Reflecting pool
Originally uploaded by .Ariel.

I must tell you that there are days — many days — when Andreas and I wonder what the hell we’re doing in Rainier Beach. We love our house, but we’re both rural kids who grew into urban adults … and so what the fuck are we doing in the burbs? We can’t walk to anything! We have a yard we hate taking care of! Dre’s vegetable garden did not perform to his exacting standards! Even though we only have one car we drive it way, way too frequently. If I’m going to have to drive everywhere, at least I can live in the deep forest instead of in the burbs.

We’ve been mulling over selling the house and moving back into the heart of the city. Not any time soon, mind you. But just as an option. There would be sacrifices (most notably space: we’d go from a three-bedroom house with a big yard and a garage to a compact one or two bedroom condo or co-op), but it would be so fucking nice to walk to the grocery store and feel the city breathing around us again. My mother tried to argue that living in the burbs keeps us “closer to nature” but I was like “Mom, our back yard is not nature.” Unless you ask my in-laws who might argue otherwise, given my lack of yardwork skills.

All that said, however, Rainier Beach gave me a wonderful gift today. It’s been snowing a lot in Seattle, and I took my camera down to the gorgeous Kubota Gardens to capture its glory. And for today, I am glad I live here, where I can stroll through a Japanese garden in the snow and listen to crows and find unexpected snowmen. For today, this is a good place to live.