SEATTLE FREEZE and CASCADE CALM

During my 3 month stay in Columbus, I was repeatedly struck by how friendly people were. Or, more accurately, how much more friendly people were in Columbus relative to Seattle. Making eye contact, the use of the word ‘thank you’, addressing people as “sir”, or “ma’am”; there was a social ease and graciousness that is more evident in Columbus than Seattle.

I’m just a sample of one, but the dynamic intrigued me. Was it just me? After all, while in Columbus I generally felt ‘up’ and outgoing. I was knocked out of my daily routine, everything around me was new, and felt energized by embracing the new atmosphere around me. I was interested in seeing and experiencing as much as I could in a relative short time. Armed with energy and a sense of urgency I tried to explore as much as I could.

It’s natural that someone with that attitude would experience things differently than a bored, sullen, person well within their routine (not that I’m describing myself, although some may disagree!).

In the first 24 hours of being back, I tried to look for Seattle unfriendliness, but didn’t find it. During breakfast I had a great conversation with Geo and Kim. Very friendly people. The next chance for interaction was on the trail, and again had a nice conversation with a gal with 2 Jack Russell Terriers and exchanged pleasantries with folks hiking.

When we went out to dinner we met a couple with a golden lab and a pug who were charming. But I did hear about what I understand to be the famed “Seattle Freeze”, and read about a general “Cascade Calm” that some think characterize Seattle in particular and the region in general.

The theory behind the “Seattle Freeze” is that folks in Seattle aren’t unfriendly or rude, in fact on the surface they are quite polite. They just don’t invite new friends into their circle. Reading up on the phenomenon, it seems as if it’s generally about young folks and the difficulty with establishing a circle of friends for transplants from other states.

On line, the theme seems to be angst from twenty something techy immigrants from other states. With the explosion of Microsoft, and more recently Amazon.com, quite a few tech types have moved to the northwest, probably in the tens of thousands over the past 20 years, and it makes sense that their collective immigration didn’t go as smoothly as they thought it should.

Given our Nordic ties and independent nature of the first residents of Seattle, I could see how Seattle wasn’t by nature gregarious and overtly welcoming, but on the other hand I’ve always thought as the Northwest as a friendly place. My father used to tell me how, in the late 40’s, his car broke down just outside of Seattle. This was way before freeways and it was late at night. He said 20 cars went by and 19 of them stopped to see if they could help. That made a lasting impression on him.

As I dug into this topic, I found a study that dove into the regional psychological difference. It was interesting and I’m still trying to process exactly what it meant. The authors broke down 5 different psychological traits; Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Openness – appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, curiosity and variety of experience.

Conscientiousness – a tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement; planned rather than spontaneous behavior.

Extraversion – energy, positive emotions, surgency and the tendency to seek stimulation and the company of others.

Agreeableness – a tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others.

Neuroticism – a tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or vulnerability; sometimes called emotional instability.

So.  How does Washington stack up to Ohio?

Openness

Ohio is middle of the road ranked 24th, but Washington is way up there ranked 5th out of 50 states (which is no surprise given the last election cycle of initiatives).  The coasts in general, west more than east, are open to new ideas.

Conscientiousness

Ohio is one of the lower ranked states at 38 and Washington is middle of the road at 25. New Mexico, North Carolina and Georgia clean up in that category at 1, 2, and 3 respectively. What a minute. Georgia?! New Mexico!? Hmmm. Entire premise is now suspect.

 Extraversion

Here’s where things are really different. Ohio is middle of the road (25th), and Washington is bottom of the barrel at 48 out of 50. Hence the famous northwest passive aggressiveness.

Agreeableness

Ohio and Washington roughly in the same spot, 27 and 22 respectively. The most agreeable states? Minnesota and North Dakota. The least agreeable? District of Columbia (no, I’m not kidding) and Alaska.

Neuroticism

This is the fun one. Washington ranks low (46th) with states like Colorado, South Dakota, and Oregon ranking lower. Ohio is on the other end, ranking 9th. The most neurotic states? West Virginia, Rhode Island, and New York.

So there you have it. In Washington we lack Extroverts, but we’re open to new ideas and we are emotionally stable. The ‘Cascade Calm’.

So perhaps the lack of extroverts and the relative emotional stability doesn’t lend itself to a lot of social interaction for us out west! Perhaps there is something to both the ‘Seattle Freeze’ and the ‘Cascade Calm’.

