The Portland Tram and Friends - the Best Way to Say Goodbye

As the most perfect way to say farewell to Portland that I can think of, we spent a day with great friends, starting with the SE Division Food Carts. We sampled fare from Hapa, Timber's Doghouse PDX, Earth Burger, and had dessert from our favorite, Back to Eden Bakery. That's what's so great about eating in Portland - so many gluten-free, organic, vegan, clean options. Boy, I'll miss that. Folks like us with very specific food needs and sensitivities have choices there.

After food, we just wanted the day to continue - such great company, can you blame us? And it wasn't raining, so we HAD to be outside, right? We decided to take a ride on the Tram. It's been a "Portland Bucketlist" item since we moved there almost 5 years ago, and our friends had never ridden it either! It was meant to be. 

High above the city - you can see it all!

Amazing!

The Cascades in the distance, and a beautiful sky. 

A view of the tram. It's kind of amazing how safe this thing is despite how precarious it looks and feels inside. 

Mount Hood in the distance. These photos do no justice to this awe-inspiring sight. It was just amazing to look out over the city AND be able to see Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens' AND the tip of Mt. Rainier. I am so comforted by the sight of mountains. 

We walked around and explored the lookout area, which also happens to be outside of OHSU (it's a hospital in a complex of six different hospitals that make up this campus). Portland is such an interesting city. My son conquered this turtle statue in the soft-floored play area. 

Looking up at the OHSU building. 

Back in the tram again!

One last time, this time with Mt. St. Helen's in the distance. 

If you're ever in Portland, I highly recommend the tram ride, especially on a day with any visibility whatsoever. This view is just amazing. And it's only a few bucks round trip to ride, too! I will definitely miss this weird wonderful city. 

settling in

Our house, then rental we are currently living in, is beginning to look kind of awesome. As in: things have a place to be, they are put away, there are pictures on the walls and it looks like a home. The basement is the only room left with some organizing left to do, and it is really coming together. Our "Get 'Er Done" list is shorter and shorter by the day. we are finally at a place where I am feeling relaxed and like I can breathe and like okay, things are going to be a right now. And. We have even begun to decorate for the holidays. Home!

So we are ready to settle into a routine now.

Routine.

I have been lucky enough to manifest myself a wonderful group of women here who are fast becoming my friends. This is a group of mothers who are brought together by some commonality in parenting - but are diverse and wide in ways of being/doing, schooling, parenting, living. And I love that. One of the things I loved about living in intentional community was that there was such diversity in the parenting, but culturally we found commonality - children were treated with respect, compassion, love and caring. I have found the same in this group of women. And not just support for the children is here, no. There is so much support for the Mamas - plenty of Mama nights out together, and family events, and playdates. And so many shared interests! I have found personal growth advocates, knitters, crafters, folks who eat Paleo and traditional foods, sources for grassfed meats and raw milk, women to talk "woo-woo" stuff with.

One of these Mamas, who I know from our blogs and from our common parenting and such, her family has actually taken us under their wings, so to speak, and has basically been our host family for our transition into Portland. They have taken us into their home, they've given us tours, they've gotten to know us - they even invited us over to share Thanksgiving with them and their family. This Mama and I have become fast friends, and obviously she is one of my besties here already. It took me three years to have a bestie in BC - here, in two months I already have someone I feel I can confide in regularly. Playdates/Mama dates are in the works with other Mamas I have felt a connection to here already - and I have felt welcomed into the nights out with open arms - no awkwardness at all. It has been just awesome. I could not imagine a better welcome into a new city. Seriously.

One of the spontaneous upcoming events in this group is a Vision board party - next weekend, in fact. I generally like to make my Vision Boards on Aries new Moon, and get all that great 'ME' energy all infused throughout. And I can be flexible. It go me to thinking, this routine...I don't want my old routine back. I am in a new city, in a new chapter in my life. I am a blank slate, and I can CREATE what I want. SO what DO I want? I want to create a different kind o routine. A routine, yes, but one that is proactive rather than reactive. One that is infused with possibility and fulfilling my goals and living the life I WANT rather than living by default.

What an opportunity! Getting together with these awesome women and basking in his positive energy of creation, and creating for myself the routine I wish to have...making a list or a map or whatever I am called to do that incorporates all of the elements of this new routine I wish to create. Brilliant! And so I am joining this party. And building on these connections I am creating. I am SO excited about it. I already love it here. I am excited to see what else unfolds as we get to know more, see more, do more here.

home is where the heart is. where is mine?

So now here we are in Portland. I made it, we're safe, it's completely surreal at this point, because we got used to being in St. Louis. We began to develop a rhythm there, staying with my in-laws, having been there a whole month. It was interesting, because those first two weeks, they were rather difficult actually - totally different to our home rhythm, having to drove so far to see anyone, figuring out how to coordinate, feeling like we needed to meet others' needs as well as needing to meet our own...

Then we'd go out and get a dose of our friends, it's like it just filled me up. The complications of everything else would fall away, and I'd just be wrapped in the experience of old friends. All this time has passed since I've seen many of them, and so much has changed in so many ways, and yet...it would be like no time had passed at all. The friendships, the closeness, the sarcasm, the ribbing, the love...all of it was there as if we'd never left. And there is just nothing like those kids of friendships - the kind where you've watched each other grow up, you've watched each other fall and screw up and learn and grow. And here we all are as adults - with kids and homes and families and responsibilities - and we all felt so proud of each other - look how far we'd come - look at all we've accomplished.


Meeting new friends in new cities is wonderful. There is so much diversity and wisdom and there are all of these common interests - and I love that. And even though there might not be all of that in old friends, there is...well, it feels like family. These people get me. They knew me when. They loved me then and they still love me, just because I am me. We may differ in our views, in our lifestyles, in our parenting...and it's all okay because we knew each other when - the love, the bond, the friendship is there, no matter how much time passes. It feels amazing to be accepted like that.


I am so glad we got to be in St. Louis for a month. I had some really difficult struggles while we were there, many of which are still happening. There is a big rift in my family of origin now that wasn't there before - or at least, I wasn't aware of it. And I had some really amazing times with my in-laws - they feel so much more like my family now, supporting us and loving us through these struggles and others that they've known about. And the times spent with friends - we get to see so little of our friends usually on our trips to St. Louis - most of our time is spent with family. To see all of these wonderful friends again that we've only seen on Facebook for so many years - it was a gift I'll cherish for a long long time. To feel that much love, to receive and give that many hugs, to be welcomed back with open arms and so many, "So when are you moving back here?"s....


It did make me wax nostalgic. What would it be like to return after all these years? The city itself has changed so much - it's grown up and taken pride in itself. There is still an angry edge to it - racial tensions run high there and it feels very divided in ways - and in other ways it has become more self-aware. It's as if St. Louis took a personal growth course and is beginning to find itself. It is greener, in all ways, and it is working toward more growth and self-love. People are finally proud to say they live there, and rightfully so. St. Louis has this amazing thing about it - its people. Nowhere have I found such a unique and dynamic blend of people so full of love and acceptance and sarcasm and edginess.

Choosing where to put ourselves is very difficult at times. We have a list of criteria which Portland meets beautifully, and has the potential to meet completely. Deep friendships take time to develop - we've got some developing here now, and the depth will just take time. And then in St. Louis there is family and friends - long-time friends who have known us through it all. It can be a conundrum, can't it?

In the meanwhile, we're about to go and house-sit for a month and be reunited with our sweet little cat, Frenzie. I suspect this will be a month of deep reflection indeed.