I recently had a conversation with a neighbor that reminded me of one of my favorite things about Portland; everyone here is a little weird. No really, EVERYONE. Here’s what happened:
Binx is our sweet little orange tabby. He’s a favorite around our neighborhood, and someone often stops me to tell me how much they enjoy running into him. So when he didn’t come home for a few days I wasn’t too worried. I just assumed he’d taken up residence in a neighbor’s garage and would come home when he was ready.
Turns out, Binx had been found in the neighborhood behind our house, and was assumed to be a stray. He had been taken to the vet and then a “foster home” until he could be re-homed. All in less than a week.
The conversation leading up to the return of Binx went something like this…
“Hi, we’re looking for our cat.”
“Yeah, we found your cat. We took him to the vet and treated him for fleas. I was concerned he would infect one of our animals with something, so I locked him in a cage in the garage for a few days. Then I took him to a friend’s rehoming facility. He’s doing really well there.”
“Okay, I can pay you for the vet cost. When can I get him back?”
“Well, we’re having him neutered…”
“Wait, when are you having my cat neutered!?! I’d really rather have that done by my vet and when I can be there for his recovery.”
“Whoa, I feel like you’re getting aggressive with me.”
“You stole my cat!”
“I didn’t know it was your cat, why wasn’t he chipped?”
“We just moved to town from a home further out in the country where a chip just wasn’t necessary.”
“But what about the coyotes?”
“I don’t think the coyotes care whether or not the cat is chipped, they taste the same either way.”
It took some time, but eventually we were both laughing. Because that’s the thing about Portland, we all have a cause and we’re more than a little passionate for our cause. No matter how weird. Cats, apparently, was this mom’s cause and she took it very seriously.
Diversity makes us weird!
We have crazy cat lady moms in Portland. We also have granola moms, hipster moms, and yoga moms. We’ve got chickens in our backyards, barrels collecting rain, and solar energy. We can organize everything from nurse-ins to corporate presentations without blinking an eye.
Portland is weird, but I love this about our home. I love that we all feel free to really engage in the movement of our causes. And, regardless of how diverse our ideals may be, there’s still one thing we all seem to have in common: we really love our kids.
