I'm sitting in the student union where I can get "included in tuition and fees" wi-fi and I'm looking out the window at the park blocks. A second ago it dawned on me that I am starring at the very building where my granny mentioned to me that she lived one summer about 65 years ago when she wanted to experience life in the city.
Last weekend we had a big family gathering on the coast to spread the ashes of my mother's parents and to have a memorial service. Unfortunately I had not had a close relationship with her parents by the end of their lives, mainly due to my own choice to sever ties, but it was important for me to go to support my family. However throughout the course of the service and through the discussions and memories that ensued about my grandparents, was the knowledge of how very much we as individuals truly are representations of a variety of aspects of our families. So many of the positive and negative traits that were present in my grandparents personalities are present in the personalities and life choices of their children and grandchildren. We are often opinionated, we can be mouthy, we love nature, we are stubborn, we are independent, we know how to make ends meet, but we love to reward ourselves too, and we aren't afraid of hard work.
Which brings me back to the building across the way and the conversations I have had with my granny. How ironic it is that history tends to repeat itself. I don't know that I would say that I was originally overjoyed at the idea of coming back to the city, but how comforting to know that so many, many years ago my granny walked these same streets with her own thoughts, dreams, and independence. Slowly I am coming to appreciate more and more my presence here, although I still find it fascinating that there are as many students in a year that attend this university as the average population of my home town.
However I appreciate being able to walk anywhere I need to go. I appreciate carrying my groceries in the tote bags the couple of blocks to my apartment. I appreciate recycling 80% of my "trash." I appreciate the public transportation and the use of my legs to get places. I appreciate the motion and the stillness that are present at the same time. I enjoy the cleanness (although I'm shocked by the amount of people that smoke is this town!), and I appreciate the fact that Portland truly is a city surrounded by natural elements.
Today instead of transferring on the public transportation, I walked through the park blocks up to campus and thoroughly enjoyed everything that I observed. The changing leaves, the noise of construction (generally of modern green design), the historic buildings, the sound of foreign languages, the homeless intermingling with the lucky ones, the lady playing catch with her yipper dog, the purple hair, the preppiness, those lounging on the benches, those flirting under the trees, the tracks of the street car, the cars that actually yield to pedestrians-all of the various things of which one can find in the city and I have to wonder if my granny was as in awe as I am of everything to see and feel in this place. I hope she felt as fulfilled and content as I do in this moment.
I need to work on how to do blog postings without frequent internet access.....hope everyone has a most blessed week! Enjoy!
Last weekend we had a big family gathering on the coast to spread the ashes of my mother's parents and to have a memorial service. Unfortunately I had not had a close relationship with her parents by the end of their lives, mainly due to my own choice to sever ties, but it was important for me to go to support my family. However throughout the course of the service and through the discussions and memories that ensued about my grandparents, was the knowledge of how very much we as individuals truly are representations of a variety of aspects of our families. So many of the positive and negative traits that were present in my grandparents personalities are present in the personalities and life choices of their children and grandchildren. We are often opinionated, we can be mouthy, we love nature, we are stubborn, we are independent, we know how to make ends meet, but we love to reward ourselves too, and we aren't afraid of hard work.
Which brings me back to the building across the way and the conversations I have had with my granny. How ironic it is that history tends to repeat itself. I don't know that I would say that I was originally overjoyed at the idea of coming back to the city, but how comforting to know that so many, many years ago my granny walked these same streets with her own thoughts, dreams, and independence. Slowly I am coming to appreciate more and more my presence here, although I still find it fascinating that there are as many students in a year that attend this university as the average population of my home town.
However I appreciate being able to walk anywhere I need to go. I appreciate carrying my groceries in the tote bags the couple of blocks to my apartment. I appreciate recycling 80% of my "trash." I appreciate the public transportation and the use of my legs to get places. I appreciate the motion and the stillness that are present at the same time. I enjoy the cleanness (although I'm shocked by the amount of people that smoke is this town!), and I appreciate the fact that Portland truly is a city surrounded by natural elements.
Today instead of transferring on the public transportation, I walked through the park blocks up to campus and thoroughly enjoyed everything that I observed. The changing leaves, the noise of construction (generally of modern green design), the historic buildings, the sound of foreign languages, the homeless intermingling with the lucky ones, the lady playing catch with her yipper dog, the purple hair, the preppiness, those lounging on the benches, those flirting under the trees, the tracks of the street car, the cars that actually yield to pedestrians-all of the various things of which one can find in the city and I have to wonder if my granny was as in awe as I am of everything to see and feel in this place. I hope she felt as fulfilled and content as I do in this moment.
I need to work on how to do blog postings without frequent internet access.....hope everyone has a most blessed week! Enjoy!
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