The Emerald City

The decision to go to Africa makes even mundane activities significant. Even a daily drive feels different. Today, as most days, I drive northward into Seattle. This is a route I've taken at least a thousand times. And I am probably not exaggerating. And, honestly, I have cherished most of them. OK, many of them. Traffic, stress and the inability of some drivers to effectively navigate wet roads in a city that rains 150 days of the year (thank you Wikipedia!) has, on occasion, turned an otherwise beautiful drive into one that includes a mild degree of profanity, a few inappropriate gestures, and me wishing that my cute sports car could turn into one of those massive monster trucks. But, I digress. It is a fact that entering the city, in my case via the Alaskan Way viaduct, is a striking Seattle experience.

As I emerge onto the viaduct, which is several stories above ground level, I arrive next to the downtown cityscape. Qwest Field and Safeco Field are immediately to your left and each present themselves as imposing and magnificent structures in their own right. (I bring up Qwest Field first as props to all my friends who are avid football fans, because in reality Safeco Field is first.) Then the full breadth of downtown appears. The Columbia Center and the Washington Mutual Tower (which may have changed names since Washington Mutual was bankrupted in 2008) dominates the sky of dozens of other skyscraper buildings dating back to early twentieth century. Then the Space Needle appears; Seattle's iconic trademark.

I feel a special connection to the cityscape extends towards the sky on my right and the Puget Sound succumbs on my left. Jagged and protruding the Olympic Mountains frame the western-most landscape from the Seattle. Although they are not the highest mountains, they mark an important barrier between the Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean. Passing the massive, historic and beautiful architecture on the right feels perfectly and harmoniously balanced with the natural landscape of Puget Sound and the far-off Olympic Mountains.

While vacationing in Belize, a couple from San Diego once asked: "doesn't the city of Seattle drop directly into the Pacific Ocean?” I thought it was a silly question, especially from somebody from the west coast. The couple came to vacation in Belize in part because they worked for the same organization and their inter-office romance was forbidden. The woman literally had hundreds of mosquito bites and I thought that perhaps the Calamine lotion that was white and crusted all over her body had distorted her ability to logic effectively. Regardless, the question they posed has entered my mind on several occasions since.

In many respects, the San Diego woman was correct. The imposing cityscape of Seattle does appear to lean on the edge of the Puget Sound, the surrounding mountains nestling them both in a caring embrace. The mountains and the landscape of sea water and islands is extraordinary. I can't think of any place in the world where one can experience the magnificence of industrial innovation and the wonderment of Mother Nature in one fell swoop. I've been to many cities in the world. But this city is really beautiful. The sea is sparkling, the mountains pristine and white-tipped with snow and the city a striking testimony to the wondrous achievements of humankind in the last century. The Emerald City is a sight to behold, and one that I’ll miss.