By Liz
Friday was one of those real wet rains that are pretty rare for Seattle. Now, that might sound crazy for those of you who’ve never lived in Seattle. A city that is synonymous with rain. There are a million types of rain that falls in Seattle; Most common is the gray day that produces random drizzles, but nothing that get’s you all that wet when walking to the corner store. Friday’s rain actually consisted of hours of big rain-drops rain. That level right before a storm when it’s coming down so hard that it’s actually coming up too! Even with an umbrella I was getting quite wet when I walked to the store at lunch and again on my way to the bus stop after work. That was the freaky part one, wet rain in Seattle.
Freaky part two happened when I was the last one to walk on the bus that I usually have to stand the whole way home on. I was beyond surprised that there were extra seats, it was almost eerie how may open slots there were. Rain for the busses mean extra packed as people are not cycling to work or going to stay downtown for happy hour shenanigans. Thus why this was extra freaky to me.
I took my seat and proceeded to watch the folks around me. The Ladies and Gentlemen looked as though the long week at work had drained and deflated them. The thought of getting home and curling up on the couch, kicking their shoes of and uncorking a bottle of wine was the only thing that kept them going. There might have been some slight projection on my part as far as what I was looking forward to when I got home.
The driver, a sub for this route and time was not exactly sure what was what “Next stop is ummm… at ummm… 15th and ummm.” Feeling slight pity and annoyance, I chimed in with “Market! 15th and Market is the next stop.” He proceeded to repeat it to the bus, although not very audible for more than a few rows back to hear. Mr. Sub Driver Guy seemed as though he was a little on edge. Not in a bad way mind you, but in the ‘let’s get this over and done with please. On a non freaky day, he may have been one of those fun, hop aboard my yellow submarine Captains. Sadly, that was not what he portrayed on this ride.
Darken skies from the wet rain, lighter than normal occupancy on the bus, and sub driver the ride home soon turned into one of those surreal moments. Every so often I have moments in time where it feels so surreal like a movie, book or dream unfolding in front of my eyes. Maybe it’s because I’m reminded of a scene in movie or book. Which leads to…
The final freaky part was that particular ride was linked to a favorite book/movie series Harry Potter and slight reminisce of the Knight Bus. It would have been totally cool to have a bus change shapes to meet traffic needs. No shape shifting, but the speed, erratic dodging and slamming on the breaks brought me to that moment when Harry is fleeing the Dursley home after inflating Aunt Marge. Sitting in the first seat and next to the glass bulkhead, I even had a moment or two when I pancaked into the glass. Thankfully it was my shoulder and not my nose.
Alas, my stop came and I exited the Freaky Friday bus and walked home getting vastly more soaked in the process. I suppressed my Singing in the Rain Gene Kelly dance and just opted for singing the song. “I’m singin’ in the rain, Just singin’ in the rain, What a glorious feelin’, I’m happy again.” Oh, what a truly a glorious feelin’!
