Northwest Love

Alright my fellow friends and readers, this is one for the books. A story about a girl going to a city to fall in love with the opportunities. And did she. She fell in love so hard that her heart and head were undeniably made up. 

She prepped for an adventure to see the side of the Continental U.S. That she had only ever read in books and seen on TV. Sure her fascination started on the likes of California first because she was smitten with the movie stars. Later on in life her perception changed of any true love for California, and she later often thought of those majestic mountains and deep emerald green forest placing itself on her heart. The northwest had somehow become a place of peace in her mind; an unintentional spot for home and deep roots. 

Girl grew into a wanderluster, a fernweh enthusiast; always looking for her next big adventure even if in her backyard. 

Her back yard, for 17 years, had consisted of a flat land in the south. Far from those rolling hills that get advertised in America's anthem, "O Beautiful". She felt a lack of connection to this state shaped like a gun, but learned to find things to love and appreciate; however she would never find herself appreciating the suffocation of humidity.

This is the part of the story that will help you understand where she started to consider the northwest as a possible home for her. She had been contemplating her choice of school after high school and one was in Orlando. Oh, yes! Further south. She transplanted further down south and once her college life was officially over, she thought of places where she could work, and Portland, Oregon screamed it's lovely name out from the very darkened part of her brain. Hearing it's faint voice allowed her to go rummaging through her memory bank and when it was no longer a faint whisper, she caught it in her hands, grasping onto it like a firefly in the Memphis summer's eve. The thought stayed lit, she wondered how you could keep a thought like this fed; do you wait for something to drop in your lap or proactively make arrangements for your life to change and be changed?? All she knew was that this thought was much too big to be placed in a jar; with a few punctured holes at the top to keep it alive. Instead of doing that, she researched and researched and made notebooks and travel plans and used a free airfare voucher to get to the "O Beautiful" of the land she held in her heart. She didn't know where she'd go, but she made plans to go with a friend. The plan sadly fell through and she had to reconvene. This was 6 years ago and again that little whisper peeked itself from wherever she let it float and she caught it again. It was brighter this time, it had thrived wherever it went off to and it came in the form of a dream. This time it was revealed as a red brick building, with a detailed entrance and hanging Thomas Edison bulbs, intrigued by the specifics of it, she looked it up online and randomly searched for 'red-brick-retail-stores-with-Edison-bulbs-in-Portland', and what she found astounded her. Her stomach felt  like it's been dropped into the bottom of a hollow barrel and a lump lodged itself in her throat. Hot tears filled in her eyes and that's when she started to scrounge up her prior research.

Look for the next entry and I will tell you more.