walked by.

And then I walked back. I had to know. WHAT WAS SMELLING SO GOOD!!?!?!?

So I poked my head in and sheepishly queried Margaret as to what she'd been up to in the kitchen that was tempting me so ... and apparently it was many things. At that moment, I think it was the brownies. But she'd also been making apple pie ... and bacon (Tuesday is Cobb salad day ... mmmmmm.) I knew I had to be back. I might not be able to have a hot buttered rum at work, but I CAN have a warm and gooey brownie. I was back about 2-3 hours later, and I got the first cut out of the still warm and gooey brownies (with walnuts!!!!).

The icing on the proverbial (cup?)cake.

Thanks Margaret!