corvallis

I love waking up cocooned in a thick down comforter, insulated against the chill of the rest of the house. I love the silence that’s broken only by the pop of the toaster while I make myself breakfast. Tim’s Bible and a lonely pink blossom that I picked yesterday decorate the card table against the wall, and a peep through the blinds tells me it’s going to be a perfect-for-adventuring kind of day.

I sit on the loveseat with my Bible for awhile. The sound of the cars driving by reassures me somehow. I contemplate whether to take a walk through the park or do some exploring downtown today, and decide that the former would be easier on my pocketbook. (I’m not quite used to having so many clothes stores within walking distance.)

While I’m outside, the sun breaks through the clouds for the first time all week, and the world is awash in the glitter of last night’s rain. The west side gets a bad rap for all its rainy days, but I like to imagine the way the huge cloud fronts moving in from the ocean toward the mountains, and feel the rain streaming down my face like cold tears. And when the world is lit up again, colored in brighter greens and reds and blues, it seems more than worth the wait.

It was a good week. A quiet but adventurous week. I now know the east part of Corvallis a good deal better; I know how to ride the public bus, and how to miss the public bus and walk several miles home in the rain with hands full of shopping bags because of it. My soul has been refreshed by countless afternoon hours of quietness and reflection, and my right-brain tendencies have been exercised hard in baking, cooking, painting, photographing, editing, designing, and writing.

It was a vacation in the truest sense for my creative, introspective, adventuresome, introverted heart. Thanks for letting me come visit you, Tim. :)