FIRST DAY HOME

The first act of the morning was to get breakfast at Geo’s. The tattooed barista is gone, pursuing her teaching career, but the breakfast was excellent as was the coffee. Nice addition to the Marina area!

The second act of the day was stopping by a bike repair place to buy a road bike. I only know two bike mechanics, but they both have a similar vibe. Good folks, both, but live more on the edge of life than most.

I also met “Steven” (25 pounds of awesomeness).

I needed a road bike as middle age women were routinely passing me during my commute on my mountain bike. Every once in a while there would be a gal towing a kid on one of those kid trailers and I could usually pick them off. I would usually leave them laughing as I would exclaim, “finally! I’m actually faster than someone!”.

In any case, my selection narrowed between two bikes. An old Italian race bike that was really sweet, and a French Motobecane designed for, according to the bike mechanic, “a drunk Frenchman riding on cobblestones while carrying loaves of fresh bread”. Perfect I thought (and no, I don’t know why I thought that).

I did want to put fenders and a rack on the bike and it would have been aesthetically offensive to gum up the sleek Italian bike. If it is available in a few months, I may get it for a summer commute as it was a really sweet and very fast bike. But for now it’s me and the purple monster.

A late 70’s, sturdy steel framed road bike. The bike mechanic was overjoyed about my decision to purchase. He had about 3 hours to cover a check for his car insurance and he was going to get his girlfriend to drive him to the bank so he could cover a withdrawal that was about to take place. As I said, they tend to live on the edge. But I figure knowing a couple of bike mechanics is a good thing. Can’t wait for Monday’s commute.

Mt Si across the valley

We’re babysitting ‘Riggs’ for the weekend, so yy third act of the day was to take him up to Rattlesnake ledge. 4 miles and 1,200 feet of elevation gain. Which is about 1,175 feet more than anything in Columbus. I had wanted to do Mt Si, but Maren, Jodi, and time argued against it. All three were right. 

The ledge.  2 miles and 1200 feet away

Rattlesnake ledge was perfect. It’s nice to live in an area where you can wake up to salt air, hear the sea gulls crying, then a short time later be in the woods with moss and that fresh scent of wet forest. Rattlesnake lake can be a pretty pedestrian hike by NW standards, but today it was perfect. We’ve often hiked Rattlesnake at night, which is a real treat. 

While I’m sure these are hoaxes, the next time we hike at night I may think of this story or that story about bigfoot sightings around Rattlrsnake Ledge!!

BACK HOME

Back home after 3 months in Columbus. Even on a cloudy night, the drive from the airport hinted at the visual treats in Seattle.

Felt a little like George Bailey coming home.

Not that Columbus was anything like Pottersville.

I suppose home is where home is and if there were more than a few ties to Columbus, there would be little to compel one to leave Columbus.

In a previous post I highlighted the positives I felt about Columbus and in the week or two since I wrote that, I found a few more things to like about Columbus. But oh it’s nice to be back on the boat!

The walk down the dock was wonderful. Flat calm water, salt air and (after a few minutes with the heater on) a warm boat. Ahhhhh.

The flight home was bumpy.

Turbulence for much of the flight and I had a middle seat. I started to think about complaining, but then I thought of worse cross country trips…..

SUMMER READS

Now that summer has drawn to a close, I thought I’d recap the recent reading list.

Started out with the Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson. Well written account of WWII from the American perspective, but have a dictionary nearby. His vocabulary is unbelievable.

The Trilogy begins with ‘The Army At Dawn’ and covers the initial battles in North Africa. The army was young, the generals old school, and they made mistake after mistake after mistake.  They learned and began culling leadership to respond to the challenges. One tidbit. Tanks in the initial battles were inadvertently loaded with training ordinance. Meant only to mark where the rounds landed. One tank gunner said it was like flinging hardened loaves of bread at the German tanks.

The next book is the ‘The Day Of Battle’ covering the war in Sicily and Italy. Eisenhower is balancing building up his forces while at the same time urged to do SOMETHING. Simultaneously balancing political battles with real battles the book follows a cast of real life characters and tragic battles that no fiction writer could make up. Acronyms like FUBAR and SNAFU were born. As were SUSFU, TARFU, FUMTU, JANFU, and FUAFUP. Despite all the mishaps, the guys learned and excelled.

