It's been a long time. I know it and you know it. Actually, it's been so long and I'm in such a different place that it seems, at times, unreal to me. Life, that is. The daily grind. Except that it's anything but a grind. So in order to ground myself a bit, I thought I'd go ahead and list all the things that are currently true in the Here and Now.
I'm living in Portland. That's Portland, Oregon. On the West Coast. I've been wanting to move out here for the past eight years or so, and I am so far not disappointed. In fact, I am so far thrilled to be out here.
I'm a veterinarian. A doctor for animals. I've seen, diagnosed and treated dogs, cats, cows, horses, goats, sheep, birds, rabbits, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, llamas and a toad. My favorites? The goats.
I've been exploring here. I'm been able to hike in the mountains, camp on the coast and wade into waterfalls. I couldn't imagine more types of natural beauty in a single area if I tried.
I've been able to hang out with my cousin, who is exceptionally cool, and some of my former Tufts classmates (equally as cool). I'm blessed to have moved from one coast to the other and to have a social network already in place.
I've also been blessed and fortunate to meet someone who is fast becoming one of the closest friends I have ever had. Never mind the fact that he can beat me at racquetball; one day that will be remedied.
I've been given the opportunity to shoot a pinhole camera, and I've been encouraged to drag my old manual SLR out of its camera bag. So if you see me slogging up mountains with not one but three cameras, well... wait until you see the pictures I take, then. :)
I'm happy. You were right, N, when you repeated parts of that graduation speech for me: vets are happy people.
So I am here, and it is now, and further than that, all knowledge is moonshine. The short term future holds plans to do more camping along the coast (maybe before the skies cloud up for the next six or more months), to climb St. Helens, and to decoupage a coffee table (I know; that's random.) Maybe, if I'm lucky, I can convince my family in Iowa or my friends back in Massachusetts to come out here for a visit - because, you know, I've seen and you've seen those places. But I want to show you this place. I want you to understand why I need to be out here, why I love it, and why I call Oregon home.
But indeed, there will be time. Time for all the works and days of hands (as T.S. Eliot would put it). In the meantime... perhaps I'll do my best to update more frequently.
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before being thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
-George Bernard Shaw
