Seattle 8, or New Acquisitions

I almost didn't make it to the house I was visiting today. The buses were running late (as usual), the rain was cold and getting through my sweatshirt, and I wasn't crazy about the place anyway. But, my mind reasoned, what else did I have to do?

The house is not perfect, or even close. The room is nice enough, with good windows, hardwood floors, and a deep closet. But the kitchen is depressing, even if it is a nice size and has a gas stove. The ceiling is low, the lighting fluorescent, the floor dingy, and the house is entirely undecorated. It has, one might say, a lot of potential.

It also has a lot of stuff left by the previous tenants. The woman showing me the place (she lives there) has been working with the landlord to get rid of the extra couches and the closet full of stuff that seemingly belongs to no one.

Among these things was a dark green men's Schwinn mountain bike, 21 grip-shift gears, big juicy tires and only a tiny bit big for me. My dream bike. Not perfect for Seattle's massive hills - one really needs road tires - and in need of some decent chain lube, some air, fenders, and maybe a little rear brake adjustments but good enough. She asked if I wanted to take it right now.

I had to tell her I wasn't sure about the house, but she let me take the bike anyway. It's sitting outside in the drizzle right now, and once Easter is over, I'll take it down the street to the bike shop and ask them if they can help me tune her up. I hope she looks something like this when I'm finished:


Serendipity shows up in the weirdest of places.