Oh, to be in Washington again

I have 24 days left until I set foot on Pacific Northwest soil again. For a grand total of seven days.

I'm sitting at my desk in my dorm, drinking Minute Maid apple juice that I thought was only 10% juice, but am just now realizing is actually 100% APPLE JUICE. Who knew? So suddenly it's like I'm drinking gold or something, like it's the best thing I've ever tasted. And it gets me thinking about the delicious apples that my family gets every fall in Hood River. I can't remember the name of them and it's driving me crazy. Gravensteins, maybe? Or something that starts with an H...either way, I'm sitting here drinking apple juice and thinking of that cool farm/country kitchen that we go to every year in Hood River and the AMAZING BBQ they have going that always draw a massive crowd. Hot, saucy pulled pork sandwiches, pear coleslaw and spiced baked beans...there is truly nothing better than that. Topped off with some homemade Hood River apple pie or some hot apple cider, and you have yourself the perfect fall day.

I also miss the ocean, even if it does always rain when I go there. It's a dark and twisty kind of beautiful. The kind that makes you fear the ocean just a little. Maybe because you can't see the end of it or maybe because the crashing of the waves is so loud and looks so powerful that you feel tiny standing there staring at it.

Today, I am sick. I have a fever. Which probably makes my writing seem over the top ridiculous because I'm pretty sure my fever is frying my brain as I'm writing this. But I also received flowers today, for the first time in a looong time. And it made my day, even if my grey matter is indeed being slow-cooked in this pumpkin head of mine.

So I guess I'm a Pacific Northwesterner now. Since I'm obviously not a "Wild West" girl like I thought I was. Or maybe I'm not meant to really fit anywhere.

Oddly enough, I think that would be okay with me.

~H