Month: March 2023

3/25/23

Greetings again from Silverton! Feline companions Emma and Marty are continuing to be their cute selves, and I’m enjoying my break from the “big city.” (I’ll be returning to Portland in a few days.)

Spring is underway, and the weather here careens from warm sunshine, to light rain, to heavy rain, to hail (twice now) multiple times per day, it seems.

The crocuses are out, and I’m starting to see blossoms on the trees. It feels good.

This past Wednesday, when we had some sun, I decided to take a jaunt to the nearby Oregon Garden.

Although I skipped the pricey guided tour of the Gordon House—Oregon’s sole Frank Lloyd Wright house—I did get to bicycle past it on my way into the garden, so I could see the distinctive Wright lines from the outside, at least.

Shortly after I entered the garden, I was surprised to encounter one of the largest garter snakes I’ve ever seen! It was out enjoying the warmth and sunshine of the season as well.

This botanical garden is one of the less photogenic ones I’ve visited, if I’m honest, but there is a forested area where I spent some time sitting contemplatively on a bench, and that felt nice.

On the way back home from the garden, I decided to visit the main city park here in Silverton, Coolidge McClaine. It felt almost enchanted, in the late afternoon sun, with all the tree shadows falling on the lush green grass. Past the main area with picnic tables, I found a winding path along Silver Creek that felt like being in the wilderness.

I hope I will get more opportunities to travel within Oregon in the coming months. It is such a beautiful state.

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3/20/23

Happy equinox, all! For those of us here in the northern hemisphere, I think I can speak for most of us when I say we are ready for spring! For those south of the equator, perhaps you’re ready for a reprieve from the summer’s heat.

I enjoy acknowledging the change of the seasons. As regular readers will know, weather is important to me, and I also value marking the passage of time via the seasonal changes on the earth’s surface. Here in northwest Oregon, this has been a long winter. Blossoms that I would normally expect to see by early February have just recently appeared, in mid-March. And we even had that unusual heavy snowstorm a few weeks ago. But now, I’m seeing signs of spring all over!

On Saturday, I arrived at my newest cat sit, with cutie-pie littermates Marty and Emma. Their house is in Silverton, Oregon (population 10,558) about 40 miles south of Portland.

I traveled here via the train from Portland to Salem—once again, the cool “vintage” Amtrak Cascades train—and then bicycling about 15 miles east to Silverton. Fortunately, Saturday was one of our first spring-like weather days, so I enjoyed the warmth and sunshine for the ride, before the rain and chill returned the next day.

This town is the home of the botanical Oregon Garden, as well as Oregon’s only Frank Lloyd Wright house. My host was kind enough to gift me a couple of tickets to the gardens, so I will probably visit there soon; it has been several years since I last experienced that place. I had also planned to tour the Wright house this time, but I recently learned that the separate admission for the small house is $20, so I think I will forego it.

Silverton also sits 14 miles northwest of the beautiful Silver Falls State Park, which I visited for the first time at the beginning of my bike travels in September of 2021. I may or may not make it back there this time. But I’m enjoying this change of pace from Portland, and considering a future Eugene cat sit. Oregon explorations can be fun, while I await the best timing for my “bigger” travel adventures. This state is so beautiful.

This past week has been rather challenging for me, for reasons I’d rather not detail, but it is strengthening my resolve to offer my gifts to the world as much as I can. I would like to reiterate my offer of free/no-strings “empathy hours,” especially at this equinox time. If you, or anyone you know, would appreciate an hour-long video chat (or phone, if you prefer) for supportive listening on any topic, please feel free to message me to set it up. I’m happy to listen if you are struggling in any area of your life, and also happy to celebrate and/or help with brainstorming or strategizing any ideas or projects you may have, for your own life or for the larger community.

May we begin this new season with renewed commitment to our own and collective thriving!

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Do you have your own dream or project, and would like some support or collaborative brainstorming about it? Use the green “contact” button above to schedule a free, no-strings one-hour phone or video call with me!

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3/10/23

Wow. September 10th, 2021 is when I embarked on my new bike-focused nomadic lifestyle! I traveled my planned loop around the US and Canada for exactly a year plus one week… which means it has been almost exactly six months since I completed the loop. That feels wild to me. The journey seemed to stretch on forever! Now that I have been in one place, the past six months have flown by.

