Nathanial Garrod

Rare Symmetry

I find myself walking across the Hawthorne Bridge around 12:30am. Walking back to my apartment, after spending time with some friends on the East Side of the river. The city is beautiful tonight. Well, the city is always beautiful, and always beautiful at night. A general peace has descended, despite the still echo-ing sounds of a city. Cars driving, distant sirens, the rush of water.

The Hawthorne Bride is pretty cool. A steel green bridge skeleton raises from the center, the sidewalks are wide. Cars pass. Bikes pass. Everything is uniform and polite. And in my head I travel back in time. I travel back to a dark day, about nine months ago. A day that I remember as light, despite the looming clouds in the sky.

After leaving OMSI, Justin, Jeremy and I walk across the Hawthorne Bridge, and we talk about our trip so far. We share an honest conversation, and discuss wanting to move to Portland, and what it would mean. We talk about the opportunity, and the chances, and how great it would really be to finally live in a city. We then get lost in Northwest, looking for Whole Foods. The sun set around 5:30. Maybe earlier.

I am back in my moment. The Great Gatsby soundtrack plays in my ears, just under the cacophony of the city. Nine months ago, we talked about moving here, and two months ago I did.

With the sun out and shining on a late August day, I sit in Stumptown Coffee on SW Stark. I like this location best, it’s not as busy as the main location. The window provides a nice view of the city. Today it is a view of a blue sunny sky. I remember sitting here in late December, while the twins did parkour somewhere in the city, I sat in a coffee shop and wrote in a notebook. I saw snowflakes fall. I fell in love with a  city.

I fall in love with a city most days, with the architecture, the noises, the people, the food, the energy of the city. I think sometimes events, people or places remind us of the rare symmetry that life has. The way things sometimes come back around to where they started from.

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This entry was posted on September 2, 2013 by in Adventures! and tagged , , , , .

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