Callie Neylan
Sep 6, 2018 · 3 min read
Our engagement photos. Spring, 2003. Seattle, WA.

It’s not a seafood restaurant anymore. But the same balcony still overlooks the Fremont Cut. It still overlooks the dappled, brackish waters upon which I now row, the blue and orange Fremont Bridge over and under which I cross, depending on my mode of transportation. I know because I look up at it often, thinking of the day we met.

It’s not a seafood restaurant anymore, but the same smells still waft through the canal, and new ones, too: salt water, beer mash, sunshine in June, and now chocolate churning at Theo.

It’s not a seafood restaurant anymore, but I still hear the swish of water lapping at sailboats while they wait for the honking, clanging draw bridge as it opens and creaks its way into the moody Seattle sky.

I drove down Florentia to Nickerson, in jeans and a fuschia shirt, little to no make-up. I wanted him to fall in love with just me, not my blush, mascara, and lipstick. I told the hostess I was meeting a man. A tall man named Will. A tall man named Will from the Chesapeake Bay who was waiting for me on that balcony.

The daily mixing of fresh water and saltwater in estuaries leads to variable and dynamic chemical conditions, especially salinity. When fresh water and saltwater meet in an estuary, they do not always mix very readily. –NOAA

The hostess told me there was no man waiting, so I went home and checked my email. Or maybe I called him instead. I am here, he said. Somehow, she missed me. Come back. I will wait for you.

The canal was in the background, filled with the dappled, brackish waters upon which I now row. His dark, refined, patrician head, tilted over a book exactly the way he still tilts it now, his crisp tailored shirt in angular contrast to the leafy trees casting twittering shadows behind him. His masculine yet long and beautiful hands, elegantly turning a page. He looked up, I sat down, and we’ve been together ever since.

In estuaries, water level and salinity rise and fall with the tides. These features also rise and fall with the seasons. During the rainy season, rivers may flood the estuary with freshwater. During the dry season, the outflow from rivers may slow to a trickle. The estuary shrinks, and becomes much more saline. –NatGeo

We’re not newlyweds anymore, but the same balcony still overlooks the Fremont Cut. It still overlooks the same dappled, brackish waters upon which I now row. And our 15-year marriage, not unlike a rich, storied estuary, sometimes more salty than fresh, still mixes, ebbs and flows.

September 5, 2003

Callie Neylan

Written by

Senior Designer, Visual Analytics on the Excel team at Microsoft. I don’t write nearly as much as I want to. / @neylano

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