I’m looking forward to traveling again, and this past week my mind has shifted from my train-to-Montreal, then-possibly-England, then-possibly-continental-Europe dream. At this point I’m feeling strongly drawn to England, so I’m thinking maybe I could head straight there in mid-May. I could see the “Marillion weekend” in Leicester in late May, rather than in Montreal in mid-May. (There’s another prog event in Poland in July—featuring Steve Hackett and IQ, among others—that would be really cool to attend as well… possibly I can?)

I found an outrageously low airfare to London on May 18th. Not sure if I’m ready to take that leap yet, but I’m considering it!

Meanwhile, this past week has been full of activity, from sadly saying goodbye to that little cutie Simba, to attending various medical and plasma appointments around the metro area, to doing a bit of English tutoring on Cambly, to having some wonderful magical meetings with folks around the globe.

Last week I forgot to mention one I had had with my friend Elizabeth in Ajijic, Mexico (Elizabeth, hello if you’re reading this!) who told me what a wonderful place that is, and how much she appreciates the community of local residents as well as US and Canadian visitors and immigrants.

This week, I spoke with my new friend Jo in South Africa, who is living a rather parallel life to mine: 49 years old, vegan, living as a car-free nomadic pet sitter, and and even a life coach! We had a great conversation about our nomadic pet sitting lifestyle and our respective dreams and goals.

I also talked with a new friend, Angela, in Boise, Idaho, who is about to sell her house and take off with her husband in their new RV to live nomadically in their retirement. She is an artist, and she had some cool perspectives on life and human connections that I enjoyed learning about.

Finally, I had a great conversation with a van-lifing friend in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Kathrine has lived—and continues to live—a courageous and fascinating life, and I always feel inspired after talking with her.

Soon I will also write about my amazingly inspiring friend Mimi, in Berkeley, and her startup nonprofit in Botswana.

I’m so blessed to be constantly connecting with such interesting people. I’ve got more magical meetings lined up for the coming week, as well.

I love this life!!

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Do you have your own dream or project, and would like some support or collaborative brainstorming about it? Use the green “contact” button above to schedule a free, no-strings one-hour phone or video call with me!

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3/3/23

Well, I’m pleased to say that the life I had outlined a few posts ago seems to be unfolding pretty well so far!

I’m still in Portland, and still sitting for “Mr. Simba,” as I like to call him, but between visiting my friend in Salem (on what turned out to be a bit of a “vintage” Amtrak Cascades train set with old-timey windows that tinted and framed my photographic appreciations just so) and donating plasma for some extra cash up in Vancouver (Washington) I’ve been really enjoying the various train and bicycle infrastructure of this region. I hope you enjoy the “photo essay.” I’m still working on manifesting the funds I will need to truly get back out on the road again—like to Montreal, and England!—but in the meantime, I’m doing my best to savor the beauty that is right here, right now.

And I’ve also had some wonderful Magical Meetings this past week, in accordance with my vision! I met with a woman in a sort of enchanted living situation in SW Portland, for whom I might do some cat sitting in the future, but who also, regardless, was right on the same page with me about a lot of my dreams and visions, so I’m happy to help her to hold her own visions, and I’m looking forward to staying in touch as both of our lives continue to unfold.

I also spoke with a retired English gentleman who is four years into a ten-year journey around the world! Like me, he travels car free, mostly by train with occasional buses. He told me about a cool English-language-tutoring app (Cambly, which I had vaguely heard of before) which might offer me an opportunity for a bit of income as well as cultural exchange, talking to adult students around the world who are seeking native English speakers to practice with in conversation.

This world is so full of so many wonderful things!

Including this sleepy cat. Goodnight, from Simba and me both.

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Do you have your own dream or project, and would like some support or collaborative brainstorming about it? Use the green “contact” button above to schedule a free, no-strings one-hour phone or video call with me!

Want to be notified of future blog posts? Use the green “sign up” button to subscribe!

Want to support my vision financially? You can make a one-time or monthly contribution, or even become a Fairy Godfunder! (Heartfelt thanks to all my patrons, contributors, and godfunders!)