The best way to make oneself at home is to get injured and bleed all over the bed. Seriously, it worked like a charm. I moved into Thomas’s Uncle Douglas’s apartment on Tuesday, and Wednesday morning I awoke shivering and ready to go for my almost-barefoot run. I explored the neighborhood, measured the distance to Hawthorne, Belmont, Stark, Burnside… all within my grasp! But I was still cold and dragging my feet, and mere blocks from Douglas’s I tripped mid-stride and slid across the cement paving stones. I rolled over onto my back, stinging all over. I wanted to sob and be carted away, but there was nothing for it but to finish up my run and take my usual shower — with the addition of hydrogen peroxide and much flinching. I banged up my left knee, right hip, and right elbow really bad — so much so that they oozed and bled through the bandages that night onto my crisp white sheets — and scraped up my left hand and right knee. I’ll grace you only with a photograph of the least of my injuries.

A little shaken and stiff, and bussed to my first day at work, and things soon went from bad to awesome. I felt so productive and helpful that my enthusiasm is pay enough (in fact, it’s my only pay). I’m assisting Sebastian Collet, an architect who loves clean, contemporary design and local, natural, community-oriented projects. His office is in the City Repair building, which is essentially an old house overrun by professional hippies (dreadlocks and all). It has a wall of mugs for tea and coffee, a huge pile of pillows in their conference room, and a cushy tea house out back. This is the perfect time to be around there, too, because there are a ton of volunteers getting things ready for the Village Building Convergence. It’s like I found all the gnomes who are work behind the scenes to create the Portland I love — the mosaic benches, the painted intersections, the random acts of community artwork and organic structure. These people are in the very act of creating a better world, and making a noticeable difference with their expertise. And I’m in the middle of it all! I walk home in a daze, awe-struck and love-struck.