Downtown Salem

When my sisters drove down from Washington to spend the day with me, I took them downtown to explore.  It was nearly time for them to leave when one of them remembered she needed to stop at a drugstore.  They asked if there was one close enough to walk to.  I paused for a couple beats and told them we could either walk (about) 3 blocks north or a block and a half south.  They picked the closer of the two, Quisenberries.  That's the moment when it dawned on me that after 17 years of avoiding downtown, I've begun the process of embracing and learning my way around those city blocks.  It's a good feeling.  What's funny is that one of the main reasons I had chosen to spend my time elsewhere was because I didn't know my way around.  Why in the world did I wait so long?