determinedI love the hidden urban trails that course through the Eastside and Seattle. Most of the paths and trails intersect the mundane sidewalks and roads at tiny loci that only those who know them or the very few who can spot the places where the two worlds meet can find them with ease. For almost everyone else, these intersections are the places where people just pop into view out of the blue; it is much like the borderlands describe in Charles De Lint's novels - tales of Newford, shortcuts between places in the World As It Is.
A few nights ago I encountered an otherworld experience while riding home from the office. In the side path that meanders down the steep hiil through the GroupHealth hospital complex, I encouontered a young woman who did pop in out of the blue (no hidden trails this time), skip and dance across the path in her out of period outfit. I lost sight of her as I rounded a curve, smiling at her, catching last sight of her twirling as I travelling homeward.
