The last twenty years of my life have really been about embracing all of the tiny moving parts. So much is unkown, and we keep marching forward. For the last four years I have been letting myself dream, thinking about where do we go from here. Comparing different cities that I might want to get old in, watching facsim rise in my country and debating living the last third of my life in my other country. (I’m honored to also be a Canadian Citizen.) I’ve been meditating on what kind of work I could do now to make life meaningful. Deciding who I wanted nearby as I find my way to being a little old lady. The universe has taught me to be patient and let things unfold when they will. And a lot has unfolded this last year. Some years one just remembers and 2026 will be one of those. Here I’ll talk about a few memories.
I’ll always have fond memories of my time in Portland. Some will be about silly little things. The “Tiny Magic Box” is one of those little things. The “Tiny Magic Box” (the elevator), was one of the things Dudley loved about living in the apartment building on Broadway. It was one of the things I could have lived without, but I just don’t do stairs the way I used to. That definitely had me missing my big silver bullet (Airstream), where I could step down one step and be in my backyard for the day, typically on a creek, or river or somewhere scenic. Dudley on the other hand loved the thrill of seeing who we would meet each time, from great big dogs to so many wonderful belly rubbers. It seems silly to write about it, but its a small detail of apartment life that I want to remember. It was how we got to know each other in our building and built some semblance of community in the apartments at a time where community was so needed .
Getting to experience having a real studio at ADX I will forever be grateful for, especially sharing the space with my two painter friends. But ironically, once I had my own art studio I would find myself going their gathering up my canvas and materials and bringing it home to paint.
I’m also grateful for my art friends at the troutdale art center, ford pdx gallery with all of the wonderfully currated shows, The Hatfield Hall employee art shows which gave me exposure to over 10,000 theater patrons a night, Nalu Kava Tea House – my favorite quaint small scale place to show, Art Design Exchange in Central East Portland Oregon – which introduced me to over one hundred creatives all in community, Brenda who became a dear friend through my trailer park life and a strong supporter of my Open Studios experiences, and…my cousin Canada and her family for getting me to the PNW in the first place and inviting me to go along on her family explorations around Portland and the PNW.
There are so many things I will miss about Portland, Troutdale and the PNW in general. I made a lot of good friends there. There was nothing like my side gig at the Portland 5 Theaters, working with all of those creatives from film makers, to actors, writers, painters and more, all enjoying a side gig that supports the arts while pursuing their artistic endeavors. Being of service to the patrons coming and going gave us a lot of comic material to laugh about. We even had fun with one of our own, a film director, who decided to make a mocumentary about front of house ushers and all we experienced. This led to a short conversation with Josh Johnson who we thought of us talent before he blew up big, but we were a little too late for. We had a good laugh about that. I met a lot of good people here and will miss them, but am betting we will stay connected in our own ways.
I will also always treasure my time in Troutdale with the Troutdale Art Center and the artists there who welcomed me in. I was a stranger who stalked them on facebook and then snooped around and got invited in. It taught me I will always love being involved in creativity within community. My final art show in Portland featured the ordinary people I was meeting out and about doing such a variety of great resistance work. There were people working against book bans, fighting for affordable good health care, defending immigrant rights and the right to free speech, connecting community for democracy defense, fighting for our trans sisters and brothers and Portlands historic Black community along with other vulnerable populations and more. I’m honored at how much I learned from you all and work towards finding my place here in Minneapolis.
The Portland Metro is full of wonderful places to hike in the woods, delicious high end restaurant food carts that formed for survival during the pandemic, a dynomite improv commedy scene. I truly am a river girl and so obviously loved the rivers, the woods, the mountains and volcanoes, the ocean, the creeks, and even the urban hikes through all of the unique neighborhoods. Public transportation in Portland was a fabulous way to see a lot of the city. Plus the city is so walkable, and bikeable that there is no reason to not get out and about. There truly is so much to see and do that it would be easy to stay put, but that was not what was in store for me.
It all narrowed down to staying in this wonderful place in the Pacific Northwest, or going home to Minneapolis. All of my life I had never “gone back” anywhere. I was always moving on to the next new adventure. This time it was different.
After using writing to meditate on choice it became crystal clear, that in spite of it all, I needed to be back home. In spite of this beautiful Pacific Northwest, with ICE and its hatred on our Portland Streets I felt a strong pull to be back with family and what I call 40 year friends. Ironic that right after I made the decision and started telling my Portland peeps that I had decided to head back to Minneapolis where it felt safer in terms of the national scene, all hell broke out in Minneapolis. So you know I got some interesting stares.
I had made the decision so now I had to figure out all of the moving parts of how to do it. Someone told me once decision making really isn’t that big of a deal because you can make a choice, and then each new minute in life you can always make a different choice. This philosophy helped me traverse moving oneself and all of my belongings all the way across the country without the help of an employer relocating me. I’m happy to say I made it. And I learned a lot about going with the flow and the art of letting go. I learned how to take the next indicated step. In my next post, I will talk a little about that and also get into my story on my journey into climate activism work as an ordinary person.
Yes, my road dog Dudley is still traveling with me and I’m grateful for all of you still following along with my ramblings. ❤️
