Okay I am running out of time tonight, but I want to get this third entry posted so I will have covered most of Saturday and Sunday, in an effort to cover two days at a time at least, until I get current with covering this year's Birth Week! This creates a minor irony, because this will be the shortest of the three posts, even though of the three separate photo sets (one for boating with Heather and Tim on Saturday; one for staying overnight with Jennifer; and...), hanging out in Port Townsend with Auntie Rose has by far the most photos -- 45 shots in all.

This is because Port Townsend is an incredibly photogenic place; is has beautiful water and islands surrounding it; it has pretty awesome Victorian architecture; and Auntie Rose even took me into an art gallery that had lots of art that I could not help but take pictures of.

And speaking of the Victorian part, tourism is a big part of Port Townsen's economy (after "maritime trades" and manufacturing), and one of its oft-repeated claims to fame is that it is "one of three Victorian seaports in America." The other two? Galveston, Texas and Cape May, New Jersey, putting the three nicely evenly distributed around the country.

So, even though the town is very much both now and historically tied to nautical activities, my visits with both Jennifer in Shelton and Auntie Rose in Port Townsend became the first installments of this year's Birth Week activities that did not involve getting into a boat. Well, unless you count that Victorian ship you see me standing in above, which Auntie Rose kind of struggled to get a picture of for me.

It's part of an area for children on the Port Townsend downtown waterfront, but when I saw it I was like, "That's perfect!" I can't get a boat ride in with Auntie Rose, but I can pose with -- in a symbolic embodiment of her town! I quite like the shot.

I also love this shot I took of Auntie Rose through the hold of a downtown waterfront sculpture.

I love how big she's smiling.

I do feel like these days, all the time I still get with Auntie Rose is increasingly precious. She noted that she's even slower now than she was last year, and I said that was no problem -- and it truly wasn't, but also, she wasn't kidding. She has to walk with a cane, and it takes real effort for her to get out of a chair. I even asked her if there was some particular issue slowing her down, thinking maybe it was some specific condition, and her matter-of-fact answer was a tad depressing: "Age."

Auntie Rose is 81 years old. That's only one year younger than Grandma, her sister 8 years her senior, was when she passed away in 2011. Luckily, unlike Grandma, Auntie Rose still has all her faculties -- no apparent dementia with her. She is quite hard of hearing, and she often nods in a way while I'm talking to her that makes me think she's just pretending to hear me -- but, she's had that issue for many years now. I do try to speak up when talking to her.

Anyway, Auntie Rose has the longest history of any single person who has ever participated in my Birth Week activities -- because we were meeting for at least lunch around my birthday since at least 2001. She couldn't meet in 2002 because she was still recovering from having been hit by a car the previous December, but even if I were to say Auntie Rose's "Birth Week history" went only back to 2003 -- I only started calling it my "Birth Week" in 2004. So, she had a head start begore anyone.

And, from 2001 clear up until last year, she came to meet me in Seattle -- often to coincide with a doctor's appointment she had anyway. But last year, when she was 80 years old, she said, "From now on you can start coming to Port Townsend." After nearly two decades, I had no problem with that. "That's fair," I said.

I do find myself wondering how many more years of this I'll get with her though. Three? Four? We basically settled on Fort Worden, the very famous state park in Port Townsend that our family actually has a long history going to, for my Port Townsend stop on next year's "Discover Pass State Parks Tour." I just hope she's mobile enough to be able to do it.

Well, I had a great time this year, anyway. I left Jennifer's in Shelton at 10 a.m. yesterday, and got to a parking space a block and a half from the sandwch shop we met at for lunch at about 10 minutes before our agreed-on noon meeting time. Largely by Auntie Rose's design, we went to a place with spectacular view of the water (and a few sailboats) through the window -- and she saved us a table right by the windows. Also the sandwich I had was delicious.

I spent about four hours with her, and we spent maybe three of those hours, after lunch, slowly strolling down the waterfront and back, walking out on the many, very nice, piers. We walked up to the Subway near the ferry terminal in time for Uncle Imre to pick up Auntie Rose and take her back home. He was already there, and he got up to say hello, shake my hand, and then say goodbye again. After that I walked back down to my car (Shobhit's car, really; he bussed to work over the weekend) so I could get in line with my 5:15 ferry reservation about 45 minutes early. The guy in the toll booth was clearly exasperated by the number of people who don't realize they really need a reservation.

The ferry, with a vehicle, was surprisingly cheap, at least -- $11.90. It was also a newer vessel with an unusual design, and thus qualified as Birth Week Boat #6.

Before reaching that point, though, I got lots of waterfront pictures with Auntie Rose, including this very good one.

[posted 10:25 pm]

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