And if we blossom--as high as Northwestern trees

First of all, you should really listen to The Jealous Sound's Kill Them with Kindness. I say these things for your benefit, you know. So don't stand still.

Well, Portland is here. This is Portland. This is the Old Pharmacy Cafe, open 24 hours a day and willing to put my peppermint tea into a small, personal-sized teapot. This is walking home from Trader Joe's to the strangest, empty apartment with the beautiful views. I've got to learn to stop praying from the hip. "Adventure" is what you want; adventure is what you will get. Less than 24 hours before my plane left Phoenix, I was without a place to stay. That was worked out, just like everything else has been -- unexpectedly, uncomfortably, but with an unavoidable sense that this is exactly how it should be. The song goes like this: "She said--to me--, 'Darling--, well please don't be so naïve." Perhaps it is naïve to think that things would work out smoothly, romantically. But there are moments, you know, when all you want is for things to go exactly as you'd hoped. Because what you'd came up with in your mind was sounding pretty damn good. Instead, you keep on waking to misty mornings.

But for now, I'll take it. Because I have nowhere else to go. I've been everywhere else, and there's nothing there. So here we stay. Here is the only place.

Here's pictures involving, in this order, flowers, Portland, the view, the room, and flowers: