Still crushing after all this time.

City of Portland and Portland Friends: I love you. MEGA CRUSH!!! I really have it bad for you.

It has been almost 7 years since I last visited Portland, a city which 7 years ago, I only stepped into for 4, maybe 5, whirlwind wonderfun weekends. That town really sunk it's claws into me, in the nicest nicest way. And by 'town', I mean the quality and quantity of happenings that I am interested in, the beauty, the progressiveness and maybe most importantly, the folks. Good, good, good folks, that I honestly can't get enough of. I have been trying to get back there all this time, and finally, in yet another whirlwind weekend, Dana and I were able to make the trip. I did some really really fun stuff, actually in Astoria, and Dana did some really sad stuff that was sort of fun, too, and this morning we met up to tell our respective stories and head back home. Let me say that it was a hard ride. We were full of emotion from our times and friends, and then also we were so overcome with the reality of being locked into Sacramento: We cruised the town a bit before we hit the freeway, teasing ourselves, trying to hash out ways that we could make living in Portland possile... and let me just tell you here now, that I cried when we pulled out of there. I wasn't too sure if Dana would make it without a tear, but he avoided that situation completely by laying his seat back and falling right to sleep- after a few head shakings of disappointment and some heavy sighs. I didn't mean to cry, but I was looking around at the beauty and thinking about the wonderful places (and when I say 'places' I'm actually talking about something much deeper) my life hasn't taken me, but then also all the wonderful places it has, and suddenly I had some tiny puddles spilling themselves onto my face. Just a few, and then it passed. And I thought, when this day is over and I step in my very own front door, it will all be a dizzy beautiful blur-- but it is crystal clear to me right now, every joyous minute of it. And the small sad moments, too.

Portland, you are a neverending dance frenzy inside my heart. Portland old friends and new: SO MUCH LOVE.