Yesterday, as our pup Riley—the most AWESOME Go...
Yesterday, as our pup Riley—the most AWESOME Golden Retriever on the planet!—and I continued on a quest to beat our one-day, 18-mile “Lewis & Clark Expedition” around the streets of Seattle, we hit the U-District in the early afternoon. I am certain that I must have looked absolutely ridiculous dressed in an ancient KU ball cap (rock-chalk-Jayhawk-KU!), cheap aviator shades, blue Old Navy hoodie with vintage black “Golds Gym” t-shirt underneath, and orange Speedo swim trunks purchased last year for 3 bucks at the Goodwill in Ballard, and shouting “¡Vamonos, Juan Carlos!” [translation: “Let's go, Juan Carlos!”]* to Riley the wonder dog as we weaved in and out of people on the crowded sidewalks of the Ave! [Apparently there was a big football game that Saturday afternoon, and the U-District was bursting at the seams with excited and boisterous UW students; so fortunately, I fit right in!] Because I hadn’t yet taken the time to eat lunch and was practically on the verge of starvation, I stopped at the window of Bulldog News to see what they had in the way of food. While Bulldog offers an awesome selection of baked goods, they have no sandwiches; and I was in the mood for a big, fat, juicy, greasy cheeseburger! Jack, who was working the counter—being a young, healthy college student—completely understood my need for either an unhealthy burger or a slice of pizza. He recommended Pagglacci Pizza which serves the best pizza this side of the Mississippi and which has been at its same U-District location since I worked for Safeco Insurance eons ago. [But that unfortunate and disastrous career choice, which brought Terry and me to Seattle in 1989, is a-whole-nother story!] I decided to wander further up the Ave to see what I might find. But before I left, something remarkable happened. A homeless man came to the window and asked Jack for a cup of coffee. Without hesitating, Jack poured him a cup. The man was very appreciative. He seemed to be a very gentle man who just happen