Mitten to Mountains: 5 Days, infinite celebrations: Part I

Hypothesis: This is physically and emotionally possible

Conclusion: Not without physical and emotional wear

Constants: Love

Variables: Time, distance, gravity of life events

Conclusion biproduct? Stated variables are not always adequate containers for the expanse of the constant

The long-short weekend began on Wednesday in Seattle with two incredibly beautiful souls; my teammate Ariella accompanied me on the way to her own reunion with my car and we stayed with Dusty. I was excited for the two musical talents to meet and sure enough, they connected beautifully. After my hectic week of missed connections and social disappointment, I was also needing to reconnect with more like minds.

Old friends and new friends!

The day delivered typical Autumn downpour and grey until we reached the city where the sun finally decided to poke through for our evening excursions. We revisited Gas Works park before making a long awaited trip over to the 6-week old Schilling Cider House with some take out from Chiso Sushi. I wasn’t sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. A totally mind-blowing place for cider-lovers, the hub is tucked into a tame Fremont street with full front windows that expose the lit, art-laden walls. Unlike a dingy, dark bar, the Cider House seemed to invite a picnic-y community atmosphere, offering large wood tables and mod little stools for friends and strangers to gather in one space. We grabbed a seat and Ariella and I went in on a flight of tastes from their expansive list of over 30 rotating taps of strictly craft ciders.

Tasting Flght Left to right:

Seattle Co. Pumpkin Spice: Autumnal Semi dry ranked 2/6 for me that day but definitely a seasonal-based preference

Schilling Blue-Perry: Bright and crisp, semi dry but sweeter than the pumpkin i think. A good summer sip. 3/6 for me.

Red Nebula: Very floral, off notes and complex flavors. Strawberry notes. Interesting. 5/6

Finn River Habanero: I didn't have high expectations; had seen this in the store and never wanted to spend on the bottle. As I guessed, not my style. Worth a try though. Got a bite. Overpowers the cider too much for my liking. 6/6

Schilling Chai: NOM. The seasonal win. Still wouldn't drink this in the warmer months but very flavorful for fall or a cozy up by fire. The foam does settle eventually. Ariella thought that maybe it's due to one of the spices used? 1/6

Finn River Black Currant: Sweet and flavorful. sort of like a drier desert wine ish. 4/6

In the end, I ordered a glass of my ATLAS Cider Company Apricot. Still the best thing ever.

Leaving early enough, we headed back to West Seattle and walked down to Dusty’s Karaoke Locale The Outwest where I’d come with him and my parents over the summer. I was prepared to order perhaps one more cider and call it good but when we arrived, they had a dangerously enticing special to offer: Pumpkin Tini.

THIS IS THE WORST THING EVER. AND SO GOOD.

We had a grand time, singing and dancing and chatting with some of the regulars.

We also had two Pumpkin Martinis.

My 9am flight the next day was filled with pain and nausea. Fortunately, I had one of the smoothest airport experiences I could have possibly had and an empty seat next to me, to boot.

At 4pm EST, I landed in Detroit where I was greeted by lovingly forgiving parents who more or less let me peacefully work my way out of my zombie-state. By the time we arrived back in Ann Arbor, I was feeling well enough to venture with my mom to the planned birthday dinner for our dear friend Deb.

On our walk downtown, I could not stop taking pictures of the foliage. I don’t think I’d ever appreciated fall leaves so much in my life. Mountains boast a big beauty, but they aren’t everything.

I was not the liveliest for dinner but it was a meaningful visit none the less; Deb would have a busy weekend of her own celebrations and it wouldn’t have felt right not to have a quieter visit with her while in town. Our waitress was very invested in helping me navigate their gluten/meat/dairy-heavy italian menu and I ended up with a nice salmon dish topped with garlic, greens and broccoli.

The first face I saw on Friday morning was my dearest ever friend Anna. Our morning bonding was followed by an afternoon visit with my childhood babysitter and now soul sister Karen. As different as our lifestyles are, her presence and connection has always been incredibly calming to me in my adult life. In our letters, her contemplation and optimism offers immediate balance to my non-stop life and her visits similarly beg me to slow down and take note. She kept my mother and I company in the kitchen as we made some early preparations for the evening dinner with guests and then, after managing to get my mother to sit down long enough to open a gift, her and I took off downtown for a game of pool. Karen having once played league, I was pretty pleased that I was able to keep up with her (no slops!) Down to one ball each, she finished me off, of course. We parted ways back at the house and then it was back to work for evening festivities.

In the late afternoon, my dad came home from Kalamazoo with Jordan in tow and my cousin Deena and mother’s close childhood friend Diana pulled into our driveway and plugged into the kitchen where things inevitably got a bit overcrowded and tense for a bit (kitchens and family are sensitive areas.) As far as pre-event stress goes, I will say that my mother did a fairly decent job of keeping it in check. She has a tendency to get flustered about the anticipation of big occasions going just right and I am pleased to say I can probably count the number of majorly noticeable ways this showed up (at least while I was around; Dad, my deepest condolences for whatever craziness occurred in the months before!) A risotto disaster was saved by our knowledgeable Italian guest Diana and we took a breather for a hot minute for me to be a tour when we realized that there may not be much time later in the weekend for a visit downtown. I drove Diana and Deena past all the significant spots of my upbringing and through the main drag of downtown (patiently putting up with the fact that we neglected to acknowledge rush hour time). Around 6:45, Deb and (eventually) Lori arrived to complete our gathering and we sat down to shabbat dinner together. The night ended with dominoes and dessert (with Lori being a surprising newcomer to Dominoes!)