Leave them wanting more

After three weeks in Seattle, I felt like I could really use another week there. I'd managed to see many of my friends and almost all of my family, but I would have liked to have spent more time with all of them. I managed to dance and fiddle, do my school work and relax. In three weeks, I slept in seven different locations, drank an ocean of coffee, and ate out an average of once a day.

Writing papers is a little like torture for me. It's not something I enjoy doing, even when the subject of the paper is something I absolutely love. Take for example the two papers I wrote while in Seattle - one on dance rhythms and one about singing for dancing Clearly these are topics that I enjoy talking about and have a strong interest in these activities themselves. I couldn't right the paper about singing until it was practically due.

(I was writing this on the boat to Shetland and at this point got coerced to the party in the middle of the boat. A story you will read later.)

I love Seattle. The people, the trees, the smell of the sea, the coffee shops, walks with the ladies, the weather (yes, really), everything except the traffic is great. December is a long ways away, but it will come and then I will be back home for another refill of life in the city. Until then, I have some good memories.

Staying with Warshaw family is always great. It is both relaxing and chaotic at the same time. I was fortunate enough to time my visit with passover, so I got to join them for their seder. Of course, my dad came too, and even on his best behavior (which he was on) he still manages to annoy me. Something about fathers and daughters, I suppose.

Springdans was fantastic! Lots of dancing, Norwegian and Swedish. It was fabulous to see folks I'd met in Sweden last summer. With a little bit of nudging we came to the conclusion that I can dance up again this summer, so I'm looking forward to that. Silver in Orsa, here I come! One of the highlights of the weekend was (after the traditional strip tease), of course, staying up really late playing music with Irene. She's just so much fun and so good! Not wanting the fun to end, I started scheming up a jam session for later in the week.

After camp, I spent a few productive days at Mom's. It was great to hang out with her, talking until late in the night drinking lambic and laughing. The second afternoon, Aunt Susie and Solvei came to visit. The weather was perfect and we crashed on the beach, watching the waves and talking about life. Those girls know how to have a good time. The sun went down, the beer was gone, and it was time for Susie and Solvei to head back to Poulsbo (Solvei had school the next day). Mom and I stayed up late again and I passed out after proclaiming that I wasn't tired.

I was woken up in the middle of the night by the feeling of a tail that was definitely not the cat's dragging across my foot. What followed was an hour long real-live cat and mouse game, essentially on the bed. I can't wait until Mom gets her cabin built. Of course, the cat (Finn the Hunter) won the game, with a satisfying, if revolting, crunch.

Back to Seattle for dinner in town with Mark A (way to represent!) and off to Anna's for a few days. If there's anyone who shares my love for chillin' like a villain, it's my best friend Anna. As an extra bonus it was her birthday, so we went out to as many meals as possible (not as easy as it sounds with a vegan). Then, to continue the Springdans fun, which Anna couldn't make it to due to work, we invited a star studded cast of the retired, self-employed, and unemployed to her house on Friday afternoon. It was a jam session for the record book and we could have kept going all night if we hadn't had to get over the the SCC to play the late night set at their happy hour.

Playing the happy hour is a very informal affair. You check with the Center to make sure you won't be conflicting with anyone and then you show up and play. The idea is to play for as long as people seem interested. After playing for 5 hours at Anna's, we played another two at the SCC. Almost all new tunes! What a day!

The rest of the weekend was paper writing crunch time and hanging out with the family. Both families really. I spent time with Sonya at the dental lab (holla!), had dinner with Mom in Ballard, one last night at the Warshaw's complete with Dad coming for dinner and the girls putting on a play. Perhaps a poor choice of pre-travel television, Mark and I watched 'Crashes that Changed Flight' until it was time to go to sleep. As much as I hate saying goodbye, setting off on the adventure to Shetland was exciting and I was really looking forward to getting back to Rauland.