Bellingham

Sometimes I forget it's there. Just 45 minutes away.
Sometimes I forget who's there. Heartwoodies and their friends, some I've already met, some I have yet to meet.
Last night I went to Bellingham, for a friend's partner's film release and a gathering before hand. Full of pleasant surprises in terms of reuniting with familiar faces and meeting some new ones.
Pleasant surprise in terms of changes too. I used to feel agitated or sick to my stomach on the drive up to Bellingham because of a couple of foolish choices and heartaches that played out up there. But yesterday none of that. Just fresh and moderately excited. Open to meeting some new people and looking forward to seeing some old friends. I didn't even know I'd be seeing some of the people I saw. And that's where another change comes in. One of my past acquaintances had made some important health-oriented changes, cleaning up his act quite a bit, and now I feel a friendship may be on the horizon.
I was also reminded of the potential to go up to Bellingham to trade bodywork with other Heartwoodies. This is super appealing, as we tend to be more "present" than the average massage therapist, and it's lack of presence that bothers me most in many of the massage therapists I've seen in Anacortes.