The Happy Gardener

Portland, Oregon zoo visit : A post that never got done : Bonus : Water bubbles and city views

A fine , sunny spring day Let’s trade some stories and hours, my friend it’s a fine, sunny, spring day. No talk of angry or bitter things, lets save them for another day Let’s skip and skim on the surface of us, just fragments of our lives. You talk of books, I’ll talk of art, I’ll make you wink and you make me smile. No talk of love , but like and such no warm embraces or promises Let’s be new friends, happy to belong Winding through words and silences. If I rest my head next to yours, will you promise to let it slide? I’ll take your hand and you hold mine Let’s put all our worries aside. No don’t tell me your secrets today It’s a fine, sunny, spring day We’ll watch as time passes idly by We won’t let it get in our way. Let’s trade some stories and hours, my friend It’s a fine, sunny, spring day.

It's been another happy day in OR. Was off to Portland to have dinner with some old friends. And on the way to dinner we stopped by this ginormous bookstore called Powell's. This place actually occupies an entire city block. An entire city block! and has diff levels/floors! Amazing, I tell you. I wandered away happily for 20 mins and didn't even get through half the store I think. It was so lovely to see the rows and rows of books out there. Of course, I just couldn't resist it - especially 'cause they also had used books that you could buy for real cheap. So I bought a book that has all that I want - something that I love to work on and filled with lovely pictures. Joy is in a book. I think the future for the female species is pretty bleak. I was driving last evening and was listening to some radio show where they were talking about how men and women respond to break-ups and how they deal with them. Based on the 20mins worth of conversation between the hosts and so...

I arrived in Oregon on Sunday night, past 11 pm. Having installed myself in the sweet, new and unbelievably clean city that is Hillsboro, and having spent all day Monday going about the business that I was here for, I decided to spend the evening visiting an old friend. The Pacific Ocean. It was around 6:30 by the time I was able to leave for Tillamook. It was dark already and there were clouds on the horizon but there are always clouds on the horizon here. I had done this route before, a couple of years ago during the day and I know that the drive is very pretty. But my free time on this trip is short, so I decided to do the drive in the evening anyways. It was a beautiful drive. The road is windy - I saw very few cars during the entire drive. There are tall, tall trees all around - trees that have probably been there forever. And it gets dark. It was around 7:30 and it was dark as the Devil's waistcoat out there. And then, I saw the stars. So many of them. I was amazed that I cou...

Ok. I admit it. This city is growing on me. Last night I ran my 6 mile loop - down to the river, around the river and back home. It was pretty late and dark but there were still folks running along the route. And the lights of the city and their reflections on the water made a pretty sight as I crossed the bridge on my way back. Of course, they probably looked much more beautiful due the fact that I was walking, not running at that point. Again, someday, I will figure out which part of running it is that I truly enjoy :-) Today, there was a man sitting a couple of chairs from me at my cafe - vigorously sketching the people who walked in and out of the cafe. It was great to sit there, drinking my cider, writing idly and watching him sketch. But I have got to watch myself. Pretty soon, I will be the snooty urban chick types that drinks herbal tea, wears shawls and multiple layers of strange & colorful clothing and just does not smile. If that happens, you have the permission to whack...

Today I rediscovered one of my first loves. The joy of writing. Of actually writing with pen and paper. Felt great to just sit down and write - the pen moving at a steady pace as blue lines of letters filled up the blank pages and thoughts flowed out of my mind and onto the paper. Here is the result. Everything has lead me to you. All the moments in my life - happy, sad, purposeful and random. All the choices that I made and the ones that were thrust upon me. All the people I met and the ones that I missed. All my friends and all my acquaintances. Everything that mattered and everything that didn't. Like the time I forgot my keys and went back up the elevator to my place and met T for the first time. All the conversations that I overheard and the calls that got dropped. The movies and stories. The songs that I love and even the bad ones that I couldn't help but hum 'cause they got stuck in my head. All the books that I read and all the places that I lived. All the jobs that...