Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown.

So last night we were watching OPB and of course, in their ad's for their shows they show all sorts of outdoor scenes of Oregon. Now the infamous "last time" that I got a chance to move away from here, that was certainly one of the great crutches that I used to convince myself to put up a stink. Now don't get me wrong, I'm no outdoorsman. I do enjoy being outdoors, but mainly just walking or light hiking around casually. For my purposes, Portland is in basically the ideal spot. The columbia River Gorge (one of the best places on earth) basically starts at the end of town, to the east are the dramatic volcanos of the Cascades and to the west? The pleasing Coast Range and behind those? The finest coast in the world and then the grand Pacific Ocean! I've always lived in this little spot (as you have no doubt heard by now) and I rather take it all for granted. But sometimes I feel like not having the Gorge, Mount Hood, Seaside, Cannon Beach and Astoria all within about an hours drive will be somewhat strange.

Again though, I think I am just projecting again. I have been looking at and visiting this stuff for decades, but they can't be the only good spots that there are. I'm sure that there are plenty of pleasing vistas in Vermont, and I've always really enjoyed all of the rocks there. The rocks in the fields, the rocks along the highway (those seem a bit odd now, after one of those Vermont highway rocks killed my cousin earlier this year), the little old rock walls...

Plus, I love the little vilages and churches and old farms. Change is good for the soul (or whatever) and friends keep reminding me that I've been talking about moving away for at least 16 years now.