A change in scenery

I used to really hate the weather here. I was an un-fan of the rain and cold and gloom. I liked sunshine and bright, bright light; I liked the way the pavement gets really hot and sometimes melts if it's made out of old rubber. I liked the way one would bake sitting in traffic in the open sunlight. These things all reminded me of home.

I did some internal growth stuff last year, though, and worked really hard at not being so hateful about living in the Northwest. I'm here after all, and will likely be so for quite some time, so I decided to make a go of loving it. I have lived here for twenty years this September, and it just seemed like it was time to stop being so whiny about living in such a cold climate.

So I did some ritualistic business and really came to terms with living here. I embraced being a Portlander and, miracle of miracles, I no longer hate it here.

One thing I could never really appreciate before were all the so-green trees and wilderness areas here. Today I had a meeting for work in a wee town called Vernonia, which is about 45 miles from where I live. I really enjoyed watching the scenery as we drove along, something that never really appealed to me before. I typically prefer to read while on road trips, a fact that drives Mr. J crazy. For the first time since living here, I became excited about learning more about the area and exploring parks and trails. There are many trails in the area, places to camp and hike and fish.

Part of my former dislike of this area meant that I wasn't much interested in what the area held; whenever the opportunity to explore or investigate came up, I was always more interested in some other place. Now I'm really interested in my area, and I'm hoping to drag Mr. J out on a hike soon.