A Place in my Heart

Cassandra, Dimitri and I are in Portland visiting my daughter, son-in-law and grandson. I really enjoy coming up here. Portland will always be one of my favorite places in the world. This morning I took a walk around my daughter's neighborhood with my camera. I was trying to capture the "essence" of Oregon in my camera but I realized that it was impossible. Portland is more than just pretty pictures. It's the different shades of green in the pine trees, the moss that grows on the sides of the trees and roofs of old homes, the barns sitting in fields of green, the tulips and daffodils that bloom in abundance in unexpected places like empty fields, homes that aren't cookie-cutter perfect - painted in all shades of the rainbow, and the smell of clean air and woodsmoke coming from fireplaces, the smell of damp earth cleaned from the frequent rains and the smell of fresh mowed fields of grass. As much as I love California, I'll always have a place in my heart for Portland.