My week of playing tour guide turned out to be a complete delight. Don't tell anyone, but Seattle's most visited sights are still "walk right on" empty when April hasn't yet morphed into the proper touristy months. So all the way from the top of the Space Needle through the depths of the old MOHAI and the soon-to-be filled space wing of The Museum of Flight (those last two are personal faves) - we seemingly had the run of the City. Amidst all that free and/or easy access, I tried to keep my eye on more than a few stories of direct interest to my larger narrative. Such as another case of "mad cow disease" turning up at a truly Orwellian-sounding rendering plant in California. Or how 'bout the U.S. Senate punting on a fix for the Postal Service, leaving the House to possibly play the baddie and shutter vast swaths of this Constitutionally-mandated system? Yup - those both indeed happened. My personal near-term connection to "mad cow" research (its origins and importance) comes from a series of conversations I had at Washington State University while on the road the week before last. Which seems like months ago. Plus the whole U.S. snail mail conundrum fascinates me - how can we rescue and re-purpose a system so essential for an ever shrinking and yet evolving minority? I can think of no other debate on the nation's plate right now that better captures an "urban vs. rural" political dichotomy.

If you share some small measure of the interest in these or other salient issues, check back. I'll surely still be here, from time to time. Not standing near Rachel the Pig @ Pike Place Market - that was last week.