Winding up the Washington Era

The last captured sunset over Puget Sound - see how
those high winter clouds stretch across the sky?

It was a time when things were incredibly uncertain, fluid and transitory as I tried to work out the details of getting my personal gear moved. One day I was going to ship it and the next I was ready to walk away from all of it In the end I decided it made sense to load it into the old Ford Explorer and drive it all the way back to Florida.

Jey-hu surprised me by offering to drive part of the way with me to make the trip more tolerable and to give us time to conclude the relationship amicably on this one last trip together.

It started out as a discussion about how I was going to make the trip and evolved into helping me pack the SUV as full as it ever has been. The original plan was to leave on Wednesday morning - very early. But the weather indicated that Snohomish Pass was going to be overwhelmed with 6-10 inches of snow that day, so we rushed our preparations and left on Tuesday night, about 8 p.m. We took turns driving over the pass in the very gusty winds and as the sun was coming up, we were well ahead of the coming storm and pretty darn tired.

Sunrise in Utah en route to Salt Lake City.

Somehow by taking turns driving and sleeping a couple of hours at a time we managed to get to Salt Lake City where an old and dear pair of friends now live.

My car at the Salt Lake City Information Center.

Grant and Ellie Mitchell, once from St. Augustine, FL,  have 'retired' and Grant was the one I wrote about having Frontal Lobe Dementia. Ellie cares for him with help from his children and local folks.

Once a successful real estate broker, Grant's focus now is on what is immediate. He likes to keep track of the time, remind Ellie to "hurry up" with dinner, and keep the leaves off the patio. Being with the two them is a reminder of the importance of the strength of a long and enduring love coupled with incredible patience on her part.

Grant enjoys his evening at the lake feeding the ducks.

Ellie drove us to share their regular evening journey of feeding the ducks and while there we saw the most glorious sunset.

It was as if God was pointing His finger to the skies and painting with it to remind of what is important.

So there I was, a car packed full of the few things I have left, on my way back to Florida with the man who lured me away helping me to leave. A most strange and wondrous place in time, with a magnificent and artful demonstration of Nature's creation. Wow.

Sunset on a small duck pond in Bountiful, Utah in November.

I am fortunate that I had the camera with me so that I can share this incredible beauty with my readers. Enjoy!