Charlotte is for slowing down. Since getting here a few days ago I’ve mostly been sleeping and eating, which seems perfectly in line with this place. Not only because I’m staying with John and Stephanie, my comfortably worn-in friends, but also because the day I arrived it turned rainy and fall-chilly, which sent the whole city into hibernation mode. They teased that I brought Portland weather with me, and it certainly has felt like a warmer and slightly muggier version of the Pacific Northwest. Charlotte also has one of the densest urban canopy covers in the U.S., something the city maintains scrupulously and takes pride in. The green adds to the city’s sleepy rural flavor, and it’s kinship with the Cascades, a delightful change after the concrete slabs of the North. I traded garbage trucks and rowdy neighbors for cicadas and song birds. Continue reading →