-- My sister coming back to Portland after her 7 months bike travels. This was her longest, but certainly not her first impressive, bike trip. She rode from Vancouver, BC to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina on her bike, by herself. Anything I could say about that accomplishment feels inadequate. She's amazing. She stayed with me for a few weeks, and I love having her around. However, my cottage is only 400 sq ft. She gets alone time here when I'm at work, but I never get alone time when she's visiting. Her future from this point isn't clear, and she is less of a city-person than I am. She decided to go to Mountain Home in Coquille, OR for the winter. It's a homestead with natural building and permaculture where she lived before her travels this year. It was good to have her here, but I'm glad to have my space back.
-- Traveling to St Louis to visit my other soul-mate Renee. Since I moved to Portland, we've seen each other only once a year. Felt odd to be back in St Louis ... even though it has only been 2 years, it has felt like much longer. I suppose this is true about any place that we move from, in which your life continues to progress and change in your new locale, but your old home continues to exist outside of your day-to-day awareness.
Her car was stolen a few weeks before I arrived, so we spent much time getting around on foot. The weather cooperated, cooled down and didn't much rain. When I first arrived it was 82 degrees ... quite a bit different from the 40 degree morning I left in Portland.
-- Krishna Das concert with Miguel. We saw him in concert last year as well. He's an American but learned kirtan singing in India and now sings kirtan music all over the world. Concerts in Portland take place at a large church downtown with call-and-response singing and some ecstatic dancing to boot.
-- An elective month (hence getting to travel to St Louis, taking my first vacation since February) spending time in dermatology clinic, sports medicine clinic, and learning more ADHD treatment (until the attending had her baby - what is it like to work all the way up until delivery?). And a day or two here and there spending time on my own mental health, getting to hike and read for fun. Took a hike into the Columbia Gorge.
-- Reading _The Wild Trees_ by Richard Preston about finding the tallest and largest trees in the Northwest, primarily the redwoods in California and studying their canopy. What an amazing story. At times the writing isn't the best, but the book is fascinating.
-- Less than 8 months left of residency ... :-)
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