The Moment I Said “Holy S***!”
A view of downtown Seattle taken at Kerry Park in Seattle, Washington.
Like a kid in a candy store.
Thursday May 16th, 2019. Approximately 9:00am PST. Camera gear, check. Flimsy cellphone, check. Deflated wallet, check. Toronto Raptors affiliated hoodie and core classic black 9TWENTY adjustable hat, check (that one was a no-brainer). All that was left was for my cousin to waltz down into the garage, ignite the engine of his 2015 Honda Civic, and we would be off to the races. Unfortunately, the customarily promulgated pattern of lackadaisical behavior, often achingly apparent amongst those displaying symptoms of “travel procrastination,” had presumably preoccupied my cousin’s eagerness and enthusiasm that morning.
Was he on the phone with somebody? Was he changing outfits? Did he all of a sudden plunge into a narcissistic abyss by acquiring the urge to look into the mirror and inspect his face for any ‘blemishes’ every five seconds? I certainly had hoped not.
My patience grew thin as I descried the minute hand distancing itself farther away from the top of the hour. Each echoing “tick” amplified in ferocity, like the sound of a ravenous predator calmly, yet still quite menacingly, stalking its soon to be “midday meal,” one indicative step at a time. Eventually, the governing “tick” sounds were eclipsed by the vehement vibration of self-absorbed footsteps descending the amalgamated flight of stairs. My cousin’s haphazard morning of shenanigans had miraculously come to an end. Prior to marching down the second flight of stairs, leading to the indoor entrance of the garage, he paused, turned to me and asked, “You ready to go?”
Really? Was I ready to go? After dragging my weary carcass on a five-hour flight, having packed my bags the night before after hearing him mouth the words ‘I’d like to get out of here by 9:00am at the latest,’ and bracing the naturally aesthetic complexion of mountainous scenery on display outside our kitchen window, while waiting for the almighty celestial king (my cousin) to rise up out of his augmented throne (his bed) on time for once, this was the best he had in his arsenal of questions?
For those of you who do not know me very well, I took this remark personally. “I was ready to go from the very moment the doctor pulled me out of my mother’s womb in the operating room 19 years ago,” I said, “what about you?”
To posit that his reaction imitated the hyperbolic expression of “hearing a pin drop” would have been an iniquitous understatement. For a few solitary seconds, we could auscultate each other’s heartbeat without the need of a stethoscope. After what felt like eons of unadulterated reticence, both of us simultaneously broke out in laughter. No words, just laughter. And just like that, we were off to the races.
Approximately 7:00pm. The drive from North Vancouver to Midtown Seattle was, however, no laughing matter. The influx of traffic along the Trans Canada Highway, approaching the US border, disseminated a very strenuous atmosphere. Traffic along I-5 (Interstate 5) was evocative of an adolescent exhibiting fractious and hyper mood swings; one moment it felt as if our vehicle had thwarted the laws of gravity and was soaring above all neighboring vehicles, and other moments it was strictly bumper to bumper.
There was no fleeing the impeding cloud cover, instituting an ire downpour of ceaseless precipitation, as these tendencies are notorious amongst cities situated along the Pacific northwest coast. We had evaded the unbelievably fatuous waiting lines at the US border by “unintentionally” merging into one of the NEXUS lanes and alleging to the CBP officer that we were “oblivious” to the difference between traditional lanes and NEXUS lanes (we escaped without paying the fine).
Although, we had made a few pit stops before we arrived at our hotel, there was one final stop to check off the bucket list before the day had officially concluded.
Approximately 8:15pm. Even with the dreary overcast celestial sphere casting a somber penumbra over the State of Washington, the presence of Emerald greenery was on full display as we drove along a narrowly composed roadway. I thought to myself, I don’t recall Kerry Park looking like this in the images I saw on the internet. I was skeptical about the route we were cruising on. There might have been a possibility that we had taken a wrong turn.
The insipidity relayed in the voice promulgated by our GPS, indicating we were within proximal range of our desired destination, was enough for me to lose consciousness of my naively contemplative and melodramatic cognitive impulses. As the road transitioned from a steadily arched incline to an elongated linear surface, the view on the left and right sides were obscured by detached residential dwellings and an abundance of deciduous plant life, respectively.
Within a matter of mere seconds, the conspicuous trail of residential landscapes had come to a standstill and the view on our left side was thoroughly palpable to our denuded eyeballs. While my cousin and I simultaneously tilted our craniums ever so slightly, I sensed our car start to decelerate as my cousin had become mesmerized by the ineffable view of the city that graced our very eyes.
Before even a meager amount of oxygen had been inhaled into his lungs, I promptly imitated his physiological response as we both proceeded to exhale the phrase “Holy s***” at the top of our hypersensitive lungs. We turned to face each other and, once again, broke out in laughter. No words, just laughter.
We parked the car, exited and sauntered across the street towards the lookout point. My eyes could not afford to blink. I was like a prepubescent little boy staring at a candy display at the checkout counter of a local convenience store. Holy s***, I thought as I stood unwittingly paralyzed in the middle of the street in absolute awe; Holy f****** s***, indeed.
Regarded as “The Emerald City,” Seattle, WA, is known for its outdoor scenery, coffee culture, and delicious seafood. Whether you’re a local renting a house in Ballard, a tourist for the weekend, or you’re moving to the area and just want to know what it’s like to live in Seattle, Redfin reached out to local photographers, including us, to share our favorite places to take pictures that are uniquely Seattle. From Discovery Park to Pier 62, Check out Moving to Seattle? These Inspiring Places Photographers Rave are Uniquely Emerald City to see what we had to say.
