Cafe Bengodi

The Italian cuisine treasure of Pioneer Square. An unbelievably tiny restaurant, with scrappy tableware and silverware, that dishes out some of the most delectable pasta meals we've ever had. They have a varying menu, I think. We tried the bruschetta with chicken pate - crisp, yummy, and rich. The pesto tortelline in chicken broth was both mellow and luscious at the same time - the broth overwhelming the senses.

Traveling Philosopher

I spotted the man on a crisp Saturday morning, sitting on a chair on the sidewalk outside the cafe. He had a pigtail and long, pointy beard, and wore a hat, and faded brown trousers and jacket. He was selling his self-published memoirs, full of personal and philosophical observations, written when he was on the road all over the country a few years ago.

Several passers-by and those lunching at the cafe stopped at his table, chatted with him, and bought his books, priced at between five and twenty dollars, the latter referred to as "the cadillac of my books". I stood listening to a couple of his poems, which were mildly interesting. And ended up buying the "cadillac", which I did not want.

He was friendly and honest. On learning that I lived on the other side of the lake, where people lived in neat houses with lawns and went to malls on the weekend, he said he had never been there, adding good-humoredly that "they probably don't want rabble like me there, anyway".

And Now, folks, Another Snowstorm

When I was interviewing in this area before we relocated, and even later when we were planning the relocation, we heard such stories about the mild winters of the Seattle area. They all seem like one big conspiracy now. First, the snowstorm after Thanksgiving, then the disastrous windstorm, and another snostrom today. Some mild winter.

Heard people around me at work talk about snow storm advisory. I went to a street side window around 3pm. It was overcast. The streets were still clear and dry. The next time I looked, around 4:30-5:00pm, I think. It was coming down heavily. I grabbed my stuff, and headed out to catch the bus home. The snow looked like tiny styrofoam packing material. The bus was about 10 minutes late. I was getting worried. But it did arrive. I was to soon find out that 10-minutes delay was hardly any delay that evening. I was to sit in the bus for next three hours.

We have kept the flashlight, candles and the firewood ready. Another power outage? Pray not.