New Sights

As I've mentioned, my parents recently moved from Aberdeen, Wash. to Olympia. Olympia isn't foreign territory. It's the city where I went to the orthodontist and watched first-run movies. It was the nearest town with a decent mall (sorry, Aberdeen). And I've met Seattle friends here on occasion as a halfway point.

But here I am finishing up some preparation for the Oregon Christian Writers Conference. I'm sitting inside a Starbucks in downtown Olympia and thoroughly enjoying watching the Washingtonians walk by. Northwesterners have a distinctive style that varies a bit between the larger cities—Portland, Seattle and Olympia. In general, jackets, sweaters and sandals for the summer. Earth tones. Stocking caps. Messenger bags. They really love messenger bags.

Anyway, it's weird to come "home" to a new city. New house. New sights. New views. Olympia is nice, though.