Perhaps absent a pandemic, I would have stayed in Portland. The city has amazing food and a decent partner dance scene. But I think it far more likely that I would have left earlier than I did. In the end, Portland is as much a city as I ever want to live in longterm. Nothing really compares to a country sky at night.
But staying felt responsible in a world in which I had the privilege to stay put and travelling meant putting others at risk. It took a combination of losing my apartment, soaring housing prices with very little availability, a series of difficult compromises in my plans for Bella, and generous help from many corners to get me back on the road.
But the road is an uncomfortable place to be right now. I will be glad to reach family and a place to curl up for the winter.
When I left Oregon, the healthcare system was still struggling and at capacity. Many of the places I have passed through since have been the same. The reality of overwhelmed hospitals with severe staffing shortages is at odds with the unmasked faces and crowded businesses.
The divide isn’t political. It seems that we have come together to declare the absence of pandemic. Where might we be, had we instead come together as a community and faced the death and disability that still surrounds us?
