My chair commute is a straight shot from Cap Hill to Pioneer Square. A zoom down Pike and a sharp left on 1st Avenue. Takes me about 30 minutes if I make all the lights. No big deal. Some crappy curb cuts and bumpy side walks. But nothing I can’t handle. Except when I forget my gloves, and I often neglect to retrieve them from the back of the car.
So, for each and every hill bomb, I do what any red-blooded American male would do in the same situation: I purchase oven mitts, the cheapest I can find at the closest place, Walgreens on Broadway and Pike. They do the trick. No extra wear and tear on my hands. No extravagant expense. No need to tell Leslie. Except that she found my stash. Of course she did. She sniffs out any and all mysteries. Try throwing her a surprise party. It’s very, very difficult.
So I’m throwing together dinner after my latest whizz home, my current speciality of spicy pepper sauce with baked eggs and chorizo on the side, when she asks about the new collection of ugly oven mitts with the suspicious tire mark across the palm. Busted. I fess up. And yet I’m proud of my ingenuity, my self-sufficiency, my devil-may-care attitude about my general personage. So I offer up my adventure, and we both have a good chortle. She can’t shake the image of oven-mitted me in downtown Seattle passing commuters, left and right, weaving and wheeling my way through the crowds and chaos. And I inhale the image of my gorgeous partner, shaking, so lovely in her laughing fit.
Oven mitts when you are on a tear and forgetful. Out of the frying pan and into the baking oven with Seattle-lites. Home in one piece, a tasty dish, hot , bothered and overdone.
I love your blog Randy–and love the way Leslie is laughing/dancing/cheering through all of these. Very real and very loving. I should have written you ages ago to say I’ve been a secret fan for awhile. Now I”m signing up for email updates. Why keep it a secret any longer?
Great story! Glad you choose the adventure route rather than a mere cab ride home. Wear a Patagonia tee shirt next time and we’ll get a pic published in their next catalog…actually let’s do that!
She is a shockingly gorgeous woman, you’re a lucky guy. I love the oven mitts, I can imagine the long down hill ride.
Randy,
I’m certainly the last person to suggest fashion advice! (Will that stop me?) No!
I’m suggesting an elongated toque with a knitted tassel on the end. A flamboyant colour, of course. Fuschia comes to mind. Would look so cool flying out behind you on you in your madcap descent! Thinking a fashion photographer required as well.
I think you’re on to something, Rick. I’ve always appreciated jester caps.