The last book is the ‘The Guns At Last Light’, recalling the final push into central Europe. By this time the military had reached maturation and the industrial / logistical support of the US was hitting on all cylinders. One of the authors techniques was to draw from the formal record of what was said and done during strategy sessions and battles, then draw from the personal diaries and letters home which contained more personal thoughts about those same events. The combination of sources paints a more colorful picture.

After reading these three books it will be impossible to stay seated when the national anthem plays. Eisenhower, Patton, Roosevelt (not the one you were thinking of), Churchill, Stalin, and scores of accounts from soldiers journals and letters home are woven into a compelling set of books.

The trilogy led me to ‘Savage Continent’, covering the events immediately after WWII. A cursory view of history shows jubilation on VE day, the sailor kissing the gal in New York, and wham; the Marshall Plan rebuilds Europe. It wasn’t that simple and the cessation of formal hostilities gave rise to reprisals and retribution on a massive scale. There was essentially a lawless time in most of the occupied countries right after the war that has not been well documented and this book pulls that together. Unfortunately, especially compared the trilogy, it isn’t very well written.

Staying on the WWII theme, read ‘Unbroken. A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption’. It’s by Laura Hillenbrand, who also wrote ‘Seabiscuit’. It’s the story of a rather wild kid with no real direction who learned to run and surprisingly, at a young age, competed in the ’36 Olympics in Berlin. He had his sights set on the next Olympics, but war intervened and he was captured and held by the Japanese for the duration of the war. Enduring nearly unspeakable (and almost unreadable) torture, the book follows his journey. An inspirational read.

Also read ‘The Devil In The White City’. Interesting true story of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. It follows the challenges the architects faced bringing the fair to completion as well as a serial murderer lurking in their midst. It’s fascinating. The fair’s financial success was realized only when a steel engineer got to build his giant attraction. The fair saw the unveiling of Shredded Wheat, Cracker Jack, and may have decided the future of our power grid – AC and DC power were competing head to head. And that engineer? George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. His Wheel was designed to offer an attraction that would compete with the previous great attraction at the last World’s Fair – the Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris.

‘The Boys In The Boat’ may be my favorite read of the summer. It covers an incredible group of young men, nearly all from small towns in Washington state and how they came together to form one of the greatest crews rowing has ever known. They went on to win gold in the eight in the 1936 Olympics. Riveting. Only wish Dad was around to discuss the book. He would have loved it and both Mom and Dad met some of the team later in life.

The funniest book, and oddly one of the most inspirational, was ‘Born To Run’. Absolutely fascinating look into the world of ultra marathon runners. The basic theme of the book is that Homo sapiens was not the smartest nor the strongest species competing for survival, but they were built to run. Not fast, but our structure allows us to run long distances and that was a key evolutionary advantage allowing us to effectively compete in the food chain. According to evidence presented in the book, that advantage is seriously undermined by the padded shoe.  I suspect Dad would have taken exception to some of the books conclusions.

The next two books are related. I listened to ‘Ike’s Bluff’ on CD on some of the longer drives I took. The fifties were a fascinating time. Following WWII, scientists were making tremendous gains, moving from Fission to Fusion. Atomic Bomb to the much more powerful Hydrogen bomb. Eisenhower had to deal with this increase in power while at the same time trying to contain ‘bush fire conflicts’ which could develop to nuclear holocaust. While imperfect, you really get the impression that Eisenhower was the right man at the right time. Unfortunately the CIA was running amok and you gain an appreciation why some of the rest of the world views the US with suspicion that continues to this day (Snowden’s revelations – or better put the NSA acts he brought light to – do nothing to diminish those suspicions).

The book I’m still reading is ‘The Fifties’ which is a nice companion read to ‘Ike’s Bluff’. The fifties were an incredibly dynamic time when things seemed so ‘right’ on the surface (leave it to Beaver, the Lucy Show, Father knows best), but were seething behind the scenes (read Ike’s Bluff). Written by David Halberstam, the book covers the major shifts between WWII and the sixties. The influence of advertising, Civil Rights, the Feminist movement, the suburbs, the sexual revolution – all percolated during the fifties – with the cold war increasingly threatening global annihilation. Great read.

