Turning it off and turning it back on

On Friday afternoon, my family and I drove three hours and got off the grid. We were gone for about 78 hours before we returned home to Portland this evening.

The place we visited was a beautiful, slightly wild spot south of here in the heart of Oregon Trump Country, but for what we were doing, the politics of the place didn't matter. I had a laptop with me, which was turned on for about an hour total. I didn't look at my phone much. I had one work-related email exchange today, and it was exquisitely short.

I swam in a river quite a bit. I slept hard. I ate the freshest food, and every bite was spectacular. I was around a group that was having as good a time as I was. There were fish, and birds, and a guy who had a water ski contraption that allowed him to sit down as he was pulled merrily along.

It was hot, but not too hot on the water. And given where we were, we expected wildfire smoke, but only a hint showed up, and only for an hour or so.

Before this trip, I had not been more than nine miles from home in nearly 21 months. The long weekend certainly cleared out some baggage.

Now it's back to life in the Rose City. I must confess, I haven't brooded about its many problems at all for several days now. If I'm lucky, maybe I can extend that attitude into the rest of the week, or even longer. This town is a hot mess, but if you're reading this, you can probably leave if you have to. A couple of hours from here, it's a different world.