Synopsis (Parts 1 - 10)

Today we pause in our story of Peggy Heggy. Now that ten installments have been posted, I felt it was time for a summary for the benefit of those readers who wish to pick up the story at this point and don't have time to read what came before.

I am on the 5:20 a.m. ferry to Seattle. It's mostly gray out, with a fine mist hanging over Puget Sound. Across the water, the city of Seattle looks like stacks of toy building blocks clustered on the water's edge. On my left is a break in the low-hanging clouds and through that opening I see sunlight reflecting off a high cloud and blue sky beyond that. Some of that sunlight reaches the water and bounces off as little golden twinkling lights.

Normally this description of the morning would be provided via Peggy's point of view. I imagine her as the kind of person who notices her surroundings and is especially attentive to light and colors and moisture. She and her late husband were great lovers of the outdoors.

In the first few parts of the story we learn that Peggy has recently moved from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. The normal way to get there is to take the ferry from the downtown Seattle ferry terminal at Pier 52. It's also possible to drive around through Tacoma and Bremerton, but that's long and boring. The ferry is much more interesting.

Peggy is 58 years old. She was married for thirty years to Taylor Heggy and they raised two children: Marjorie and Taylor, Jr. The children are grown and they live on the East Coast, Marjorie in Arlington, Virginia, and Taylor, Jr., in Brooklyn, New York. The main reason Peggy moved to Bainbridge was to try to start a new life. Her husband died suddenly of a stroke one week after their 30th anniversary. She stayed in their old house in Ballard, in the northwest part of Seattle, for a year trying to decide what to do with her life. Finally she sold the house and moved to Bainbridge Island.

The story begins just a couple of weeks after her move. She is still adjusting to her new commute on the 5:20 a.m. ferry to her job downtown, where she does database work for a nonprofit. She likes her job and doesn't want to give it up. On the ferry she likes to sit on the left side so she gets the full view of Seattle across the Sound as the ferry makes the turn out of Eagle Harbor. She notices the same commuters everyday, and they tend to sit in the same spot almost every day. One person in particular catches her eye: a man in a neatly trimmed gray beard who wears a leather motorcycle outfit and carries a white helmet. Under the leathers she sees a suit and tie and she is intrigued by that. He hardly pays any attention to Peggy at first. Eventually she learns that his name is Raoul. Another passenger she meets is Kelly Flinn, who loves to chat about local politics. Sometimes Raoul shows a little impatience with Kel's chatter, and that is what prompts Raoul to start talking to Peggy. He is amused by her being a "victim" of Kel's ranting.

Peggy likes Raoul and wants to get to know him better. She brings him homemade scones, which they enjoy with tea. They go up on deck and look at the spectacular views of the mountains on an especially clear morning. She learns that he, too, lost his spouse, but it has been many years. One day she meets his daughter, Deidre, who visits from Philadelphia on the anniversary of her mother's death. Deidre explains that her father has mentioned Peggy in their conversations.

Everything seems to be going well: Peggy feels like she has found a new friend, a new companion, and when Raoul invites her to have lunch downtown with him she is thrilled.

In Part Eight we learn that the lunch was a disaster. Peggy, along with her late husband, has always been an advocate for environmental causes. She learns during the meal that Raoul works for a law firm that defends industrial polluters. They argue about a couple of specific cases, and she angrily leaves the restaurant.

They avoid each other for a couple of days, but then Marjorie, Peggy's daughter, scolds her mother over the phone for finding excuses for avoiding a relationship. Peggy ultimately realizes that she must decide whether she's going to continue to be Taylor Heggy's wife or become her own person.

In Part Ten, Peggy brings a couple of homemade bran muffins to the ferry as a "peace offering" to Raoul. However, just as she approaches her usual seat, she sees another woman with Raoul. He introduces Peggy to Florence, an "old friend" who had just moved to Bainbridge Island. The woman is very well dressed in business attire, which is in stark contrast to Peggy's comfortable cotton pants and clogs and windbreaker. She realizes that now she has competition. She gives Raoul the bran muffin anyway.


That is approximately what happens in the first ten parts. The big question, as I see it, is how Peggy resolves her conflict between wanting to make a new friend and wanting to be loyal to her late husband and the things they stood for.


I believe the following kinds of questions are relevant to this issue:

• To what extent do we let politics and differences of opinion dictate our friendships?
  
  
• There are examples in real life of "opposites" who get along on a personal level even though they have very different political views. How does this work? How do they manage it?
  
  
• Would you feel that you are betraying your beliefs if you form a friendship with someone who has opposite beliefs?
  

If you have opinions on these issues, please use the comment link at the bottom of this post.


Thank you for reading.

Bill Branley