Taking in the Good

When my aunt Kimmy visited in February 2019 during what is known as “snowmageddon” here on the Olympic Peninsula, we had lots of fun together, and she & I visited Ruston on the day of her departure. We went to Northern Fish and she bought some stuff to have shipped home, and we visited Anthem Coffee Roasters. We walked downtown and saw neat murals on the old brick buildings.

My favorite part of this day was when we visited some obscure diner on a street corner for breakfast. It must have been really obscure because I just spent several minutes trying to find it online by location and couldn’t, needless to say I don’t remember the name. But I remember that she was wearing a blue tee shirt from Steven’s Pass that I now have, and that I got an omelette, and that we both loved the food. Just a greasy spoon diner, but they always have the best food I suppose.

The snow was still clumped up on the sidewalks outside, all gray and mushy and lackluster, but inside the diner it was nice and warm, smelling sweet like syrup and bacon. It was a small hole in the wall diner, its seating area narrow in shape, not more than a dozen tables. Natural light flooded through the many windows onto the walls which were a warm golden yellow color. We sat at a booth near the front and there were memorabilia on the walls, probably vintage collectibles and old time photos of Ruston.

We had so much fun there just being in the moment. I took a photo of Kim holding fork & knife upright, ready to dig into her yummy breakfast, being silly as we always were, and she got one of me doing the same. They had coloring books for sale that were illustrated by a local artist and I bought one, I think it’s titled Fortuna, and it’s filled with mystical scenes of otherworldly lands and creatures.

I don’t remember what we talked about… but just how good it felt to be in her presence, on that ordinary day, in that little nameless greasy spoon diner. I’m so grateful for that memory. 🥲