It was 32 years ago that I first visited Seattle as a Whitman College freshman on Thanksgiving break. I'm damn thankful I did – decided then and there to find a way to live here eventually. It was a beautiful weekend, like this one. I took a million slides from the Space Needle. The tallest thing in view was the box the Space Needle came in, the SeaFirst Bank building. (Alas, these photos are not digitized.) In one shot, through a 200 mm lense, are the Cascades, with Capitol Hill in the foreground. In it you can see a house that I would occupy 10 years later when I finally moved here. I lived in that apartment for seven years. Subscribed to David Brewster's Seattle Weekly, which arrived by mail. The family that hosted me 32 years ago in Snohomish was wonderful and had a wonderful house in view of the river. I remember raking leaves as modest recompense. As I recall, the father worked at the Port of Tacoma – a job he had acquired after his family was ensconced in Snohomish – and I remember thinking, "Man, that's a killer commute." Today that commute would be impossible, of course. If that family remembers being kind to a wayward kid from Michigan in 1975, thanks, thanks, thanks. If not, thanks anyhow and here are some good vibes. Today my wife and I are going to Bainbridge Island to be with different friends I met at college in those days, and I am thankful for knowing them, too, as well as the ferry ride of which I never tire. Hope you are having similarly warm memories. Have a great day.