We're on the train from Shasta to Portland, passing through layers of trees under a blue sky with just a few fluffy clouds. It looks like it could be summer, but a step outside would dissuade anyone from believing that it is. I love fall - crisp, clear skies; good weather; beautiful foliage and comfortable temperatures... but sadly the time between summer and winter seems to be getting shorter and shorter every year. Long, hot, dry spells - or monsoons and hurricanes, depending on your location - spill over the edges of the traditionally summer months, infringing upon the boundaries of spring and fall and the snowy gusts and icy tendrils of winter (each year longer) reach out for summer from the other side. Those milder months in between are pressured into picking a side and spring and fall are left with a few loyal days for themselves. In the time that it's taken me to write this, we've passed through gray clouds into a mild rainstorm and the conductor announced that it's about to snow.
Wait for it...
Yup, it's snowing in Southern Oregon on October 9th. The snow is not sticking to the ground, but it is definitely snow nevertheless. I don't know how much recycling and energy-efficient alternatives to typical commuter transit will help at this point (if governments and companies don't lend a hand), but at least we're taking the train.
To Portland. It's only been 1.5 years since we graduated from LC and headed off to Korea to teach, but it feels like a lifetime. A short one. Maybe a dog's. ...or a rat's. Still, it seems as if we've been hone for more than just a year and a half. Returning to see old friends and professors seems a bit surreal, but there you have it. The mental colliding of worlds (aka mild implosion of the brain). For my part, I'm already fantasizing about eating Ethiopian food at Queen of Sheba. Mmmm... On that note, time for lunch.
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