When the weather turns grey in the early mornings I think of all the activities that I am involved in and it cheers me up. Even though I don’t travel worldwide anymore there is a myriad of interesting places to visit close to home. Our local Chinese Gardens are beginning to take shape and lunch out at the South Seattle Community College is still a treat. And if you Google eating places in West Seattle you would come up with over 140 of them.
If you want to venture a little farther from home there is always the Frye Art Museum which is free with free parking. Once I had a ball criticizing a traveling exhibit there. The artist’s collages of human parts of the anatomy reminded me of Salvador Dali who really enjoyed chopping women up and calling it art. And in one corner there was a platform with a ladder leading up to a huge tape recorder with tape falling down to the floor in a pyramid. I asked someone what that was called and was referred to the title on the wall. It simply read, “Tape Falling.” Duh! Oh well, it takes all kinds.
But right here in good old West Seattle I can explore and enjoy all those wonderful places that I once overlooked when my late husband and I were flying about to experience the authentic cherry blossoms in Japan, the Taj Mahal in India and being hosted by a real princess who owned our tourist hotel in Nepal, the sands of Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janiero, and the pyramids of the Sun and the Moon in Mexico.
Recently I had an invitation to visit Japan again but decided that flying for hours on a plane and walking about sightseeing for a whole week was not my cup of tea. I had already experienced the old capital of Japan, Kyoto, with the beautiful geishas in their special kimonos and obis hurrying into the places of entertainment in the late evening hours. The Japanese train from Tokyo was a marvel in fast travel. After getting off the train our Japanese friend drove us to his home, stopping overnight at a local hotel where we could have taken a swim in the nude if we had arrived earlier.
Our Japanese hosts invited us in and after shedding our shoes and putting on slippers we had a traditional Japanese dinner. The eating space was built so that instead of sitting cross legged we could sit on the floor with our legs hanging down into a special wood lined hole in the floor. They had even installed a heated toilet seat in our honor. Our host’s sister had sewed robes for us and since they hadn’t been able to measure us beforehand they laughed as we modeled them with the hems reaching only just below our knees.
Later we were ushered into a special guest room with pictures of the family ancestors lining the walls and flowers which were replenished often. Padded mats for sleeping on the floor and down comforters provided a warm night if not easy on arthritic joints when we attempted to get up in the morning.
As I think back to the excitement of travel I conjure up delightful memories but I now realize that of all the places I have visited, the grass is just as green in my own West Seattle back yard. Well, technically my back yard is brown in order to save water during the summer months. Nevertheless, West Seattle is a kind of small town suitable for a small town “girl” like me.
Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at gnkunkel@comcast.net or 206-935-8663
