Mietzke's Holden Adventure

It is Monday evening and I am out of the village for a few days to go to a doctor’s appointment for my ears. I have not been able to hear very well since I got sick in March and my ears have been painful. So, anyway I am staying at the Holden B&B and helping to prepare for the opening on Friday for the beginning of the May Youth Weekend. Dave is also out for the bus driver training course and the kids stayed in the village with our friend Gail who is our adopted village grandma.
I came down on the boat on Sunday and drove to Seattle to say good bye to our friends Keith, Karen, and Lyla who are moving to San Diego on Wednesday. The drive was amazing! The sun was shining most of the way and it is so springy and beautiful down here! There were flowers everywhere in Seattle and the trees are that brilliant bright spring green. It was such a nice drive! I was just relaxed and quiet most of the way taking in the colors and being amazed at every turn by the beauty of the mountains and the difference driving over a pass makes in climate.
I got into Seattle around 7:30 catching the tail end of the going away party. It was so good to be with Keith, Karen, and Lyla. Keith and I stayed up late chatting and hanging out. It was really great to be with him and to hear about the new adventure that lies ahead of them. Lyla came and woke me up at about 6:30 in the morning. She climbed in my sleeping bag to snuggle and told me stories and we played and sang songs until 7:00. It is good to be three and ridiculously cute! Then Karen and I took Lyla to her school and Karen and I got great time together at a coffee shop in Wallingford. We spent the morning hanging out talking and running around Seattle. It was so good to be with all of them. It doesn’t seem real that they are leaving.
Seattle was in full bloom. The tulips were out and all of the fruit trees were in full bloom. The sun was out and dew was sparkling on the lawns. Sometimes I forget just how beautiful it is on the west side of the mountains. It felt like home and it felt really good to go back even if it was a short visit. I headed back over the mountains at 11:30 and drove over Snoqualmie pass and again was astounded at spring coming to life everywhere. On the other side of the pass where the earth is red and orange and grey rocks push upwards through fir and pine wild flowers are blooming up to the edge of the melting snow in yellows reds white and purple. I stopped my car several times to take pictures. The contrast of the wet Seattle spring and the dry mountain spring surprised me. One is home, it is known, and the other one becoming sacred to my heart as I experience it for the first time.
I arrived at the B&B at three and started to work straight away clearing winter from the flower beds. It felt so good to work the soil in the sunshine! There are several people down here from the village doing the bus training with Dave and so arriving at the B&B is a little like arriving home. We all had a nice dinner of bratwurst with a sung blessing and collective clean up. Then Dave and I went for a walk at dusk holding hands and walking along the road near the lake. It was a beautiful night for a walk, and if felt like a luxury to be together like this.
It is time for bed now and I keep wondering how the girls are doing. I bet they are having a lot of fun with Gail! I get to missing them though.