Seattle, Pacific Coast

I have had never lived on the west coast before and it was a change I was excited about. Soon after my move, I realized there is a different vibe to this part of the country. It is different from all the other cities I have lived in before. Like every change in life, this one, too, took some time. But gradually, I started settling down and understanding the city a little more with each passing day.

Over time, I started to feel like we have a lot in common, the city and me. It is always cloudy but it rarely rains. Looking at the cloudy grey sky, it gives out an impression that the city is holding on to something within itself wanting to pour its heart out, and yet it struggles to drizzle more than just a few drops.

Unlike the common consensus, I have come to love with the gloomy weather here. In fact, I find peace in it. Yes, there isn’t much sunshine on a typical day and yet, for some reason, I find comfort in this weather. Its cozy, I lit a scented candle, and it instills a sense of calmness within me. Working alone in my room, the sound of droplets falling over the window pane gives me a feeling of companionship. Maybe it’s this constant sound of rain that I have started to like more off late.

I have always loved rain. There is something unexplainable about this weather that gives me a comforting vibe. Perhaps because it makes me go back in time and drool over my childhood memories of monsoon. It reminds me of the time when my dad used to pick me up and carry me over the small puddles, my mom making bhajiya while I stood next to her staring at the pouring rain outside the kitchen window. I vividly remember those frames, like it happened just yesterday and yet it feels like a different life. A life that will neither return nor be recreated. It just exists in my memory… which, too, will eventually fade away with life and age.

Summers are just the opposite here. The city comes out alive during the bright and sunny weather. Days are typically long during summers. I come back home from work, head out to the gym, and it is still bright when I return. I like the long days. The evenings are usually silent. There is stillness around me in this silent hour of the evening. It feels meditative. I moved here from a city of hustle and bustle and silence was far from life, but I have grown to like this stillness around me. I enjoy the vibe of cooking in my kitchen during these silent evening hours, sometimes complimenting the vibe with a glass of wine, and watching the beautiful sky from my open window.

Sitting in my balcony sipping tea in these slow evening hours, I have developed the art of noticing. I noticed how the leaves of Magnolia tree in front of my apartment changes its color and goes through a serial transition of the different shades of pink in different seasons. I noticed how the sun’s gaze starts falling short as winter approaches and how the last rays hit the top of pine trees illuminating them with an orange tangerine color for a few mins before sunset. I haven’t had paid attention to such nuances of nature up until now. At times, it feels like the nature talks to us in its own cryptic ways.

It feels like I’m living two lives. Life is fast, and it is slow too. It gets monotonous, but breaks the pattern too. Living here, over time, I have come to realize that this is not one city, these are many different cities residing within one. There are so many small different worlds in here that are totally different from each other and totally indifferent of each other. It gives you a chance to shed your deeply rooted identity or, sometimes, unknowingly, even discover a new identity. After all, imo, living life with the same identity is an unexplored way of living life. If nothing else, it only opens up your worldview and perspective towards life. 

This is how it is, in my eyes, this place, this city, this vibe – Seattle!