.: Reorientation to the Motherland. Phase Five: HOME.

Have you ever walked into a place where you have never been but it feels like you have been there many times before? Or met someone you have never known but it feels like you are only catching up with a long lost friend? Or moved somewhere for the first time but it feels like you have lived there all of your life? It feels like, well, home?

That's me. That's us. That's Portland.

Its creepy. A little eery. But most of all, I can't help but be thankful.

Home is more of a fluid concept for both Andrew and I these days. It is not a singular entity for us; in fact, the term home means many things. It doesn't necessarily mean a physical locale or a four-walled building. I can feel "at home" with a friend, or with our family, or simply because of a feeling. But our experience thus far in Portland has encompassed all of the above and more.

Moving to Portland has felt like we are coming home.

I don't know why. Maybe its because we've lived in four different cities in our five years of marriage. Or maybe its because we have had such a whirlwind of a year. Or maybe, like the columnist Thomas Friedman explains, we are living in a flat world. Or maybe its because we have yet to know where the future will lead us. But whatever the case, Portland (and the entirety of Oregon, for that matter) has welcomed us with open arms.

There's the good. And of course, there's some bad. Like, for instance, how I am still currently unemployed. Or the slight inconvenience of having a garbage truck wake me up in the wee hours of the morning-- not just on Mondays, but every day. Or that I don't have the garden that I wanted. Or that we are super far away from our loved ones.

But in order to not too down and out, I must think of the many blessings that we do have: the magnificent wildlife in our backyard, a million and one food trucks!, instant friends, gas burners on my stove, great public transportation, and let's not forget instant access to the coast. Oh! And the sun! We have had blue skies and sun for the last ten days, and it is predicted that it should continue on for the next ten! And here you thought Portland was rainy and cloudy (you aren't the only one)!

So today I'd like to show you why we feel the way we do and why we have, within the first moments of arrival, fallen in love with the way of life, the food, the folks, and the landscape of our new home.

Also, this is just my way of enticing you to come for a visit.