A delightfully foggy day

I had lunch the other day with a very old and once very dear friend – one from whom I had parted years ago on rather acrimonious terms. I had always liked him very much, and was sad that we had such a misunderstanding. I had tried to mend fences, so to speak, several times, but it was no go. Then I met him at a concert and he gave me his phone number so I could call and invite him to dinner, but I lost it (and the whole cellphone in which I had noted it) before I ever called. Several more years went by. Then one evening I came home from work, and there was a note on my door, asking me to call. I was delighted to. He took me to lunch at Ivar’s Acre of Clams – a real Seattle institution and tourist destination. And someplace I never had been, although I have been to Ivar’s Salmon House many times. The two Ivar’s restaurants that I know have an inside semi-posh restaurant and an outside-over-the-water fish and chips bar. I had eaten at the fish and chips part with my mother and Rebecca a zillion years ago, and I seem to recall that my mother made a scene which somehow involved milk. Maybe a seagull tried to get her milk or dropped a chip (or worse) in it. Those gulls are pesky fellows and are determined to share your meal if you will only allow them to. Little Rebecca always enjoyed my mother’s scenes as much as my mother did, and I think part of the thrill was that I was always suffused in shame. As my mother got older (and so did I), I came to enjoy them a bit myself. Don’t tell anyone that, however. Oddly enough, Rachael tells of going to Ivar’s Salmon House years ago with Lillian and her family, one of whom made a scene there and embarrassed Rachael. I believe it was Lillian herself, but not sure about that. Will have to check. Anyway, no one made a scene on Monday, and I had a wonderful time. We reminisced, and it was as if there had been no time in between our visits. Rebecca is excited about future visits and we plan to have Bill to dinner very soon.

Here are some of the gulls waiting on the nearby fireboats for a bite of an innocent and unsuspecting tourist’s lunch. And, you can see that the Seattle weather has returned to normal, God be praised!