The first thing you have to understand about Portland, Oregon is the definition of "weird". The unofficial town slogan, on the back of a building that serves as a pizza joint, bar, music venue, strip club, and skirts the law on at least half of these endeavors, is "Keep Portland Weird". To some, this is a small cry to remember the Portland of the 90's and early 2000's, a Portland that was less known and less expensive, generating creative and unique subcultures. To others, it is a beckoning call - come to Portland, where people will still call you weird, but as a compliment this time. Despite the influx of affluent Californians and the constant construction of condominiums to house these Californians, Portland is still weird. Weird does not mean always accepting, but it does mean accepting of things that are normally not accepted. Weird does not mean we do not have modern conveniences and modern fights. Like the rest of the country, we buy most of our things from China. There are a million ways of being weird, of being not normal, but Portland has plenty of normal. Portland has yoga and hipsters and business professionals. Perhaps weird means we just take all of this less seriously. In my neighborhood, as in many Portland neighborhoods, we have colorful houses, home gardens with flowers and herbs and vegetables lining the streets, and free boxes in the summertime. Free boxes are traditionally cardboard boxes containing items someone is getting rid of, but they can be plastic bags or boxes. They contain something magical, a treasure just perfect for the person wandering by, a surprising amount of the time. Free boxes tend to have clothes and books, but they can have anything. The magical potential of walking through a Southeast Portland neighborhood is what Portland is all about. That is, what Portland is all about to me, but I am just one variety of weird among thousands. Some people I live among would never dream of picking their clothes out of a box on the sidewalk. Those people go to goat yoga (yes, yoga with real live goats) or Timbers matches (the city's soccer team). Portland is full of people who love all sorts of things. Portland is full of people who pursue our dreams, or dream about pursuing our dreams while spending too much time at the bar. Yes, Portland has a drug problem. Drug problems tend to be (at their root) mental health problems, and the constant rain through much of the year, plus the dreary clouds, appear to be a contributor. Portland has a homelessness problem too, which no one seems to know what to do with. The homeless population is drawn by the social services Portland offers, better than in most parts of the country, but our services are insufficient, as in all parts of the country. The non-homeless population wavers between care and hatred. In this, we are not weird at all.
