Not this year! I'm far behind, but it's time to do some catching up.
At the beginning of 2010, I had just started "going steady" with Christopher, was looking for work, and was still quite concerned about my dad's health. By the end of this year, I've ended up employed in several places, my dad is doing better, I've had some wonderful adventures up here, and Christopher and I have been dating for one year (plus one month, as of tonight).
In the first several months of the year, I spent a lot of time doing some serious networking in the area, trying to get a sense of what was going on in churches of many denominations. I also spent a bit of time talking with students and faculty at UW, Seattle University and other local schools about offerings at their various locations.
Early in the year, I began getting several things going on musical fronts. In January, I had joined the local GLBT+ band out here, which was a rewarding experience. I played my first concert with them last Spring. Unfortunately, due to work scheduling on the evening of their rehearsals, I haven't been able to continue performing with them. I also began a relationship with a Presbyterian church in the area where a friend of mine is the organist, and have sung solos for a couple of funerals and collaborated with her on a deeply meaningful All Saints' concert offered there in early November.
In March, I began work as the Associate for Music and Liturgy for a small Episcopal Church in the area, which has been a time of discovery for me on many levels. I am blessed for the opportunity.
In late February, I tried (without success) to sell the white van I had purchased in Phoenix that I subsequently used to move my stuff out here. But it was a good thing I didn't sell it, because during the summer a presumably drunk driver rear ended the Lexus LS400 I'd driven for many years and then took off. Fortunately, I was home in bed when it was hit, and the insurance settlement was more than I probably could have gotten for it if I tried to sell it myself. Neither vehicle, though, is/was good for driving or parking on the narrow, congested streets of Seattle. It is past time for another smaller vehicle, but I'm in no mood to spend money in this economy.
This past spring was full of both job interviews (for a "day job") and getting settled into work at St. Columba's. Both were enlightening experiences. I eventually began work in early June for a center doing ministry to seafarers, which has certainly been a very new experience being as I'm from the desert Southwest. Ministry to seafarers in Seattle, as in many other places around the country, is undergoing a great deal of change, forcing these ministries to adapt to the new needs of seafarers. So, this has been a good opportunity to be a part of making change happen.
My second Gay Pride in Seattle was certainly more eventful than the first, as I experienced the Saturday Capitol Hill pride celebration, then caught the last bit of the parade (which happens on Sunday here - clearly they don't care about competing with church), and finally wandered through the Seattle Center festival grounds with Christopher and his friends. I loved seeing many odd floats and booths sponsored by mainstream businesses. Because of the very gay-friendly nature of this city, gays and straights are so well-integrated that I don't feel the gay community has as much of a distinct identity. I've decided that this is a very good thing that has some side effects that aren't as good - and . . . I remain very aware that many GLBT people in our country wish they had such problems in their cities.
In the summer, I made the decision to join St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Seattle, knowing both that I was looking to move into the neighborhood immediately around it, and wanting a place to hang my hat that wasn't a congregation I was working for. Although I subsequently began a very part-time job there, it's been a place of blessing and encouragement for me as I do ministry in some other areas. I consider it home - for now.
In August, I moved out of the house I was sharing with friends into my own (small) apartment in the vibrant Uptown neighborhood, roughly between Belltown and Queen Anne, if you're familiar with those neighborhoods, and within easy walking distance of the Space Needle. Not that I go to the Space Needle much. I get to enjoy expansive views of the Puget Sound, a rooftop deck with a striking view of downtown and the Space Needle, Queen Anne hill, and the Sound, and some type of old but effective heating technology that's paid for by the complex.
Christopher and I also made several day trips in the late spring and early summer to the coast, Camano Island, Olympia, and other exotic locales. He is not a wandering soul as I am, but I was blessed to have him enjoy some of these adventures with me. Later, in September, he and I went on a trip to Portland together for a couple days, and I got to contrast Seattle with Portland as only a resident of Seattle could. I got to see just how different those two cities are - differences I didn't notice when visiting as a Phoenician.
In October, I hosted my first house party here in Seattle. Both attending and throwing house parties are an indispensable part of expanding your social circle here in Seattle if you are a newcomer. (Take note, any Arizona refugees . . .) Attendance was a little sparse, but it was good practice for future shindigs. Later in the month I tagged along at the Diocesan Convention, watching a friend get ordained to the Diaconate.
I was not at all looking forward to November, since last November was about the worst weather I ever could have imagined - days and days of heavy rain and oppressive levels of increasing darkness and cold. Fortunately, this November wasn't nearly as horrible, and we actually had several days of sun - and a crippling snowstorm a few days before Thanksgiving.
In December, however, I got to learn about the phenomenon called the "Pineapple Express", a persistent weather pattern that seems to happen during winter months when warm air trucks on up from near Hawaii and dumps buckets and buckets of rain on the area. Heavy rains continued for days on end with no breaks. (This is probably what happened in November of 2009 here; I just didn't know what it was.) It was very horrible, but I dealt with it a lot better since we'd had more interesting weather in November.
It helped, too, that I got to go back home to Phoenix for five days in December, where I went through a frenzy of meet-ups with friends. It was wonderful to say hello to everyone that I could, although I missed many others I would have liked to have seen. It was also very depressing to see how sad Phoenix was looking with all of its vacant lots, shuttered businesses, and empty streets. The Dean of the Cathedral there wrote recently that "Arizona has a lot of problems, but winter weather ain't one of them." I couldn't agree more - on both counts. I was glad to return to Seattle for Christmas.
The New Year has been filled with a lot of busyness, which isn't surprising for January. That's just how it goes. I've been doing a lot of juggling between the three jobs I have now. While that sounds like a lot of work (and it is) it's been really good for me. I'm very thankful to be fully employed. A lot of others are not as lucky.
I'm looking to begin some formal discernment work this year about future vocation/career in the church -or elsewhere- and I'm open-minded about where that will take me. I've accomplished several of the biggest goals I set for myself when I moved out here, but returning to school is one that is coming up quickly on the radar again now that the economy appears to be (finally) on the road to recovery. That will be another thing to juggle, but I can't dither with it any longer. It will just need to happen.
So, a very good year from up here. I hope all of you have had a good one also, and I wish all of you the best for 2011!
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