Wanted to let you know I did not blow you off ~*!*~

I am rarely in WordPress, and did not find your message until just now.

While Portland is known for Keeping It Weird, the subtitle to that is Mostly Harmless. There are some unpleasant looking/smelling/sounding street folk (and some not unpleasant, too), but “mostly” they are just sad and trying to find a little happiness. Like stray puppies, they are a lot of work to calm down enough to become friendly with so unless you are ready for a project, just handle it by not giving signs of willingness to engage.

Speaking of dogs, Portland is the Dog friendliest city is the US, or close to it. If you are going to find yourself staying here for awhile, you could contact the Humane Society and offer to foster a dog for however long you are here. It will do the dog good and you good – at least you will both go for walks! And a BIG dog means trouble will cross the street to stay away from you. And yes, they have openings (they being the dog rescues, shelters and placements) for dogs that only need a couple days or weeks of foster. Often these are dogs in foster where the family must be away for a bit. they are generally mellow by then, or at least all there – pardon the expression – ticks are known factors.

Few and far between are the coffee shops open til the wee hours. But there are some food carts that go long on the weekends.

As for me, give me liberty or give me death, but don’t give me a lot of hassle about it, is my moto out there. Never been afraid in Portland, except for when the police started beating peaceful people.

Seriously, over the years surveys here consistently show that people here are more afraid of the cops that anyone.

Hope things are god with you and yours,

Best,

Teresa