"WHY PORTLAND??"
everybody and their mother seems to be asking me...
well, why the heck not?
how does anyone pick a city to live in?
near their family....i have spent too many years in northern virginia, with its traffic and conservative culture, sorry mom, but you should move to the west coast...
and arkansas is just not where i need to be, sorry dad
um...where they can get a good job....well, i love to work with children, and there are children everywhere, so that doesn't really help me pick.
i know i want to grow my own food, and portland has a really long growing season, almost all year.
i know i want to be really close to big trees and beautiful forests and rivers. it's true there are many places like this in our country, but the northwest is one of the most lush places that i know of.
what else? what is so great about portland?
there is a large alternative community
there are a lot of people on bikes, and not too many big hills
the rent is fairly cheap
most of the houses to live in here have some kind of yard (and you can have chickens and goats!!)
there are a lot of great musicians
a lot of young people
a lot of parks, one of which is full of roses, and it smells so good!
there are free boxes everywhere! (boxes with free things in them)
no sales tax
great farmers markets
vegan restaurants (not that i'm vegan)
unlike boulder(the yuppie town), there is a lot of diversity
a lot of people into different kinds of building, like cob and strawbale, which i want to learn
permaculture and urban farming
doesn't ever get too hot or too cold, although it is gray and rainy a lot
great beer and breweries
i will continue to tell you all the great things about portland as i learn about them.
and you are all welcome to come and visit and find out for yourself
i think i will be here for a long time
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Small Town Kitty and the City Cat
Would it be strange to switch my blog from christy's adventures to Sebastian's adventures? Sebastian's the kitty of course. He's relaxing now on my friend Molly's nice red couch. It's been a long couple days. After maybe 4 years of easy, peaceful living on Pine Street...napping on the couch on the porch, napping on the other couch on the porch, hunting birds, roaming the block. 4 years, the same house. housemates would move out and move in, but someone always stayed the same. all of a sudden, july 8, 2008, girl puts cat in van and takes him 18 hours west to a big city. 75 miles per hour through day and night, in a loud diesel van, 2 nice strangers with their backpacks and instruments along for the ride. about halfway through, sebastian tries out a leash. how undignified, being treated like a dog... picked up and put down in the middle of nowhere, a rest area in the nevada desert, bleak, brown, no life but weary travelers and truckers, loud trucks drive down below on the highway, the only hiding place, some scrubby bushes next to the bathrooms. unfortunately, nothing private enough for a cat to relieve himself. you can put a leash on a cat, but you can't make him shit in front of everyone.
so the litter box in the van has to do.
sometimes the van stops, but the people don't get out. the first time, two nice kids get in with their big backpacks. they just want a ride down the highway to the next town, where they can hop on a train to get where we're going. one of the guys has a little white rat with him. sebastian's a little too upset to notice. the second time, another rainbow needs a ride as far down 80 as we can give him, so we take him all the way to san francisco. he loves the cat and washes the windshield.
nighttime on the highway is very stressful for a cat, looking out the window at all the lights, trucks passing by. finally a few hours to take a nap, the van silent and still, until the sun comes up, and then the last leg of the trip, reno to san francisco. where have we come? to this city with six lanes of cars and buses and motorcycles, no yards, not a place for a small town outdoor cat. into an apartment building, again this leash. first time in an elevator. up to the 6th floor, no jumping in and out of these windows. this indoor city cat is here. maggie's a nice kitty who likes to play. sebastian's a freaked out kitty who has no idea where the heck he is. slowly, sebastian relaxes and rests, and finds a way to coexist with this new kitty friend, if only by trying to ignore her. oh, and little does he know he will be leaving here in a few days for another new place, hopefully a quieter street in a smaller city, and luckily a little shorter ride in the van.
oh, to be a travelling cat!
Would it be strange to switch my blog from christy's adventures to Sebastian's adventures? Sebastian's the kitty of course. He's relaxing now on my friend Molly's nice red couch. It's been a long couple days. After maybe 4 years of easy, peaceful living on Pine Street...napping on the couch on the porch, napping on the other couch on the porch, hunting birds, roaming the block. 4 years, the same house. housemates would move out and move in, but someone always stayed the same. all of a sudden, july 8, 2008, girl puts cat in van and takes him 18 hours west to a big city. 75 miles per hour through day and night, in a loud diesel van, 2 nice strangers with their backpacks and instruments along for the ride. about halfway through, sebastian tries out a leash. how undignified, being treated like a dog... picked up and put down in the middle of nowhere, a rest area in the nevada desert, bleak, brown, no life but weary travelers and truckers, loud trucks drive down below on the highway, the only hiding place, some scrubby bushes next to the bathrooms. unfortunately, nothing private enough for a cat to relieve himself. you can put a leash on a cat, but you can't make him shit in front of everyone.
so the litter box in the van has to do.
sometimes the van stops, but the people don't get out. the first time, two nice kids get in with their big backpacks. they just want a ride down the highway to the next town, where they can hop on a train to get where we're going. one of the guys has a little white rat with him. sebastian's a little too upset to notice. the second time, another rainbow needs a ride as far down 80 as we can give him, so we take him all the way to san francisco. he loves the cat and washes the windshield.
nighttime on the highway is very stressful for a cat, looking out the window at all the lights, trucks passing by. finally a few hours to take a nap, the van silent and still, until the sun comes up, and then the last leg of the trip, reno to san francisco. where have we come? to this city with six lanes of cars and buses and motorcycles, no yards, not a place for a small town outdoor cat. into an apartment building, again this leash. first time in an elevator. up to the 6th floor, no jumping in and out of these windows. this indoor city cat is here. maggie's a nice kitty who likes to play. sebastian's a freaked out kitty who has no idea where the heck he is. slowly, sebastian relaxes and rests, and finds a way to coexist with this new kitty friend, if only by trying to ignore her. oh, and little does he know he will be leaving here in a few days for another new place, hopefully a quieter street in a smaller city, and luckily a little shorter ride in the van.
oh, to be a travelling cat!
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