The Various Diners of Whatcom County 13: The Daisy Cafe

 

The Daisy Cafe, 114 W Magnolia St, Bellingham, WA

There are no shortage of downtown breakfast spots in lovely Bellingham, and here's another one -- The Daisy Cafe!

Eggs Benedict await!

One Week In South Korea Soon

I'm visiting South Korea next week for my first vacation in a long while.  I hope early June isn't too hot, but it will be Daegu so who am I kidding?  I'll sweat buckets.

Almost June

Is it time, Poppa? Is it time to come up and out of the radish shelter now that winter is finally over Poppa?#Bellingham #CountryLife pic.twitter.com/5m3IUPiRxw

— "Give Me Ammunition, Not a Ride" James (@wetcasements) May 20, 2022

Hail Hail

 

John Lennon and Chuck Berry live, 1972

If Chuck Berry is fine with Yoko being Yoko, I don't see why the rest of us should feel any different.

I watch a lot of Youtube.  I'm pretty obsessive about music.  I'm not sure how I never came across this mind-blowing clip before, with renditions of "Memphis" and "Johnny B. Goode."

None of This Is Easy

You might remember that I've been living with my Dad since February of 2021 as his primary caregiver.  We went to his doctor yesterday and got some information that's partly very bad and, in the strange logic of caregiving, very good as well, if only because it clarifies some things that were becoming more apparent to me and my sister over the past 12 months.  To have his doctor confirm what we already knew might not seem like a big deal, but going forward it's important.

It's tough.  We have good days and bad days together and, more often lately, a mixture of both.

You also might remember that I'm working part-time at the local Humane Society.  It's been fantastic, mostly, with the usual bumps and lumps that come with learning a new job.  The HR department offers some limited free counseling which I'm going to look into.  I don't lack for people I can talk to, but a little professional help might go a long way.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is by far the hardest damn thing I've ever done.  And on the one hand I'm proud of myself for having gotten this far, and on the other I'm still scared and stressed and terrified about what comes next.

Have I mentioned that when I do go in to work we're allowed to have pets in the office?  That throughout the day some random shelter dog gives me hand licks and nuzzles, or tries to jump onto my lap while I'm taking calls from the public?  And if that isn't enough in terms of what I need right now, it's certainly more than nothing?

The Various Diners of Whatcom County 12: Hilltop Restaurant & Catering

Hilltop Restaurant & Catering, 5645 Guide Meridian, Bellingham, WA

North out of town once again along the lovely Guide Meridian, is it a diner?  A restaurant?  Or a catering business?  Yes!  It's Hilltop Restaurant!

Wallet?  Check!  Hungry?  Check!  Passport to Eggs Benedict?  Of course!

Clouds Like Smoke

Nooksack, Washington.

The Various Diners of Whatcom County 11: Rusty Wagon Old Tyme Food

Rusty Wagon Old Tyme Food, 6937 Hannegan Rd, Lynden, WA

Back to lovely Lynden, in the center of Whatcom County!  Hope you brought your appetite, partner, as well as your tolerance for Western kitsch!

You're either going to love or hate this place, cowpoke!

"along the coast from Blaine to Seattle"

"The man with the tweed cap was silent.  Met by the impasse of Mary's nationality, he sat absorbed in his own thoughts.  Finally he said, So you're not Canadian what are you?  Mary had been looking in the mirror behind the bar and so did not catch this last question.  He repeated it.  She answered that she was an American, but her father was a Norwegian.  He died several years ago.  A Norwegen!  Hah.  Me, I'm Swedish.  Norweganser no good!  Oh? she said, My father was nice.  Well, that's just because he was your father, he replied, his jaw set firm.  That don't make Norwegians good.  Are you married? he asked.  Yes I am, to the man sitting next to me.  And so that went, the Swede asked more questions and was generally skeptical of the couple's local residence.  To him they remained Canadian.  This word, along the coast from Blaine to Seattle, is commonly used to mean 'odd ball.'"

-- Edward Dorn, By The Sound

Downtown

Bellingham, Washington.

My version of Physical Graffiti I guess.

The Various Diners of Whatcom County 10: Little Cheerful Cafe

 

Little Cheerful Cafe, 133 E Holly St, Bellingham, WA

Let's go back downtown, shall we?  On a rainy morning quickly turning to sunlight, or a sunny morning quickly to rain, Bellingham has got you covered when it comes to your breakfast needs -- at Little Cheerful Cafe!

"through the sand and the pine needles"

"the methodist minister's wife was a tall thin woman who sang little songs at the piano in a spindly lost voice who'd heard you liked books and grew flowers and vegetables and was so interested because she'd once been an episcopalian and loved beautiful things and had had stories she had written published in a magazine and she was younger than her husband who was a silent blackhaired man with a mouth like a mousetrap and tobaccojuice on his chin and she wore thin white dresses and used perfume and talked in a bell-like voice about how things were lovely as a lily and the moon was bright as a bubble full to bursting behind the big pine when we walked back along the shore and you felt you ought to put your arm around her and kiss her only you didn't want to and anyway you wouldn't have had the nerve walking slow and through the sand and the pine needles under the big moon swelled to bursting like an enormous drop of quicksilver and she talked awful sad about the things she had hoped for and you thought it was too bad"

-- John Dos Passos, The 42nd Parallel

We Told You

Just thinking of all the shit-heads back in 2016 who really thought Hillary would make a worse president than Trump.

Gay marriage is next.