Post by Fiona on Aug 29, 2014 21:13:11 GMT -8
From the journal of Louisa Bornstein (NPC):
What is it about a growing, prospering city that makes even the dead feel alive? Seattle had burned down, a layer of ash and charred wood where once people had lived and worked. The city looked hurt then, but now those scars are fading faster than one might think. It's the gold in the north and this city is the gateway. Miners pour in more and more each day. The "seamstresses" certainly are busy.
For businesswomen like me, those miners mean money. My family doesn't even need to try to sell things anymore. If we have it, someone wants it, all of it, in bulk. The boys, led by my husband, switched things over to wholesale, which I find to be quite pleasing. The department store was a trickle of small money. These lump sums have left me spare income to plan for the future.
Times are changing. I'm still close enough to my life and death to appreciate that change and flow with it. Women are starting to demand their worth be acknowledged in public. I can't join with it yet- not as the person I am now, all demur and charity-minded- but it has made me think of the person I might be next. I've noticed the proverbial shedding of the skin that happens with kindred, changing identities with the passing of time. I've never done it, not really done it, and I need to think how to link past to future. What to keep and what to get rid of. What to remember and what to let go of. I need to think of who I am at heart.
There are so many opportunities right now. So many things this young city could become. It is quite invigorating. Whatever I might think of its kindred population, I do love Seattle itself.
What is it about a growing, prospering city that makes even the dead feel alive? Seattle had burned down, a layer of ash and charred wood where once people had lived and worked. The city looked hurt then, but now those scars are fading faster than one might think. It's the gold in the north and this city is the gateway. Miners pour in more and more each day. The "seamstresses" certainly are busy.
For businesswomen like me, those miners mean money. My family doesn't even need to try to sell things anymore. If we have it, someone wants it, all of it, in bulk. The boys, led by my husband, switched things over to wholesale, which I find to be quite pleasing. The department store was a trickle of small money. These lump sums have left me spare income to plan for the future.
Times are changing. I'm still close enough to my life and death to appreciate that change and flow with it. Women are starting to demand their worth be acknowledged in public. I can't join with it yet- not as the person I am now, all demur and charity-minded- but it has made me think of the person I might be next. I've noticed the proverbial shedding of the skin that happens with kindred, changing identities with the passing of time. I've never done it, not really done it, and I need to think how to link past to future. What to keep and what to get rid of. What to remember and what to let go of. I need to think of who I am at heart.
There are so many opportunities right now. So many things this young city could become. It is quite invigorating. Whatever I might think of its kindred population, I do love Seattle itself.