Early October was spent in a flurry. We had so much to do before leaving Portland and renting out our house. The plan was for me and Waits to depart as soon as possible, land with family in Santa Barbara and get to work securing a place to live. Damian would stay behind, finish up [...]
Separation. As summer was drawing to a close, it was becoming very clear that neither Damian nor I were willing to face another Portland winter. We had tried, very hard, to make Portland feel like “our city” again, but the dead-weight dread we both felt in our guts each time we considered the impending autumn [...]
A big one, August. At the very start of the month we traveled south to Shasta county, our annual trip to see my brother and his family. My father came up too, like he does every year, and we stayed in the same little cabin right on the river. I love this place. Do you [...]
July. Summer. The summer that looked so good and felt so bad. This July was perhaps the summeriest summer I’ve ever had in my life, filled with park play and fountains, homemade ice cream, out-of-town weekends, BBQs and picnics, and – well, you’ll see. Underneath all that sun and play, was a painful unraveling at [...]
What can I say about June, besides: “Strawberries!” Oh yes, even though it rained heavily until well past mid-month, we took advantage of those clear days. And we picked many, many strawberries in June. I was already feeling so much better, physically, than I had in years, so it was amazing to get outside and [...]
