Leaving the Northwest, Never Easy, I Saw the Light Fading Out
I write this post in-flight back home to Portland, Oregon where forest fires have decimated nearly one million acres of Oregon forest in the past week. The air quality in Portland is beyond hazardous to breath and the city is under a declared state of emergency. On my flight, I am also wearing an N95 mask to help protect myself and others from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The United States continues to reel from its reckoning with racial injustices and societal division. Not being able to breath is both literal and metonym in these surreal times. I am not really sure what I am flying back to. My wife and son have evacuated the city due to the toxic air quality and Portland has been shut down for months on end due to COVID-19 and nightly protests. It’s been hard to sort through the delirium of my existence in a place that was once a welcome refuge and beacon. I feel trapped by nostalgia and m...