One more. In preparation for our Bourbon tour I read Chuck Cowdery’s ‘Bourbon,Straight; the Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey. After reading it you get an appreciation for what is the only truly American spirit. American as it’s corn based. Scotch and Vodka had been distilled for years in Europe, but being corn based, Bourbon originated in America. The book really helped as we toured Kentucky distilleries.

OLENTANGY TRAIL

Took a morning walk on the Olentangy trail, starting at Antrim park. Walked about 6 miles.

It’s a pleasant urban walk, not unlike Greenlake. It also changed a few attitudes about Columbus. If you want to see some physically fit folks, this is the place. Quite a few runners and bikers of all ages.

The walk starts out at a stocked lake inviting fishermen, then parallels route 315 before achieving a bit of a separation between the noisy traffic and the Olentangy River.

Like some I-90 hikes out west, you always hear the freeway. Only there’s no elevation gain here and you’re a lot closer to the road.

The leaves are changing with some having color, others spent, stubbornly holding on resisting the inevitable journey to becoming compost.

I also need to alter my views on urban trails in Columbus. This one is quite nice. Easton is full of narrow walkways that don’t lead to businesses and end abruptly. They were put in as an afterthought and seemingly reluctantly.

The Olentangy trail is wide and very nice. Visually it’s a treat!

And what is the thing below?  Email your answers.  Zoom up on it.  Looks like a green alien brain.

REFLECTIONS ON LIVING IN OHIO FOR 3 MONTHS

The best thing about living here are the people. Respectful friendliness. Cashiers, restaurant help, simply folks on the street I suspect one could move here and in relative short order develop a good set of friends.

The things I like?

The NorthStar Cafe. Never knew a Makers Manhattan and a vege burger went together so well. The Buddha bowl is something I could eat 7 nights in a row. The staff is justifiably proud of their food and their service.

Columbus brewery. Great IPA.

I 270, the loop around Columbus. Just stay on the road, you’ll get there ( or close).

Proximity to Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Roughly 50% of the US population lives within 500 miles of Columbus. How cool is that?

No real traffic. Ever. Ok, maybe minor slowdowns, but nothing in the way of real stop and go traffic that can last for hours.

The history. Seven presidents hailed from Ohio. The state has contributed more than its share to the strength and historical vitality and growth of the US. Firestone, Kettering, the Wright brothers, Thomas Edison, Goodyear--- all Ohio names.

Fireflies. Love fireflies on warm summer evenings.

Cookouts and screened porches.

Ohio State University. The affection for OSU is palpable, especially on friday when everyone wears red. Never blue. Key piece of glue binding the community together.

Things I don’t like:

Torture of the english language. I can’t wait until the words 'have' and 'seen' are together once again. When one says "I seen" the natural tendency is to assume it’s never followed by "the inside of a book".

Stopping on the merge lane on to the freeway. I (have) seen this several times. Even in relatively light traffic, rather than speed up and merge they'll come to a complete stop even though there's ample room to merge. The sign says ’yield’, not 'give up'.

The lack of natural beauty. We are incredibly lucky in the northwest to have physical features that inspire the senses. Mounts Rainier and Baker along with the Salish Sea. Seattle has the Cascades to the east for glorious sunrises and the Olympics to the west as foreground to sunsets. The islands are close and always calling. Just the simple pleasure of getting to a highpoint and viewing your surroundings.

Here there are no highpoints, no hills, no vistas and certainly no mountains. Flat. Maybe that’s why so many notable aviators and astronauts are from Ohio. They had an insatiable need to go up and see things.

Easton. For all its convenience, it looks like someone erected a sterile mall by bulldozing a cornfield. Oh. That’s exactly what they did.

Obstacles to walking. Paths are either narrow, nonexistent or end abruptly. Walking is encouraged between car and business, but not between businesses and certainly not as a way to cover any distance. Crosswalks are all but irrelevant and pedestrians are targets. Cars have and take right of way at all times There are a few great paths but more for recreation and don’t appear to connect to anything useful.

Could I reside here and work? Absolutely. The work has been interesting, productive, and meaningful. There are enough attractions that one could be here for some time and not get bored at all.

Could I live here? Not with my definition of the word ‘live’. Living is time in the Islands. Living is having a view. Living is a hike in the mountains. Living is happy hour in cockpit watching a sunset. There may be deeper definitions of ‘living’, involving family and service to others, but part of the definition, to me, is the sheer beauty of the Northwest.

The opportunity to work where you truly want to live is a blessing.