Four years ago today I posted the first entry on my site. It was the start of one of life’s ultimate journeys – a move across the country from one place I love to another. Here is what I wrote:

***
the last days of disco
the questions have obviously started. is there any one thing you want to do before you leave? do you want to reconsider? what are you going to miss? the answers are not really (i’ve tried to suck all the marrow i could), no, and so much! it’s the missing part that’s got me reeling right now.

oregon has nearly everything i love, but my east coast friends will be conspicuously absent. like dorothy said to the scarecrow – i’ll miss you most of all. add a pile of little things to that – games at fenway, lobster rolls, the islands – and you can see why i’m a little off balance.

***

I lived it up that last summer in Boston and really celebrated the city I was moving away from. I felt ready to leave at the time, but that summer was so amazing that it’s left a large scar of nostalgia. I honestly didn’t realize how intertwined Boston’s tentacles had become in my life and even though I miss the city I am grateful that it’s apart of me and I’m apart of it.

It honestly doesn’t feel like four years have passed. Perhaps because I visit Boston often, but also because I ultimately moved to one of my other favorite cities – Portland, Oregon (as featured consistently in the New York Times, of food cart fame, and lovingly profiled on Portlandia as the place where young people come to retire).

In fact, I’m sticking around Portland and Oregon this month (kind of unusual for me), but August is one of the best months to be in Oregon and I don’t want to miss it. Warm sunshine and no humidity during the day – perfect for sitting outside and having lunch with friends or reading a great book, followed by crisp cool nights – ideal sleeping weather that lulls you into the deepest of slumbers.

So if you can’t visit this beautiful place in person, enjoy the photos of Portland and Oregon that I’ve been posting and will continue to post until the last days of August. And happy anniversary to Taking the Long Way!