Day 14: Lan Su Chinese Gardens

October 8, 2010

This afternoon, Jacob and I ventured downtown to the Lan Su Chinese Gardens. This week has been a cultural celebration of Oregon around the state and different activities have been held. The gardens were free to the public, so we checked them out. 

They are a model of what a traditional Chinese house in the city would be like. Lots of gardens, a pond and different rooms for scholarly things like poetry, calligraphy and such. 
It was really pretty and interesting. Jacob liked the little fish in the pond the best. 

My favourite part was exploring downtown a bit. I had been feeling a bit intimidated about driving in the city, but actually, it was fine. There's just so much to see: little shops and cafes, restaurants, and beautiful houses. Just over the hills it's a totally different world. Suburbia on one side, town on the other. Here are houses like I remember from visiting my aunt and uncle here as a child; more style, old glass windows, front porches, mature trees. I'm not very good at describing architecture, but these houses have character, history in them. I need to live somewhere that feels like this. 

I don't want Fraser's commute to be super long. If we move closer to the city, we need to be nearer to a Max line so he could take public transportation to work. For me to be able to walk around most places instead of driving would be great. 

 It's such a hard balance. Sacrificing Fraser's time for my convenience doesn't seem fair but living where we do now and not enjoying our home area doesn't seem to be the right answer either. Even though this felt like the right move and I don't doubt that it is, it's hard to let go of the "how" of how we'll end up where we should be. The universe points us where we need to go if we listen to ourselves and what feels right, though, so... I just need to remember that when I'm feeling overwhelmed by trying to figure it out. We'll see how that goes.