I spent a marvelous three days in Tacoma, Wash., the weekend before last on a business trip. What a wondrous city to provide a respite from the summer heat and humidity of the Midwest. In mid July the daily high temperature is 72 degrees. I spent an entire afternoon reading books along the Puget Sound shoreline, unperturbed by flies or mosquitoes. The air smelled so fresh, devoid of the haze that enveloped the Chicago I viewed on my return flight. Majestic snow-covered Mount Rainier loomed in the background.
The climate is temperate year-round, rarely venturing into the 80s in the summer or failing to reach the 50s in winter. Residents don’t have to contend with snow. Best of all there are a bevy of seafood restaurants along the water selling my favorite fish, halibut and cod, fresh and at reasonable prices.
Lest I start packing my bags to move to Washington, however, the shuttle bus driver from the rental car outlet to the airport warned me that it’s cloudy much of the year. And he said he pays $720 a month to rent a one-bedroom apartment, not that much less than my monthly mortgage for a four-bedroom home in southwest Missouri.
Unlike southwest Missouri, I saw few people smoking and few obese people in northwest Washington. Tacoma seems to have a good share of residents who are well off. I saw hundreds of spiffy people walking, jogging and biking along the shoreline. But I didn’t see many families. Dogs outnumbered babies and young children by a wide margin.
No comments:
Post a Comment