Octopus Week

My Friday morning commute has long been one of my favorites on account of traffic has always seemed light.  I can sleep an extra 12 minutes and make it to the job site in record time.  This past Friday was a different story of course.  Perhaps it was because I pushed the limits of "sleeping in" and slept until 7:22 a.m.  My fear is that it was because of the unkind things I thought of the United States Postal worker who seemed less than eager to help me mail a big box the afternoon before.  Bad karma can destroy a good commute.

I take Hwy 99 south through downtown Seattle to work.  My least favorite part of this commute is when I am on the stretch of this highway that is a Double Decker viaduct.  Southbound is sandwiched between the pavement below and the northbound lanes above.  Though I am not Catholic I often wonder if a Hail Mary would be appropriate when I enter this contraption each day.  There have been years of controversy in Seattle over how to replace this decrepit piece of highway that will surely collapse if the right person just blows on one of the posts too hard. Thus, we keep driving on it on a hope and a prayer that today isn't the day it will tumble down.

Well, this past Friday traffic was at a standstill on the viaduct.  (Insert racing heart and irritation here.)  I always wonder if today will be the day the thing crumbles and my red car is flattened into a pancake.  Because traffic was crawling I had the opportunity to read every sign and billboard on the boardwalk to Elliott Bay down below.  In the midst of my irritation with traffic I was elated to learn that Octopus Week is fast approaching at the Seattle Aquarium.  For starters, my mind was taken off the traffic for about thirty seconds as I searched my memory banks to see if I had any prior knowledge of an Octopus Week.  Nope.  This was new learning for me, people.  So, as I pondered what it meant I crawled my way to work on the viaduct.

Late Friday afternoon I posted on my Facebook page that Octopus Week was fast approaching.  A smart colleague of mine posted back that indeed it was true and that two octopi are united during this week and have a sort of frisky encounter on February 14th, if you catch my drift. - This was a jaw dropper.  Who knew that octopi were having scheduled "play dates" for an audience to see?  I couldn't wrap my mind around how octopi even engage in this adult activity, but I was ever curious.  A quick Google search later and I had more information than necessary.  What was most alarming was that the male octopus often just gobbles up the female octopus after the fun is done!  Who knew?

At any rate, here is to a successful encounter on February 14th at the Seattle Aquarium.  I hope the lady octopus doesn't get gobbled up.