Doorway,  General Lagos Street, Valdivia

The minute I stepped out of the airport into a chilly April day in Spokane, the reality of my month in Valdivia began to slip away. Valdivia had converted to a far-off place, in the same way Spokane had while I was in Chile. Once safely back home, I thought about Valdivia without the stress I’d felt when traveling alone in an unknown place, and that changed the city slightly, giving it an added charm, an even sharper allure.

April turned out to be a cruel month here, with wind, rain, and cold temperatures, and I often wished to be back in the warmer-though-by-then-wetter autumn of Valdivia. Armed with books, notes, and photographs documenting my stay, I settled in to work on blog posts and my novel-in-progress. One foot remained in southern Chile.

Crocuses

Then spring arrived. During spring in Spokane, nature seems so happy to be given free rein again after the bleak winter months. Grass shoots up, pale green leaves unfurl from branches, and flowers bloom in every color of the rainbow. The days are long, the nights, cool. It is a lovely place to be in the spring. My trip to Valdivia became more distant. I had to look up information that had been so clear to me a few short months ago.

Doorway, Campbell House, Spokane

Now late-summer, my feet are firmly replanted on eastern Washington soil. The transition is complete. It is time to begin the second stop on my blog, the place where I live – the Inland Northwest.