Dear President Trump,

I know you’ve got your hands full (of remotes) keeping tabs on the world, but if you can tear yourself away from F & F you should look at some pictures of Seattle – we got 10.6” of snow overnight and it’s really beautiful here. We’re supposed to get down to 16 degrees tonight so tomorrow it will be beautiful and absolutely treacherous since everything will be slicker than snot. With more snow forecast for tomorrow and a high of 34, it’ll probably stay crazy dangerous all day. Fortunately my church already cancelled in-person services tomorrow and we’re going to have worship over Zoom – should be interesting.

Earlier in the day I took a walk to get out of the house. Since it seemed likely I’d wimp out if I didn’t set a destination, I decided to check out the big Buddha head and then the gorgeous old eucalyptus tree about a half-mile away. It was quite a workout since the snow is really deep and only about a quarter of households around here had shoveled their walks (maybe a third but it really could be a fifth – we aren’t used to this weather and don’t have a culture of snow care).

Along the way I saw a flock of about 50 robins (truly) flying back and forth across the street from a huge cedar on one side to a berry laden bush on the other side, swooping to and fro like they were maybe a bit tipsy. And then a couple of blocks further on I saw two hummingbirds (I know!) and one of them even alighted on a snowy twig for a few seconds.

Then it was on to the tree. As I walked down the street perpendicular to the tree street I saw that a lot of people were out chatting. And then I saw the orange cones blocking the street. I thought they were so kids could sled, but alas they were there because the gorgeous old eucalyptus tree had fallen into the street. Well, really, what happened is that the large tree-sized bough facing the street snapped off. Poor thing. The nice arborist I spoke with said they were going to have to take the whole thing down.

Even though it never should have been here in Seattle, a lot of us loved that tree. The neighbors I spoke with said they’re planning a tree wake. I wanted to ask them to let me know once they’ve set a date, but it seemed presumptuous so I didn’t. I’ll pay my respects another way.

May we stay safe in adverse conditions.
May we be happy to look out for one another.
May we keep ourselves healthy and sane.
May we make peace with uncertainty.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson