Today we spent much of the day in Anywhere. And that's okay -- we did need some kind of boring things and I am unsure as yet where I could get them within walking distance from my place. But Target soon blossomed into a cruise down to Clackamas for a tour of corporate strip mall paradise. Again, this was reassuring to Mom, who can now sit and home and think "ah yes, this is good, she does live in civilization after all." And it left me thinking, I will probably never come down here.
Don't get me wrong. I like Noodles, Panera, California Pizza Kitchen and the rest of it. My best work shirts come from Express, and I do like to swing through stores like Forever 21 every now and then just to see what they have. But these places are everywhere. I did not move to the independent business capital of the Northwest to buy corporate. Oh no.
"You mean to tell me you want to sit down and order food you've never tasted before?"
Well, yes, that was exactly what we wanted. Other people did it all the time and most of them had lived to talk about it.
It ended tonight with a meal at Hometown Buffet of all places. I understand the benefit for a family of three with very different eating habits, but I think it was a little too close to the school cafeteria vibe for me to truly enjoy it. Things were tasty, but things on a warming tray under a snot guard was not exactly inviting. There were even more attractive buffet-style options we passed on the way there -- Sweet Tomatoes, notably. But no, we needed to have a place crawling with overweight seniors.
I shouldn't complain. I received a lot of goods that I could not have bought for myself in a while, and we are going to make a big grocery run tomorrow. And in the middle of the day I got to go to the farmers market and buy milk in a glass bottle, and I have begun the grueling yet exciting task of unpacking everything. And truly letting it sink in that I am here, and here to stay. There is some sort of thing going down under the Burnside bridge this Saturday, which I will attend as Mom and Cameron will be on their way home by that point. And then I get to start the slow, languid introduction to all the record stores, clothing boutiques, coffee shops and antique malls I've been driving past all day long. There's an Indian place over there. And a Thai restaurant. I haven't been to the bakery yet. Oh yes.
And now, some pictures. Here's the view from the door as you come in.
And from the other direction
Where I was when you called
1 comment:
Just remember: ANYTHING is better than Greeley, Colorado. Well, not just anything, but you're in Portland of all places! I know how much Western Capitalism clashes with the way you (and a growing number of young college students and people in general) want to live your life. You'd be hard-pressed to find anything remotely independent as far as consumer goods vendors are concerned in, say, Wyoming. The west coast is one of the best places to be in this country. You're quite lucky.
I had no idea you had even left! Just enjoy what you have out there. I'm stuck in Greeley for another year or two... at least.
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