“Hey”, Mike said as his friend Chip walked into the bar. “How’s it hangin’?”
“I wouldn’t know”, Chip sighed. “It hasn’t gotten much action lately.” Bob thought that Chip looked kind of down. Not like his usual self.
“What are you talkin’ about, pal? Judy’s hot.”
“I guess we’ve just gotten a little tired of each other. Look at this grey hair”, Chip said pointing at his temples. “Jeez, I’m 41! Judy’s no kid either. She’s 37. We’re getting old.”
Time passed. The old friends talked about their days together at University and how their lives had changed. “Are you coming to the reunion this weekend?”, Mike asked. “I guess so. Judy says she bought a new dress.”
It was cold that Saturday night when Chip and Judy pulled up in front of the Marriott. Chip’s breath was a cloud of frost as he instructed the valet not to bring the car back with any dings. Judy snuggled down into her coat and hurried into the hotel.
Mike and his date, Judy’s friend Barb, were waiting at the bar when Chip and Judy joined the party. Judy and Barb exchanged a knowing smile. “May I take your coat, Ma’am?”, a waiter asked. Judy shrugged off her wrap to reveal a little black dress that might have been painted on.
Mike, who had been telling Chip about a new streaming service, stopped mid-sentence.
A week later, the friends met again for a drink before heading home. “How’s it hangin’?”, asked Mike. “Huh?”, said Chip vaguely. “Sorry, I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately. It’s hangin’ just fine. You?”
The moral of this tale: sometimes it’s good to take a fresh look at familiar things.
We cruised south from Edmonds, rounded Magnolia Bluff and caught our first sight of the Seattle waterfront from the water.
We were headed for Bell Harbor Marina to spend a night aboard Impromptu roughly three miles from our house.
We took a long walk south along the waterfront, reacquainting ourselves with such Seattle treasures as The Old Curiosity Shop, Ivar’s Seafood and the place where you can buy a hat that says “Seattle”.
Turning north, we walked past the Pike Place Market, bought a box of tea bags that Mary Anne insisted was essential, then wound up at the Sculpture Garden before returning to the marina for dinner aboard Impromptu.
