Pelted With Oysters

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How can I begin this tale with anything other than a food metaphor?  Saying that I've been pelted with oysters has to be the best way to describe what happened to me last Sunday and what I've been through this past week.  Long story short, last Sunday my home was severely damaged by a major water pipe leak that happened on the upper level.   I'm not sure how long it will take to get things back to normal and right now I'm without a home.  

This has been such a rough experience.  The entire week has felt as if I were getting pelted with oysters - first the pipe leak, then the flooding, then all the many things that could go wrong when that much water flows through a house.  As awful as it may be, I have to keep my spirits up and I have been trying hard to find a pearl or two among all of these hard-hitting oysters.  It's hard to do, but pearls can be found.  I've had friends really come through for me when this happened and my family has been supportive from afar. 

It's unreal how you can never really be prepared for something like this and it happens so unexpectedly.  I mean, nothing about last Sunday was unusual.  I woke up ready to enjoy the last bit of weekend.  I met up with a friend for a fabulous brunch at Corson Building.  It's such a great treat on a Sunday morning.  Despite it's location under the shade of the I-5 overpass, once you step inside, Corson feels more like a welcoming home rather than a restaurant.  There are communal tables set up in the dinning area and at the far back you can see the kitchen.

They have several items that you can serve up for yourself - most were vegetarian options.  They always seem to have yogurt with honey, fruits, nuts and seeds.  You also get an option on your egg or hot dish.  I  had thesavory anchovy and caramelized onion quiche. 

 

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The food was good, company was excellent and the conversation was fierce - brainstorming, scheming and getting geared up for research!

After brunching I did a little touring around Corson Building.

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Brunch - check! Onwards to the next leg of our journey that put us at the top of Queen Anne at a new place - La Reve Bakery.

Cute place, just a few steps away from one of my favorite spots, El Diablo Coffee Co.  Coffee and pastries is what they do, but even with their best efforts to make it look homey, it still somehow felt like a Starbucks to me.  It wasn't as cozy as I imagined and the noise level is relatively high for a small space.  We treated ourselves to hot chocolate and a twice baked almond croissant (I think it was thrice baked-oops! It was baked too long giving it a hardened crust rather than a proper crispness).  

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As we were chatting, I noticed a missed call on my phone.  I was listening to the voicemail and sipping on the hot cocoa.

Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!

Mid-sip, I look up and say "I gotta go!"  I received awful news in the form of a voicemail from the water company.  They called to let me know they had shut off the water to my home.  They had received a call from a neighbor that there was a waterfall running out of the second level and that most likely a pipe burst.

I asked my friend to join me because I really didn't think I could handle seeing the damage on my own.  We would have left right away, but since in many places in Seattle you have to bus your own table, I felt guilty just rushing out the door.  We cleaned up the table and took our dishes to the bin and took off.

Later I found out that a pipe can gush around 25 gallons of water a minute.  The water most likely started leaking in the morning and the call I got from the water company came in at 3 pm.  From that point on, it seemed like things were moving so fast.  At first glance, things looked bad but not as tragic as I imagined.  The first call I made was to my insurance.  Thank goodness most of my important files were in a filing cabinet.  Since then I've had a number of strangers in my home drying up the water and demolishing most rooms.   The water made its way across the upper level and started running down to the lower level.  Many of the walls and ceilings had to come out.  My house is no longer home.  It really looks foreign to me.  It will take a ton of time and patience to rebuild.

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(Note: Oyster photo by Chef Matt Rock http://www.flickr.com/photos/chefmattrock/)

 

 

 

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