The Ferris Wheel of Life

I recently lost a bet.  I don’t usually make bets, but this time I KNEW I was right.  Nope.  Wrong!  The result was that I owed my friends a dinner, so I don’t really think I lost too much.  We had a great time.

We picked up the other couple from the ferry terminal when they came across from Winslow.  Then headed to Seattle’s new Ferris wheel, called The Great Wheel, like London’s Eye.  The Eye is a little taller, but the Great Wheel is still tall in its own right, and thrilling.  We went on a perfect early autumn evening, still light enough to see everything.  Up we soared to look west over Elliot Bay and Puget Sound.  The ferry boats were chugging in, cruise ships were sailing out, para-sailors were soaring around the waterfront, and diners and city dwellers were getting ready for a perfect Seattle evening.  

Sunshine along the waterfront in Seattle is a cherished commodity.  Up and down, around and around, out over the water, then back up to look at the city from on high.

Afterward we went over to the waterfront of Alki, where we had a picnic and looked back at the city skyline.  Our daughter and her husband joined the four of us.  

They are expecting our first grandchildren (yep, twins!).  We ate chicken, macaroni salad, and coleslaw, like you do on picnics.  Even the dog got a little chicken.  But then he deserved it, bless him.  It is not easy for one-year-old Viszlas to be so well behaved.  Rewards were flying at him.

As the evening deepened, we laughed a lot, watch the lights of the city blink on, and covered up under wool blankets.  We drew closer and looked out farther.  The Viszla got to come up on his papa’s lap.  The pregnant daughter put her feet up.

Speaking of riding around and around on a Ferris wheel, it is fun to watch this new life come to my daughter.  After being pregnant with her, watching her be born, and then growing up, now she in turn is becoming a mother.  Up and soaring, the view from here is pretty grand.