for Ruth

Roses, choosing a home, The Flight of the Mind, and walking, in no particular order.

I had been thinking about my last face-to-face conversation with Ruth Gundle, who has lived in Portland for many years, is deeply involved in the writing community, mentored many and edited many people’s work, published lucky ones, and co-founded with Judith Barrington a feminist writing retreat called The Flight of the Mind. Flight was a feminist women’s writing retreat that changed my life and the lives of many women. There is now a history of those experiences written by Ruth and Judith.

What I meant to write about was how we found our home in the city, because Ruth asked me. Specifically she was interested in condos. What did I know?

I know that our purpose in finding a city home was concern about a future when mobility would be an issue. We love the family home on the shore, and we love walking, but there is nothing we can walk to at the beach. No fuel, groceries, medical care, etc. within walking distance. Well… we could walk the five miles to the nearest grocery, but we’d not want to walk home carrying them.

LOCATION: We wanted a neighborhood with walking distance to all shopping, interesting architecture, an elevator for when we could not manage stairs, parking for as long as we could drive, and a view of sky instead of only another building; a proper bedroom rather than a studio would be nice; a shower would suit us better than a tub with a shower; probably a condo so that maintenance was the concern of someone else.

The Alphabet District, where we moved, is our favorite neighborhood in Portland, though we considered others. There is even a favorite building on the other side of the river that has appealed to me for several years. The building we chose, however, is the only one we ever made an offer on. The unit we bought is the best choice we could have made, though we spent too much. I have been tracking condominiums for twenty years. This was the one.

Our location is walking distance to seven groceries (Zupan’s, New Seasons, Trader Joes, Basics, Fred Meyers, Whole Foods, Safeway); a major medical center; all sorts of restaurants (Thai, Italian, Japanese, Burmese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Vietnamese, Irish, etc. etc.), and other shopping; a small park around the corner, an enormous one a few blocks away (Cowan, the Rose Garden, Japanese Gardens, Washington and Forest Park); a bookstore just across the street and Powell’s fifteen minutes away; two excellent bakeries (Ken’s Artisanal on the corner and St Honoré’s a walk north). There are also mani/pedi, massage, exercise, taverns, liquor stores, and coffee shops all over the place. Most of this we discovered only after moving here.

We are uphill, face east, and have the top floor. This was mostly on on our desirable list. (Eastern exposure was negotiable when we were looking, but it would be necessary now.) We couldn’t hope for a “view,” but we wanted to see sky. We got more than we had any right to hope for: trees across the street, the beautiful temple dome, the park, and in winter Mount Hood shows when the leaves are gone. Crows.

We did not expect to like our neighbors as much as we do. We did not expect the cost of repiping a historic building to cost as much as it will. We expected more extreme temperatures (typically 25-over 100° in Portland as opposed to 32-78° on the coast), but underestimated the how the difference in humidity (% in 40s and 50s in Portland as opposed to 70s and 80s on the coast) would affect our daily lives. The kitchen sponge dries in a few hours here. Amazing!

We walk about three miles each day, wherever we are. In the city, we walk north or south, east or west (shown) past different homes and businesses. At the coast we walk north and back, beachcomb, and the beach is different every day, tide to tide. We are different each day.

In the city on my morning runs I see only homeless, dog walkers, and the occasional runner. Even at the end of my run, as the clock nears 8am, I can run down the middle of streets if I want to avoid the concrete sidewalks. I have run for blocks down the most commercial street, NW 23rd, because we have gone out at 6am. If a car is heading my way, I have blocks of warning to move back on the sidewalk.

At the coast on my morning runs, I avoid the stink of beach fires left smoldering and unattended (sometimes piled with sand, which does not put out the fire) and “eagle food” (usually dead grebes). Even at high tide in this season, I can run on wet sand. Both places are quiet before 7:30am, but at the coast I relish the roar of waves, the seagulls overhead, the distinct call of the black oystercatchers.

Good morning all!