Christmas in Seattle

The Bainbridge Island Ferry returns to Elliot Bay, Seattle on Christmas Day

We spent the Christmas holiday in West Seattle this year. Circumstances diverted us from our plan to be at the Bogachiel cabin over the weekend. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay at a relative's bluff top home overlooking Elliot Bay with a view of Mt Baker to the northeast and the Olympics to the west. Unfortunately, rain storms blocked out the views most of the time. Christmas day itself was lovely. Seattle is located in a truly beautiful setting. Surrounded by water, fresh and salt, with views of mountains in all directions from wooded hills it is easy to find inspiration here. Of course, there are plenty of places in the greater Puget Sound metro area that are less than inspiring - the suburbs are as banal as anywhere in America, the traffic is terrible (I had to contend with 100 miles of stop and go traffic on I-5 heading south on Tuesday evening), and it is an expensive place to try to live. But when the skies clear and you find yourself on a high point looking out, it is hard not to want to be here forever.