Life is a Highway

We've been exploring our surroundings quite a bit & I think I'm doing pretty well in terms of finding my way around. It seems to be much easier for me here than it was when we first moved to Florida. There, I got so frustrated trying to figure out which direction we were going, I felt like a broken human compass. Here, I feel like I've got a good enough handle on things that if I lose my way, I can find it again fairly quickly. I don't fear getting outright lost...I may just have to backtrack a little if I take the wrong exit.*

*I just re-read that last paragraph (the editing process never sleeps!) & it applies just as well to our life in general. In Florida, we felt lost & frustrated. Now that we're here, we feel more in control of our lives than ever before. It's easier to see where we're going & we can enjoy the ride.

Part of the fun of being here is that now I can actually go to the places I've previously only dreamed about in Internetland. That's why I was so excited when we found Trader Joe's (www.traderjoes.com) a few weeks ago. I had been waiting for years to shop at a Trader Joe's! Early next week, I'll take a little trip to find the New Seasons Market (www.newseasonsmarket.com) near us. New Seasons is a locally-owned grocery chain of about 5 or 6 stores. It's along the same lines as Whole Foods (www.wholefoods.com), which I've already found as well. I haven't actually been inside...I just noticed it on one of our trips downtown. You can't help but notice it...it takes up an entire city block! After that, the next place on my list of stores to check out is Wild Oats Natural Marketplace (www.wildoats.com). I think it will be pretty similar to the other stores, but it's nice to have so many of them in such close proximity. Growing up, I always loved going to Alternatives, which was the only health-food store of its kind in Oakville at the time. I can't believe how lucky I am to live in the middle of such health-food abundance now!

Portland seems to exude good health. It's everywhere. You see people jogging or biking all the time. There are lots of specialty places to get good-for-you groceries & even the larger, chain grocery stores have their own 'natural foods' sections. Every other car has a roof rack with some type of biking/camping/skiing/windsurfing equipment on it and there are more people walking around the outdoor malls than the indoor ones. Since I've been able to drive downtown in the middle of the day, I can attest to the number of people who actually take the time to get away from their desks & have lunch in the park, then play a game of frisbee or take a quick nap before heading back for the afternoon. People stroll here. They lie in the grass & read. They take picnics. They're kind to each other, even when the other person is a stranger. There's a laid-back quality to both the city & the people who live in it. It's not laziness...there's too much activity for that label. It's just a really nice quality of life where people appreciate that there's more to life than work & that it's important to make time for down time.

I feel like this is where I'm meant to be. And that's a nice feeling.

Later,
PortlandGirl